A used EV can be the best value on the road right now, or a $35,000 mistake with a tired battery and no cables in the boot. The difference is about 40 minutes of checks. This is the buying used EV checklist Australia buyers actually need: the stuff to verify before you hand over a cent, in the order you should do it, with the numbers that tell you whether to sign or walk. Print it, screenshot it, take it to the inspection. No jargon left undefined, no scare stories, no cheerleading.
Work top to bottom. The first two checks you do from your couch. The rest happen with the car in front of you.
New to the used market? Start with where the value sits: the best used EVs under $30,000 and the best used EVs under $40,000.
Do these two checks before you leave the house
Both cost almost nothing and both can kill a deal before you waste a Saturday. All you need is the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), the 17-character code visible through the windscreen on the driver’s side, on the compliance plate under the bonnet, and on the rego papers.
- Run a PPSR check ($2, official). PPSR stands for Personal Property Securities Register, the national database that tells you if a car still has money owing on it, has been reported stolen, or was previously written off. Do it at the official government site, ppsr.gov.au, where a search costs $2. Ignore the third-party sites charging $20 to $50 for the same thing. If there is finance owing and the seller does not clear it, the financier can repossess the car from you. Run it when you find the car, then again on the day you pay, because a certificate goes stale the moment the seller’s circumstances change.
- Check for open recalls by VIN (free). Enter the VIN at the government’s vehiclerecalls.gov.au to see any outstanding safety recall on that exact car. EVs get recalled like any other car, and some fixes are software, some are hardware. An open recall is not automatically a dealbreaker, but you want it fixed by the manufacturer before you drive off, not after.
The battery: the one number that makes or breaks a used EV
The single most important figure on a used EV is State of Health, or SoH. It tells you how much of the battery’s original capacity is left. A car at 90% SoH holds 90% of the range it had when new. Everything else, the paint, the tyres, the screen, is replaceable for pocket money by comparison. The battery is the car.
Here is the reassuring part the fear-merchants skip. Across more than 1,000 used EVs tested through Pickles’ EV Battery Assurance Program, the average SoH was about 96% on cars roughly 2.5 years old. Even the 250-plus cars tested with more than 120,000km still held over 90% on average. Most used EV batteries are fine. The job is to prove this one is.
How to actually verify SoH:
- Ask for a battery health certificate. Pickles and independent services now issue them, and a seller with a healthy pack has no reason to refuse.
- Bring your own reader. With a Bluetooth OBD2 adapter (a plug that reads the car’s diagnostics port) and the right app, you can read SoH in the seller’s driveway in minutes. For an older Nissan Leaf the app of choice is LeafSpy.
- Or pay a mobile service. The NRMA now offers a mobile EV battery health check, and a professional onsite test takes a few minutes and gives you a printed number.
How to read the number: above 90% on a low-kilometre car is excellent, and a five-year-old EV sitting in the high-80s is doing fine. The NRMA’s guide to checking a used EV’s battery is worth a read if you want to go deeper. The manufacturer warranty floor is 70% (more on that below), so a young or low-kilometre car already creeping toward that is where you negotiate hard or walk.
Related: our full guide to checking a used EV’s battery health covers the readers, apps and numbers in detail.
One car needs extra caution: the early Nissan Leaf. The first-generation Leaf has no liquid cooling for its battery, so it degrades faster in Australian heat than almost anything else on the market, with replacement packs quoted around $10,000 and up. A cheap Leaf can still work if the SoH checks out and the price reflects the risk, but you must test the battery, not trust the odometer.
Warranty: know exactly what transfers
Most EVs sold in Australia carry a separate high-voltage battery warranty on top of the standard car warranty, and it is tied to the car’s build date and VIN, not the first owner. The common baseline is 8 years or 160,000km, whichever comes first, with a guarantee the battery will still hold at least 70% capacity in that window. Check where the specific car sits against both limits.
- Tesla: base Model 3 and Model Y are 8 years or 160,000km, while Long Range and Performance versions stretch to 8 years or 192,000km, and the battery warranty transfers with the car.
- BYD: the high-voltage battery and drive unit are covered for 8 years or 160,000km with a 70% capacity floor.
- Hyundai and most others: because these battery warranties attach to the VIN rather than the owner, they generally carry over to second and later owners. Confirm it in writing for the exact model.
Ask for the full service history too. A patchy log book will not void a battery warranty on its own, but manufacturers can lean on missed servicing to argue about other claims, and a complete history is your leverage on price.
Charging: test both types, and check the cables are in the boot
Two charging speeds matter and you should confirm both work before buying.
