vehicle check before purchase

[dan76n]

Hi all,
Just wondering when purchasing a used car privately who gets an independent inspection done before the purchase by RACQ, state roads, ect.
Is it worth the couple of hundred dollars for this or not?

[platinumXR]

How well do you know your local mechanic?

[Streets]

It is definitely a good idea and unless I already knew the buyer beforehand I would not buy a car without it being inspected first, and even then I'd have to trust them very well.

[prydey]

i personally don't use them (raa in s.a.) as i have enough confidence in my own ability. i have had them come and inspect a couple of cars i had for sale though at the request of a prospective buyer. both times the buyer bought the vehicles but one of them i had to convince not to believe the report. these reports are written with a bias against the seller (well the one i was dealing with was). they can word things to make it sound like the car is about to fall apart.

i had just picked up an ef xr6 wagon. nice rare car. i owned a el futura wagon and i'd just had a full performance exhaust put on by exhaust tech. not wanting to sell it on with the car, i swapped the exhausts over. the xr6 had an oil leak at some stage that had left a bad stain on the cat converter. this was now on my el wagon. i'd also recently changed the water pump on the el and there were a few coolant stains still on t/stat housing and dripped on the a/c compressor where i'd not tidied up.

long story short (the el was mint condition 80 000km) the raa dude wrote on his report that it had an oil leak (based on the stain on cat converter) and that it had a coolant leak (based on coolant he could see). he gave the brakes a bit of a bad report too and made it sound like that would be $1000 right off the bat. the buyer had given me $200 deposit prior to the report. afterward she rang up sanging she wasn't going to buy it and was coming round to get her deposit. i informed her that deposits were non refundable. thats how it works. i'm surprised i could still hear after that. when they came around i had calmed down somewhat and talked them through the issues with the car. knocked $500 off (still got $13k) and they were happy again.

so after all that, no i don't use them because my experience with them is they aren't that cluey anyway. also be very wary if they are used on a car you are selling.

[IH8HSV]

Originally Posted by dan76n

Hi all,
Just wondering when purchasing a used car privately who gets an independent inspection done before the purchase by RACQ, state roads, ect.
Is it worth the couple of hundred dollars for this or not?

What sort of car are you looking at buying dan76n???

If you are wanting a nice looking EB Fairmont with 300000km plus on the clock with 19 inch chrome mags, 3 turbos, 5 inch exhaust, and ''P'' Plates on the windscreen...... Then yes! I would recommend an inspection.

If you are wanting a standard BA, white, family hub caps and a set of dice hanging off the rear view mirror - then No! - an inspection is not required.

In my opnion, your gut instinct is the best car inspection you need. : : :

[dan76n]

Looking at 2005 fairmont Ghia BF in white.
I used State roads about a month ago when I was going to Buy a XR6 and the only issue he found was a little orange peal in the paint, he first thought it had been resprayed but upon further inspestion felt it was original paint but just a poor effort from ford. I was set to purchase until I got a call from my dad asking if the colour wasshockwave as he read an artical in the paper about it, sure enough it was so I had another look at the car myself and read up about it on this forum and decided against as there was a few suspect chips I didnt notice. I told the State roads guy and he hadnt heard of the shockwave issue.
so The old man and this site saved me on that one not the inspection.

[ThePistonHead]

Yes I will always get inspections done.

Saved my *** once already, was looking at a $2800 car - report came back $2000 in repairs needed. It looked in mint condition too!

[prydey]

Originally Posted by dan76n

Looking at 2005 fairmont Ghia BF in white.
I used State roads about a month ago when I was going to Buy a XR6 and the only issue he found was a little orange peal in the paint, he first thought it had been resprayed but upon further inspestion felt it was original paint but just a poor effort from ford. I was set to purchase until I got a call from my dad asking if the colour wasshockwave as he read an artical in the paper about it, sure enough it was so I had another look at the car myself and read up about it on this forum and decided against as there was a few suspect chips I didnt notice. I told the State roads guy and he hadnt heard of the shockwave issue.
so The old man and this site saved me on that one not the inspection.

you could've been eligible for a complete free respray from ford

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by IH8HSV

What sort of car are you looking at buying dan76n???

If you are wanting a nice looking EB Fairmont with 300000km plus on the clock with 19 inch chrome mags, 3 turbos, 5 inch exhaust, and ''P'' Plates on the windscreen...... Then yes! I would recommend an inspection.

If you are wanting a standard BA, white, family hub caps and a set of dice hanging off the rear view mirror - then No! - an inspection is not required.

In my opnion, your gut instinct is the best car inspection you need. : : :

Sorry but you lost me with your BA comment.. Just because its bog stock doesnt mean theirs oil seeping out the timing cover, the diffs leaking, the diff bush needs replacing and the gearbox has worn bands..

At work I get RACQ's done on 12 month old cars and even then we continually find issues. I seen an FG G6 go in with 15,000 kays and they found 3 faults with the car, the main being a leaking diff seal. Obviously getting an RACQ done on a car thats under warranty isnt imperative however they also look at whether the cars had any accident repairs etc aswell!

Therefore I would always suggest people go with RACQ reports, and also carry out REVs checks on cars they buy, especially from private sellers. Also note when you complete a revs check you must do it on all 3 identifiers, VIN, REGO, Engine Number as sometimes banks dont always lodge leans over cars with the rego number in place.. Same goes for some of the written off lists!

As for Shockwave painted cars, I dunno about being excited by a free paint job on a car thats less then a 5 years old, its not exactly an easy process of having to strip the car back to bare metal and hoping it will be the same / better then the way it came outta the factory, sadly they never come back the same...

