Portland OnSite Used Car Pre-Purchase Inspection Service

Portland's ORIGINAL modern used car inspection company. Since 2006 proper Master ASE Certified Technicians performing real inspections. The most technologically advanced used car inspection anywhere

PDXinspections Blog Posts

Here is a collection of things we see, our opinions and our thoughts in general.

We now have more pre-purchase inspection choices to better serve Portland & Vancouver used car buyers. Inspections starting at only $179 in Vancouver Washington!

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For many years we only had one inspection choice, that is no longer the case. We now have a used car pre-purchase inspection for every vehicle each optimized for the type of vehicle and or what it is you “the buyer” is really interested in having inspected.

Introducing our Platinum – The same industry leading extremely detailed and thorough pre-purchase car inspection you've come to expect from PDXinspections. A new Gold/Newer car inspection optimized to save our clients money who are looking at newer low mileage vehicles likely still under warranty and a Bronze/Basic budget inspection to help those looking for reassurance they're not buying a budget priced lemon.

We now have more pre-purchase inspection choices to better serve our used car buyers starting at only $179 all with our extensive research and a vehicle history report and often service records included!

All of our inspections start with research: vehicle history report(s) and many times service records (when available – same records that are available to companies such as Carfax) are provided immediately after booking when the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is provided.

Every inspection includes measuring all exterior metal body panels to determine if the vehicle has been repainted and to determine whether it was due to cosmetic or accident repair

Platinum Inspection

  • Our most complete & common inspection for the modern vehicle
  • Hands down the most thorough mobile inspection that exists
  • Extremely detailed and in depth - Redundant tests throughout
  • Modeled after manufacture certified vehicle standards (I.e.150 point CPO) but are far superior

Learn more or book your Platinum inspection

Gold – New Car Inspection

  • Newer vehicle inspection (designed for vehicles that my be still under factory warranty)
  • Only vehicles that are 3 years old or newer with less than 36K miles are eligible
  • Everything in the Platinum inspection excluding: Interior condition report, accessory testing, lifting the vehicle, and a test drive

Learn more or book your Gold inspection

Bronze – Basic/Budget Inspection

  • Designed for older/high mileage/budget vehicles (typically mid 1980′s to 2000) with mechanical condition taking precedence
  • This is a basic mechanical and safety inspection
  • Our most important tests are completed
  • Cosmetic condition report and accessories tests are not completed

Learn more or book your Bronze inspection

Once you have chosen your inspection just follow the instructions to easily and securely book on that respective page

All of our used car inspection reports are delivered via email and is easily read/printed using your computer, smart phone, iPhone/iPad or any other mobile device capable of reading PDF's. They are easily read and understood, written in laypersons terms with items of importance highlighted
PDXinspections-ipad-iphone-friendly



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With your help we raised $1310 to benefit CF in Aurora's name | 5th Annual Portland Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge September 22, 2013

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Thank you to all who donated! With your help we raised $1310 to benefit CF and were in the top 10 benefactors for the cause.

The climb was difficult but we did make it to the 41st on one bottle of air in 12 minutes and 4 seconds. This is our baseline for next year!

The Video is in the works and we'll let you all know when its ready. Thanks Again to all of you!

Josh Lawson is trying to make "CF" stand for "Cure Found!" Visit Josh's 5th Annual Portland Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge Home Page at http://www.cff.org/LWC/JoshLawson!

5th Annual Portland Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge
5th Annual Portland Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge

Click To Donate

We have a very good friend who is an amazing mom and is raising a child with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Josh, our lead inspector/owner of PDXinspections who is also a firefighter and will be climbing 40 floors of the US Bank Corp tower in Portland, OR on September 22nd, 2013 in full turnout gear while on air from a SCBA to help raise money for Cystic Fibrosis in Aurora's name. We will be making a video of the whole process from start finish on race day and we plan on sharing with all who donate in your names.

