FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Please refer to our availability at the top of this page for days we’re available for inspections. We typically are available to start inspections from sunrise to about 3:00PM. We are not currently performing inspections over the weekend.

As a reminder, you’re not required to be present for the inspection. When possible we always recommend you first viewing the vehicle in person prior to scheduling the inspection. Our availability above is only to show whether we’re available to perform inspections on a given day, we always contact the seller (typically on the morning of the inspection) to arrange the actual appointment (our 30 minute arrival window) after payment is made. We typically fill our schedule days in advance so while it is rare that we can accommodate same day inspections, we do sometimes have changes to our schedule (canceled inspections, running ahead of schedule, etc) that allow us to sometimes fit your inspection in. There is an additional $20 charge for “Same Day” inspections so please book at latest the night prior by 9pm to avoid these additional costs. If you need to check our same day/backup availability, please first check our availability calendar above to ensure there is an entry for todays date. If there is an entry for today feel free to email us with the Year/Model and location of vehicle to check our availability while we’re out in the field. If there is no entry to todays date, a same day inspection is not an option, please refer to the next day as displayed.

This is how to use PDXinspections

1. You’ve done your research, found the vehicle, you’ve seen it driven it, and think this has to be the one!
2. Let the seller know that you’d like to have it inspected and that you’ll be having PDXinspections come out to inspect it during our normal business hours of Sunrise to about 3:00 in the afternoon. (We travel to dealerships, private sellers homes or businesses depending on what works best for them). Let them know we’ll contact them to schedule.
3. You get the necessary contact information for the seller and vehicle and follow the directions on our site to instantly book/pay for your inspection. You’re done – We’ll take it from here
4. Once we receive your payment we confirm your booking via email including providing you your vehicle history report(s) ownership information/title information/crash/damage records, and service records when available.
5. We contact the seller when we expect to be in their area (typically on the morning of when the inspection is to take place) to introduce ourselves and confirm the time we expect to be in their area to start the inspection.
6. We email you again as soon as we make contact with the seller, have a confirmed inspection arrival window and an ETA on when to expect your inspection report via email.
7. We arrive within our pre-arranged arrival window, perform the inspection and instantly email your 4-6 page inspection report from the site of the inspection once complete.
8. You now have all the information you need to make an educated decision. We’re available to answer any questions once you’ve received the report if you have them. You now have peace of mind to move forward or decide to move on with another vehicle.

We have inspected everything from a $250K Bentley, $150K Ford GT, $130K Mercedes-Benz, the world’s fastest super-car, the Ultima GTR. We perform several hundred inspections per year and a large percentage of those are your more common Honda, Toyota, BMW, Lexus, Subaru, etc. Most of the vehicles we inspect are only 1-10 years old. Modern vehicles are what we are most comfortable inspecting as we are properly equipped to inspect, most familiar with how they wear, and most familiar with their respective driving characteristics. We really prefer vehicles 1996 and newer.
We do not inspect larger commercial vehicles, RV’s or any Land Rover/Range Rover product.

