What are the Benefits of a Pre-Purchase Inspection for Your Vehicle?

Pre-purchase inspections are designed to give you peace of mind, before you spend your hard earned cash on a used vehicle. Not everyone is mechanically minded and so most people rely on the honesty of the seller, whether that is a dealer or a private individual.

This problem exists because unfortunately, not everyone is honest and many people will sell you a vehicle without disclosing any of the problems they know exist. The last thing you want is to buy a lemon of a car that ends up costing you an arm and a leg – just imagine the cost of an automatic transmission repair!

A pre-purchase inspection saves you money on costly repairs

So the obvious benefit of a pre-purchase inspection is that can save you a lot of money and angst when buying a used car, because you won’t be buying a car with unknown problems. It’s all fair and good if the seller clearly states that there are certain issues with the vehicle and they have set the price accordingly, but there can also be far more hidden problems than initially stated by the seller.

If you know the vehicle needs repairs and the costs involved, then you can decide if this particular car is worth the overall costs of purchase price + repairs bill. Of course if you are not aware of any existing problems, then the overall cost of the car can sky rocket rapidly.

A pre-purchase inspection helps you negotiate a better deal

If the seller has not fully informed you of all problems with the vehicle, but after a pre-purchase inspection you have found a list of issues, then this gives you some serious room to negotiate with the seller.

You need to put a value to the car, which includes the repair bill and then negotiate the price down to that dollar value. If the seller won’t budge then you can walk away knowing that you have not lost your money on costly repairs, such as an automatic transmission repair or even worse.

So before you sign on the dotted line and pay over the odds for a used car, be sure to hedge your bets and take advantage of a pre-purchase inspection of the vehicle.