A Pre-Purchase Inspection Is A Must

In the summer months there is a real increase in cars that are bought and sold in Queensland. The inquiries for pre-purchase inspections have increased, however I have people shopping around for price rather than asking about our experience and what we cover during the inspection.

Whilst I realise money does not grow on trees and it is important not to waste your hard erned cash it could be a false economy. Going cheap in this situation to save $20 or $50 rather than reasearching experienced of the companies normally costs you soon after the purchase.  Some people really do their homework and ask the right questions and enjoy the thorough and friendly service our team has to offer.

Below is a report sent to the parents of a potential buyer who wanted what a lot of young guys desire, being a Suburu. Unfortunately the inspector found $1000’s of dollars of issues that would need to be rectified in order to make the car safe and provide any sort of trouble free driving.

When you read the notes our experienced inspector has made in terms of the oil smelling burnt and the noise that is coming from the motor and gearbox, this car has serious issues that would require a potential stripping of the motor to replace rings and other components.

Clearly you want an inexperience mechanic looking at cars like this as it would have been a very expensive mistake had they not had the pre-purchase inspection. For a couple of hundered dollars our team can save you thousands and invariably we do. This is because we have been conducting pre-purchase inspections on vehicles for over 18 years. That is the sort of information you need to know when looking for a pre-purchase inspection company, not wether you can save $20.

Above is minimum list we work through and supplied to the potential purchaser. We have pre-purchase inspection sheets for cars, trucks, vans, motorbikes and more. These sheets merely highlight an issue that our team investigates further. Noisy motors and low oil levels indicates a couple of things like

• Poor maintenance
• Oil is being burnt whilst driving
• Smelly oil also indicates the motor is burning oil and or has been running hot.
• This may also be tied to the coolant leak which may have caused the engine to run hot.

From an overall perspective, all the signs point to a car that has been poorly maintained and has not had regular professional care. In this case the seller could not bother to give the car a minor service which may have hid the burning oil issue initially. The brake fluid is old and has not been changed. This sort of thing screams out “don’t buy the car”.

Normally sellers try to hide things buy doing a quick clean up and service. Our experienced inspectors are aware of this and when the waft of burnt oil hits their nose, they let the car run longer to see what happens. This can result in the car blowing smoke, engine noises and overheating.