AA - Autocheck rip-off?

run_Forrest_run

Hi Folks,
I am a member of the AA. Seeing as I am in the market for a second hand car I rang them to find out about their Autocheck service. Anyway, the muppet on the phone asked me what type of car I was looking at (obviously they base their fee on the type of car U buy..crazy). Anyway, for a 1.6 Toyota Avensis I was told the fee for auto check would be €342! I dropped the phone!

Has anyone evey used this service?

prospect

Wow, that is pricey, an I bet they won't stand by it if something they checked fails!

It stands to reason that different cars are different prices.
An older entry level hatch back might not have all the features to check that a newer top spec luxery saloon might have, e.g. Traction control, abs, aribag etc etc.

css

It's still damn pricey though all the same... ffs...

fletch

I'd be wanting a 1year guarantee for that sorta money!

run_Forrest_run

From talking to the AA guy, I don't think they go too much into details on inspections anyway! He just said it is a visual inspection! Brakes etc..if they don't see brake fluid oozing out then they will say its fine!

Oh yeah, they will not accept any responsibility for anything going wrong! They said they will produce a report advising anything that should be fixed before buying...that's it!

Some laugh considering the cost of this service is almost double the actual AA annual membership for myself and my girlfriend.

Eoin

run_Forrest_run wrote:

Anyway, for a 1.6 Toyota Avensis I was told the fee for auto check would be €342!

run_Forrest_run wrote:

From talking to the AA guy, I don't think they go too much into details on inspections anyway! He just said it is a visual inspection! Brakes etc..if they don't see brake fluid oozing out then they will say its fine!

For 342 quid, they only do a visual inspection? that is crazy :eek:

When I was looking at a car for sale privately I just rang a local SIMI garage and had them to a check. They seemed to do a very thorough job and only charged me 75 quid.

ando

About 3 and a half years ago I got an AA inspection done on a Focus for 200Euro. They did a full inspection and a detailed report was posted out to me. I seriously doubt that the price would have gone up €150 and the quality of the work has gone down to just a visual inspection, the amount of things that could go wrong is legion...

When I was moving on from my Focus, I wanted another AA inspection but the price was to much, also they wanted ME to organize renting a ramp so the engineer could look under the car, which is more money. In the end I got an engineer from a garage to look at the car for a lot less.

I guess the very expensive price tag is down to no competition

Silvera

AutoExpress magazine recently conducted a survey of car inspection agancies in the UK.

They basically got a Subaru Legacy with known faults and pretended to be a potential private buyer of the car.

Many of the so-called experts didn't spot a couple of serious faults ! .......and the AA came very low in the final ratings.

Apparently, in the UK at least, the AA have contracted out vehicle inspections to private companies in recent years and this may have led to lower standards according to AutoExpress.


I count myself lucky that I can carry out my own inspections (ex-panel beater) !

Silvera.

John R

Remember up till 2000 the AA was a mutual type organisation effectively owned by it's members. It was sold to a big UK gas company so it is not surprising prices have rocketed while quality has nosedived.

navi_5445

I was buying a used motor recently and on more than one occassion was told by folk in the business that the AA inspection isn't worth it. They wanted over €400. Nit picking on minor issues was a recurring theme.

I'm told they sub out the job as well so you don't really know who you're getting. Cut out the middle man and go get a good mechanic who'll do it for a fraction of the cost.

run_Forrest_run

Well I did call a local garage close to where I live and the owner (mechanic) said they don't do inspections for private sales any more because there is too much at stake with them....if something goes wrong they can be held liable...so he tells me...he's a sound chap so I'd be inclined to believe him. Maybe I will try somewhere else.

ambro25

Pity RAC don't do their check in IE. Most thorough and professional job (had it done thrice over last 5 years in UK), with full report, own 'means' to jack the car up for undercarriage check and with a 12-months fall-back guarantee for anything not spotted, for about £120-ish (last year/same time/ non-member price, £75-ish members)

Paul (MN)

to be honest it depends on the car you are getting.

I paid the AA €360 to inspect a car for me and it was worth it. They took it for about 4 hours and the report was very thorough. It stopped me from buying the car.

If you are just buying a run of the mill car than try to find a local garage/mechanic who will do it. Remembering of course that some garages i.e. main stealers... employ kids who simply don't have a clue! Use a local garage.

K2

Used a mechanic to check my first car, and boy did I learn a lot about cars with all that went wrong with that one! Since then I have only bought cars (all second hand - buying new is for rich folk and suckers) from well established garages and with a twelve month warrenty. No problems and currently on my sixth motor.

Silvera

K2 wrote:

Used a mechanic to check my first car, and boy did I learn a lot about cars with all that went wrong with that one!

He musn't have been up to much (i.e. lacking knowledge) or the car was a bad make and developed faults quickly.

A well-versed mechanic should be well able to check a car properly and steer you in the right direction.

Silvera.
(Ex-Panel Beater)

DublinWriter

John R wrote:

Remember up till 2000 the AA was a mutual type organisation effectively owned by it's members. It was sold to a big UK gas company so it is not surprising prices have rocketed while quality has nosedived.

True, I've been an AA member since 1994 and had them check out a couple of cars for me around 1996. Cost me about a hundred quid at the time, got about 5 typed pages, but it was obvious that they were just inspecting the car visually.

The big UK gas company that they were sold too was Centrica. I remember getting a couple of hundred quid at the time. Sweet!