Pre Purchase Inspection, Worth it?

I've done it twice on cars for my wife mainly b/c if I didn't I wouldn't hear the end of it. My "regular" mechanic never charges me, so its just a matter of getting the seller to agree to letting me take it for an extended test drive. Both cases were well loved cars that seemed too good to be true. The first car (a Saab 9-5) had issues found that were addressed and it provided 6 years of trouble free driving for her. The second was her Lexus that we've had for a year without any issues.

I've also bought 2 ridiculously cheap Saab 9-3s that I didn't bother with because they were so cheap and I wanted to get the deal done before the seller thought about it more.

Well I test drove it... 30 lbs of boost is excellent.

It's been sitting for 6 months, drove well, had an oil leak, possibly says was fixed. But,it smokes from under the cab when stopped at lights, don't know of its old oil burning off or sometjing else. It smelled diesel like, exhaust leak maybe?

Either way it's at the shop for inspection.

Diesel?

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

Yup 6.4l Ford.

In reply to java230:

I found this: Ford Owners Site

You have to register, but if you have the VIN you should be able to add it to your "account" and view the dealer service history.

I often get people asking me if they can do a PPI on my sub $1k project cars. I always say no. Can you imagine the field day a mechanic would have diagnosing a $1k project car.

I usually say this isn't the car for you.

I have never paid to have one done, even on something as risky as a 964 from ebay. I kinda/sorta trust myself to tell good from bad and to be a good interviewer when talking to the owner. I bail at sketchy vibes so if I get to the part where I look at the car I've already got some confidence in the deal and I usually do my homework so I know what I'm looking at/for.

That said - if I was buying a true exotic with real money on the line I would have no issue having it vetted by a bon-eeee-fyde expert. That means they need to have a reputation as an expert though. I'm not cold calling garages to see if there is someone there who might have experience with Ferrari 360s who wants to take a joy ride in one. So, it's going to be expensive, and it's going to come with a written report and maybe a bill for shipping and the seller will be offered the opportunity to share some of that cost in return for a copy of the report if I want to walk away

In reply to CobraSpdRH:

Thanks!

Just got the results back.

Oil and trans leaks, cant pinpoint due to underside being oily. Oil and trans fluid low.

Fuel cooler fluid low.

A few stored codes.

P0284 No 8Cyl, Injector balance rate high 19%, and Cyl contribution. sticky.low flowing injector? Causing low contribution?

P0676 No 6 cyl glow plug. Dead plug or harness is my guess.

You've already done it, but I'll throw my opinion in anyways:

I just bought a Honda Accord for $700. No way was I doing a PPI for that car. Similarly, I looked at a 1998 4Runner the other night. Didn't for that car either, even though it was more money. I figure that I can find most issues with a flashlight, looking at things and feeling things, and driving it. And I was right--I found a rusty frame, I found a holey exhaust (both saw the holes and heard it), and I knew what to look for in it.

A miata is an interesting case. I'll do it for a Miata, if only because it is a pain in the butt to get underneath it. I'll pay someone to put it up on a lift just so I can see underneath, and since I'm doing that much effort I'll have them do the rest of the PPI anyways. What would happen if I were to jack it up and send the jack through the frame, and I got sued? Unlikely, but it could happen. Put the liability on the shop.

Then, for things like BMW's--well, there are a lot more things to look for that could be a bigger dollar figure than a Miata. I'd send most in for a PPI.

Scooter wrote: I often get people asking me if they can do a PPI on my sub $1k project cars. I always say no. Can you imagine the field day a mechanic would have diagnosing a $1k project car. I usually say this isn't the car for you.

Really? They want to spend 25% of the cost of the car on an inspection? That's nuts.

codrus wrote:

Scooter wrote: I often get people asking me if they can do a PPI on my sub $1k project cars. I always say no. Can you imagine the field day a mechanic would have diagnosing a $1k project car. I usually say this isn't the car for you.

Really? They want to spend 25% of the cost of the car on an inspection? That's nuts.

Yes really. When I sold my Galant VR-4 I had someone ask if they could trailer it 1.5 hours away to their good buddy's place first for a PPI. I knew how that would play out: "My buddy said the car needs thousands and the engines gonna blow. I don't want it so you can come pick it up now."

Well I'm glad I did it, they found a couple issues I wouldn't have. $135 well spent for me.

Owner is taking it to another shop to see what he can get done as far as motor issues (leaks mostly) as its only 2 months out of warranty.

