Have any of you ever used a prepurchase inspection service, such as: - Pomcar- Lemonsquad- iNeedaPPiI'm considering buying a used car in a different state, and I can't travel there to test drive it.
>>28993901I have not used a service like that but it sounds like a good idea.
>>28993901Did some for Lemonsquad (and some others) almost 20 years ago. They use mechanical failure inspectors which are independent contractors that mostly do inspections for extended warranty companies. Virtually all are retired mechanics.It was my impression on PPI's that they don't usually turn up anything earth shattering. Most of the time it's just nicks and dings of a car that been used and the micro scratches of a car needing paint correction. Bigger items are usually visible in the seller pics if they're at all comprehensive and the buyer looks at them critically. The car won't be put up on a lift unless the seller chooses to (most won't because that's money lost having a lift out of action for any amount of time) and the inspector will accompany the seller/salesman on a 7-10 mile test drive while checking if the cabin electrics work. Keep in mind that the inspector only sees 35-50 bucks to travel to the car and do the written report with pics. The other 2-300 that it costs goes to the inspection company(s) that basically act as broker/dispatch. Oh, and you will not be given the inspectors contact info so any questions you may have for him have to go through the company(s).IMO not really worth it since the seller is either representing the car well enough to you that you can make your own decision or if you're that suspicious it would just be better to move on to another seller.
>>28993935>Keep in mind that the inspector only sees 35-50 bucks to travel to the car and do the written report with pics. The other 2-300 that it costs goes to the inspection company(s) that basically act as broker/dispatch.This makes me think that the inspector doesn't have an incentive to do a good job and write a good report. He might just use AI to slap something together.
Even if they don't find anything at least they can verify the car is real, buying sight unseen without some kind of buyer protection is retarded.
>>28993937Good point!