The only other advice i can give is try and get the owner to get all the service records together, as in the invoices received by the service agents each service, if theres an issue that has poped up regularly then you can bet your last dollar its gonna reoccur!

[FPV+fteT3]

If you know nothing about cars or the car you are looking at is miles away from your preferred mechanic then yes get it done. When I bought the TE I paid for it without even seeing it but I knew the owner was a serious T owner and other forum members who had seen the car assured me it was perfect and it was, so the forum is a useful tool in deciding on a car particularly interstate vehicles some members are very passionate about certain models and know where to look and what is prone to failure and wear etc... My subie was second hand 1 owner all services logged all receipts kept another car that I bought without driving it has now done 25,000km since I bought it and hasn't missed a beat perfect cond older owner etc...I do know what to look for when inspecting a car though.
My cars are meticulously maintained and if I come to sell them would recommend any inspection and an owner who is confident in their car would not be worried about an inspection or 2 this would indicate to me a car worth buying as the owner has nothing to hide.
Not much point in getting an inspection done on something with taxi mileage as it is bound to have Issues however if the price is right and you dont mind getting your hands dirty and mechanically inclined get it.

[GTP370]

Regardless how old and what type, I think the inspection is worth while (unless the purchase price is very little). I recently purchased a used car privately and had the manufacture service centre complete an inspection including compression test. Also had a representative from a body repair shop inspect the body.

This only cost $300 and was well worth it for peace of mind.

Cars that have a up to date service record help, especially with the one service centre helps.

And don't for get the REVs check.

[Yellow_Festiva]

When I was getting a car for my mum, I arranged an inspection and it was well worth it. They did find a few issues that gave me a bit of leverage on the purchase price, but what I was most impressed with was a gadget that measured paint thickness.

Car had uniform thickness all over (meaning no bodywork repairs), but he was telling me of many newish cars that had doors, gaurds etc come up a few mm over the rest of the car, meaning that at some stage the panel was repaired. (and falsely advertised by the owners as never being in a bingle or having panel work done).

Cheers

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

but he was telling me of many newish cars that had doors, gaurds etc come up a few mm over the rest of the car, meaning that at some stage the panel was repaired. (and falsely advertised by the owners as never being in a bingle or having panel work done).

Cheers

nope, you can get a fair amount of variation from new cars with no accident history.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by prydey

nope, you can get a fair amount of variation from new cars with no accident history.

Define a 'fair amount'?

We are talking about flat car panels being sprayed at a factory by robots. There shouldn't be any more that say a variation of +/- 10% in the thickness of any given panel.

These tools measure for dramatic variation. If you have a car with a paint thickness averaging between .3mm and .4mm measured across a dozen spots, then get to a spot that measures 1.3mm, it is safe to assume that at some stage the panel was repaired and skimmed over with filler.

http://www.defelsko.com/applications...aint-meter.htm

This link further explains the device in question.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Umm some new cars go straight to the panel shop off the truck, and the owner never knows!!!

Stuff happens to them all the time when they are in transit, so its not necessarily the seller lieing, its probably the fact that they bought a dud to start with!

[IH8HSV]

Quoting your last post bfiipursuit...."Sorry but you lost me with your BA comment.. Just because its bog stock doesnt mean theirs oil seeping out the timing cover, the diffs leaking, the diff bush needs replacing and the gearbox has worn bands..

If you can find anyone that does vehical inspections in Australia that can pick up that a gear box has worn bands with a visual inspection - then let me know.

Also.... If you can find anyone that can spot a timing cover oil leak after the motor has been decreased then this would be another bloke ild like to know.

As for the inspection of the diff bush... Ha ha! If a vehicle examiner can spot that then he is doing very well.

I was just saying that a gut instinct goes along way when buying any vehicle.

[MITCHAY]

I got a $200 inspection done by NRMA before buying my car and it turned out to being close to 5/5 as you could get.

A few hundred could save you a few thousand.

Obviously if you think it's a bit dodgy it might be a good idea to back away.

[Buzz Box]

I personally get the RACV check etc because it covers your ****.

I know there not 100% and half the time they are extremerly biased because they're working for the dealer and not you. But at least you get a heads up or a bargaining tool and if anything goes wrong in a short period of time you can go but on here you said its ok.

Thats my theory anyway....

[silvergsvan]

My experience is that the RACV (or equivalent) tend to get petty but you just have to weigh up what they tell you against what you want to do. I have no mechanical expertise so I get the advice of others (same with everything, really). Cars can easily be made to look better than they are to fool those whose hearts rule their heads.

[veqlargh]

When i bought my AU i got a loan from RAC which came with a complimentary inspection. Didn't pick anything up but i reckon its worth getting, especially if its free.

[lostdude]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Define a 'fair amount'?

Most cars from the factory are between 80 to 150 microns, depending on manufacturer.

And variations of between 25 microns is pretty common. especially on surfaces that are not completely flat.

[Lightning Strike XR6]

I took mine to my mechanic and he chucked it on the hoist and went right through it.

Was good as he spotted all sorts of things.

Then we got the cost of repairs off the purchase price.

Well worth it

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by lostdude

Most cars from the factory are between 80 to 150 microns, depending on manufacturer.

And variations of between 25 microns is pretty common. especially on surfaces that are not completely flat.

Thanks for clearing that up. The +/-10% variation was just a figure I used for arguments sake. 80-150 microns is paper thin!

I understand that cars may need repair after leaving the factory, however the qty that fall into this bracket are the exception rather than the rule.