I did a personal check on used cars a lot for at least 2 months however I was not satisfied... I took a fair bit of advice from some local people here... But first of all there is no such rule or steps to follow... A used car always comes with a lot of risk... U may not get the right or complete history when going for a personal dealing... Unless you have some good source to verify the condition of the car... There are places in the Industrial area where you can get the car checked... This is very important... The lesser the mileage done on the car the lesser chance it has to be mal-handled... And I was always told by the locals to buy something which has good resale value... Like Toyota, Honda etc.. But the point is y to buy a used car when one can get a good new car with good monthly installments...!!! I am not sure which car you are exactly looking for coz that changes the view... Like e.g. a person looking to buy a BMW should look for a 2 yr old car max ... Coz BMWs usually come with a free servicing for the first 5 yrs (max)...

All the best ...