Field evidence · anonymized

Real cases from real inspections

These aren’t marketing stories. Each case below comes from an actual CarOK doorstep inspection report — the real scores, the real findings, the real verdicts. Details are anonymized to protect the people involved; nothing else is changed.

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No registration numbers, names or dates are published; photos are from the actual inspections, screened so no plates or people are identifiable. Scores are out of 10, from the delivered reports.

Case 01 · Hidden accident repair

Honda N-WGN 2015 (import) · 71,552 km

A clean-looking imported kei car with healthy mechanicals — the kind of car most buyers would pay full asking for after a 10-minute look. Then the panel-by-panel check started telling a different story.

  • Left AND right A-pillars repaired — classic frontal-impact signature
  • Right strut tower repaired — the force reached the structure
  • Dashboard airbag repaired — the airbags had deployed
  • 26 exterior findings, including a deep scratch and dent + scratch on the hood
Behind the panels: corrosion and repair traces on a structural member — the accident story the shiny body hid
Behind the panels: corrosion and repair traces on a structural member — the accident story the shiny body hid
Dent and scratch findings logged on the doors
Dent and scratch findings logged on the doors
Rear door — one of 26 exterior findings mapped in the report
Rear door — one of 26 exterior findings mapped in the report

What happened: This was an accident-repaired import being sold as a clean car. Engine and gearbox were genuinely fine (7.9/10 mechanical) — which is exactly why the damage history was invisible on a test drive. The buyer learned the car’s real identity before paying, not after.

Report scores (out of 10)

Overall5.9
Mechanical7.9
Exterior2.6

The lesson

A smooth test drive proves nothing about crash history. Pillars, strut towers and airbags are where a big accident hides — and none of them show from the driver’s seat.

Case 02 · The full respray

Honda City 2011 · 154,972 km

The seller’s photos looked great — shiny, uniform paint on a 14-year-old car. That shine was the problem: our inspector’s notes open with a single line: “all exterior body re-painted.”

  • Every panel repainted — the entire exterior, bumper to boot
  • 20 separate exterior findings logged under the fresh paint
  • Exterior score: 1 out of 10 — the lowest on our scale
  • Tired drivetrain to match the 155,000 km on the clock
The meter that broke the story: 25.0 mils on a panel — several times factory paint thickness. Respray confirmed
The meter that broke the story: 25.0 mils on a panel — several times factory paint thickness. Respray confirmed

What happened: A full respray on an old car is almost never cosmetic pride — it’s concealment economics. Fresh paint over every panel meant the true panel history was unknowable by eye; only the paint-thickness meter told the truth. Verdict: walk away or price it like the project car it was.

Report scores (out of 10)

Overall4.2
Mechanical6.4
Exterior1

The lesson

On a used car, paint that looks too good for its age is a warning, not a bonus. Uniform fresh paint erases the evidence — a paint-depth meter brings it back.

Case 03 · Mileage vs reality

Toyota Corolla GLI 2013 · showing 33,373 km

A 2013 Corolla showing just 33,000 km — a “barely driven family car”. On a Corolla, that number should mean near-showroom condition. The car itself disagreed.

  • Expired, out-of-date tyres — not what a pampered car wears
  • Rust on multiple parts, broken wipers
  • Paint fade across the entire right side — bumper, fenders, both doors
  • Mechanical score 5.6/10 — wear far beyond the odometer’s claim
Paint-thickness gauge reading FAIL at 7.1 near the front end — repaint where the odometer said “barely driven”
Paint-thickness gauge reading FAIL at 7.1 near the front end — repaint where the odometer said “barely driven”
Underbody: surface rust on the subframe and suspension — wear the 33,000 km claim couldn’t explain
Underbody: surface rust on the subframe and suspension — wear the 33,000 km claim couldn’t explain

What happened: We can’t see inside an odometer — but we can score what 33,000 km should look like, and this wasn’t it. The condition told the real story: a hard-worked car wearing a young number. The report gave the buyer the evidence to reject the mileage claim outright.