Aurora's story and more about Cystic Fibrosis

304122_3672249144530_1912576990_n-1It's been a long journey for Rory, and we can only hope the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation will give those with CF a fighting chance for as normal as possible life to come...Rory was diagnosed with a bowel obstruction in utero at 36 weeks. This was due to a blockage of meconium, the thick first stools of newborns. This required emergency bowel surgery at 4 hours of life. Rory lost 3/4 of her small bowel and had a jejunostomy until her second surgery at 8 weeks to reconnect her small intestine to her colon. It was when she was two weeks old that we received the news that her tests came back positive for CF. CF is a genetic disease that causes an abnormality of the chloride channels at a cellular level. It's an autosomal recessive condition, meaning both parents have to be carriers of the gene. You have a 25% chance of having a child with CF, 50% chance a child that is a carrier, and 25% chance the child is neither.

PANDA Transport for Rory

What does all this mean for Rory then? Well, CF causes thick secretions, most notable in the lungs and pancreas. Extra thick mucous in the lungs is too difficult to clear, bacteria form and are difficult to eradicate with the assistance of antibiotics and daily nebulizer and chest physiotherapy treatments, designed to help break up mucous an assist in coughing it out of the lungs. The pancreas aids in digestion by releasing enzymes that breakdown fats in the foods we eat. Because the tubules in the pancreas are so small, and the enzymatic fluid is extra thick, little to no enzymes make to the small bowel. In order to digest fats, individuals with CF have to take enzymes by mouth with most foods they eat. Rory's condition is a bit more complicated however. The portion of bowel she had removed includes the entire section that absorbs fats. The remaining 1/3 of her bowel has adapted some to take on the role of the missing sections, much like the brain learns to adapt after a stroke. Because of this and having CF, it is very difficult for her to grow and gain weight. She remains on a feeding tube at night and a strict diet. It's a daily battle just to keep her healthy and growing. She has had many trips to and from home with help from the OHSU PANDA team.

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Now we wait, hope, and pray for a cure. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a donor driven, non-profit organization dedicated to attacking cystic fibrosis from every angle. They, through the generous donations, support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF, and ultimately to find a cure. They promote awareness and provide support for CF families. It is largely due to the efforts of this organization that many individuals with CF are now living well into 30's, 40's, and 50's. They fund groundbreaking research in the areas of gene therapy, creating new drugs that will fight the disease at a cellular level and bringing us one step closer to a cure. The CFF is adding tomorrows every day.

Welcome to Josh's 5th Annual Portland Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge Home Page!
5th Annual Portland Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge Event Info
My fund-raising goal: $1,000.00
Money raised to date: $1,310.00
131% 131%
Your generous gift will be used efficiently and effectively -- nearly 90 cents of every dollar of Foundation revenue goes to support vital cystic fibrosis (CF) research, medical and education programs.Making a donation is easy and secure! Just click the "Click to Donate" button on this page to make a donation that will be credited to my fundraising efforts. Any amount you can donate will be greatly appreciated!

Cystic fibrosis is a devastating genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. More than ten million Americans are symptomless carriers of the defective CF gene. Advances continue to be made in finding a cure, but your help is needed now -- more than ever -- to help keep up the momentum of this life-saving research. To learn more about CF and the CF Foundation, visit www.cff.org.

Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those with CF. Thank you for supporting the mission of the CF Foundation!

 
Below is a list of donors who have donated to support me. Thanks to everyone for your support!
First Name Last Name Comments
Sue Lawson
Brad Lawson Good Luck, You better beat everyone else!!!
Sharon Worley All my best to this loving family!
Kris Sal Dana There is always a hero in the bunch. Josh, you are up there with Rory. Thank you for your service.
Joshua and Jandi Love Thank You everyone for supporting such a great cause.
Washington Companies
Wayne and Marlene Love Josh, thanks so much for participating in this incredible fund raising event on behalf of our litt more »»
Karen Moczkowski Take it to the top Josh!
Rachael Deach Our girls really adore Rory and her sweet disposition. I am sure the Love’s are so thankful fo more »»
Tanya Roust Good luck in the climb and thank you for supporting people like lovely Aurora!
Kellie Houston Good luck! Thank you for doing this and supporting an AMAZING little girl and her family.
Linda Franklin In the name of Aurora and grandchildren everywhere.
Kim Devries Rory’s grandma is a dear friend and coworker. Great cause and so glad you are doing this. L more »»
Caroline Haags For Rory.
Nic Lawson
Kristen Lawson Let’s find a cure for Aurora and all those who have CF!
Coral Denley For my beautiful granddaughter, Aurora. Thank you Josh for your support.
Hazel Philbrook Thank you for doing this Josh. With a cure we will not have to hear the heartbreaking stories of more »»
Phillene McNeill Love you Jandi, Aurora, Kenedy and Josh, what a fabulous family
Darlene Stone She is a very special girl with a GREAT family. My hat is off to you Josh!!
Christina Blair
Leah LaBar
Joanie and Chris Vanderbeek/Moczkowski Good luck Josh!
Geneva Cantrell
Imogene Trembowicz Way to go Josh!
Christy Bryan
Click To Donate  Send Page To Others

Thank you to all who have donated in 2013!  UIt means the world to those who need it.

