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

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ONLY ASE Master Certified Technicians should be inspecting vehicles – Portland Car Buyers Beware

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PDXinspections was established in 2007 and we’ve always been in the  business of performing proper onsite used car inspections using an appropriate Advanced ASE Master Certified Technician. Unfortunately, many consumers might be aware of what an ASE Master Certified Technician means and therefore don’t know how to properly compare inspection options.

As a Doctor would have to complete a series of education and certifications to earn the title of being a Doctor, in a lesser sense an automotive technician must also do the same.

ASE is the standard for automotive technician certifications – http://www.ase.com/About-ASE.aspx
Why Does ASE Exist? – To protect the automotive service consumer, shop owner, and the automotive technician. We test and certify automotive professionals so that shop owners and service customers can better gauge a technicians level of expertise before contracting the technician’s services. We certify the automotive technician professional so they can offer tangible proof of their technical knowledge. ASE Certification testing means peace of mind for auto service managers, customers. To become ASE certified, you must pass an ASE test and have full-time, hands-on work experience (or a combination of formal training and experience). The amount of work experience required can vary by test.

There are 4 levels of mechanics

  • “Car guy” or Shade Tree Mechanic – this person may or may not have formal automotive education or on the job experience. There is no way to verify what this persons qualifications are as they don’t possess any ASE certifications. (There are millions of “car guys”)
  • ASE Certified Technician – Formal education and on the job experience – ONLY 1 or more ASE certification. Anyone can pass 1 ASE test and become an “ASE certified Technician”. Think about this, someone who takes ONLY the A5: Brakes test is considered an ASE Certified Technician. They may have worked at a tire shop and may know nothing about the other components of a vehicle.
  • ASE Master Certified Technician – Formal education and on the job experience – Has successfully passed ALL 8 ASE certifications. Meaning this technician understands EVERY system on a modern vehicle
  • ASE L1 Advanced Master Certified Technician – Formal education and on the job experience – Has successfully passed the A8 Engine Performance ASE certification and in addition the L1 Advanced Engine Performance test which is more or less performance analysis and how a computerized modern vehicle runs and operates.

There are 8 certifications an automotive technician must pass to become an ASE Master certified technician.

The certifications are:

  • A1 Engine Repair
  • A2 Automatic Transmission/Transaxle
  • A3 Manual Drive Train and Axles
  • A4 Suspension and Steering
  • A5 Brakes
  • A6 Electrical/Electronic Systems
  • A7 Heating and Air Conditioning
  • A8 Engine Performance
  • +
  • L1 Automobile Advanced Engine Performance Specialist

*There are millions of “car guys”
Per ASE (July 2017):
There are 197,440 ASE Technicians
69,678 of which are Master Automobile Technicians
and only 34,598 have received their L1 Automobile Advanced Engine Performance Specialist certification.

PDXinspections is the ONLY used car inspection company in Oregon/Washington on the west coast and possibly the US using a Certified Master Automobile Technician with the L1 Automobile Advanced Engine Performance Specialist certification performing inspections.

There is not a standardized used vehicle inspection however if there were it would absolutely be modeled after PDXinspections. We are the ONLY company using Master ASE certified technicians while using all the proper high tech diagnostic equipment on our inspections. Also, we are your only guaranteed unbiased inspection service as we do not service vehicles meaning we have nothing to upsell you. We also do not affiliate with or recommend any other automotive business. We’re also the only company that can properly test for head gasket failures as we are the only mobile company using the $5,000 analyzer required for this test. From our inception, we have always used up to date, modern diagnostic equipment with all our inspections. This means our results are objective as we can back our findings with use of measured values vs the subjective opinion of a “car guy”.

Over the years, we’ve seen many other smaller companies both nationally and locally attempt to recreate our service. There are other Portland companies claiming to perform onsite inspections, they even make bold statements like they’re “the original” or “best choice” for inspections when this is simply not true. When you know what to look for it becomes obvious that none of these companies provide proof of using ASE master certified technicians on their site, these are “car guys” providing a very basic subjective inspection without the proper high tech diagnostic tooling. Some of these companies are clever and pray on the unknowing stating they use “Professional technicians”, what are those? If a company is using Master ASE certified technicians they will be proud of it and happy display it on their websites. When it comes to finding a Doctor, you want the most experienced and highest certified Doctor you can find right? When potentially spending tens of thousands of dollars on a used vehicle do you want the “car guy”, the technician with 1 certification or the Master Certified Technician with every automotive service certification available?

The facts are, you can find our 5 star online reviews from 2007, we proudly display our certifications, tooling, explain our processes, give you sample reports and personally learn about our inspectors on our site. We’d put little faith in any company that isn’t using master certified technicians to perform complete inspections on vehicles. Competition is good for everyone but we don’t consider any company using “car guys” to look over your potential purchase a competitor. Most disappointing is to see any company claiming to perform a service and possibly not properly delivering at potentially the consumers expense – we’re talking about your safety, the safety of your family and a lot of money here!

