[NSW] Pre Purchase Inspection

[zersys]

Hi all,

There's a clean Series III V8 VS Caprice near my place that's always sitting in the driveway that I've been staring at as I go past it everyday to and from work, and today I decided to see if the owner would sell it. And to my surprise, it was an old lady owner who was interested in selling as she wants something smaller and easier on petrol. Unfortunately not the cleanest example, looks like the 76 year old owner had a little trouble parking this barge a few times so there's a couple of scrapes, but all in all I'm happy enough to put some money in to after sorting out any mechanical gremlins and get it all looking good again.

Anyway, to the point of this thread. Not long ago when I was in the market for a Bimmer, I found a clean one and got it inspected by a well recommended Bimmer specialist. The car was so bad it was unbelievable, it was pretty much held together with gasket goo and been repainted ten times over in a bunch of different areas. Ever since this experience I've sworn by getting a PPI. My question is, does anybody know of any reputable PPI services or better yet a place that specializes in Holden cars here in Sydney? I don't really want any joe blow just having a look over it, I live out in the West and most mechanics here are pretty rubbish and haven't really had great experience's with any of the local guys. I'd like somebody who knows exactly where he should be looking and has some experience under his belt with the running gear of these cars.

My search results on this site pointed me to one result and that was State Roads, apparently these guys specialize in PPI's. Does anyone have any experience with these guys? Or other PPI suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Ian Johnston]

Your NRMA will have places that do these sort of inspections.

 

[helmotbros]

Being in tassie I didn't have the largest choice of places I could go to but I ended up going to a reputable performance garage, as in my opinion they'd be able to tell how well it was running the best as they are always tryin to get the most out of these cars safely.
I was happy with what they had to say and ended up buying it.

Long story short IF a performance garage will do it maybe use them? Not sure where in Sydney you are but castle hill exhaust gets rave reviews from almost everyone. They MIGHT do it?

 

[Evil Empire]

Mate, I would recommend State Roads.

When I was looking for a car, I found two interstate that I liked, and State Roads did the inspections. Settled on a VE Calais, the report was fairly thorough, honest, included pictures, including exterior issues, interior, service records/books and undercarriage. They are quick, the report can be emailed immediately after, and the mechanic will call you to chat and give their recommendation. I flew to VIC and bought the car based on the report, and the VE has been a dream, besides a small suspension issue that I was aware of, and I have had no further issues. I was lucky to get a mechanic who was originally from SA and had worked at Holden's previously for years, so knew his stuff.

I even emailed State Roads a list of known issues with the VE and asked them to specifically check for those faults, which they happily did. They even gave me a discount on the VE inspection as I had used them previously for the first car I had them inspect, which I didn't proceed with. They were also the cheapest of all the others I had researched. I'm sure if you specifically asked for a mechanic with Holden experience, they would be able to accommodate.

One word of warning. I recommended them to my cousin who used them to inspect a Pajero he ended up buying. While the report was all good, and he hasn't had a problem with the car at all since buying it, he did get a dick of a mechanic with a fat mouth. He found out the mechanic told the seller that he was selling the car too cheap, and in turn the seller ended up being very firm with the asking price once my cousin started the negotiation, as he said he had been informed he was selling the car well below it's value. Not a huge deal, but my cuz could have possibly saved himself an extra few hundred bucks. I wouldn't let that deter you from using State Roads, because as I said, I had no issues, but I would definitely mention it when booking, and just remind them that you are their paying client and therefore the mechanic shouldn't be chatting with the seller regarding the cars condition or asking price. Probably just a slip of the tongue from the mechanic in my cousin's case, so you should give State Roads the benefit of the doubt I reckon. Doesn't hurt to mention it though.

Price from memory was about $270. Hope that helps with your decision.

 

[greenacc]

State roads does a lot of the presale inspections of fleet cars when they are being sold off at auction or online. My car came will a state roads inspection report - in the case of ex fleet cars the report is paid for by the seller and available to the buyer. Perhaps stupidly in my case i, the report montioned issues i couldn't even see standing beside the car looking at it so i figured whoever wrote it was being severely anal and i chose to ignore it and buy the car anyway. Of course, the report was 100% accurate and i lived and learned lol.
The one thing i'd say about your case with the Caprice, it sounds like you kinda know this car pretty well already. How long have you been driving past it ? There's always a school of thought that you could save those $$$ from the inspection and spend them fixing up the car... then again maybe it's cheap insurance. Being a V8 a performance shop might be a good suggestion engine wise, they might not have mush idea body wise though. There's supposed to be a good performance place with good mechanics around seven hills somewhere but can't think of the name. Good luck.