Pre Purchase Inspection

[pdxman]

What is the best way to work out the deals of a PPI? I would assume the owner takes the car in and I pay for it. If there are items that the mechanic see's and says need fixing...I guess this is a bargaining tool with the owner on the price of the vehicle. Do you get them to agree to this first? But what if declines to bargain afterward and calls off any dealing? They always find something that costs $$. I'm out the PPI money and he has the information in his hand.

Any experience here?


Thanks.

[P.E.Haiges]

Pdxman,

Yes you lose the PPI fee but it might have saved you thousands in repairs that you can deduct from the original asking price for the car or you walk away and don't have a car that is going cost you a lot for repairs.

That's the chance you have to take. It is usually worth paying the PPI. The only time it might not be worth paying the PPI is when they find nothing wrong, an unlikely scenario. But the advantage is that you are probably getting a trouble free car.

Most people think its a bad thing to pay for repairs on a used car. Actually, its no problem paying for repairs if you can get the car for a low price. What is the difference if you pay $5000 for a car that is worth $5000 to you OR pay $3000 for the car plus $2000 for repairs for a car that is worth the same $5000 to you. I see no difference.

I always go for a car with a rust free, almost perfect body than one with perfect mechanicals. Why: It is possible to return mechanical parts to almost new or replace them which I can do myself. While once rust has started or the car has been in a wreck, it almost impossible to bring back to new or is prohibitively expensive.

P E H

[pdxman]

Thanks PEH. But what is the best way to go about price negotiations? For instance, the car I am interested is being offered at $9999 and listed as very nice and in good condition. I looked at it and feel that his use of 'good' is modest for the car. I told the seller that before I would buy would want a PPI done and that I would pay for it.

Now, once that I get an idea on the cost of PPI, should I call the seller and arrange it with the prementioned fact that if anything is found needing repair (they always find something) that the repair cost need to be considered in the price negotiations? Does the seller reduce all repair costs off price, split with me, etc...
I am sure the dealer costs will be high and will not take kindly to a couple thousand $ off the price.

Maybe I negotiate a DIY price on this I can do like brakes/filters/fluids/etc and stand firmer on more technical things like timing chain/vacuum pumps, etc...

Just don't want anyone using my PPI to tell me that they won't budge and them backing out of the sale in order to get someone less suspecting.


Just trolling for experience here.....


Thanks all!!!

[Fisherman]

Almost every seller has priced their car with some margin for negotiation. If not then are you willing to pay.
The ppi is for you not the owner. If you are paying the fee there is really no reason that they should even get a copy if you want to go that route but it makes little sense to try to make this an issue and will probably put a bad taste in everyone's mouth for negotiating.

The PPI will hopefully tell you what is wrong. It may be that the owner knows of these things and they may not. if there are significant problems then you know it and can either negotiate on it or walk away. If the owner won't negotiate then he is going to turn around and try to stick the next guy which is pretty common...

Do the ppi, if you feel good about the owner and want to make a deal share the results with him. If it is clean then you won't have much room for negotiation. If there are probelms and he won't negotiate then you probably shouldn't do business with him anyway.

At an asking of 10K you better be getting a pretty decent car and I'd rather know that for a fact than hope it is as he says...

That's my .02. Good luck!

One last thing, I had a PPI done on a Jeep by the local dealership. The price was right and I said "hey, they should know these cars better than anyone". I assumed that the PPI was correct and bought the car. After I bought it and took it to an Indy for some work it became very obvious that they must have looked at someone elses car cuz none of the stuff they noted was correct!!! Like bad main seal (250.00) and it turned out to be the tranny seals were blown (900.00). Question the results to make sure you get your monies worth.

[sixto]

My take is that the car is offered in a known condition. Any flaws are presented up front along with obvious and implied wear and tear. Walk around the car checking every item and feature. Make a list of things that aren't to your expectation. Then go for the PPI. You should have room to negotiate on items that are new discoveries from the inspection. Consider also how likely it is that the seller knew and didn't disclose these items. Lots of room for interpretation, I know. If the dealer says there's 10% left on the brakes, my take is your SOL. You could have caught the car anywhere in the cycle and you missed. If the dealer says the pads are worn to metal, they you can negotiate if the seller didn't state this to be the case. You should expect some brakes. Of course if the seller let brake service slip it's not a car you should be considering at that price.

With the inspection done, put the ball in the seller's court. Ask the seller if he/she will reconsider the price given the information. Most likely you'll be asked to make an offer. I'm not a good negotiator so I can't tell you what to do next.

There is typically room for negotiation on a car described to a tee so it's not like you have to find a flaw to talk down the price.

Sixto
95 S420
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

[lrg]

In the past my approach has been to agree on a price subject to a PPI. That way you know you have a deal if you want, it's just a question of adjusting the price or walking away if the PPI turns up a problem. If there is a big problem then as PEH says, you've saved yourself a lot of money. If it's just a few smaller problems like needs new brakes, worn shocks, etc. then you can negotiate the price down a bit. If I want the car, I'll usually end up settling for about a 50/50 split on minor repairs since I'll end up doing them myself and 50% will easily cover the cost of parts. That way the seller feels that he's getting a good deal too. Either way, my cost of the PPI is money well spent in my view, even if I've paid it on a car I ultimately walked away from.

[P.E.Haiges]

Pdxman,

Is the car local to you? If it is you should be there when the PPI is done. Since you are paying for the PPI the results should be you property, but why not share it with the owner? Its a good bargaining tool for you.

You first have to decide what the car is worth to you. Usually the cost of any necessary repairs to bring the car to an average vehicle of its vintage is subtracted from the asking price. You can't expect the car to be equal to new, you are not paying the price of a new car. If the necessary repairs are higher than the value of the car, well, that's why there are junkyards.

Think of it like an auction. The first thing is to establish your maximum price and bid up to it but not over. That's one nice thing about Ebay, you can put in your maximum price and have the computer do proxy bidding for you. But in an eye to eye purchase, you usually start less than your maximum price hopeing you get lucky.

The PDI should give you an idea of the cost of what needs to be done so if that plus the purchase price is equal or less than what the car is worth to you, you might purchase it. If its more and the seller won't meet your the price that car is worth to you, you simply walk away. You can cut the cost of repairs drastically by doing the work yourself and you might figure that in.

I would advise the seller what your maximum price is. If he can't sell the car, he may be calling you back. It worked for me.

One other thing: If you have a maximum of $10,000 to buy a car, You shouldn't pay more than $8500 total. Save some for the sales tax and some repairs that are always necessary on a used car.


P E H

[pdxman]

Good info everyone. Thanks!