A used car advert is a sales pitch written by the one person who knows every fault with the car. Most sellers are not lying — but almost all of them choose what to leave out. Reading an advert well means noticing the gaps, checking the claims you can check, and arriving at a viewing with the right questions instead of the wrong hopes.

Phrases Worth Translating

• "Drives perfect" / "no issues": says nothing either way. The MOT history and a cold start will tell you more than any adjective
• "First to see will buy" / "quick sale needed": pressure, sometimes genuine. A seller in a hurry is a negotiating opportunity — and a reason to slow down, not speed up
• "Full service history": ask what that means. Stamps in a book, main-dealer invoices and a digital record are very different levels of evidence. See how much service history matters
• "Long MOT": check the expiry date yourself. A fresh pass is good; a fresh pass after a long string of failures tells a different story
• "Recent cambelt" / "new clutch": valuable if true — ask for the invoice, with the mileage it was done at
• "Spares or repair" / "trade sale": the seller is telling you it has problems. A dealer selling to a consumer can't switch off your legal rights by labelling it a trade sale, but a private seller's duties are far narrower
• "Not ULEZ compliant but…": check the registration on Transport for London's vehicle checker before you plan journeys around it

What the Photos Don't Show

• One side missing: four photos of the left and none of the right usually means the right is the one you want to see
• Wet, dark or heavily filtered pictures: rain and dusk hide dents, mismatched paint and kerbed wheels
• No dashboard shot with the ignition on: that's where warning lights and the real mileage live — ask for one
• Registration plate blurred: common and often innocent, but ask for the reg before you travel. With it you can read the car's whole MOT history in a couple of minutes
• Interior only from the driver's door: worth asking about the rear seats, boot floor and headlining — damp and damage hide there

Price Signals

Compare the asking price with three or four similar cars (same model, age and mileage band). A car priced well below the pack usually has a reason: high mileage for its age, a write-off history, a known expensive fault due, or a seller who simply wants it gone. Well above the pack needs justifying with history, condition or specification. Neither is a red flag on its own — both are a question to ask.

Five Questions to Send Before You Travel

1. What's the registration? (If they won't share it, that's your answer)
2. How long have you owned it, and why are you selling?
3. Is the V5C (logbook) in your name and at your address?
4. Can I see the service invoices, and when were the cambelt and brakes last done?
5. Can I see it from cold, in daylight?

Then read the MOT history against the answers. A seller who says "no problems" on a car with the same advisory carried across three tests has told you something about the car and something about the seller.

What an Advert Can't Tell You

Outstanding finance, stolen-vehicle markers and insurance write-off records aren't in the MOT data or the advert. For those, use a dedicated provenance check before you hand over money — our guide on checking for outstanding finance explains how.