We are throughout the Portland and Vancouver metro areas everyday. We do on a regular basis travel as far south as Wilsonville, west out to Forest Grove, east to Hood River and North to Battleground. We do occasionally travel as far south as Salem but this is out of our normal area so additional fees do apply. We ask that you please first email us the details/link to ads of any vehicle you’re considering on 82nd Avenue or off some of the smaller dealers on SE McLoughlin Blvd prior to booking as we’ve seen a lot of poorer quality vehicles and we’ve had some bad experiences with the dealers in these areas. Without fail the dealers with a poor online reputations typically end up being some of our worst inspections. Google dealer reviews, http://www.bbb.org, http://www.yelp.com (be sure to check the filtered or “Not recommended” reviews as well as Yelp really does a dis-service to the buying public hiding many of the often negative reviews here), http://www.ripoffreport.com are few of the best places to start. Be weary of any dealership that has an equal amount of very positive reviews (self-posted by salespeople) followed by very negative reviews.
Complete list of where we perform our Platinum inspections:
Aloha, Oregon
Amity, Oregon (not in our primary area – surcharge applies)
Aurora, Oregon
Banks, Oregon
Barlow, Oregon
Battleground, Washington
Beavercreek, Oregon
Beaverton, Oregon
Bethany, Oregon
Boring, Oregon
Bridal Veil, Oregon
Bridgeport, Oregon
Brightwood, Oregon
Brush Prairie, Washington
Bull Mountain, Oregon
Camas, Washington
Canby, Oregon
Cascade Locks, Oregon
Cedar Mill/Hills, Oregon
Champoeg, Oregon
Charbonneau, Oregon
Clackamas, Oregon
Carlton, Oregon
Colton, Oregon
Corbett, Oregon
Cornelius, Oregon
Damascus, Oregon
Donald, Oregon
Downtown Portland, Oregon
Dundee, Oregon
Durham, Oregon
Eagle Creek, Oregon
Estacada, Oregon
Fairview, Oregon
Farmington, Oregon
Forest Grove, Oregon
Garden Home, Oregon
Gladstone, Oregon
Glencoe, Oregon
Government Camp, Oregon
Gresham, Oregon
Happy Valley, Oregon
Hayden Island, Oregon
Hazel Dell, Washington
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hood River, Oregon
Hubbard, Oregon (not in our primary area – surcharge applies)
Jantzen Beach, Oregon
La Center, Washington
Lake Oswego, Oregon
McMinnville, Oregon (not in our primary area – surcharge applies)
Milwaukie, Oregon
Molalla, Oregon
Mount Hood, Oregon
Mulino, Oregon
Newberg, Oregon
North West Portland (Rock Creek, Bethany, Tanasbourne Areas), Oregon
North Plains, Oregon
Oak Grove, Oregon
Orchards, Washington
Oregon City, Oregon
Portland
Rainier, Oregon (not in our primary area – surcharge applies)
Raleigh Hills, Oregon
Rhododendron, Oregon
Ridgefield, Washington
Rock Creek, Oregon
Salmon Creek, Washington
Salem, Oregon (not in our primary area – surcharge applies)
Sandy, Oregon
Scappoose, Oregon
Scholls, Oregon
Sherwood, Oregon
Silverton, Oregon (not in our primary area – surcharge applies)
*South East Portland – An additional charge applies for any Dealership on 82nd
Springdale, Oregon
Stevenson, Washington
St. Helens, Oregon
Sunnyside, Oregon
Tigard, Oregon
Troutdale, Oregon
Tualatin, Oregon
Vancouver, Washington
Washougal, Washington
Welches, Oregon
West Linn, Oregon
Wilsonville, Oregon
Woodburn, Oregon (not in our primary area – surcharge applies)
Woodland, Washington (not in our primary area – surcharge applies)
Wood Village, Oregon
Zigzag, Oregon

Typically when inspections are booked by 8am, we contact the seller on the day of the inspection to not only make sure the vehicle is still available, but to arrange our 30 minute arrival window.
Canceling Inspections/Refund Policy: If sufficient notice of cancellation is given, we find something in our research prior to scheduling the inspection, the vehicle sells prior to the inspection, or for any other reason we will be happy to refund your payment minus $40 to cover our time, merchant fees (non-refundable to us), research and any history reports or information we have already researched or provided.

We perform many private party inspections at the seller’s place of business as many sellers are not available at home throughout the day. This seems to be well appreciated by many as it greatly reduces any inconvenience of having yet another stranger come out to their home taking time away from their families. Typically the seller will meet us in their business parking lot to drop off keys for the inspection and we call them when we’re done with the inspection and ready for a test drive if they wish to go with us. For the summer we are available for our first inspection starting at sunrise if the seller would prefer to have it done before they leave for work. Lastly, if the seller feels comfortable with leaving the vehicle at home with instructions for us to access the keys, we can keep them in the loop and perform the inspection while they are away.

