AA or VTNZ pre-purchase inspections?

[IH8TEC]

Well, i'm off to christchurch next weekend to pick up a van. 3L turbo deisel hiace custom.

First, are these checks really worth it?

Which one is better quality (i'm thinking AA at this stage as vtnz are hopeless with warrants)

Or should i just put it through a warrant and be done with it? It's had the head replaced which was the main problem with them.

AA = $140
VTNZ = $125

After thoughts.


Brendon

[Bling]

You could always take it to a mechanic to get checked over?

Only thing I worried about with my AA check was the engine compression test. Have heard both good and bad stories about those checks.

If I was to purchase a new car though i'd get a mechanic to check it over that I trust. I did so when I bought last time.

[plug]0800 cartune[/plug] give him a buzz and see if he will give it a good check over for you. Hes a good sort. He should know all the common faults with it.

[IH8TEC]

good and bad how regards compression test?

i'll give him a call on monday cheers

[deaf_rattle]

ive always thought that if the car is $4k or more its worth getting done.
if less, i wouldnt bother

id just find a checklist that they use and go over it yourself.

as mentioned, compression test is a good thing, so maybe just get the van to a mechanics and get compression done and maybe a pressure test on the coolant system.

[KinLoud]

I've had good and bad experiences with checks
2xAA 1xVTNZ

It really depends on the attitude of the person who looks at it.
When I picked up a car I was getting examined, I had to point out that the car had a different colour paint inside the door frame compared with the exterior showing it had been repainted a slightly different colour by the original owner... the guy then adds it to his report and tells me "this car has had a repaint"! Priceless!

The "compression check" measures the current going through the starter motor and what cylinder is firing. It works out if one cylinder has lower compression than the others by looking for a drop in the current to the starter motor when that culinder is on the compression stroke.

Good for picking up one dead cylinder but not good for overall engine condition.

Ken

[Bling]

good and bad how regards compression test?

Well that would just be something i'd consider important to get tested. Thats all i meant

[Mad Murphy]

I've usually just got a mechanic I know to check it over for me but the one time I used an inspection I used Canterbury Car Inspections in Sydenham. Inspection seemed pretty good and had time to talk it all over with the guy and the owner of the car.

[BlakeNZ]

i've been led to believe that a true compression test of diesel motors is quite difficult. Can anyone comment? i guess something to do with high compression and no spark plug holes...
i've had a couple of vehicle inspection tests done by the AA, and have been disappointed with both. i also had a test done by a car inspection guy in auckland, and he was thorough and accurate, even test driving it on the motorway(most people buying from Turners auctions don't get this chance) which was great given i live 6 hours away. he spotted a minor panel repair and verified it hadn't had a crash. Very pleased. he missed nothing.

[Lloyd]

Compression tests no harder on a diesel than a petrol. They have glow plugs which (depending on engine) are just as easy to get at as spark plugs on a petrol engine

[rollaholic]

to my way of thinking the AA have just leveraged their brand name to the point where people feel like its essential that a car gets an AA check, and that its the be all and end all when it comes to the condition of the vehicle - not unlike the master craftsmen associations (master builders etc) though they at least have some liability if they screw it up.

i'd much rather have a car checked over by a competent person i know and trust than some random goon from the AA, or VTNZ.

[Mr Revhead]

would depend on the inspector
iv met some good ones.
but then most AA inspectors i have met were mechanics that failed at working in a garage or grew to old to keep up with work in the garage....
also AA dont work on cars. so they will not be as up with the play on common issues on a lot of cars.

in this case i would be taking to a recommended local garage

[IH8TEC]

cool, if it was in Auckland i know i would take it to my mechanic, just wasn't sure as i'm going down to chch and dont know any good ones down there.

but couple of good suggestions there.

[Scotty]

Found Canterbury car inspections good when i got my car, 2 years later and only faults Ive had were picked up in the inspection.

[pidge]

Hand one done by AA.

The AA guy missed:

- uni directional tyres on the Front of car were mounted the wrong way (seller had swapped the tyres across because the sidewalls were damaged on the "outside")
- the rears tyres were mismatched
- one of the rears had a flat spot
- that the clutch was %^&*ed

And it had a current WoF. Go figure.

There's a whole bunch of stuff you can do for yourself, depending on tools and comfort doing the work. Off the top of my head, and I'm sure other can add to this:

- Check the tyres match on each axle, are mounted correctly, no significant damage (tedious, needs a jack, blocks and plenty of time)
- while the wheels are off, eyball the brakepads.
- while the wheels are up, check underneath for fluid leaks (Power Steering, Oil, Water) or evidence of past leaks.
- Check under Oil Cap for milkiness (BHG)
- Inspect the coolant overflow bottle, check the radiator level when cold.
- Check Brake, Clutch, Oil fluid levels.
- eyeball the oil filter if possible to see if it has been replaced recently.
- check the air filter.
- (petrol 4,5 valves per cylinder) pull leads from spark plugs, check for oil in the spark plug valley.
- (petrol) remove spark plugs (people may get touchy about this) and inspect for oil. If you're doing that, do a compression test as well. (remove all the spark plug leads to do that...)
- Multimeter (voltmeter) to check that the battery is good, and that the alternator is working when the cars is idling.
- magnet to check for (excessive) bog.
- check that the headlight main and high beams, indicators, hazard, brake lights all function (if the car has A WoF, these should be working anyway)

Test Drive carefully and throughly

- go over some speed bumps to check for excessive noise from the suspension (possible indication of worn bushes)
- FWD/4WD - hard lock turns to check outer CV joints are OK (no knocking)
- drive the car on the motorway (i.e get the car up to 100km/h) and check that the car isn't going to self destruct from vibration (un-balanced tyres or prop shafts (4WD,RWD), flat spots)
- Braking tests - and with ABS, brake hard enough to trigger the ABS to confirm that it actually functions
- testing that the clutch doesn't slip under high torque - 3rd or 4th gear acceleration may do the trick - of course, only subjecting the test subject to "normal" driving.

[Gonad]

I've had a few of these done, I found them twice as useful if I turned up at the same time as the inspector and asked heaps of annoying questions while he was checking it over.

The answers to my questions were way more useful than the report.

[Al]

The AA is great for telling you where the rips in the seats are.

[Dell'Orto]

The AA is great for telling you where the rips in the seats are.

And that the pedal rubbers are worn, very important to know!

[IH8TEC]

Went to Miles Toyota in the end, bloody good, some mint chics work there too so that was good while i was waiting.

[matt dunn]

Went to Miles Toyota in the end, bloody good, some mint chics work there too so that was good while i was waiting.

Was goint to say for the price of the AA check go to the toyota dealer.


we sent a car to a dealer for a check for the price the aa charges,
and the report we got was detailed down to the thickness of the brake pads,

which is time spent better that a lot of notes you get from AA checks saying the writing is almost worn of the headlight sw, the brake pedal rubber are worn, and all this other useless crap most people dont want to pay someone to tell them.

[IH8TEC]

yeah, it was also good to talk the mechanic after as well, as the chick who wrote everything on the letterhead didn't really know haha, but she was good looking so had to listen and ask politely,

Toyota was $99 for everything including compression and leak down check, took a solid 2hrs, pointed out quite a few little things that i knew but wasn't worried, about, but also some things that were good to know.

Mechanic was good to talk to and said overall it was in bloody good condition, and he knew the hiaces pretty well from pointing out the problems areas that he normally finds on them.

I was pretty happy with Toyota,