Josh Lawson

Here's a Video from last years 2012 Climb For The Cure

 

Carfax and how they really love their dealers. They don't have the consumers best interest in mind.

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First our M3 story and explanation of how Carfax is really there to help dealers sell more cars. In our opinion they don't have the consumers best interest in mind as they continue to make a majority of their money from dealers and because of this they don't include all of the negative info they have access to.

Immediately after our story 20/20 does a story confirming what we've been saying for years. Carfax geared more towards benefiting the dealer?

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/check-carfax-18743237

Look what we saw today! Convinced yet?

Carfox

Carfax vs. AutoCheck

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We continually explain to our clients, Carfax is not our preferred vehicle history provider. Have you ever heard of the competing report, AutoCheck by Experian? Yes, Experian, the credit monitoring company.

Every time we hear a Carfax radio or TV ad it reminds us how much this service seems to be really geared towards dealers instead of protecting the buying public in our opinion. Carfax has all of the information but they leave out some rather important details that the competing report doesn’t. I’m sure you’ve heard, “Ask for your Carfax report, Free at thousands of reputable dealers” The truth behind this is that dealers are forced to spend big dollars to have a dealer Carfax account to offer those reports to you. Our owner/lead inspector Josh who actually owned a small used car dealership for 6 years witnessed many dealers buying their inventory at auction not really looking over the cars themselves rather actually purchasing the vehicles that have no accident/damage remarks on the Carfax report alone!

80% of the vehicles we inspect have one or more repainted/repaired panels yet show nothing on a Carfax report. Most dealers know what cars have been repainted or have been in an accident when buying them but they also know 98% of the buyers out there will only ask for a Carfax due to their advertising and not have the car pre-purchase inspected prior to purchase. Carfax does finally now recommend having an independent inspection preformed – Kudos Carfax!

PDXinspections provides each of our clients with an AutoCheck History report at minimum. This report in our opinion is the far superior report with the buyer’s best interest in mind rather than the dealers. The following story from a recent inspection, which explains and shows this very clearly.

We were recently hired to perform an inspection on a low mileage BMW M3. The dealer provided Carfax looked great, the AutoCheck report however told a completely different story. Both reports show the car was sold at auction so we know both providers have that information.

The Carfax simply reads:
07/30/2012 45,151 Auto Auction Pacific Region Listed as a dealer vehicle - Sold at auction

The AutoCheck shows:
05/30/2012 PACIFIC SW REGION 45,151 Auto Auction REPORTED AT AUTO AUCTION
06/15/2012 PACIFIC SW REGION Auto Auction AUCTION ANNOUNCED AS UNIBODY DAMAGE
06/27/2012 PACIFIC SW REGION 45,654 Auto Auction REPORTED AT AUTO AUCTION
07/30/2012 PACIFIC SW REGION 45,151 Auto Auction REPORTED AT AUTO AUCTION AS DEALER VEHICLE
08/01/2012 PACIFIC SW REGION Auto Auction AUCTION ANNOUNCED AS UNIBODY DAMAGE

Now the AutoCheck tells a completely different story doesn’t it? Why does the Carfax leave out the fact it went through the auction for 2 months without selling (red flag 1) and as well the auction actually announcing Frame/Unibody damage (red flag 2)? The Carfax will never show you if the car had a frame damage announcement at auction and won’t show you if it spent a year being bounced between auctions (which does happen).

Despite this information being provided upfront, the buyer did elect to still have us go check out the car and we quickly found the vehicle was involved in a rather hard rear end accident resulting in the lower trunk unibody/frame being replaced along with a rear bumper, and paintwork throughout the vehicle easily noticed once looking for it.