We don’t assign a points check number to our service. Our Platinum inspection is very complete. We inspect and test every component accessible without disassembly by activating, scanning, or measuring with our various tooling. We lift the vehicle to properly inspect the frame/steering/suspension and test drive the vehicle. We have the most extensive used car inspection business in the industry. We use “inspection specific tools” and processes that most dealers, other inspection companies, and independents have never even heard of. Remember PDXinspections is an “inspection specialist” not a repair facility and because of this you can be assured we are your only option who is guaranteed to be completely unbiased offering you the most accurate evaluation of your potential purchase. View photos and descriptions of our Platinum inspection process
Our Gold inspection is geared for vehicles that are less than 4 years old and still remaining under factory warranty. This inspection is really for peace of mind to make sure you’re not buying a higher priced vehicle with problems or overpaying for a vehicle that has had paintwork due to cosmetic damage or an accident.
Our Bronze/Basic inspection is more of a Mechanical/Safety Check and lacks many of the finer details, lifting the vehicle or a test drive.

Most of our inspections actually fall into this category. We’ve seen some pretty big name dealers hide behind manufactured CPO (certified pre-owned) vehicles. On average about 80% of the vehicle we inspect have had previous cosmetic paintwork or accident repairs, do you really want to overpay for these vehicles? There are also a few expensive service issues that may need attention around 20-40k miles such as tires and sometimes brakes depending on the vehicle. Many dealers do not address these issues prior to selling the car as they are expensive. Knowing where the car sits in respect to maintenance will give you the power to accurately assess its overall value. Getting an unbiased opinion is always in your best interest. We consistently find vehicles with burnt out bulbs, blown or missing spare tires, needing expensive brake/tire maintenance and other often overlooked issues that the dealer should/would have noticed if they were performing a thorough inspection prior to listing the vehicle. We inspected a 3 year old newer MINI Cooper with a blown head gasket from a dealership. If you were to purchase that car you’d have to go back to the dealer and fight with them to fix it, maybe pay a deductible or worse. One thing is for certain Oregon isn’t a “right of return” state meaning the car is yours. The dealer will not take the vehicle back so now you’re stuck with trying to get the dealer to fix it assuming they had guaranteed the car or there’s a warranty. Hopefully we don’t find anything and you walk away with peace of mind you’re getting a great car. If we do find issues, this makes for an easy opportunity for the dealer to address them prior to your purchase or use our report for further negotiations. We have inspections starting around $100 that could potentially save you $1000’s.

Generally speaking our onsite inspections start around $150 for vehicles located in Vancouver, Washington. We have 3 different inspection types in order to provide the best service to our clients. You’ll need to visit the respective inspection  page where you will see our availability and calculator to figure the cost based on inspection type, model and location of vehicle.

Compare and price our 3 different inspection types

It really depends on the vehicle and is overall condition.

• In general our platinum inspections take about 1.25-2.0 hours.

The video/media packages for out of state buyers add about 1-2 hours each to this time.

• Our gold and bronze inspections take about .75-1.0 hours again dependent on overall condition and how long it takes to add our findings to the report. The rougher, older or more high end the vehicle the longer it takes us to perform the inspection.

Unlike our competitors who advertise a 24-72hr turn around, typically if you book the inspection by 9am we can usually perform the inspection same day, if not the next day for sure. PDXinspections was the first and only inspection company in the nation with the technology/software (which we developed) to immediately dispatch your inspection via email after the inspection is completed meaning if we start the inspection at 10:00am and finish at 11:30 you should have it in your inbox by 11:31am. Your PDXinspections inspection report comes as a 4-5 page PDF and is easily viewed/printed from your computer, on your smart phone, iPad, iPhone or any other mobile device.

Please visit the Ordering Page – We are typically in the field performing inspections throughout the day and providing our customers our undivided attention. We do not take appointments over the phone and have set up a very easy to use online payment/booking system. Our inspection availability is always up to date on our availability calendar seen throughout the site. Email is the quickest way to reach us if you have questions prior to booking otherwise we will try to answer all voicemails by close of business.

At this point we are only operating in the Portland and Vancouver Washington markets. We do have a very wide coverage area from as far South as Wilsonville, North to Longview Washington, East to Hood River and West to about Banks. If it’s on the calculator on the Platinum inspection page we will go there. Otherwise we strongly recommend looking at online reviews for a reputable dealership and/or independent shop of your choosing but please be sure to read through our other inspection comparison page to get an idea on some situations you may see. We do not recommend any of the large franchised inspection companies as we’ve yet to come across a reputable company using real diagnostic tools of any type with their advertised inspections.

