WHILE lemons are a welcome addition to pancake day, they could turn things sour in the search for a used car bargain, the AA has warned.

"Lemon is a generic term used to describe a dodgy car," said the AA's Chris Dobson.

"One in three cars we check has a hidden history and it's impossible to tell just by looking whether a car is stolen, has outstanding finance, is an insurance write-off or may have done more miles than the clock states."

Mr Dobson said an AA Car Data Check could identify a lemon in a matter of minutes, revealing the true history of a vehicle and making the search for a used car bargain a safer experience.

The check uses a car's registration plus its 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number to discover its history.

"An AA Card Data Check is quick and simple, costs about the same as a tank of fuel and is the first thing that used car buyers should consider before even leaving the house to view a car," said Mr Dobson.

South West driver Guy Edge is one of those to have benefited by playing it safe.

The AA was able to tell him the car he was about to travel up to Birmingham to view was an insurance write-off, even though the vendor had stated it was not.

"As far as I was concerned I could easily find a similar car that hadn't been in a crunch, so I gave that one a wide berth," said Mr Edge.

"Lemons are sold every day to unwitting buyers fortunately I'm not one of them."

An AA Car Data Check costs £36.99. Call 0800 056 6000 or book online at www.theaa.com.