Vehicle inspection by prospective buyer.

[eljefino]

Originally Posted by Mackelroy
For sale (AS IS) no warranty


That's great, but letting the buyer do the inspection sets a nice baseline for when they come back.

"Hey, the ashtray light burned out and it's your fault."

"Was it like that on the test drive? Did you notice that on your inspection?"

If they say yes, you ask why it didn't bother them.
If they say no, then it happened on their watch.

The idiots who buy beaters without inspecting them (themselves or via a pro) are also just praying that the car holds together-- if it moves, it's not seeing a mechanic.

 

[Colvin]

When I worked for a mom and pop garage we did quite a few ppi's. I remember a mom was looking at a Chevy impala for her daughter from a small dealer. I gave it a good 1/2 hour look over and found body and door gaps didn't match, dug a little deeper and found slightly crumpled fire wall and barley noticeable floor crease the car had been in a accident. The mom was so thankful she gave me a $30 dollar tip.

 

[ryster]

Originally Posted by JustinH
There are people out there with no relationship with a mechanic or shop to do an inspection on a car?

Where do they take their current cars?

I could call 3-4 guys who own shops who would all say "bring it right over".

There are also some pre-purchase inspection services that go to check out a car from head to tow, and give you a full PDF report.


I have owned a lot of cars over the past 30 years. I have never used an independent mechanic. Oh, there are plenty around and there are maybe two that I would use in a pinch if I had to [based on their reputation.] Otherwise, for anything I cannot do myself I just take it to the dealer. Sure, I pay more. However, I think that the technicians at dealers have a little edge up on the "quirks" that models they see day in and day out exhibit and have easier access to manufacturer released service guides and tools. It is just my preference as I would rather take it to the place that sees 5-10 Equinoxes a week, as opposed to the guy that may only see 1 a week.

This is also a family thing. I remember one occasion growing up when my Dad used a local independent at the advice of our neighbor as well as general high reputation. Took 2-3 days to get something "fixed", only to ultimately later end up at the dealer to get it fixed correctly and returned same day. Would have been cheaper to just have gone to the dealer to begin with.

 

[SeaJay]

Maybe the OP is leaving a few dollars on the table, but pricing it so people show up right away with cash in hand wanting to drive the vehicle away is a pretty stress free way to sell a car with no hassles.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by JustinH
There are people out there with no relationship with a mechanic or shop to do an inspection on a car?

Where do they take their current cars?

I could call 3-4 guys who own shops who would all say "bring it right over".

I don't. I used to trust a local shop but they retired, and they weren't VW specialists so for a while I was driving 2 hours to get service on my prior VW--I was happy when a local guy opened up who was only 45 minutes from home. Then he went out, I only had the local non-specialized shop, and away the VW went.

There's a shop I've been going to for inspections lately, and I use them occasionally for alignments. I chickened out on changing leaf springs on my truck so I had them do that. There's a tire shop that I've been using for tires as I don't have a tire balancer (yet). But otherwise... I usually handle the work myself. My fleet is too new to need a lot of work.