7-Point Inspection Checklist: What a Professional Checks Before You Pay for a Machine
- ✓Serial Number vs Documents
- ✓Hour Meter: Is It Real?
- ✓Welds: Original or Repaired?
The factory looks great in the video. The machine looks great in the photos. Then you arrive — and it is different. Why? Because 90% of buyers only check three things: paint, stickers and cleanliness. But a used machine can be repainted in a week, and stickers cost nothing to replace.
After 14 years inside China's agricultural and construction machinery belt, we run the same 7-point inspection on every machine we check for clients. It takes about 30 minutes on site or on a live video call — and it has saved our clients from countless repainted, rebuilt and misrepresented machines.
1. Serial Number vs Documents
Ask for the serial number on the machine's nameplate, then compare it with the export documents. On a genuine machine the number is cleanly stamped and matches the paperwork. On a repainted or rebuilt unit, the plate is often missing, replaced, or the number has been filed or double-stamped.
2. Hour Meter: Is It Real?
Ask for a photo of the hour meter — then think. A 2-ton mini excavator showing 200 hours is not believable. An unusually low reading for the machine's size and age usually means the meter was replaced or reset. Cross-check with the condition of wear parts: pedals, handles and seat wear faster than the meter says.
3. Welds: Original or Repaired?
Factory welds are neat, uniform and consistent across the whole frame. Extra welds, rough beads, cut marks or body filler indicate repairs after an accident or heavy use. Run your eye along the boom, chassis and attachment points — repaired machines always leave traces somewhere.
4. Oil Condition Tells the Story
Check the engine oil and hydraulic oil on the dipstick. Milky or foamy oil means water in the system. Black, gritty oil means long hard hours. And a 'clean' machine with fresh oil smears around the filters? The leak was just wiped away. Ask when the oil was last changed — and whether the machine has a service book.
5. Bolt Heads: Wrench Marks
Check the bolt heads around the engine, hydraulic block and undercarriage for wrench marks. Factory-assembled bolts are tight and untouched. If many bolts show wear, scratches or fresh paint over them, the machine has been fully disassembled and rebuilt — that is a refurbish job, not a new machine.
6. Cold Start: Vibration & Smoke
Never accept a machine that is 'already warm' when you arrive. A genuine cold start reveals everything: hard starting, excessive vibration, blue smoke (burning oil), white smoke (coolant in cylinders) or black smoke (bad combustion). Record the start on video — the seller's reaction to this request tells you a lot.
7. Run Under Load: Noise & Leaks
Idling tells you nothing. Ask to see the machine working under load — digging, lifting, or feeding material. Listen for knocking from the engine or hydraulics, whining from pumps, and clunking from the drivetrain. Then park it for five minutes and check the ground: oil and hydraulic fluid on the floor is the final bill you will pay.
The Price Rule: Too Cheap Is the Most Expensive
A price far below the factory level is not a bargain — it is the first sign that something was cut. Always compare with the official factory price range, run this 7-point checklist in real time, and only transfer money after you have seen the machine start and work under load.