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.

D&C Motor Company

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Since 2007 we’ve been telling our customers, it is important to research the dealer you’re looking to purchase from, warning them to “Beware of dealers posting their own reviews on sites such as Yelp.”

We’re in the business of helping car buyers make educated and informed purchasing decisions, plain and simple. Unfortunately doing what’s right for our customers, has once again affected us negatively. There are good dealers out there and there are bad ones, and we have always recommended you research the dealer you’re working with in order to make an informed decision.

Max Rossi DC Motors Linkedin
Max Rossi DC Motors Sales Manager Linkedin

Here’s a prime example of this situation: Today after performing inspections for 12 years with 100’s of 5 star reviews and 1000’s of satisfied customers we received our first 1 star/negative review on both Yelp and Google as well as other nefarious activities associated. Of course as any business such as ours, we take this personal so we did some investigating. Immediately it became clear that the review appeared to come from someone who has no idea how our business works and upon further investigation in our system the review didn’t appear to be a customer of ours. A quick search revealed the following about the reviewer, Max Rossi. Max Rossi is listed as the Sales Manager at D&C Motor Company on LinkedIn and obviously is not a customer of ours – https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-rossi-67287b141
It’s not a coincidence that this happened today. Just yesterday, we were contacted by yet another client interested in a car from this dealer. We explained why we do not perform inspections at this dealer and shared what we know about D&C Motor Company.  This client decided to take their business elsewhere like the numerous others who likely have over the years.

Ironically Max Rossi in his review states: “They have no morals and they act upon emotion instead of logic”. Please read below…

Since 2007 we have done many inspections at D&C Motor Company (D&C Motors, D&C Motorz, DC Motorz) and unfortunately the dealer hasn’t taken kindly to our services due to some of our findings at their dealership. D&C Motor Company is 1 of only 2 dealers in the Portland area we have no interest in going back to and have not since 2014.  Without exception we’ve never inspected a vehicle that didn’t have at least some paintwork/accident repairs and many of the vehicles have had larger issues that warranted us ending the inspections early.  Simply put we don’t like inspecting poorer quality vehicles and we’d rather help you find the right vehicle for us to inspect on the first go around.  This is why as part of our history research we include history reports and we also share our experiences with dealers/sellers when we have seen a pattern develop.

The final straw for us with D&C Motor Company was in 2014 while performing our inspection with our customer present, the owner of the dealership decided to come outside and take his unwarranted anger and frustrations out on our inspector. He accused us of slander and many other completely untrue statements. He was upset based on the information we provided up front on the vehicle and dealer as we do with every inspection. Our inspector simply explained, we are in the business of helping people buy used vehicles, we are completely objective and it’s our job to make sure the buyer goes in completely informed.  The whole situation was completely unwarranted and the most unprofessional situation we’ve ever witnessed in our 12 years of business. Ironically this vehicle also needed a transmission.

Again we would strongly suggest doing your research when buying from a dealer. As of 10/10/18 we’re not even aware of a dealer in the Portland area with even close to a comparable negative online reputation. Yelp does a horrible job of filtering feedback on D&C Motor Company for some reason.  In order to see all feedback you must visit under the “other reviews that are not currently recommended” link at the bottom of the page (as of today there are 480) to see the many 1 star negative reviews of others who have shared their own experiences there consistent with what we experienced up until 2014 when we last visited this dealer.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/d-and-c-motor-company-portland – You’ll notice a 1 star review followed by a 5 star review likely from Salespeople or Friends and Family of salespeople, this is VERY common in the dealer world and a dead give away when dealers write their own reviews to cover the bad. Now that Nick Rossi decided to actually post falsified information under our Yelp page it’s quick to see that he has also posted a 5 star review for D&C Motor Company (SEE BELOW)  and many of his yelp “Friends” have also posted 5 star reviews for D&C Motor Company.
http://www.yelp.com/not_recommended_reviews/w21hAaWPJnVWX6V4WpnD8A – 510 reviews for D&C Motor Company that are not currently recommended. It’s really over the top when you compare them to large franchised dealers in the area that have a fraction of the reviews that they have considering they likely have 10X+ the customers. This small dealer literally is reviewed weekly, look up the larger dealers in this area, this is not the trend.

Max Rossi DC Motor Company Fake Reviews
Max Rossi DC Motor Company Fake Reviews

It should also be noted that “D&C Motorz” was F Rated according to the BBB in 2014 which may explain the name change to D&C Motor Company.  Also be noted that there is another “Inspection Company” who advertises in the Portland Market that is affiliated with and lists D&C Motor Company as a partner. BUYER BEWARE. 

In conclusion, do your research, the used car industry can be pretty nasty and immoral. Use the power of these review sites to get an idea on who you’re working with and be careful not to fall for the traps from dealers such as seen above. When you find the right vehicle we will be here just as we have since 2006 to offer you completely unbiased assessment of the vehicle you’re considering.  Unbiased means we have no hidden agendas, we report facts, we are known for industry leading customer service meaning we don’t have to post fake reviews. This will always mean we are not affiliated with, nor do we ever recommend any other dealer or automotive related business, and always provide complete information from start to finish.