- Test AC (home) charging. This is the slow charging you will use every night. If the seller has a wall unit or a portable charger, plug in and confirm the car actually starts drawing power.
- Test DC (fast) charging. This is the rapid public charging you use on trips. Meet the seller near a fast charger and watch it pull real kilowatts. A fault that only shows on DC is exactly the kind of thing sellers “forget” to mention.
- Count the cables and adaptors. This is the easiest money to lose. A replacement portable charger is not trivial: a Tesla Mobile Connector lists at around $550 from Tesla’s Australian shop at time of writing. Make sure the portable charger, any home-wallbox cable, and any adaptors are present and included in the price.
Tyres and brakes: the used EV twist most buyers get backwards
EVs flip the usual maths. They are heavy and deliver instant torque, so tyres can wear up to 20% faster than on a comparable petrol car. A set of four is easily $800 to $1,500, so budget for it and use worn tyres to negotiate.
Brakes go the other way. Regenerative braking (regen) slows the car using the electric motor and recovers energy, so the friction brakes do far less work and pads and discs wear much slower than on a petrol car. The catch: brakes that sit unused can seize or rust, especially in coastal areas. Check the discs for heavy corrosion and make sure the car pulls up straight on a test drive.
The 12V battery nobody mentions
Every EV also has a small ordinary 12V battery that runs the computers, locks and screens. It is cheap, but when it dies the car can refuse to wake up or unlock at all, which feels like a catastrophic fault and is not. The RACV puts the average car battery’s life at two to six years, and an EV’s 12V is no different, with cars that sit unused for long stretches flattening it faster. On an older car, or one that has clearly been parked for months, factor in a fresh 12V battery. It is a $150 to $400 job, not a reason to panic.
Software, infotainment and pending updates
The screen is the dashboard, the controls and half the features. Before you buy:
- Check the infotainment boots quickly and the touchscreen responds everywhere, no dead zones.
- Test the cameras, the climate control, the phone connection and any driver-assist features the listing brags about.
- Ask whether there are pending over-the-air updates, and confirm the car has been accepting them. A car stuck on old software can miss range and charging improvements.
- Do a factory reset before money changes hands so the previous owner’s account, profiles and phone keys are wiped. On some cars the seller must also remove the VIN from their manufacturer account for you to gain full access.
Body, underbody and the paperwork
EVs rust and crash like anything else, and the battery lives under the floor.
- Underbody: get low and look for scrapes or damage to the battery casing along the floor. Kerb strikes and speed-bump gouges are red flags on a pack you cannot easily inspect.
- Panels and paint: mismatched gaps or paint tells you about past crash repairs. Cross-check anything suspicious against the PPSR write-off result.
- Tow and flood history: a car that has been submerged is a hard no on an EV. Water and high-voltage packs do not mix.
- Paperwork: match the VIN on the car to the rego papers and the PPSR certificate, confirm the service history is genuine, and make sure the sale receipt names the registered owner. If any of the three VINs disagree, walk.
Where to start on the car in front of you
The used EV market is genuinely good value right now, and the horror stories are the exception, not the rule. But “mostly fine” is not “this one is fine.” Do the two desk checks first, PPSR and recalls, so you never drive to inspect a car that was already a write-off. Then let one number lead: verify the battery’s State of Health with a certificate or your own reader, and price everything else, tyres, 12V, missing cables, off that. If a seller will not let you test the battery or run a fast charge, that is your answer. Walk. There is always another EV, and now you know exactly how to check it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check a used EV’s battery health in Australia?
Three ways: ask for a battery State of Health certificate (Pickles and independent services issue them), plug a Bluetooth OBD2 reader into the car and read SoH yourself in the driveway, or pay a mobile service like the NRMA’s to test it onsite in a few minutes. Above 90% is excellent, high-80s is fine on an older car, and anything creeping toward the 70% warranty floor is where you negotiate hard or walk.
How much does a PPSR check cost and is it worth it?
It costs $2 at the official government site, ppsr.gov.au. Yes, it is worth it. It tells you if the car has finance owing, has been stolen, or was written off, and if there is undisclosed finance the lender can repossess the car from you after you have paid.
Does the EV battery warranty transfer to me as the second owner?
Almost always, yes. Battery warranties are tied to the car’s VIN and build date, not the first owner, and the common terms are 8 years or 160,000km with a 70% capacity guarantee. Tesla’s Long Range and Performance cars run to 8 years or 192,000km. Confirm the exact terms in writing for the specific model before you buy.