Yes, we inspect vehicles wherever they may be: Dealership, for sale by owner, at the seller’s place of business etc… Before booking an inspection we STRONGLY suggest researching the potential dealership you’re interested in working with. Their online reputation will tell you everything you need to know about their business practices and quality of vehicles they work with. We ask that you please first email us the details/link to ads of any vehicle you’re considering on 82nd Avenue or off some of the smaller dealers on SE McLoughlin Blvd prior to booking as we’ve seen a lot of poorer quality vehicles and we’ve had some bad experiences with the dealers in these areas. Without fail the dealers with a poor online reputations typically end up being some of our worst inspections. Google dealer reviews, http://www.bbb.org, http://www.yelp.com (be sure to check the filtered reviews as well), http://www.ripoffreport.com are few of the best places to start. Be weary of any dealership that has an equal amount of very positive reviews (self-posted by salespeople) followed by very negative reviews.

This is a question we get a lot. No, we do not perform SMOG tests, we perform onsite used vehicle inspections for those who are looking to buy used cars. If you’re looking for SMOG you likely just moved to Oregon from California, welcome! Oregon has their own test, which is much more simple and quite a bit cheaper. You’ll need to find a local DEQ office to take your car to. Although we run the same tests as DEQ, there are no mobile services that can certify your car for the DMV’s requirements. You can find Vehicle Emission Testing Stations throughout Portland.

We mainly inspect only later model modern vehicles with electronics with computer controls. Assuming you’re looking at a modern vehicle; if the vehicle you’re considering requires a compression test, you probably would already know there was something wrong and we’d likely immediately fail it. Compression tests are really geared for diagnosing problems in these vehicles rather than serving any benefit in an inspection environment. Any compression issues would easily present themselves in drivability issues (you’d probably have already noticed on your own), computer scan data, using our infrared camera to detect exhaust temperatures, digital engine analyzer and/or detected using our 5 gas exhaust gas analyzer. Compression tests were often used in the days before computers mainly on carbureted vehicles without in-depth computer scan tool data. Most newer vehicles are self diagnosing and have the ability to monitor individual cylinders for mis-fires and low compression issues. Many times if a vehicle has a lower compression cylinder it will present itself by an illuminated check engine lamp and trouble codes in the computer. Many vehicles can show individual cylinder speeds and even do cylinder contribution/balance tests using our scanner. Older engines were simple with basic machining, they wore more quickly and a compression test was your only insight on the mechanical integrity of the engine. Liability wise most sellers wouldn’t appreciate someone coming out and tearing apart their vehicle. You will not find a reputable inspection, especially mobile that is still performing compression tests on late-model vehicles.

We are not RV/Commercial specialists. These vehicles are built in many different ways without consistency and it is often very difficult to access powertrains both visually and electronically to perform a proper inspection. We are willing to inspect later model vehicles with powertrains we are most familiar with meaning on RV’s we would be willing to do a basic mechanical/suspension/electronics, paint, etc. but we do not inspect the interior functions or accessories). Depending on the vehicle we may or may not be willing to test drive the vehicle so please email us prior to booking if this is needed. Our pricing would be in the respective powertrain 3500/F350 category on the website if you’d like to checkout. We do not inspectlarger commercial vehicles or RV’s with non traditional engines. You may want to contact one of the few mobile RV repair companies in the area as they will likely be of better assistance.

Yes, in fact we’re probably one of your better choices for these inspections. Our owner, Josh is a Tesla fanatic currently owns a 2021 Model Y and 2018 Tesla Model 3 (Tesla Referral Code) and has owned the following EV’s and Hybrids:

• 2018 Tesla Model S
• 2017 Chevrolet Volt EV
• 2013 Chevrolet Volt EV
• 2011 GMC 2-Mode Yukon Denali Hybrid
• 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid
• 2004 Toyota Prius Hybrid

Needless to say, we’re big fans of these vehicles. For you as the buyer it is very important to look at the overall fuel economy reported by the vehicle as this can be an indicator of hybrid/battery performance. We’ve seen many Civic Hybrid battery and transmission issues (be sure to do your research).  We’ve actually been involved in the replacement of several GEN II Prius batteries so be aware that they do fail. The Leaf is notorious for battery issues especially when the car comes from a hotter climate, these cars are equipped with a battery degradation gauge in the cluster so be sure to familiarize yourself with this system. We do have full computer access to these vehicles including battery, PCM, and hybrid modules to check things such as past, current and pending codes, states of charge, internal battery resistances, cell to cell voltages and more as part of our inspection.