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 – Portland buyers beware – Learn more

Keywords: Portland Car Buying, Scams, Reviews

Portland’s most advanced pre-purchase used car inspection service

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Just an example how PDXinspections uses technology to spot things that others cannot during our pre-purchase used car inspection. We use our infrared camera on every inspection to test and actually be able to show our clients that the heated seats, rear defroster, heated windshield, heated steering wheel, A/C performance, dual climate operation and anything that gives off a heat signature.

Backstory behind this video:
I being the car guy was asked to take a look at one of our firefighters vehicles. She just recently purchased a 1989 Jeep Cherokee and was complaining of her battery repeatedly going dead and having to jump start the vehicle. I put the Jeep on a charger for about 30 minutes and went to go test the battery and noticed that there was an electrical draw on the system. I went out to grab my amp-meter to check for a draw and decided to grab my infrared camera as well. I figured if there’s and electrical draw there has to be heat! Because the vehicle was cold from sitting in the shop on the charger for 30 minutes I figured I could see the draw instead of hooking up my amp-meter and going through the long drawn out process of diagnosing an electrical draw. About 5 seconds after looking into the cab of the Cherokee I found the issue. This Jeep has power seats that stay energized even with the key out of the car instead of via a switched ignition circuit. Sure enough the drivers seat adjuster switch was glowing and I noticed that over the years the button had become grimy and it was stuck in the down position after she likely brushed it when exiting the vehicle.

Finding a quality used car to buy on craigslist can come with its challenges

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There are plenty of good cars on craigslist, but there can also be a lot of bad cars.

We always provide upfront research and at least one vehicle history report with every inspection. On average we end up refunding at least one inspection each week based on the information we gather.

Here is a perfect example of a “Clean Title” 2008 Honda Fit we were hired to inspect. Our client provided us with the correct VIN (not the VIN from another vehicle as advertised) which we were then able to find not only was it not a clean title car as advertised, but rather a Salvaged vehicle. Check out the pictures!

Craigslist Ad

This was being advertised as a clean title.

Fit

This Honda Fit was being advertised as a clean title car

Always get the car inspected, its cheap insurance to make sure you don’t end up falling for a car like this!

CarMax doesn’t welcome onsite pre-purchase inspections in Portland Oregon

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CarMax is now in the Portland and Vancouver Washington Markets. We hope this will be a good thing for the Portland/Vancouver used car market.

Just as we recommend with any dealership we always recommend you go in well informed. There is much to be found on the internet that suggests CarMax like Carfax (everybody has heard of these companies) invests a lot into marketing and advertising and not all of their claims pertaining to inspections, certifications and guarantees are entirely accurate. You can Google carmax inspection complains. When spending a lot of money on a used vehicle you need to protect yourself and the best way to do so is to have the car independently inspected. We always recommend doing this prior to getting to potentially becoming emotionally attached to the vehicle or before making an offer in case we find issues that the dealer may be willing to address prior to your purchase. CarMax advertises that they perform an in depth 125 point inspection on their vehicles. Looking at their inspection, in our opinion appears to be pretty quick and basic when considering these are modern vehicles.

We’ve been told by many of our customers that CarMax will not allow mechanics to come onto their property to perform the inspection. There is no reasonable excuse for this. Since 2007 we have been welcomed by all of the reputable dealers throughout Portland. Portland dealers typically appreciate the fact they don’t have to have the vehicle leave their lots for an inspection. We’ve been told by many that they will not allow their vehicles to leave, because to often they end up at a competing dealer or shop and receive an in-accurate or potentially biased (trying to up sell products/services) assessment causing confusion to the buyer. We are completely objective and unbiased, we only report the facts and best of all the dealer doesn’t have the liability of having the vehicle leave their lot. CarMax states that all of their vehicles have already been inspected and push their customers to buy the car and then bring it back if they’re not satisfied. They advertise that they will allow the buyer to return the vehicle within 5 days. Typically we recommend having it inspection prior to going through the hassles of buying the car, credit reports, paperwork, time etc. but if this truly their policy, it’s still very important to have it inspected immediately at the beginning of your 5 day window.

We’ve done several inspections on CarMax vehicles that the buyers had us come to them within their 5 day return window. A majority of these vehicles had had accident repairs/paintwork that the buyers were not aware of. This paint/repair work didn’t show up in CarMax’s inspection nor on the Carfax they supplied with the vehicles. This isn’t uncommon with many vehicles we inspect at dealerships, however we were surprised by our initial experience with the quality of CarMax vehicle inspections.

There are several websites and stories about the quality of CarMax’s own inspections including 20/20.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1YQkysD15g – 20/20 video
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/carmax.html
http://carconsumers.org/carmax.htm
http://www.truthaboutcarmax.com

There is nothing better than having the peace of mind of having an in-depth, independent unbiased inspection performed on a vehicle you’re strongly considering buying. We come to you and perform the inspection at your home or place of business at your convenience and hopefully give you the confidence or knowledge of pending issues or previous paintwork or accidents that may alter your decision to keep the vehicle or take it back while you’re still within their 5 day return window.

Compare our inspection options