Pre-purchase inspection
 

So i'm buying my first car and i'm taking it to Burrard Acura to do the pre-purchase inspection for the 98 Integra.

They said they'll be checking hoses for leaks, suspension etc, no compression test though.

Now it's $130 to do this plus 2hrs of my day on my day off so i want to make the most of this.

1) Can i ask for compensation from the seller if the car ' fails ' ?
2) Are there any small things that i should ask the inspection agent to check in case it's not along the " general procedure " of a pre purchase inspection?
I'm wondering if they can do a ' leak test ' to see if water gets in the car from the taillights/window trims etc..

edit: For the ICBC lien check, do i need the seller to be with me? or do i just need the details of the car (vin/license plate/model?)

I would find a shop that would do a leakdown test or at least a compression test on the engine.

If the car fails anything, you can use that to renegotiate the selling price. You don't get compensation.

burrard acura does do compression test, i'll ask about leakdown (is that the physical leaks from exterior? ) but they charge $69 and they said mostly only on higher mileage cars. The one i'm looking at has 152xxx original km's so he mentioned that it should be ok, plus it's lady driven.

oh and another thing. IF there is structural damage to the car , basically i should steer clear?

Pay the $69 now and find out if the engine is shot, or buy the car now and pay a lot later when the engine dies. Lady driven...you think that's a good thing? My female friend owns a MK3 Jetta. The she tells me the car keeps beeping and flashes the oil light on the dash. I tell her it's the low oil pressure warning since it's beeping. She says, oh well it's been beeping for a few weeks but the car still drives and carries on. Lady driven...ha ha ha.

that's a good point, it's a small investment to buy the right car. Thanks for the input.

some here are going to argue with me on this but if you do find evidence of past frame damage... walk away. there are so many integras out there i'm sure you can find one that isn't bent.

yeah there are two known damages on the car but the pre purchase inspection will determine if it's frame damage.

However, if the seller has the repair receipts, it wouldn't indicate that would it? it would just indicate that the repair was done at shop X.

a lot of this sale rides on the pre purchase inspection and the icbc vehicle history report i guess.

how much is the damage? Before taking it for an inspection, do some footwork and try to pick out if there are any obvious signs of large repairs - bent suspension bits, welds in weird places, unusually poor quality welds etc etc etc.

Leakdown test has nothing to do with (body) leaks. That's something that you should look for by yourself.

IMO the mindset to approach a prepurchase inspection is this:
1) this car has been shortlisted and has passed my "idiot" tests - stuff that you shouldn't need a 3rd party to tell you about
2) if the car passes the inspection within your expectations, you intend to put in a serious offer for it.

As for asking for compensation from the seller - you can certainly ask. A better way to approach it would be to negotiate it with the seller (BEFORE taking the car to inspection). Some sellers might split the cost with you if you buy the car (ie, maybe he'll ive you an extra $80-100 off). Others might not.

Off topic but, who should pay for the inspection? the buyer or the seller?

buyer

usually the buyer pays. but in two instances with cars i did not go for, one owner paid for half, and the other bought out my inspection report so that he could fix the problems and/or show the next potential buyer that an inspection had been done.

For the icbc lien check all you need is their VIN since they are able to search everything through their database to check who the latest owner is. For a vehicle history report you're going to have to call them at a designated number. Also, have you looked at air care history? http://www.aircare.ca/inspinfo-get-results.php We were able to determine that the mileage was rolled back in a car my friend was looking at through this.

There is this buyer who says the seller, which is me, has to pay for the inspection because the car is still considered as mine for now. Also he says that this(the inspection report) is something that the seller should provide to the buyers. What should i say back?

buyer should pay for the inspection, why would the seller care what is wrong with the car cuz it is sold as is, also buyer pays, he shouldnt have to show the seller the report either

You're a private seller not a car dealership. Ask him why home inspections are done by buyers and not the seller.

If he wants an inspection done, tell him to call BCAA and they'll come out to your house to do it, AT HIS COST

the pre-purchase inspection is for the buyer's interest, therefore he should buy. At the same time, the information from the inspection does not have to be revealed to the seller.

how much is the inspection anyways?

well he gave me two offers: a price where I have to pay for the inspection through BCAA, and a cheaper price where he would take the car to his dad's friend's auto shop for an inspection.

so that's pretty much means I have to pay for the expense of the inspection...

that's a BS
you pay for it and buyer walks off for no reason, loan didn't go through, changed mind etc... what then?
inspection report is only good for that moment, next buyer will want whole new inspection done infront of his eyes


tell him to fk off if he doesn't even want to spend couple of bills for serveral thousands dollars of investment
this guy obvisouly never bought a used car from private sales

he is actually a N driver. When he took the car for a test drove, I took down this driver license number, and I remember seeing it as a class 7.
K.. I'll let him know that the buyers are suppose to pay for it, and I'll see where it goes from there.

I'd guess BCAA is somewhere in the $120-$180 range?

I'd prefer BCAA over his mechanic for several reasons:

- BCAA = 3rd party (they have no bias either way), more convenient, they come to you and are consistently accurate with their reports
- His mechanic will probably make a big deal out of anything, no matter how small ( I know mine would for me, just out of loyalty) and you'll be out of a car for however long it takes him to do it. You might have to drive a ways, depending on where the shop is.
- I hope you're not considering letting him drive your car without you.

As for payment, again, it's the buyers expense BUT if it's a make-it-or-break-it situation, tell him, "Sure, I'll pay for the inspection if you buy the car for my asking price." I'm sure you left room for negotiation in the price anyways - so what's a couple hundred bucks?

The guy sounds like a PITA that got some wrong advice somewhere along the line. Nothing wrong with asking for an inspection but fuck.

I explained the situation that the buyer is suppose to pay for the inspection. He (the buyer) replied back that his two prices are firm, and I've misunderstood him. The first price is where I pay for the inspection because he thought it might be less time consuming for me to do it at home rather than to bring the car to his friend's shop in Richmond. The second price ($100 cheaper) is where we bring the car to his friend's shop and get the inspection done.
Wait.. I'm confusing myself now..

I'll just copy his reply:

I didn't say seller have to pay the car inspection fee. Why I offer two prices is because my frz's workshop is in richmond, it will take a lot of time if you go with me to do the car inspection and probably your cousin won't allow me to drive the car that far. The maximum amount i can offer is $[ABCD], and if possible i want to finish all transactions before Saturday.


what do you guys think?

Wow, this is one hell of a difficult car buying/selling experience. :lol

^

ya.. I know. w/e.. I'm giving him whatever he wants. I just want to get this over with and sell the car.

So how much is he offering?