We do, and we can typically provide photos of the accidents and additional information up front. With that being said, we are not fans of these vehicles and don’t like recommending them for many reasons listed on Our Tips to finding a Quality Used Car page. We do have additional surcharges for these vehicles and any modern salvage title vehicle 8 years old or newer must be inspected using our platinum inspection process. On top of our normal inspection including safety systems, measuring paint and to the best of our ability confirming what panels have been replaced/repainted/repaired and to what extent and quality. Like any other inspection we can only visually inspect the frame/uni-body/core support/panel alignment and look at tire wear to ensure you’re not buying a vehicle with bent frame or one with existing or poorly repaired frame damage. We always recommend starting by asking the seller for receipts for items such as the airbags, seat belt pre-tensioners and other safety related parts to ensure they were actually replaced and hopefully replaced with factory new parts rather than used parts. Every so often we inspect one that was properly repaired and it’s difficult to spot the previous damage. Ideally this is how you’d want to find them but these situations are rare. Please don’t get caught up in the pricing… Unless this is a vehicle you will drive into the ground, when you go to sell it you will take the hit on the other side as well. These aren’t the easiest vehicles to sell and skeptical of a buyer you are now, the future buyer will be as well. We would almost always recommend a higher mileage, properly maintained vehicle over a salvaged title vehicle. It’s usually not a just a “minor” accident you will often see advertised. Vehicles don’t typically get salvaged out for flood damage with water only to the wheels. In most cases an insurance company pays off an accident vehicle (salvage vehicle) when the cost of damage repair approaches 80% of the vehicles market value. Think safety, would you willingly fly in an airplane or helicopter that has been crashed? How about a house that has been flooded, mold problems, or has a soft foundation? We often find major issues or shotty repairs (remember they are typically being rebuilt as cheaply as possible with the intent to maximize profits even at a reduced market value) so these vehicles MUST be inspected however we strongly recommend sticking to clean title vehicles. Most banks will not finance these vehicles and some insurance companies will not insure them so we suggest you do your research prior to scheduling an inspection

Yes, we do inspect lower mileage diesels on non-commercial vehicles. Our standard inspection applies however an exhaust gas analyzer will not work on these vehicles so we’re limited to using our dealer level enhanced scan tools to check at the computer for history, current, or pending issues as well as our digital engine analyzer to perform a comparative running compression test and internal engine blow-by test. We do not inspect larger commercial vehicles and recommend all high mileage diesels be taken to a diesel specialist or dealership capable of diesel compression and opacity smoke testing. These are not services you will find in a mobile inspection.

No, unfortunately we would not be a good fit for the older/classic vehicle inspection. Our inspections are really geared for, tooled for and structured for modern vehicles in which we most commonly inspect and are most familiar with. 90% of the vehicles we inspect are 2010 or newer, we’re a late model, high tech, computerized vehicle specialist without real classic car experience. Therefore we stick with what we’re most familiar and comfortable with inspecting. The scan tool is our most valuable tool when inspecting a modern vehicle and we don’t have access to vehicles older than 1996. Many of these older engines were simple with basic machining, they wore more quickly and a compression test was your only insight on the mechanical integrity of the engine. Liability wise most sellers wouldn’t appreciate someone coming out and tearing apart their vehicle to perform a compression/leakdown test. You will not find a reputable inspection, especially mobile that is still performing compression tests in the field if this is a needed service. You’re likely going to be best off finding a reputable classic car shop/dealer in the area of your choice to have the seller drop it off at, as we’re not aware of a local mobile reputable classic car service in the Portland area. Google is going to be your best help here.