The truth is we see this kind of thing all of the time and on average cancel and refund several inspections a week alone based on our initial research including these reports. We don’t enjoy inspecting bad vehicles and know our customers will continue their searches better informed and in the end coming back to us with a better vehicle to inspect.

We will always continue to do in what we believe is best for the buying public and continue providing in what we consider the better report.

Compare-Vehicle-History-Reports
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Why we have a different prospective than most regarding vehicle safety and salvage titled vehicles in general

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When I'm not out inspecting used vehicles I enjoy spending my time as a firefighter. One of the many things we do is continually drill (practice our craft). Understanding vehicle construction is helpful but my role as a firefighter gives me a true respect for how strong a vehicle is and how important proper vehicle repairs are when they are damaged. While out inspecting I often see poorly repaired vehicles (mostly salvage) and think back to how that cost savings of knowingly purchasing a vehicle that has sustained some serious damage could end up being a life or death decision for you and your family and a rescue vs recovery for the firefighters that will respond to the next accident.

Remember accidents happen. Nobody gets up in the morning planning on getting into an accident. On top of worrying about the mechanical condition of your next car purchase, please really consider the safety aspects as well. I've always been a stickler for safety. I spent about 4 years in the dealership setting as a specialized Drive-ability, Electronics, Networking and Safety Systems Technician diagnosing and replacing safety systems such as airbags, pre-tensioners and seat belts so I understand better than most how crucial these properly functioning systems are and how intertwined they are with the rest of the vehicle including the structure. There is nothing more dangerous than a car designed with airbags that has been tampered with or has non functioning airbags. Please don't choose cost over safety.

There are plenty of vehicles out there being poorly repaired daily, many around you every time you're out driving. Be educated, do your research on the vehicle and seller, and please don't consider purchasing without having it inspected.

Car-cutting2Car-cutting

Extrication-complete

You get what you pay for! A great car buying metaphor.

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You get what you pay for… Nothing is truer than this statement when it comes to buying a used vehicle.

I previously owned a small dealership mostly locating vehicles for people who didn’t want the hassles of sourcing their own vehicles. I purchased most of my vehicles at the same place the big franchised and smaller dealers do, the auction. There are literally a 100,000 cars auctioned across the world weekly. At each one of these auctions there will be 500-1000 dealers or buyers agents buying vehicles for their dealerships or for their clients (in the buyer’s agent case). If a vehicle is in poorer shape the price it sells for will obviously be less, on the other hand if a vehicle is in top shape meaning, no accidents or previous paintwork the price will reflect that.

I would only consider vehicles that have had no body or paint work. This made my searches incredibly difficult as 75% percent of the vehicles I would look at had one or more repainted panels. 75% is pretty much what I see while out inspecting vehicles at dealerships as well. Paintwork isn’t always a negative thing when considering a ten year old vehicle, however in my opinion is pretty inexcusable on a $30K+ luxury vehicle or a vehicle which is only a couple years old.

Some dealers sell cars on only flashy looks alone. They sometimes do no more than spend money on a fancy detail and cosmetic re-spray work and completely ignore the more expensive mechanical/maintenance work. Have you ever heard the term “Lipstick on a pig”? Most of the vehicles I would purchase from auction would need brakes or tires right off the bat. Many people decide its time for a new vehicle when their vehicles start needing great sums of service work knowing months in advance they would be doing so. Of course they don’t take care of necessary services it might need prior to doing so. As quality used vehicle values continue to rise and dealers look to cut costs, I’m seeing more and more dealers cutting costs when it comes to the reconditioning of their used cars trying to maximize profit. This means for some of the poorer quality dealers many of the vehicles sitting on their lots need crucial safety items, which typically end up being some of the most expensive services like brakes and tires. I would estimate 80% of the vehicles we inspect at some of the smaller independent dealers need at least $500+ in tires and/or brakes not even considering some of the issues we might come across in the rest of our inspection. The cost of the inspection is so minimal and almost always less than the cost of some of the needed maintenance, mechanical/electrical issues, or devaluation for paintwork or accidents in which we find and report.

Just be aware and remember to always have used cars inspected by a confident/trained/independent certified technician before purchasing it. Tires, brakes and other necessary services will quickly add up and will always be more than the inspection itself not to mention the confidence of knowing you’re not going to end up with a lemon. Know what you’re buying, research the dealer by checking reviews, have it inspected and buyer beware!

Tire wear