Eight things people phone us about

A private sale is normally voetstoots: you take the car as it stands. The seller still may not actively deceive you, and deliberately concealing a known defect can be challenged, but proving what the seller knew is slow, expensive and uncertain. That is why we treat an independent inspection as part of the purchase price on any private deal, not an optional extra.

Custom in Gauteng puts it on the seller, because the certificate is needed to complete the change of ownership. It is negotiable and plenty of sellers ask the buyer to carry it. What is not negotiable is having one before the transfer: without it the registering authority will not register the car in your name, and you will be driving something that still belongs to somebody else on paper.

That is common on deals written over a long term with a balloon payment at the end. The seller has to find the shortfall before the bank releases the papers, and that is their problem rather than yours. Be patient, be sympathetic, and do not pay anything towards the shortfall yourself. Keep looking in the meantime, because these situations often take weeks to resolve.

A dealer costs more and gives you consumer law protection, a defects disclosure and somebody to phone. A private seller is cheaper, often better informed about the specific car, and gives you nothing afterwards. For a first purchase after a long gap we lean towards a dealer. For a reader who has done this before and is willing to pay for an inspection, private usually wins on price.

Cross-check it. Service stamps give kilometres at known points, a manufacturer printout gives more, and the physical car tells you the rest: pedal rubbers, the shine on the gear lever, the wear pattern on the driver's seat bolster and the state of the steering wheel at the ten and two positions. A car showing ninety thousand kilometres with a polished wheel and collapsed seat foam has done more.

Unrepaired hail damage on an otherwise sound car is a cosmetic matter and a genuine discount, and we have sent readers to buy such cars happily. Badly repaired hail damage is the problem: filler in the roof, overspray on the window rubbers, and a panel that will bubble in three summers. Look down each horizontal panel towards a light source and you will know which one you are looking at.

A hybrid is untroubled by it. A full electric car in Pretoria is perfectly usable if you charge overnight and treat the schedule as a mild inconvenience, but think about the practical details: an automatic garage door needs a manual release you have actually tried, and a wall charger needs an electrician who understands your distribution board. Long trips need planning around charging points that may themselves be dark.

Inside the Tshwane metro, yes, at the prices on the services page. Beyond that we charge travel per kilometre and it starts to make less sense than booking an independent inspection near you and letting us read the report. For readers in Polokwane, Mbombela or Bloemfontein that second route is usually the better value, and we say so rather than selling a long drive.