Since 2007 we’ve been in the business of helping consumers by performing complete used car inspections the right way and we will continue to remain your best and only choice for completely unbiased, and properly inspected vehicles for the future to come.

2009 MINI Cooper with a blown head gasket, think new cars don’t need to be inspected? Think again…

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It took three inspections to find the right car…

We have people ask us almost weekly do I really need to have a newer vehicle inspected? Or how about from a dealer who’s offering a warranty? In our minds it’s cheap insurance to make sure you don’t end up with a lemon. We’ve been doing this long enough to see some pretty crazy things even from only 1-2 year old models from some reputable dealerships.

We recently had a client who was looking for a newer MINI Cooper to buy for his wife’s birthday. He didn’t want to have to take the time out of his busy schedule and initiate transactions with various dealers to look over the cars on the market, so instead he hired us to look over the vehicle prior to even contacting the dealers that he was interested. His requirements were simple: a non smoking car and he wasn’t interested in a car that had been in any type of accident or having any kind of previous repaint. It took three inspections but in the end he found the best car.

MINI number 1 – 2009 MINI Cooper S – VIN WMWMF73539TW83305
The first one we went to look at sounded nice per the ad, “Non smoking & in like new condition” at a small independent dealer in NE Portland. Upon our arrival we found a few rather large flags based on his requirements. First, the vehicle had had some previous paintwork and it was fairly obvious with fish-eyes, spots and sanding marks visible in the paint. Probably the most surprising however, was that the ad clearly advertised it as being a non-smoking vehicle yet there were burn holes throughout the carpeting and in the leather seats. This one was out.
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On to MINI number 2 – 2009 MINI Cooper S – VIN WMWMF73509TW86811
This 60K mile MINI being sold by a bigger independent dealer in Milwaukie on Mcloughlin BLVD. We’ve been to this dealer many times in the past with mixed results. This one did have some superficial paint work but the biggest issue was that it had some serious engine issues. It almost immediately became apparent the car had a failing head gasket. Most may have started the car and thought it had some “lot rot” as it did initially run rough for a few seconds, but there were many clues that it had a internally failed head gasket.

  • Before starting the vehicle we always look over all fluids under the hood. What first caught our eye was the color and dark carbon like traces noted in the coolant bottle. It didn’t look good for a 60K mile 2009 vehicle.
  • When removing the cooling cap on a cold engine there was a noticeable pressure in the cooling system as well as bubbles – This is not normal on a stone cold engine that has been sitting for some time.
  • We had our scanner running a full system scan on the car prior to starting and noticed some other red flags such as misfire codes
  • As soon as we started the car, it initially ran very rough, and then seemed to clear out but now the check engine light was illuminated.
  • Finally, to confirm our suspicions we took our exhaust gas analyzer and sniffed out the cooling system, which instantly confirmed we had a head gasket failure. Cooling systems are sealed from the outside world and from the engine. Under no circumstances should you ever see any combustion gasses or by-products in the cooling system. In this case we had Hydrocarbons (HC-unburnt fuel) and Carbon Monoxides (CO – partially burn fuels) present. We’re currently working on a video that shows/explains this process in detail.

So obviously MINI number 2 was out. When looking back at the Carfax it became pretty apparent that someone had issues with the car shortly after the warranty expired.
Service on 04/11/2013 @ 58,716 Miles

  • Radiator hose clamp replaced
  • Water pump replaced
  • Thermostat housing/gasket replaced
  • Thermostat replaced
  • Antifreeze/coolant checked

These services suggest the car likely had a overheating issue or a coolant odor issue and a shop without a $5000 exhaust gas analyzer to properly diagnose the shop likely threw parts at it. If we had to guess, the owner likely traded it in after this service was completed at probably $1000 the car continued having issues. It was also interesting to note it was sent to auction only a week after the MINI dealer in CA listed the car for resale. We showed the dealer our findings before we left, he mentioned this happened to him just a few weeks on a similar car. One would think the dealer would send it back to auction, but according to the history report the car was sold 2 months later to some unsuspecting buyer here in Portland.
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On to MINI number 3 – 2010 MINI Cooper S – VIN WMWMF7C52ATZ73202
This was the final car and the one he was looking for. The car was absolutely pristine! None of the previous issues, never been smoked in and most importantly never had any paintwork. Needless to say, our client was very satisfied and his patience definitely paid off.

The third inspection was the best and final MINI

Josh thank you for your professional counsel and extra work on these Mini inspections.  I did a deal with Kevin and my wife is delighted with her birthday gift.

I am still on the hunt for something to replace my Suburban.  So when I figure it out and begin my search I will once again be in touch.

Again many thanks for the excellent service you provide.

Mark

You will always save money having the car inspected prior to purchase and in this case our client avoided the hassles of weeding through the junk vehicles while avoiding a vehicle with a blown head gasket that would have cost him close to $3000 to fix right off the bat.