Is it possible to take a dealership car to a mechanic for pre-buy inspection?

weverwever Member Posts: 16
edited April 2014 in General

I have to buy a used car and I'm considering buying from a dealership (for the first time) due to time constraints and limited private party selection. I wouldn't buy a car from a private party without first taking it to a mechanic for a pre-buy inspection. Do any dealerships allow you to do that? How would it work -- the car would have dealer plates that would allow you to drive it to the other auto shop? Even if the dealership has a service department that they say has inspected the car for problems, I wouldn't rely on that due to the inherent conflict of interest. I'm not looking forward to paying an inflated price for a car from a dealership, and I especially wouldn't be enthused about doing it without being able to get the car checked out.

Answers

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454

    A dealer should be willing to let you take a used car to your own mechanic; if not, that may be enough to convince you to go to a different dealer. My guess is that they would put dealer plates on it, and they may want to see proof of your own car insurance before letting you take it off the lot. Or they may want to deliver it to your mechanic themselves.

  • weverwever Member Posts: 16

    Thanks for your reply.

    and they may want to see proof of your own car insurance before letting you take it off the lot.

    Would being listed as a driver on someone else's car insurance cover you for that (and for driving other cars [borrowed cars, rentals] besides the one(s) on that insurance policy in general)?

    Or they may want to deliver it to your mechanic themselves.

    I would prefer that, unless it was bundled in with a test drive that I'd need to do anyway, presumably with someone from the dealership riding along. I'd prefer not to take the car anywhere myself without someone from the dealership there.

    This is interesting: I just learned of the FTC's Used Car Rule. The highlight, re: this topic, is that it "requires dealers to post a Buyers Guide in every used car they offer for sale." and "The Buyers Guide must tell you:" (among other things) "to ask to have the car inspected by an independent mechanic before you buy". What I'd like to know is, does the FTC require dealers to consent to allow you to have the car inspected by an independent mechanic before you buy. Pretty toothless if it doesn't, although I guess it would serve to tip you off that the dealer is shady.

    @Stever@Edmunds said:
    A dealer should be willing to let you take a used car to your own mechanic; if not, that may be enough to convince you to go to a different dealer. My guess is that they would put dealer plates on it, and they may want to see proof of your own car insurance before letting you take it off the lot. Or they may want to deliver it to your mechanic themselves.

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481

    I don't see why the dealer has to agree to this, but any good dealer would not only agree to it, they'd deliver the car to the shop if it was a local place that the dealer knew. If the dealer refuses, then he's not willing to let the car speak for itself. Of course, it IS his property, so he has to trust the shop you're suggesting. I doubt he'd put the car in the hands of a shade-tree mechanic, for instance, and he may have no confidence in a chain-store operation.

    this is sort of a diplomacy issue, but you can finesse it I think.

  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342

    Our store did a VERY comprehensive inspection that was in writing and we would go over that with every customer. We would show the compression or leakdown the amount of brake pad life etc. and we would spend an average of 700.00 per car in reconditioning. This was usually enough to satisfy a shopper but once in awhile they would insist on taking to their mechanic which was fine with us.

    One Sunday I had a customer insist on taking a very nice used Pilot to a "shop". Four hours later they returned. They had gone to a well known Muffler Shop chain that had compiled a long
    laundry list of things they felt needed to be replaced. All bogus!

    All of the "gravy" items that they love to upsell. I still made the deal happen.

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454

    @wever , the insurance thing can get a bit tricky (maybe that's the wrong word - it just confuses me :)). If you demo a car and get in a wreck, most dealers will first ask your insurance to cover the damage. If you don't have insurance, then the dealer's insurance company may tell the dealer to figure it out themselves. Or maybe they'll step in as secondary coverage if the driver's insurance won't cover.

    Since the coverages may vary by location so the best thing to do is get local knowledge from your agent, if you can.

    Good find with that FTC link.

  • weverwever Member Posts: 16

    @MrShift@Edmunds said:
    I don't see why the dealer has to agree to this, but any good dealer would not only agree to it, they'd deliver the car to the shop if it was a local place that the dealer knew. If the dealer refuses, then he's not willing to let the car speak for itself. Of course, it IS his property, so he has to trust the shop you're suggesting. I doubt he'd put the car in the hands of a shade-tree mechanic, for instance, and he may have no confidence in a chain-store operation.

    this is sort of a diplomacy issue, but you can finesse it I think.

    Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll run from any dealership that refuses to let me get the car checked out then. That's an interesting point about the chain stores, because out of a few places I've tried around here, the only one I've had good experiences with is a Meineke. I don't know if there's such a thing as corporate owned Meineke stores, but this one is a locally owned franchise. I've had a car inspected there twice and I don't think there's been any attempt to upsell me.

    @isellhondas said:
    Our store did a VERY comprehensive inspection that was in writing and we would go over that with every customer. We would show the compression or leakdown the amount of brake pad life etc. and we would spend an average of 700.00 per car in reconditioning. This was usually enough to satisfy a shopper but once in awhile they would insist on taking to their mechanic which was fine with us.

