Blairc

If you were about to purchase a car in a part of the country you did not really know and you had limited mechanical experience how would you go about making sure that it wasn’t a banger in disguise?

As far as I’m aware my only options are to go for a car inspection with a company like the AA. Has anyone used the AA and how knowledgeable did you find them? Or has someone out there used another national company to provide this service, if so who was it and how did you find the service?

Cheers,

Chris

martin_oleary

Hi Chris,

It's going back a bit, but I used an RAC inspection on a car I ended up buying and found it pretty good. The guy who inspected the car called me after he'd looked at it and went through the report that is posted to you and basically gave me a 'yes, in his opinion the car was sound' aswell as a breakdown of all the things he found. It was fairly expensive and a lot of the stuff they go through (lights, locks, tyre wear etc) you can easily check yourself, but I felt confident that after the inspection I wasn't buying a car that had been welded back together or something and would use it again.

Martin

Mick

iTrader: (1)

AA or RAC will do you an extended warranty on a vehicle they have checked too. Might be worth considering depending on type of vehicle...

Mick

Blairc

BTTT

chiark

Take it to a specialist if you can - when I sold mine, the buyer (Hi Chrome!) and I agreed to give it the once over at TSL, which the buyer paid for. TSL knows what they're looking for, whacked it up on a ramp, spent an hour looking at it and gave a detailed report for a very fair price.

An RAC/AA roadside inspection happens on the side of a road, which ain't great, and IMHO the inspector will likely not have the specific knowledge of the car to give you anything meaningful. I also get the impression that they'll find something - anything - to justify the price of the inspection, which ain't cheap, and I feel this is a silly way to do things.

Only my opinion and experience

urban

iTrader: (1)

I've had the RAC inspect a car I was selling.

They did the inspection at the dealers, using the ramps to check fully underneath etc.
They check for panel replacement/paint etc and do a road test, but only if its a UK registered car/MOT'd.

A friend of mine tried to get the RAC to inspect an EVO7, but as it was a JAP import and not registered/MOTD they wouldn't touch it.

Shaun