Report scores (out of 10)

Overall4.3
Mechanical5.6
Exterior2

The lesson

In a market where meter rollbacks are routine, judge the car, not the number. Wear on tyres, pedals, paint and suspension is far harder to fake than five digits on a dial.

Case 04 · Most findings on one car

Nissan Dayz 2015 (import) · 113,078 km

Strong mechanically — 8.6/10, one of the healthier engines we’d seen that month. But the body map filled up like a dartboard: 39 separate exterior findings, the most we’d logged on a single vehicle.

  • 39 exterior findings — deep scratches, dents and paint damage on almost every panel
  • Left rear wheel-arch repainted; left footboard repainted
  • Rust starting on multiple parts
  • Every finding photographed and mapped to its panel in the report
Deep scratch across the front fender
Deep scratch across the front fender
Dent + scratch on the rear door — two of 39 findings
Dent + scratch on the rear door — two of 39 findings
Door findings — every one photographed and mapped to its panel
Door findings — every one photographed and mapped to its panel

What happened: Not a walk-away — a negotiate-hard. The buyer got an itemized, photographed list of every flaw, turning “looks a bit rough” into a rupee figure. That list is the difference between accepting the asking price and paying what the car is actually worth.

Report scores (out of 10)

Overall6.3
Mechanical8.6
Exterior2.5

The lesson

Body damage isn’t a yes/no question — it’s a count, a map and a cost. An itemized findings list is negotiation ammunition you can’t get from a walk-around.

Case 05 · Good bones, dressed-up body

Honda City Aspire 2016 · 84,222 km

The mirror image of the N-WGN case: this City’s mechanicals scored an excellent 9.0/10 — but the presentation was hiding its cosmetic sins, right down to a repainted dashboard.

  • Dashboard repainted — interior dressed up for sale
  • Paint fade across hood, fenders and doors; rust on several parts
  • Side-mirror switch not working
  • Exterior score 2/10 against a 9/10 drivetrain
Under CarOK inspection (our board covers the plate) — straight body, strong mechanicals
Under CarOK inspection (our board covers the plate) — straight body, strong mechanicals
The car as presented — the dressed-up exterior scored 2/10 next to a 9/10 drivetrain
The car as presented — the dressed-up exterior scored 2/10 next to a 9/10 drivetrain

What happened: An honest split verdict: mechanically one of the better cars we’d inspected, cosmetically neglected and dressed up to hide it. The buyer could proceed with confidence — at a corrected price that reflected the real exterior condition.

Report scores (out of 10)

Overall6.2
Mechanical9
Exterior2

The lesson

A good report isn’t always a “don’t buy”. Sometimes it’s “buy it — but pay lakhs less”. Knowing which is which is the whole point of inspecting first.

Want the aggregate numbers behind cases like these? Read our field-data studies: what sellers didn’t mention and the most damaged body panels in Pakistan.

How these get caught

None of this shows on a test drive

Every case above was invisible in the seller’s photos and survivable on a 10-minute drive. They were caught by the same process, every time:

Paint-thickness meter

Reads every panel. Factory paint measures thin and even; respray and filler read thick — that’s how a “clean” car confesses.

Structural checkpoints

Pillars, strut towers, rails and boot floor — the places accident repair hides and resale value dies.

70+ scored checks

Engine, gearbox, suspension, brakes, electricals, test drive — each scored, so “feels fine” becomes a number you can act on.

Buying an import? The paper trail matters too — start with a free auction sheet verification, then see the full 70+ point checklist we run on the car itself.

Before you pay

The next case study doesn’t have to be your car

Every buyer in the cases above found out the truth before handing over their money — that’s the entire difference. A CarOK team comes to the car, anywhere in Lahore or Islamabad, and gives you the same scored report, same day.

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