12-04-2016 18:28:10
Car Inspections, it's what we do. According to CNBC's recent study, the average American buys a car every 6.5 years, and if you live to 80, that means about 12 cars in your lifetime. The average professional vehicle inspector looks at more cars on average, in a week, then you might even think about buying in your life. We've seen it all, and using our inspection service can save you some serious headache. So now we ask the question. Why would you not have the car you're about buy professionally inspected?
More averages - 1 out of 5 cars Car Saints inspectors check, has undocumented body repairs, repairs that don't show on a CarFax report. Example; Car Saints inspected a used car that had just about every panel repainted. This is something you probably wouldn't expect on a 2012 Bentley (valued at over $200,000) . We suspect the prior owner paid to have the vehicle repaired out of pocket, instead of making an insurance claim. In cases like this, none of the three major vehicle history reports show any type of repair or accident history. Car Saints however, in this situation, does, by detecting and reporting all damage in an unbiased inspection report. This can only be done by a physical inspection of a vehicle performed by a professional, which is what vehicle history reports like CarFax can not do.
Professional vehicle inspectors have the skill to visually find where paint work has been performed. Special tools are also used, like an Elcometer paint meter, which gives an acutely reading in thickness of paint. Using the old "magnet" method to check for body filler can miss a lot of detail. Body repair where an entire fender or quarter panel of a car has been replaced can be overlooked with the old school magnet test. A modern paint meter allows inspectors to get an average value of paint thickness on the car. If one tested panel measures above the average, you can bet this is where paint work has been done on the car.
If you decide not to use Car Saints, please get a used car inspection. Also, if you are using "your mechanic" ask him or her if they check for paint and body work, and if they have the proper tools. Ask to see what they are and how they use them. Most mechanical repair shops don't have techs with body and paint work repair experience.
There is also a free way to get vehicle information without paying for a CarFax. This is a main source of information that CarFax use to populate their car inspection reports, and it will cost you nothing.