car inspection report

suziew

Anyone got any ideas on cheap ways to get an inspection report on a used car?
I'm a member of the rac but they want £179. Anyway round this?
thanx

mcjordi

pay a mechanic to look it over ? or take someone who knows what they are doing?

what car are you looking at?

suziew

the trouble is the car is a long way from where i live so i can't pay a local mechanic and obviously don't know one in middlesex where the car is.
the cars a corsa but it's a repaired cat d so it's really important that someone looks at it.

scheming_gypsy

if it's a repaired cat D it isn't really that important. A car can get a cat d if it's got a cracked bumper and headlight; by the time they factored in the cost of the parts (new) labour cost, respray costs and car hire.. It can be written off as uneconomical to repair when in reality it's £100 down the scrap yard.

How old is the car, when was it written off, what was it written off for etc.

suziew

it's a 60 plate so it's really new.
the seller says it had a new front bumper, panel and headlight.

mcjordi

suziew wrote: »

it's a 60 plate so it's really new.
the seller says it had a new front bumper, panel and headlight.

sounds about right for a cat d..

it will still be under warranty so i wouldnt worry too much about any problems..

suziew

thanx for the advice

forgotmyname

Look up some of the cat D cars for sale, Light front = everything forward of the bulkhead needs replacing.

Warranty maybe void so dont rely on that. £179 on an inspection could be money well spent.

You dont want to be in a position in 2 years time when it fails the MOT because the chassis rails are damaged
or badly repaired.
Spent a lot of times in MOT bays and some of the excuses and wrecks presented can be a joke. Except some
of them are dangerous.
Couple of guys obviously thought they would buy an accident damaged car repair cheaply with used parts and
sell it on for a nice profit.
Except the MOT tester didnt like the kinks in the front rails where the engine mounts were or the fact the NS
front wheel was 2 inches further back than the OS one.

They were not happy, I bet they just went elsewhere until someone passed it rather than repair it properly.

You have to think a 60 plate car worth ??? has a bump but the insurance would rather payout than repair?

I guess the repairs were £3000 or more.. Maybe a bit more than lights, panel and a bumper.


Not the dealer off watchdog is it, Where almost all their cars were cat D and very poorly repaired. Sharp L shaped
metal brakets screwed on to support the bumper etc.

jaydeeuk1

suziew wrote: »

the trouble is the car is a long way from where i live so i can't pay a local mechanic and obviously don't know one in middlesex where the car is.
the cars a corsa but it's a repaired cat d so it's really important that someone looks at it.

Why get a corsa from so far away? Its not like you're after a rare car! And what happens if something happens 3 months down the line? You'd have to pay to get it moved to the dealer to have a look at it, even if it is under Man warranty.

mcjordi

unless theres a significant saving on it leave it tbh.. plenty of corsa's about..

oscarward

I had a car that was classified as a Cat D, 9.5k repairs on a valuation of 11.3k. mainly down to the cost of parts e.g. 1k each headlight unit (bidirectional xenon's).

But the reason I decided not to buy the wreck was because the front was bent to the left by 1.5 inches and so needed straightening. Who knows what horrors lurked behind that.