What a good pre-buy covers
Complete logbook review: continuity of entries, AD and service-bulletin compliance, damage history, and whether hours claimed match component records.
Physical inspection focused on the type's known weak points: corrosion in the places this model corrodes, spar and gear attach areas, engine borescope, avionics function, and a review of what the last annuals actually inspected versus signed off.
A title and lien check. An aircraft can carry undisclosed charges; in many registries these survive the sale.
Who should do it
Choose an inspector independent of the selling broker and of the maintenance shop that has been signing the aircraft off — fresh eyes find what routine familiarity overlooks.
For turbine aircraft, use a specialist pre-buy facility and expect the process to take one to two weeks including borescope and trend-data review. The cost is a rounding error against the exposure.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or airworthiness advice. Rules change; verify current requirements with the competent authority and qualified advisers.