Yeah, for something $2500 or less I don't bother with a PPI. Most of my PPI purchases have been for cars $15k or more.

Even with PPI's I've gotten majorly burned.

I didn't do a PPI with my Cayenne and got caught by one large job, everything else I expected. This car came with a fairly complete service history though, so I knew all the known weak spots had already been addressed.

On my M3 I knew about a bunch of stuff, (also no PPI) and got caught out by four small things that'll add up to a few thousand dollars. Again, par for the course. I didn't do a PPI on this car because I'm really comfortable working on it and can handle the parts prices...

I've come to expect to have to fix one large thing that costs a few thousand dollars on any used car I buy. Figure that's why the previous owner got rid of it.

docwyte wrote: I've come to expect to have to fix one large thing that costs a few thousand dollars on any used car I buy. Figure that's why the previous owner got rid of it.

This is a good way to think about it, I did the PPI since I am not familiar wiht the platform and wanted to know how big of a "thing" money wise it would need.

Quote from the shop that did the PPI was $3500 to fix everything except the oil leaks and any trans issues. But did include pulling and reinstalling the trans. (up pipe is leaking and its either cab off or trans out to get there, DIY can be done with the cab on and cutting the down pipe in half. its just tight and not fun)

A lot of times I'll use a PPI as a bargaining tool. Sure I can tell someone whats wrong with their car, but when a shop spells it out in writing, and assigns a cost to the repairs it seems to make a big difference in my experience. Generally the PPIs will pay for themselves in one way or another.

I don't do PPIs on cheaper cars or bikes unless I'm buying sight unseen and road-tripping back. The really expensive stuff I almost always have checked out unless it's a fire sale type deal where if you jerk the seller around too much they just move on.

I get one depending on how much I am spending. They usually are around $150 which are money well spent if your buying a car north of $10k. If you think about it its 1% of the purchase price, chump change in the grand scheme.

In reply to Cotton:

Exactly, Issues are known in writing, no arguing about it.

In reply to jonnyd330:

Yeah thats what I thought as well, small price to pay in the grand scheme.

Question for you guys who get PPIs frequently: Do they always include an estimate for the work, or does that come separately?

ManhattanM (fka NY535iManual) wrote: Question for you guys who get PPIs frequently: Do they always include an estimate for the work, or does that come separately?

I had to ask, but they were happy to do it for me. Aside from the trans work which they outsource.

welllll....

I was just reading the diagnostic sheet from the mechanics again, The codes were last cleared 13k miles ago... Those are likely old codes from the last motor, it died from #8 injector failure... Thats why the check engine light wasn't on. The new (reman) motor has only been in for 4k miles!

Im guessing they are just old stored codes!

In reply to java230:

I not that familiar with Ford ecus but I've almost never seen codes stored after disconnecting the battery. I'm assuming the battery was disconnected when swapping the motor. Maybe I'm missing something obvious here, but I think the codes would have to be more recent...

I've only done it once. I had a buddy that opened up a small repair shop in the town I lived in. He knew I did all of my own work and know my way around a vehicle but I wanted to try to help him out a little and had him do a PPI on a truck I was looking to buy as he was having a slow first week. I had a brief look around it and saw the rusty brake lines but that's not that uncommon for an Ohio truck. Dropped it off and he called me back in about an hour to come look at what he found. He found that the thing had spent some time being mostly submerged. Certainly higher than the dash, he pulled some interior trim to confirm and it had a muddy water line halfway up the A pillars on both sides. Whomever cleaned the truck up after the flood or whatever happened to it did a decent job of cleaning it up, but he found enough evidence to convince me not to buy it.

In reply to mrjre42:

ECU says codes were last cleared 13k ago. I would have tought the same thing tho.

You bet it is worth it! Trick is to find a shop that you can trust to do the job properly.

When I bought a BMW Z4MC this summer, I was recovering from a knee replacement, so I couldn't even drive the car. I made a deal subject to inspection and had the owner take it to a local BMW shop, who went over it and sent me a report along with every code the car had ever had, as well as spending time on the phone with me to go over their report, all for $150. Probably a loss leader price intended to get my future business, which it will likely do.

Had I not been hors de combat, I would have done some of the inspection myself but would still have sent it to the shop for a read out of all previous service and for the parts of the due diligence inspection it is difficult to do yourself.

It would depend on the car for me, not necesarily price. On the vette, i knew the big things, and i knew i was buying a turd, but i could fix everything. So if i missed something, no big deal, i just have to fix it.

On a porsche or something im not familar with, id definitely pay someone