A used car in Cyprus usually changes hands on a handshake and a hopeful ten-minute drive. We put it on a ramp instead: full mechanical inspection, diagnostic scan, body and mileage evidence, road test — and a written report with photos and video on your phone before you commit a cent. Serving Ayia Napa, Protaras, Paralimni & the entire Famagusta district.
The seller has lived with the car for years and knows every noise it makes. You get one sunny afternoon and a test drive on their chosen route. An independent inspection puts a qualified engineer on your side of that conversation. It matters most for:
The garage doing the looking has been in Paralimni since 1976. Anninos Vrachimis — BEng and MEng in Automotive Engineering, with years in Mercedes-Benz and BMW workshops before modernising the family garage in 2009 — leads a team that services everything from Isuzu D-Max pick-ups to German diesels under one authorized Honda, Isuzu & Kia roof. We inspect cars for buyers in English, Greek and Russian. For the full walk-through of what can go wrong in the used market, read our guide to pre-purchase inspections in Cyprus.
A quick look around a car finds what the seller wants found. A structured inspection cross-examines it: what the mechanicals say, what the electronics remember, what the bodywork hides, how it actually drives, and whether the wear agrees with the mileage on the dash.
On the ramp: oil and coolant leaks, engine mounts, gearbox and clutch behaviour, driveshaft boots, bushes and ball joints, play in the steering, brake discs, pads, pipes and lines, and corrosion where it matters structurally. The expensive stuff first — because that's what changes the price.
Every control module read, not just the engine. Stored fault codes tell one story; freshly cleared ones, just before a viewing, often tell a better one. Where the manufacturer supports it, we cross-check mileage records held in modules beyond the dashboard against what the odometer claims.
Paint depth differences, overspray, panel gaps, replaced bolts and non-factory welds — the fingerprints of accident repair. Plus rust in the usual hiding places, and the tell-tale traces of flood damage: silt, corrosion and moisture where a road car should never have them.
A cold start where possible, then a proper drive: hesitation and smoke under load, gear changes, clutch bite, tracking and pulling under braking, knocks and vibrations that only appear at speed. Ten minutes on the road catches what a stationary check can't.
Tyres, brake discs, pedal rubbers, seat bolsters and steering wheels age at broadly predictable rates. When a low-mileage car carries high-mileage wear, the two stories don't add up — and we photograph exactly why, so you can put it on the table with the seller.
Documenting faults with photos and video over WhatsApp is how this garage works on every job — it isn't a special add-on we invented for inspections. Applied to a pre-purchase check, it becomes your negotiating file: a written summary of what we found, ranked by what it costs to put right, backed by photos and video of the actual evidence — the leak, the overspray, the worn disc — sent to your phone before you hand anything over.
What you do with it is your call. Walk away from a bad car, renegotiate a fair one down by the cost of its faults, or buy a good one with real confidence. Every outcome beats finding out later. And the cost of the inspection itself is no mystery either: like all our work, it's quoted in advance as a free written estimate — you know the price before you book, and nothing is added afterwards.
One more honest note: an inspection reports the car's condition on the day. It isn't a warranty and it can't see inside a closed engine — anyone who promises that is selling certainty they don't have. What it can do is catch the great majority of expensive surprises while they're still the seller's problem. If the car will need its MOT soon after purchase, we'll flag anything likely to matter for that too.
The simplest route: agree with the seller to bring the car to 44 Filotheis, Industrial Zone, Paralimni — we're open Monday to Friday, 07:30–19:00, straight through lunch, and Despina at reception will have the ramp booked for you. A serious seller will make that trip; a reluctant one is already answering one of your questions.
If the car can't come to us — the seller is in Ayia Napa, Protaras or elsewhere in the district and short on time — we can inspect at collection across the Famagusta district instead. Tell us where the car lives when you book and we'll arrange it around the seller's schedule, which keeps everyone cooperative. Either way, the report lands on your phone the same way: in writing, with the evidence attached.
WhatsApp us the listing — make, model, year, mileage, asking price and the photos — and we'll tell you what to watch for on that exact car and book the inspection. Written report with photos and video before you commit, in English, Greek or Russian. Free collection & delivery island-wide once the car is yours.
Plan for the car being with us for a few hours in the typical case: ramp inspection, diagnostic scan, road test, and then the time it takes to assemble the written report with photos and video. If the seller will only release the car for a fixed window, tell us when you book and we'll structure the inspection around it. The quote for the inspection itself is given in advance as a free written estimate, so you know the cost before anything is booked.
We can look for the evidence — but honestly, no garage can promise a guarantee, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Where the manufacturer supports it, our diagnostic equipment reads mileage records stored in control modules beyond the dashboard and cross-checks them against the odometer. Then we correlate the claimed kilometres with physical wear: pedal rubbers, steering wheel, seat bolsters, brake discs and tyres all age at rates that are hard to fake. Odometer tampering on used imports is a widely reported problem in Cyprus, and while a careful fraudster can beat any single check, it is much harder to beat all of them at once. If the evidence doesn't match the claim, you'll see it in the report — with photos.
Treat refusal as information. A seller with an honest car loses nothing by letting an independent garage put it on a ramp for a few hours — and usually gains a faster, cleaner sale. Outright refusal, endless rescheduling, or pressure lines like 'another buyer is coming this afternoon' are classic signs that someone would rather you didn't look too closely. You can offer to make it easy — an inspection at a time that suits them — but if the answer is still no, the car is telling you something. There are other cars.
Yes. If you are buying a UK or Japan import that has not yet been registered in Cyprus, we inspect it in exactly the same way — ramp inspection, diagnostic scan, accident and corrosion evidence, and a road test where the vehicle can legally be driven — and the mileage cross-check matters doubly on imports. We won't promise a registration or roadworthiness outcome, because those decisions belong to the authorities; what you get is the car's true condition in writing before you commit.
You're welcome to. Many buyers — especially those new to Cyprus — want to see the car on the ramp with their own eyes, and we'll walk you through what we're finding as we find it, in English, Greek or Russian. If you can't be there, the report does the attending for you: written findings with photos and video over WhatsApp, before you commit either way.