Assuming you’re local, we always recommend you first going to view the vehicle in person prior to hiring us. Too often vehicles are grossly misrepresented online and you may quickly find something on your own which would make your inspection a waste of money. If you’re not local and are planning on coming into town for the initial viewing and inspection, we recommend sending us out first to potentially save you the headache of finding out the car is grossly misrepresented or if it has some issues having these issues either fixed prior to your arrival or take them into consideration for your negotiations – it’s nice to have some time to read through the report to digest the information prior to seeing the vehicle in this case. 95% our clients have already viewed the vehicle in person prior to booking and choose to simply book the inspection online and send us out. Once they have reviewed the report they decide to negotiate, go back with the report in hand to take a second look, or decide to skip the vehicle all together. The report is emailed directly from the inspection site so there is no delay either way. We contact the seller after payment is made to arrange a 30 minute arrival window, notify you of that time if you’d like to be present otherwise an ETA on when to expect your report via email.

On most vehicles the timing belt is not easily accessible to inspect without disassembly. You’re not going to find any independent shop or dealership tearing down an engine to inspect the timing belt in any used car inspection. If you do remove the timing cover to inspect, a visual inspection is usually worthless as an old belt and a new belt are typically virtually indistinguishable if not coated in oil. A 100K belt may look new when it comes to signs of wear and break a week later. If the cam/crank seals, water pump or sometimes even the valve cover are leaking it will saturate the belt in oil, this will quickly break down the belt and/or cause it to slip, stretch or break without warning. Our standard practice is to do our best to look for obvious signs of previous timing belt replacements: stickers/stamping stating replacement, service records, signs such as scratches on the timing belt cover(s) from removal, missing/stripped bolts, signs of motor mount removal, accessory belt condition (belts which sit in front of the timing belt that must be removed to get access to the timing belt and they’re usually replaced during the timing belt service). Sometimes there will be records in the history report(s)/ service records in which we typically provide when the VIN is included with your booking/payment prior to actually performing the inspection. If records of previous replacement are not available within the specified time/interval (dependent on the vehicle) we always recommend replacing the timing belt for peace of mind. This is a very crucial component, which is often overlooked. We actually talk in greater detail about timing belts here

Unfortunately we can’t as there are not many inspection specific companies in the northwest. PDXinspections will always remain completely independent and we do not refer or associate with any other automotive related company. We strongly suggest staying away from the large franchised companies claiming to perform on site inspections or other companies claiming to have technicians or specialists who are trained to inspect used cars. Spend a little time looking at the small print (disclaimers, lack of tooling, who they hire for inspectors and what they actually do), 24-48hr turn around (not helpful when the vehicle sells prior to their arrival), inspector qualifications/requirements and several other issues and you’ll quickly see why. Again the best advice we can give to our clients is to research, research, research… Look at online reviews for a reputable dealership and/or independent shop of your choosing. Simply put the only person that should be inspecting cars would be an ASE certified (preferably Master certified) technician. Our belief is if people take the time to refer them and speak highly of them they’ll probably take good care of you!

We typically fill our schedule days in advance so while it is rare that we can accommodate same day inspections, we do sometimes have changes to our schedule (canceled inspections, running ahead of schedule, etc) that allow us to sometimes fit your inspection in. There is an additional $20 charge for “Same Day” inspections so please book at latest the night prior by 9pm to avoid these additional costs. If you need to check our same day/backup availability, please first check our availability calendar above to ensure there is an entry for todays date. If the calendar doesn’t show todays date, this is not a day we’re available for inspections. If there is an entry for today feel free to email us with the Year/Model and location of vehicle to check our availability while we’re out in the field. If there is no entry to todays date, a same day inspection is not an option, please refer to the next day as displayed.

In order to remain completely unbiased we do not recommend dealerships. Before checking out a vehicle at a dealer we suggest researching the potential dealership you’re interested in working with. Their online reputation will tell you everything you need to know about their business practices and quality of vehicles they work with. This definitely applies for any dealership off 82nd Avenue or off some of the smaller dealers on SE McLoughlin Blvd as we’ve seen a lot of poorer quality vehicles and we’ve had some bad experiences with the dealers in these areas. Without fail the dealers with a poor online reputations typically end up being some of our worst inspections. Google dealer reviews, http://www.bbb.org, http://www.yelp.com (be sure to check the filtered reviews as well), http://www.ripoffreport.com are few of the best places to start. Be weary of any dealership that has an equal amount of very positive reviews (self-posted by salespeople) followed by very negative reviews.