inspection service

[71RRHI]

I live In Hawaii. I'm considering buying a car that is located in the mainland. Travel expenses (airfare, rental car, hotel) to go and look at the car in person is very expensive right now. Has anyone here used one of those classic car inspection services. How was your experience? Do you feel it was worth the money? Did you receive detailed information and pictures? Or was it more like a generic checklist (lights work Y/N, turn signals work Y/N).

 

[hunt2elk]

I sold a car a few years ago to a fellow in CA. He hired The Lemon Squad to inspect because he didn't have the time to come himself. The guy did a very thorough job imo, even asking to put the car on my hoist to inspect the underside. His report definitely helped both parties. I wouldn't hesitate using them myself.

 

[BearDodge67]

I would if buying a car sight unseen, especially if throwing a lot of coin down not only for the car, but also the cost to get it there. Way too many people been burned by pictures not telling the true story and less than scrupulous sellers

 

[gtxdana]

I made the mistake once of using the company E-Bay has to do a vehicle inspection. What a joke and a costly mistake that was. Do yourself a favor and spend the money to inspect it yourself.

 

[The Rebel]

Having an impartial party look at it is a good idea, as it takes away the emotional I gotta have it out of the equation.

 

[Cranky]

Some times you can get an individual to go check it out. I've done that before. The down side is the owner of the car didn't like my report to the one looking to buy and let me know about. It was pretty obvious the owner was hiding things. Don't know if the owner ever sold it but the guy that contacted me to go take a look didn't buy it....and neither did I lol

 

[wvmarv]

I live In Hawaii. I'm considering buying a car that is located in the mainland. Travel expenses (airfare, rental car, hotel) to go and look at the car in person is very expensive right now. Has anyone here used one of those classic car inspection services. How was your experience? Do you feel it was worth the money? Did you receive detailed information and pictures? Or was it more like a generic checklist (lights work Y/N, turn signals work Y/N).

I was thinking of buying a Camaro once off eBay. The car looked pretty good and I thought the price was right. This was about 8 years ago. I got an inspection service to inspect the car and they did an excellent job. They checked every little detail of the car with several hundred pictures and explanations of what they found wrong and right with car. After the inspection they talked on the phone with me and went through everything thoroughly with me. They found a lot of hidden rust and other things that made the car suspect and recommended that I shouldn't buy it. Cost $350 then but I think they saved me thousands of dollars.

 

[71RRHI]

I sold a car a few years ago to a fellow in CA. He hired The Lemon Squad to inspect because he didn't have the time to come himself. The guy did a very thorough job imo, even asking to put the car on my hoist to inspect the underside. His report definitely helped both parties. I wouldn't hesitate using them myself.

Thanks, I saw their add but passed over them thinking they only did newer used cars. Went to their web site and, see they do offer classic car inspections.

 

[68BabyBlue]

I realize you have a long haul to the mainland, and it won't be cheap. That being said, over the years, I have spent a fair amount of money on plane tickets, hotels, and rental cars to inspect every GTX (seven total) I ever purchased. I rejected one car after inspection (the only one of the group offered by a dealer,) condition didn't justify the price. It later sold for what I offered, 15K under the initial ask. Ended up buying the others, and never had regrets with any of them.

You can't trust pictures. My fifth GTX is currently for sale in Hemmings, with a professional photo spread. The car is extremely nice, but like most, has small flaws which don't show in any of the photographs. I like belt and suspenders on a big purchase, because of the emotional factor mentioned in an earlier post. When I bought my Hemi car, I took a friend who was a Ford expert to verify body and mechanical condition, while I did the numbers matching due diligence. He acted as a check and balance to my emotional attachment.

The independent inspection is a really good idea when considering your travel expense. But if you are dealing with a high dollar car, I personally would overkill, and still pay travel expense to view it in person before I parted with my funds.

 

[71RRHI]

I made the mistake once of using the company E-Bay has to do a vehicle inspection. What a joke and a costly mistake that was. Do yourself a favor and spend the money to inspect it yourself.

I would think if the car was forsale on E-bay the company E-bay recommends would be bias.

 

[71RRHI]

I would if buying a car sight unseen, especially if throwing a lot of coin down not only for the car, but also the cost to get it there. Way too many people been burned by pictures not telling the true story and less than scrupulous sellers

Having an impartial party look at it is a good idea, as it takes away the emotional I gotta have it out of the equation.

I realize you have a long haul to the mainland, and it won't be cheap. That being said, over the years, I have spent a fair amount of money on plane tickets, hotels, and rental cars to inspect every GTX (seven total) I ever purchased. I rejected one car after inspection (the only one of the group offered by a dealer,) condition didn't justify the price. It later sold for what I offered, 15K under the initial ask. Ended up buying the others, and never had regrets with any of them.

You can't trust pictures. My fifth GTX is currently for sale in Hemmings, with a professional photo spread. The car is extremely nice, but like most, has small flaws which don't show in any of the photographs. I like belt and suspenders on a big purchase, because of the emotional factor mentioned in an earlier post. When I bought my Hemi car, I took a friend who was a Ford expert to verify body and mechanical condition, while I did the numbers matching due diligence. He acted as a check and balance to my emotional attachment.

The independent inspection is a really good idea when considering your travel expense. But if you are dealing with a high dollar car, I personally would overkill, and still pay travel expense to view it in person before I parted with my funds.

The car I'm looking at is not what I would consider very expensive. 30-40k range. What I would consider to be a very nice sunday cruizer. I'm starting to think it may be worth it to pay for a third party inspection, then if I'm happy with the report, I would feel better about dropping the 3-5k+ to go and look at it in person.

 

[gtxdana]

I would think if the car was forsale on E-bay the company E-bay recommends would be bias.

More like the biggest kickback to E-Bay for each inspection. The idiots inspecting the vehicle are qualified to note a rock chip on a windshield and that's about it.

 

[BearDodge67]

Ebay inspectors are like the guys that write up the auctions on BAT or any of the "classic car dealers". They have to make the car sound better than it is in order for people to want to buy it.