BCAA Inspection: Used Car

[thumper]

i've used bcaa twice for mobile, and once at an approved independent facility.

once was for a subaru wrx, and they wrote down "engine noisy"... duh, it's a boxer. but otherwise it was sound. i had to use the mobile because the only indie mechanic i knew wasn't going to close shop to look at a car offsite for me (the repo yard does not allow their cars to leave the lot). but in the end i moved too slow and some dealer walked in off the street and bought it without even test driving it

the other time was for a bmw e46 m3. bcaa flagged previous accident damage (had a front fender replaced, which was disclosed by seller but i did not tell the bcaa tech just to see if he would catch it), tread depth getting low on tires, needed new rotors, ball joints etc. other than that it was good? the owner's manual had a park shore bmw business card in it so i went to park shore with the vin to get service history and... not good. last service with previous owner said it had a cracked rear subframe, and no mention of it getting replaced. i go back with a bmw friend and he dug into the car... still cracked . but that wasn't it... the warranty history also mentioned that the original engine had been replaced because of a crankshaft issue, which is fine, but the previous owner had complained of excessive oil consumption with the new engine, which to me is not fine? these are things that bcaa cannot help you find. i ran away after that.

and here's the oddball of the bunch... an r32 gtr. this was back when they first came in and were going for over $20k+. i was such a stupid fanboi back then. i found one at a private importer and paid for a one day temp to drive it to morrey nissan for an inspection, and the inspection they did was incredibly detailed and thorough, including leakdown/compression tests. the report they gave me was almost 4 pages long. they were even able to do an ecu diagnostic as well and pull codes. in the end the car had a lot of 15 year old issues and accident damage the seller claimed not to know about. it wasn't even on the auction sheet, but it was clearly obvious when up on the hoist. i'm thankful i walked away from that one and now i look at jdm imports with a slightly jaded eye.

rambled too much.

anyway...

1. always bring a friend who is unbiased and preferably knowledgeable in what you are trying to get to look at the car with you. do the visual basics such as checking fluid levels and leaks, tire and brake condition, rust, does the wear/tear match the mileage, accident damage/repair? someone above already mentioned looking for seam seal and mismatched hardware (someone above said he found robertson screws in his find, whereas i once found wood screws and masking tape holding down the turn signals on another)... bring a fridge magnet too.
1A: never look at a car at night or in the rain. that's about the equivalent of wearing beer goggles. i don't care if you say it's the last car in town... don't do it.
2. do the vin check for claims history/liens. on many newer cars the vin shows up on body panels as well. try to match them up.
3. bcaa inspection, indie mechanic or dealer inspection, depending on what the seller allows. if the seller dosen't allow anything, obviously walk away. the same goes for if the seller produces their own inspection report. that skyline i looked at had one and it "passed with flying colors".
4. service history. not all dealers will do this for you. either they were busy, or it was some confidentiality clause and i needed written authorization from the current owner.
5. get familiar with the maintenance schedule. know what the major services are. don't buy the car and then find out it is due (or overdue) for something big like a timing belt or all fluid replacement.
anyone else care to add/correct the above?