Pre-Purchase Inspections

[dexter666]

What do you guys or girls think about pre-purchase car inspections.When you think about it most dealers only give you 3 months warranty and then it's left to lady luck.Having an initial insp could save you loads in future.think price is about £90_£200 odd.

[pragmatix]

I allways do them once I have found waht I think is the right car pays off in the end. The last one was done by the AA think it was £99 non members get charged more but still worth it IMHO

[Stoney871]

Definitely worth a pre purchase check up.

Luckily i have a brother in law who owns his own garage so he does the checks for me.

[pragmatix]

Along with the look at many buy one approach

[jeebowhite]

If you have the money its well worth the inspection, I wish I had on my Focus, would have saved me many an hour of stress! as for my current car - well I got 5 years warranty left, I dont care :P but as a service going forward, I think I would get an inspection done by a trusted body!

[rojariggs]

I've only had limted experience of this and TBH I'm not impressed or sure if they're worth the money.

I had an inspection done on one car I bought (the AA) and only about six months into ownership it needed a new engine. This was on top of a set of tappets, a heater matrix, new front discs and a steering column adjuster that wouldn't lock.

I also had a potential buyer do an inspection on a car I was selling privately (the RAC this time) and they missed things that I thought they would have spotted that I knew about. This was a buckled wheel and something else (that I've now forgotten!). I know they missed them becuase I told the buyer about them myself. He wasn't bothered about them but did point out that the RAC never told him about them!

These inspections are just like any warranty - They can be worth their weight in gold but they can also be up to a couple of hundred for nowt. You makes your choices....

I'm another advocate of the "look at many, buy one" philosophy.