What a vehicle valuer actually checks
Twenty minutes, a clipboard and a clear methodology. Here is exactly what determines your loan ceiling.
An AVA-certified valuer follows a published checklist when they arrive at your home, office or workshop. There is no theatre, no improvisation, no eye-balling the car and writing a number that feels right. Every line on their report maps to a measurable observation: chassis and engine numbers, body condition, mileage, service history, tyres, interior wear, accident markers, glass, electrics, and current market comparables for the make, model and year.
The output is a market value figure that drives your maximum loan-to-value ratio (our partner caps at 90% of that figure). Nothing about the visit is decorative. Every line item maps to a number, and the valuer is required to defend the final figure in writing. That is the difference between an AVA-certified valuation and the quick guess a back-room broker might offer over WhatsApp.
The chassis and engine number check is the most important part of the visit. The valuer compares the stamped numbers on the car against the logbook record and the NTSA database. A mismatch is not necessarily fraud — sometimes engines have been replaced legitimately and sometimes the logbook was transcribed wrong years ago — but it does need to be reconciled before any loan can move forward. If you know your car has had a replacement engine, bring the paperwork. It saves a day.
Body condition is scored on a five-point scale per panel. Light scratches and parking dings barely move the number. Structural damage, mismatched paint, and visible weld lines on chassis members can knock 15 to 20% off market value because they imply prior accident repair that may have compromised the car's structural integrity. If the car has been in an accident, declaring it up front is almost always cheaper than having it discovered.
Mileage is cross-checked against service records and the year of manufacture. A 2018 saloon showing 38,000 km will be queried because that mileage is implausibly low for a seven-year-old car in normal Kenyan use. The valuer is not accusing you of anything; they are protecting both sides from a tampered odometer. Bring service invoices that span several years and the question dies quickly.
Tyres, brakes and suspension are inspected for safety, not just value. A car with bald tyres will still be valued, but the valuer will note it on the report and your lender may want it remedied before disbursement. Same with cracked windscreens and inoperative lights. None of these are deal-breakers; they are all easy fixes that you can sort in the gap between valuation and disbursement.
Interior condition is mostly about wear-versus-age. A 2015 PSV with shredded seats will still be valued as a 2015 PSV; the valuer expects PSV interiors to wear faster. A 2022 private car with shredded seats will raise an eyebrow because it implies hard use that the rest of the car may also reflect. The valuer is building a story about how the car has been treated, and consistency matters.
Market comparables are the part most borrowers don't see. The valuer pulls recent transaction prices for the same make, model, year and trim from the auction houses, dealer listings, and recent valuation reports. That is what anchors the final figure. Your car is not valued in isolation — it is valued against what cars exactly like it actually sell for in Kenya right now.
Things that do not affect the valuation: how new the car looks today (cleaning is great but it doesn't change the fundamentals), whether you bought it new (resale value is the same regardless of original buyer), or whether you have made cosmetic upgrades (custom rims and tints are valued at near zero — they are a personal preference that the next buyer may not share).
Bring the original logbook, your ID, and ideally a recent service invoice or two. If you have a comprehensive insurance certificate, bring that as well — it is not strictly required for the valuation but it speeds things later. The faster the valuer can verify, the faster your offer firms up. Most visits wrap in under twenty minutes once everyone is in the same place at the same time.
After the visit, the valuer uploads the report directly to the partner's credit desk. You see the final figure within an hour, usually less. If you disagree with the valuation, you can request a second opinion from a different AVA-certified valuer at the partner's expense if your reasoning is documented. In practice, second opinions almost never move the figure by more than a few percent, because the methodology is standardised across all AVA valuers.