Pre-Purchase & Pre-Trip Inspections

A pre-purchase inspection is the cheapest negotiating position you will ever buy. A used car looks its best on the day it is being sold, and the things that cost real money to put right are almost never visible from the driver's seat. We go to where the car is, so you do not have to talk a private seller into driving it anywhere.

We look at the engine and driveline, the brakes with the wheels off, suspension and steering play, tyre condition and age, fluid condition and leaks, and the state of the underbody, which on a coastal car is where the story usually is. You get told what is wrong, what it will cost, and what is normal wear for the age rather than a problem.

A pre-trip inspection is the same check pointed at a different question: whether the car will get there and back. Worth doing before a long drive, and worth doing on a car that has been sitting.