carcheck.ie

MM3

Hi,

Thinking of buying an 02 alfa 147 as a weekend car but would like to get it checked out professionally before buying, I've seen carcheck mentioned a couple of times - has anyone had good/bad experiences with them, or recommend someone else in Dublin area?

Thanks,

M

Mike2006

What is the reg number of it?

cormie

Definitely worth it. I used it buying a Ford Transit there just a week ago. About 9pm, Friday night I rang up carcheck to see if they worked Saturday, at 1pm the next day I had my report and shook hands with the seller over the phone;) The seller said fair play to them, that most of these guys come in and have a look for 5 minutes. He said your man from carcheck was at it for about an hour, took it out for a long spin etc.

I got a pretty detailed report, he even went as far as saying the wiper blades had to be replaced and that the knob for the heat was a bit stiff as well as a things I hadn't a clue about, the brakes for example, worked fine but he said with a full load on a hill, would give me trouble. I'm still waiting on the full report in the post but it should be here soon.

Before carcheck checked the van, I had agreed E2,600 with the seller. Before I bought it, I was told E2,250-2,400 would be fairer considering the work needed. I mentioned this back to the seller and we agreed on E2,300 cash.

The first check is E150 and the second is E125, not sure about the third or subsequent but I'd say you could get him down to E100 perhaps. I got two checks done, so that was E275, so I got peace of mind, a full report so I know what needs to be done and wont get some dodgy mechanic loading on a pile of stuff that isn't necessary and he made me get the price down a further E300, so really, I saved money by using them:)

Your man sounds like a real nice (and honest) guy too.

Best of luck with it!

MM3

Mike2006 wrote:

What is the reg number of it?

Mike - don't think I should be giving the reg number out on a public forum , but there aren't too many black 02's on carzone...

MM3

cormie wrote:

Definitely worth it. I used it buying a Ford Transit there just a week ago. About 9pm, Friday night I rang up carcheck to see if they worked Saturday, at 1pm the next day I had my report and shook hands with the seller over the phone;) The seller said fair play to them, that most of these guys come in and have a look for 5 minutes. He said your man from carcheck was at it for about an hour, took it out for a long spin etc.

Thanks cormie, I'll give them a call this morning, they seem to be based in Limerick so I'm not sure if they will cover Dublin. I haven't seen the car in the flesh yet myself so if I'm happy with it I'll get them to check it over.

M

cormie

They cover all 32 counties but the 6 Northern counties are a bit more expensive, how much more, I don't know.

I forgot to mention that my first test was a van down in Galway. Had a report within 24 hours of me booking it so saved me a lot of hassle going all the way to Galway to have a look at a vehicle. So it allows you to have a much larger range of cars and if it's worth the travelling, you'll know it before you set off:)

bazz26

MM3 wrote:

Hi,

Thinking of buying an 02 alfa 147 as a weekend car but would like to get it checked out professionally before buying, I've seen carcheck mentioned a couple of times - has anyone had good/bad experiences with them, or recommend someone else in Dublin area?

Thanks,

M

I would get it checked out by an Alfa Romeo specialist to be honest. They know exactly what to look for. Ti Autos I think are based in Dublin and come highly recommended on this forum. Just do a search for "Alfa Romeo" threads here and you will get a good few references to specialists.

neacy69

MMS,
I've recently bought (3 months ago) a '03 147 very similar to the one your looking at and am very very happy with. The mileage on the one your looking is 33,000 and its recommended that your change the timing belt and variators(sp?) every 36,000 so be sure to factor that into the price your gonna pay for it.

Beautiful car to own and great car to drive...so best of luck with it!

etrusco

Carcheck aka Bernard kelly is a fantastic service and I highly recommend it. You get a exactly what you're looking for when buying a second hand car. He sends you out a full report. I had him look at two cars for me and I was highly impressed. he knows every trick that a dealer tries to play and doesn't mess around. You will find out as much as there is to know about a car. I have already passed on his number to a couple of friends who are looking at cars. Especially after they saw the 5 page report on the car I finnally bought. For safefy sake I reckon I will always use this guy when buying a car. He is also far cheaper nver mind better than alot of other services around.

Anan1

bazz26 wrote:

I would get it checked out by an Alfa Romeo specialist to be honest. They know exactly what to look for. Ti Autos I think are based in Dublin and come highly recommended on this forum. Just do a search for "Alfa Romeo" threads here and you will get a good few references to specialists.

This is the best advice you're likely to get, I wouldn't even consider buying an Alfa without getting Gerry to have a look at it.

Nom-IzZ

I had berhard vist me last august when i was selling my car. To be honest he is very good even pointing out a few things that I did not know about. However he mentioned to me the main things that needed to be done ie new pads etc,which I had in the boot but not fitted, however when he started talking about replacing the window wipers and few other things I thought he was taking the pi$s. To be honest my car was priced to sell, slightly below market/goin rate, purely because the tax was up/pads needed to be fitted etc,

In the end I didnt budge on the price and she gladly took the car off me,

watsgone

I see their based in limerick, whats the deal is it office hours or do you contant on line.
Great Service IDea

cormie

I rang him at 9pm Friday evening to see if he could check a car out Saturday morning, I thought it was a bit pointless ringing but he gave me a verbal report by 1 the next day and I ended up buying:)

He also said to me it needed new wipers and other nigly bits. It is of course my choice, but it just shows how much the car is checked out. I suppose he's just stating what needs to be done to get the car as good as it can be. Nothing wrong with that:)