Project Car Walk-Around Scorecard

Car: Seller / channel: Date:

Bring a flashlight, a magnet, a floor jack if the seller allows it, and a phone full of patience. Work top to bottom, front to back, the same order every time so nothing gets skipped. Thirty minutes.

Walk-around in order

• ☐ Frame rails and structural mounts, flashlight and pick (especially near rear spring mounts)
• ☐ Rockers, floors, trunk floor, quarters, magnet for filler
• ☐ Around the windshield and rear glass channels
• ☐ Engine and transmission: running test, leaks, condition (compression check or at minimum a warm running test)
• ☐ Numbers matching on major components
• ☐ Title, name, liens, VIN match
• ☐ Parts availability research on the two worst rust items

Rust detail (surface scale vs perforation)

Surface scale is work; perforation through structure is a different project entirely. Body filler is invisible to your eye and obvious to a magnet.

Two worst rust items, priced before purchase

A car with cheap, available patch panels is a project. The same rust on a car whose panels are unobtainable is a donor vehicle: thousands of dollars and a season of your life.

Title verification

• ☐ Title present and valid, in the seller's actual name, no liens.
• ☐ VIN matches the paperwork; odometer statement consistent with the car in front of you.
• ☐ No "friend," "dead relative," or bill-of-sale-only stories. If so, leave the money at home.

Verdict

Second opinion: for any car carrying client money or serious flip capital, a qualified mechanic's inspection before purchase is cheap insurance against your own blind spots. On a flip, the inspection cost is part of the buy price.