Professional (e.g. AA) second hand car checks - what recourse do you have ?

property.advert

I'm not a car expert so my looking under the hood would be largely a waste of time. The same with mechanics and known issues with that particular model, recalls etc. So if I pay the AA or similar to do a professional check, what level of expertise can I expect and if they screw up, what recourse do I have ?

For example, I am looking at a second hand Nissan Qashqai. Now my googling has brought up the following from Whatcar ?

The biggest complaint from owners is a knocking noise from the rear of the car. The culprit is usually the rear shock absorbers, which may need to be replaced. Fortunately it's a problem that Nissan acknowledges and should be sorted under warranty.

Several owners have also had clutch problems, reporting smoke and a strong burning smell. The issue can be fixed, but dealers have been known to take more than one attempt to cure it.
Squeaks and rattles can appear - especially round the dashboard and front seats. There are complaints about poorly fitted door trim, too.
If the car smells musty or damp, there may be a leak around the edge of the windscreen. Having new glass fitted is the only way to solve the problem.

I would expect the AA to know this and a whole lot more as that is what I am paying for. Now I know some supermarkets do their own checks, by the RAC for instance, but my limited legal knowledge says that such a report is largely worthless to you, the buyer, as you did not pay for it and thus, having given no consideration, you have no redress.

I'd rather buy from a garage and I am prepared to give them a profit, as I know everyone has to eat but it seems as though many are simply looking for the mug punter and will wait until he or she comes along.

property.advert

Judas wrote: »

The AA I doubt will do specific checks for each car to check known faults etc. It will be a so many point check and check specific things; i.e brakes; identity etc.

The comprehensive check on a Nissan Qashqai, without member discounts, is a whopping £195. I guess for that I would expect the inspector to be right on the top of his game, knowledgeable about the model and bang up to date on known issues with the car.

If he is not, what am I paying for ?

bigjl

If you ask for an inspection of a used car by the AA, there is, or at least was, some comeback if a fault is not spotted, can't remember the details, but my advice would be if you know so little that you don't know what to look for then go to a main dealer, that is the safest way to buy a used car, the less you pay then the less comeback is factored into the price of the car.

For example, you buy your Nissan from an auction, ex-lease and you will get it for a few grand less than main dealer, but it will be up to you to rectify faults, you can pay about a grand less than main dealer at a car supermarket and you will get a car that has had less spent on prep, and you would have to buy a warranty, customer service wouldn't be the same either.
Or you go to main dealer, pay top whack and are allowed to be picky and ask for tyres to be renewed if they are almost worn out, they will make you a cup of coffee, laugh at your jokes and generally give you a better buying experience.
You get what you pay for in everything, including cars, cars also break, a main dealer will be more, likely to give you a courtesy car etc, that is why they demand top money, as an example when I bought a Renault 25 back in 1992, from the Great Trade Centre as carGiant was called then, the heater matrix burst 4 days after sale, I had it recovered and they fixed it in 2 weeks, no courtesy car, but they did fix it. Later in life I bought a brand new Seat Toledo, the clutch started making strange noises at 4 months old, result a courtesy car dropped off to my house, car collected and returned fully valeted 3 days later. Two years ago I bought a 5 yr old Focus Estate TDDi for £2000 at an auction, the water pump impellor fell off on the way home and I had to be recovered by the AA, the water pump cost less than £100 and I changed the cambelt and an engine mount at the same time, I paid for all parts and did the work myself.

Moral, you pays your money and you take your choice. If you do go to an auction don't turn up with a copy of Parkers, the auctioneer will just run the price up the wall. And yes it is legal to do so.

property.advert

Good points there. My current research shows Cargiant around £2000 or so cheaper on a £10/12k car and that buys a lot of spare parts as long as the basics are fine.