AA/motorcheck car inspection... worth it?

af_thefragile

I was wondering if its worth paying the 390eur for AA or 199eur for motorcheck's vehicle inspection thing before buying a used car...

Has anyone got this done and is it any more beneficial or useful than just getting a mechanic to look over the car?

Cheers.

TestTransmission

Do you know a mechanic or anyone who knows a bit about cars?

Henry Ford III

If you avoid a "wrong'un" by paying for this it'll have been well worth it.

Anan1

For a cheapish car with no SH I think the money would be better put away for repair work. But then again, i'd be waiting for the right car at the right price with FSH.

af_thefragile

TestTransmission wrote: »

Do you know a mechanic or anyone who knows a bit about cars?

Nope... that's the problem... Still asking around friends if they know anyone but lately most of them have failed to come with any help...

af_thefragile

Anan1 wrote: »

For a cheapish car with no SH I think the money would be better put away for repair work. But then again, i'd be waiting for the right car at the right price with FSH.

That is true. For the 390eur that AA charges and even the 200eur that motorcheck is charging, I could get significant repairs done on the car.

I like the color of the car and as I mentioned, it is almost 1500eur cheaper than one I looked at with a FSH. Which is the reason why I'm so tempted to buy this one...

With the 1500eur I save, I could get significant amount of repairs done on the car and I'll know it'll be a good job (as I'll be looking over it) and won't just have to take some dealer or sellers word that "it has been serviced and everything is fine with it"...

ToxicPaddy

I bought my current car in 2007 from a private seller, got a complete AA check on it before hand, a condition of the sale was it passed this.

The AA mechanic took the car away for a whole day, did a complete check on the bodywork, engine, electrics etc..

It came back with a clean bill of health and even come recommendations regarding what I should get checked when the next service comes up and a full report on the car, similar to what you get from the NCT.

To this day I have only had one small issue with the car.

For the sake of spending €380 I probably saved spending 5 times that if the car had been a lemon..

Well worth it imo..

Tox

Flesh Gorden

Could you negotiate it into the sale of the car?

If the seller has nothing to hide there should be no problem,
even at least have the seller go halves on the check, even if you pull out of the sale


Personally I'd consider getting one done on anything turbo charged and/or diesel as I'm not familiar with either

I was looking at a GT-4 yesterday which I would defiantly get professionally checked


I got my current car with no history but cosmetically perfect
and I can guarantee most people would have torched it by now,
so go with your head unless like me you where after bit of a project and are willing to change and re-build major parts

VolvoMan

I've heard of many cases at this stage of their inspectors missing many a problem on cars, usually major ones.

Anan1

Flesh Gorden wrote: »

Could you negotiate it into the sale of the car?

If the seller has nothing to hide there should be no problem,
even at least have the seller go halves on the check, even if you pull out of the sale

Unless the seller's a complete fool that's not going to happen.

Flesh Gorden

Anan1 wrote: »

Unless the seller's a complete fool that's not going to happen.

If I was selling a car for close to €10k I'd prefer to include a €200 check at the asking price then be bargained down €500+ by someone else

Anan1

Flesh Gorden wrote: »

If I was selling a car for close to €10k I'd prefer to include a €200 check at the asking price then be bargained down €500+ by someone else

Firstly, i'd imagine the car is under €3000. Secondly, it's not an either/or type situation. And thirdly, who in their right mind would pay for someone else to have a car professionally appraised with no certainty of the deal going ahead?

It may perhaps be a possibility with a cherished specimen in which the owner has full confidence, but a 10-year old car with no service history? Not going to happen.

af_thefragile

^The car is well under 3000eur and so I'm really considering if it'ld be worth paying 390eur AA or 199eur motorcheck vehicle inspection to just find out all the faults and problems with it when I could instead spend such money on fixing any problems that the car might have.

If I was buying a 10keur car, I'ld definitely get the inspection done but at this price range, I'm really not very sure if it'll be money better spent on parts/repair rather than inspection...

poker--addict

Can yout tell me what companies offer this..
1) AA
2) motorcheck
3)...
4)...

Mc Love

I got the AA one for a car I bought in th UK - was well worth it

Top Dog

I've had both done in the past 6 months.

AA was very comprehensive, posted out the detailed report afterwards, but at the time I was kinda peeved that for €400 they didn't even throw in the car history check. Vehicle turned out to be a lemon in the end so spending that €400 saved me nearly €7k.

Soon after I had another vehicle I wanted to check out, but fearing the worst (due to my own run of luck ) I couldn't justify another €400 on a check. That would have been €800 gone out of my budget, and if it turned out to be another lemon then between travelling and everything it would have seen my budget down €1k.

Instead opted for the Motorcheck full vehicle check for €199, which included the full vehicle history check. Arranged to meet the seller at Advance in Athlone, we went for a cuppa while the inspection was carried out. Vehicle got a clean bill of health (bar a couple of minor scuffs which I'd seen anyway), so handed over the cash and dropped the seller home before making my own way home.

4 months later and it hasn't put a foot wrong, so I've no reason to doubt that the Motorcheck/Advance inspection was thorough enough.

Personally, if I were to do it again, I'd go with Motorcheck as it includes more for less outlay. And if there's a possibility you could be checking a few cars, then the costs rapidly add up.

Just my 2c based on my experience.

Gary ITR

If the car is under 3k then spending over 10% of the cost price on a check is madness. POP into your nearest indy and ask how much it'd cost for an inspection then bring it there. Will cost you a lot less than AA or Motorcheck

enfant terrible

Would anyone spend 20,000 on a private sale after a motorcheck/AA inspection or would you only spend that king of money at a dealership?

Wats_in_a_name

I got a full check done at my local indy. Was €100 included all the emissions test and all the others checks you'd expect. Including a 30 minute drive including motorway and steering tests etc.

billyboy01

If your buying privately, it's worth the peace of mind! Especially with the cowboys offloading crashed and cut and shut cars thesedays!

Anan1

enfant terrible wrote: »

Would anyone spend 20,000 on a private sale after a motorcheck/AA inspection or would you only spend that king of money at a dealership?

I'd have no problem spending that kind of money on a private sale, although i'd sooner have the car appraised by a marque specialist than trust the likes of Motorcheck/AA.

enfant terrible

Anan1 wrote: »

I'd have no problem spending that kind of money on a private sale, although i'd sooner have the car appraised by a marque specialist than trust the likes of Motorcheck/AA.

Who would be a marque specialist?

Anan1

enfant terrible wrote: »

Who would be a marque specialist?

A mechanic with an in-depth knowledge of that particular make/model of car.