I’m a weird fellow, I know–more than a little weird, some would say – in that I’ve never owned a car. (No, I don’t live in New York City.) I’m thinking abot ending my long resistance to automobile ownership. Whatever I buy will be a used vehicle, and I know that one is advised to have such a purchase inspected by a qualified mechanic. But how do I find such?
If it helps any, I live in the Memphis, Tennessee area.
The only real way to find a good mechanic is to ask around for recommendations. Pick people that have some common sense and know something about cars themselves. You will need the mechanic after you buy the car so the pre-purchase inspection is a good time to see how fair, reliable, and knowledgeable the mechanic is.
I guess what I should have asked, then, is “How do I approach the mechanic to ask for this evalulation?” Is this likely to be a free service, or, if not, is there an hourly fee or a flat rate ?
It is generally a flat rate and should run about $100 - $200 in my experience. You shouldn’t be shy about asking. Most mechanics do this sort of thing all the time.
Some dealerships will do this, other won’t.
Many independent do these inspections. A friend of mine does these with a 20 page report/ check sheet. :eek:
Ask your firends if they have a trusted mechanic, and then call and talk to them.
(hint: If you are buy a Rolls-canhardly*, and they don’t work on them, go find somebody else)
*Rolls down one hill, Can hardly make it up the next
The car talk web site used to have an area where visitors to the site could recommend mechanics. You could look and see if any are listed in your area. Of course, there’s nothing preventing Joe Bob the really bad mechanic from having his brother sign onto the site and giving him a glowing recommendation, but you might want to look into it.
Mechanics do this sort of thing all the time. Just call one up and say hey I’d like you to evaluate this car I’m thinking of buying, what do you charge? Given the typical hourly rate of mechanics, the price range that Shagnasty posted is about what I’d expect too, maybe a bit cheaper.
If you do a google search for “used car tips” you can find a lot of advice.
When I look at a car, I look at the following:
Look under the wheel wells. If they are really rusty, the car overall hasn’t been taken good care of. Immediately walk away.
Stand at the back of the car. Look down the left side of the car. Now look down the right side of the car, comparing the lines with what you saw on the left side. They should match up. If they don’t, the car was likely in a bad accident and repaired. Walk away from this one too.
Open up the radiator cap (make sure the car is cold and hasn’t been run lately or you’ll burn yourself!!!). If there’s oil in the radiator, chances are the head gasket was blown in the engine. If they are up front about telling you that the engine was recently replaced or something then maybe you can keep going, otherwise walk away.
Check the oil. If it’s black and thick, the engine hasn’t been well maintained. Anything other than nice, reasonably clean oil is a bad sign.
Listen for any odd ticks or funny noises coming from the engine.
If the car fails any of these simple and quick tests, don’t bother taking it to the mechanic for evaluation.
:dubious: Everything else seems okay, but… what is this test checking again as far as care of the car?
Call your local AAA office. They will give you some recommendations and you don’t even have to be a member to use that service.
I have heard that one important thing to have the mechanic do is a “compression test”. I’m a relative ignoramous about combustion engines - can anyone else confirm whether this is an important test? What does it verify?
I saw a report on one of the morning shows that some unscrupulous people are selling as undamaged some cars that were totalled after being immersed in the floodwaters in the Gulf Coast region. So you might want to use one of the services that will tell you the history of a used car. I think Carfax is one of them.
They still do: The Mechan-X-Files.
Moved to IMHO.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
OH, yes, I would have the compression test done. It gagues if the cylinders are leaking air/fuel mixture as the piston comes up to pack it all together to get exploded. If there’s a significant leak, you have a big problem. It’s an expensive repair almost always.
I did take my car to a mechanic before buying. They charged me about $60 for an hour of labor listening and testing and driving. It was worth it to me, as it confirmed that the awful sound from one wheel was just a bearing, which could be easily fixed, and that nothing much else was wrong.
I like to open the cap covering the hole into which fresh oil is poured and use a flashlight to peek down into the interior of the engine. It should look clean except for fresh oil. There should be no brown or black baked-on oil residue. This, I believe, can tell you whether or not the engine’s oil has been changed regularly.