    The problem is that there's an inherent conflict of interest, so as a customer I couldn't consider that reliable information. Especially considering the poor reputation of car dealers / sales people in general. Is the car still sold as-is? Written results of such an inspection are as easily faked as verbal results, and if there's no warranty behind it they're just as useless.

    When the customer insisted on taking to their mechanic, how did the car get there? Based on what you say elsewhere it sounds like the customer drives it there.

    One Sunday I had a customer insist on taking a very nice used Pilot to a "shop". Four hours later they returned. They had gone to a well known Muffler Shop chain that had compiled a long
    laundry list of things they felt needed to be replaced. All bogus!

    All of the "gravy" items that they love to upsell. I still made the deal happen.

    I guess you don't want to say the name (I'm thinking it's one of 2 or 3 that come to mind that start with an "M"), but how do you think a dealer would react to me wanting to take a car to the Meineke I mentioned? What kind of stuff does the place you're referring to love to upsell?

    @Stever@Edmunds said:
    wever , the insurance thing can get a bit tricky (maybe that's the wrong word - it just confuses me :)). If you demo a car and get in a wreck, most dealers will first ask your insurance to cover the damage. If you don't have insurance, then the dealer's insurance company may tell the dealer to figure it out themselves. Or maybe they'll step in as secondary coverage if the driver's insurance won't cover.

    Since the coverages may vary by location so the best thing to do is get local knowledge from your agent, if you can.

    It confuses me too. I guess I could ask an agent / customer service rep, but I feel like you can never trust the information those people give you verbally. They often seem to not know what they're talking about, and if they're wrong you're just screwed. I don't really trust it unless it's in writing.

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481

    the problem with the chain stores is that it's luck of the draw, depending on who is running the franchise. Seems to me, though, that a truly talented technician wouldn't want to stay there if he had a choice.

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited April 2014

    I had good luck with a Midas shop a decade plus ago. I knew the owner and that helped - he treated his people well and took care of his customers. But I moved, he retired....

    Funny about trusting insurance CSRs, but you're right there too.

    And faked inspections - I'd even want to have a "CPO" used car checked out. The impressive 150 point checklists seem to be skimmed over too often, if you can believe some of the forum posts around here.

  • weverwever Member Posts: 16
    edited April 2014

    @MrShift@Edmunds said:
    Seems to me, though, that a truly talented technician wouldn't want to stay there if he had a choice.

    Why is that? Do franchise fees result in the techs getting paid less than at independent or dealer shops that charge a comparable labor rate to customers, or something else?

    the problem with the chain stores is that it's luck of the draw, depending on who is running the franchise.

    I've been happy with the interactions I've had with the owner. He's very personable, professional, and seems on the up and up to me. I've had a couple minor annoyances with other people there. Most recently I was asking about bringing my own supplies for a procedure we'd discussed performing on my car, since I could see that they seemed to be marking up a product used in the procedure something like 43-100% (or maybe even more). This procedure would involve flushing and refilling the coolant and I asked what kind of coolant they'd use, and the tech I talked to was being evasive. He either couldn't or wouldn't tell me specifically what coolant they'd use (brand and product). I reflected later on how absurd that was, as even if I let them supply the coolant, I'd need to know what coolant I could top off with later.

    @Stever@Edmunds said:
    I had good luck with a Midas shop a decade plus ago. I knew the owner and that helped - he treated his people well and took care of his customers. But I moved, he retired....

    I guess it is just hit or miss then. I've had bad experiences at independent shops too.

    Funny about trusting insurance CSRs, but you're right there too.

    The problem is, that kind of stuff in writing is usually either unavailable or unintelligible.

    And faked inspections - I'd even want to have a "CPO" used car checked out. The impressive 150 point checklists seem to be skimmed over too often, if you can believe some of the forum posts around here.

    Really? Wow, that's disappointing considering the premium prices they charge for those. I take it you wouldn't want to just rely on the warranty to make up for any sloppiness there then?

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454

    Warranties are great but who wants to spend hours shuttling their car back and forth to the dealer, especially to get something fixed that was supposed to have been checked out in the first place?

  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342

    Yep, like we used to say in the tool business...

    "The best warranty is the one you never have to use"

  • ray80ray80 Member Posts: 1,655

    @isellhondas said:

    "The best warranty is the one you never have to use"

    Absolutely

  • weverwever Member Posts: 16

    @Stever@Edmunds said:
    Warranties are great but who wants to spend hours shuttling their car back and forth to the dealer, especially to get something fixed that was supposed to have been checked out in the first place?

    Yeah, true. I guess I'd have to really question the wisdom of paying a premium price to a dealer that is too dishonest and / or incompetent to accurately assess and report the condition of the vehicle, especially since you'll then be relying on them for warranty service. If they're too incompetent to find issues with the car that another mechanic is able to, I wouldn't feel very confident in their ability to diagnose and fix problems that should be covered by the warranty. And if they're too dishonest to do a proper inspection and report honest results, I wouldn't be too confident in them following through on the warranty.

    @isellhondas @ray80 agreed -- so is a CPO car worth the premium price over a non-CPO, especially if you'd have to get either of them checked out by a mechanic anyway?

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