We bought from
Carviondealer.
Here’s how it went.

Confirm the car is the car. The VIN in the listing should match the VIN stamped on the dashboard plate, on the driver's door jamb sticker, and on every document that follows — the history report, the purchase paperwork, the title.

Photographs of the physical VIN plate are a reasonable thing to ask for, and cost the seller nothing. Check the check digit and the model year character while you are there; a VIN decoder will do it free in seconds.

Mileage should agree in three places at once: the listing, the instrument cluster in the photographs, and the readings logged in the history report and service invoices. Vehicle history reports capture odometer readings at inspections, sales and service visits, which makes a rolled-back or misread odometer visible as an inconsistency rather than a gut feeling.

Wear should agree too. A steering wheel, driver's seat bolster and pedal set that look older than the number are worth a question.

Read the history report for the things that follow a car forever: reported accidents and structural damage, branded titles — salvage, rebuilt, flood, lemon — insurance total losses, number and length of ownerships, the states it has been registered in, and whether it was ever in rental, fleet or commercial use.

A clean report is not proof a car was never hit; it is proof nothing was reported to the databases the report draws on. That is worth having, and it is not the same thing.

Work through the photograph set methodically rather than admiringly. Panel gaps and paint texture across shut lines. Tyres — brand, matched or mixed, tread, and the four-digit date code on the sidewall. Kerb damage on wheels. Glass etching that does not match the rest of the car, which usually means a replaced screen.

Then ask for what the set does not show: the panel you cannot see, the boot floor, a cold start on video, and any warning light on the dash at idle.

Ask what is actually on file. For a late-model performance car the intervals that matter are the ones tied to how it was used: oil services against date as well as mileage, brake fluid, differential and transmission fluid on high-output cars, and any recall or open campaign work.

Where records are thin, that is information too — it tells you what to have the inspection concentrate on.

Commission a pre-purchase inspection from a shop you chose, and pay for it yourself, so the report is yours. A marque specialist is worth the extra call: they know what fails on that model and where to look.

Ask for the raw output — photographs, measurements, fault codes read from the car, tyre and brake figures in millimetres — not a verbal summary.

Read the purchase documents in full while there is still time to ask about them. Check that the seller's legal name, the VIN, the agreed price, and every line item and fee are as discussed, and that whatever was promised verbally appears in writing.

Note what is not there as carefully as what is. The official Carviondealer site does not publish warranty terms, a return window, or a deposit policy — so if any of those matter to you, get the answer in writing from the dealership before you fund anything, rather than assuming.

Payment here is bank wire or certified bank check. Confirm the receiving account details by voice, on a number you looked up yourself, and treat any mid-transaction change of banking details as a stop signal — that pattern is the most common way money is lost in remote vehicle purchases.

Match the payee to the legal entity named on the paperwork. If the two differ, that is a question, not a formality.

Settle the transport terms before payment: open or enclosed carrier, the quoted price against your ZIP code, who the carrier is, what the insurance covers in transit, and the condition report signed at both ends.

Agree what happens if the car arrives with damage that was not there when it was loaded, and make sure the condition report at pickup is detailed enough to prove the difference.