Hi, I’m looking at spending some proper cash on a car, therefore want to make sure as much as I can it is ok. Has anyone used an AA/RAC etc inspection service?

Did you think it was good value?
Did you have to go back to them afterwards?
Any advice on which to choose?

I know my cars pretty well and usually don’t bother but spending 8K and the car is a long way from home. Normally my chap down the road would book it in and do it but i can’t expect him to do a 500 mile round trip

Cheers

Og

I had one done by someone on a camper I was selling and saw the report afterwards. Read like a house survey, this might be broken can’t be sure, the other might have a problem can’t be sure, this might need changing etc. For me if it has a new MOT I’d be just as happy – if you doubt the integrity of wherever it is coming from take it for one yourself.

I saw an AA one on a car I was selling. As above there was a lot of maybe/can’t tell/might be/etc. They also missed significant issues and made a big fuss about non-issues (probably as it was all they actually spotted). Obviously it will depend to an extent on the person doing the inspection, but it didn’t give me any confidence in using them.

I had an AA one on my current car, as it was very cheap for its age, but with very high mileage and wanted to know if there was anything obvious major wrong with it. Wasn’t expecting to find out about everything, just the showstoppers as at the price I was paying I could live with niggles. Got a fairly clean bill of health – no idea how useful that was, but after 2.5 years (and it passing the last couple of MOTs with no work needed, after needing tyres and an exhaust patch on the first one) I’ve not discovered anything they missed.

Might have been a waste of money, but I was prepared to waste £100 on checking out a car which was £1000s cheaper than anything of a similar age I’d seen.

Cheers all, I think i will skip

The guy has a decent warranty and the history is 100% so should be safe

I did an HPI check on my current car as it was more than I’d ever spent on a car. All came up clear and seemed like good value (the check AND the car, as it turned out).

Not a condition / mechanical check, I know, but might be worth looking at…

Is there any comeback / guarantee on these things?

You buy a car, pay for a check, it passes, get it home, it’s a Friday night special. Is there an insurance you can claim on?

Cougar – Moderator
Is there any comeback / guarantee on these things?

You buy a car, pay for a check, it passes, get it home, it’s a Friday night special. Is there an insurance you can claim on?

If you’re asking about HPI, Cougar, yes, I think there is. If you give them all the details I think they guarantee the check. AA/RAC I don’t know about.

I’ve bought a few cars privately. Never had one done nor had one done on a car I sold.

Also theAA breakdown maintanence cover is dodgy. Their T&Cs claim you must breakdown to claim yet call staff fudge over this pre-sale. Stopped me from buying it.