AA and RAC Vehicle Inspections

[markyboy.1967]

Has anyone ever had an RAC or AA inspection done on a car they were looking to buy.Im looking for a small van about 3 or 4 years old to take my 2 dogs out in and have saw 1 in Ireland that i like the look of.The seller has sent me detailed pics and i believe he has been honest in describing it.

For me to travel to Ireland to view the car would be a pain as i would then need to return a few days later when the car gets its fresh MOT, service etc etc.What i want to know is if you have had an inspection done by any of the above companies and if so how comprehensive was it...I need to check though to see if any of them actually cover nothern ireland if i get decent feed back on here.Cheers...

 

[troutfisher]

I have had two inspections done, the first was on a little car for my wife, the report basically said don't touch it with a bargepole and the second ( the car was from a main dealer) said the car had been rebodied as an insurance claim ,the dealer said he was not aware! Needless to say I did not buy either car ( I actually said to the dealer in both cases-you pay for the inspection and if the report is clear then I will buy the car)
I have not bothered since and I don't think I would, but I would rely on service history ,HPI and my friendly garage mech to have a look at it if it was not warrantied from a main dealer.
A 3/4 yr old van in Ireland ? seems a bit far to go to get what will basically be a cheap vehicle. I would have thought it would have been easier and quicker to pick one up locally at get a friendly garage mech to give it the once over and get it MOT'd and be there while its done so you can see any potential faults and have an HPI check so you know its clear of finance and has not been written off by the insurance.

 

[srichards]

Check the small print to make sure they don't exclude issues you may wish to claim for later. If you're not going to check the van out in person then the essentials plus (or AA equiv) service which is probably over £200 is the only one worth having. The essentials seems to miss a few things you'd really want to know about. The price isn't listed on the either the AA or RAC sites. They have the basic checks mentioned which are both around the £140+ for non members.

I had an RAC inspection on a car I had already bought to highlight the issues with it to the supplying dealer. It was quite comprehensive and picked up on a load of faults that shouldn't have been there.

After seeing the nightmare a friend has had over buying a vehicle over a distance I'd think twice about it. Finding one locally to you is much less bother. You might pay a bit more but if there are problems you don't have to return to the original dealer which could be miles and miles away.

 

[wack61]

By the time you've paid out for inspections travel, ferry costs and fuel is it really going to be any cheaper

You must be looking at £500+ for all that

You'd be better off buying one at auction if you're a cash buyer

Most commercial vehicle auctions stock will be 3 years old, one owner with full service history

 

[markyboy.1967]

Thanks folks. The van is around £750 cheaper than a similar van around my area. Seems the further south you go the lower the prices. The van was bought a few days ago along with others from Citroen Uk, they are the only owner and their own inspection states only an £87 spend to get perfect. That is for a pin sized dent to a side panel and 2 scuffed wheel trims. It does have a couple of stone chips which I expect for 40,000 miles but has full Citroen service history etc etc. it is a top model with the extras and the important bit as the wife says" it's not white".lol. She will be the one driving it so she needs to be happy.. I have a copy of an inspection from Citroen and all looks good.

 

[markyboy.1967]

Just as a comparison a local van with a lower spec, white in colour( like 99% of them are) with similar miles and history is from £6700-£7500 plus VAT. Where the one we saw isn't white, its a higher spec model and is £6000 plus VAT.added to that there are very few that meet our criteria ( 3 front seats, under 50k miles, history, great condition and a decent spec)within 150 miles.