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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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.

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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

Selling cars illegally is a big deal – why you should be concerned

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for-sale-by-curber

From our used vehicle buying tips page

5) Just because the vehicle is listed for sale by owner doesn’t mean the registered owner is actually selling the vehicle.  There’s a good chance it isn’t the owner selling the vehicle rather “Curbers” or often referred to a Curbstoner or Curbstoning. Some people flip cars here in there but more so, a “Curber” is someone other than a registered owner or licensed dealer selling the car.  This is highly illegal and those who get caught face fines from the DMV from $2500-$5000 per vehicle.

Why should you care?
a) For starters, they’re not a dealer there is absolutely no accountability if and when you have issues registering your new vehicle.
b) They likely know nothing about the vehicle they are selling and I guarantee they probably don’t care. These may be the most impersonal people you will deal with, they will likely tell you what you want to hear or hopefully they are honest and they will let you know when they don’t know about the history. It’s usually all about money with these sellers and most have no conscience. There are plenty who buy cheap junk and resell quickly/cheaply. Ask yourself this: If the vehicle caught your attention at their asking price, why were they able to buy it so much cheaper to turn for a profit?
c) Most importantly they are already lying to you claiming to be the owner… What else are they hiding? Where did the get the car from and why was it sold? Maintenance or service history?

Kerry Tomlinson of KATU Problem Solvers here in Portland does a great job of reporting these stories
1st story of a guy selling a odometer rollback truck as a “Curber” http://www.katu.com/home/video/108354209.html
2nd story involving the same guy now a licensed dealer not following the DMV rules that govern all dealers and still using the trickery you’ll read below. http://www.katu.com/home/video/117463379.html 

So how do you catch them?  Again back to step one, use Google and also search Craigslist for the phone number. If you see multiple vehicles for the same phone number of a seller who is claiming to be an owner? Guess what….You’ve found a Curber. I can guarantee this is the case for 1 or more vehicles you’ve already been looking at, Yes it’s that common!  Another dead give away is when they attempt to fool you by listing their phone number in a photo rather than the ad text (so Craigslist and search engines can’t index it) or using different formats with spaces such as 5 0 3 – 7 8 9 – 0 1 6 8;  replacing the zeros with O’s; spelling out numbers (5O3)-7 eight 9 O16eight, or a combo of all the above. If someone goes through the hassles of doing this they are 99.7% positive not the registered owner of the vehicle…

OregonLive article – http://www.oregonlive.com/happy-valley/index.ssf/2011/03/happy_valley_man_nicholas_butkovich_accused_of_selling_cars_without_a_license.html

KATU News also did two stories on him – http://www.katu.com/news/problemsolver/95882224.html
http://www.katu.com/news/problemsolver/95882224.html?tab=video
http://clackamas.katu.com/content/man-sought-connection-illegal-car-sales

Pay attention out there.

For more used car buying tips visit our used vehicle buying tips page