Pre-Purchase Inspection at Johnny's Automotive
Buying a used car? We inspect it and report to you, not the seller: flood and repair evidence, stored codes, and measured numbers you can negotiate with.
Should I have a shop look at a used car before I buy it?
We work for you, the buyer. Nobody else in a used car transaction does, and that changes what gets said out loud. A test drive tells you how a car feels for fifteen minutes on roads somebody else picked. It doesn't tell you what the computer has stored, whether the carpet was ever wet, or how much brake and tire you're about to buy.
On the lift, we look at the things a walkaround can't reach. Water damage leaves a trail: silt in the spare tire well, a line on the seatbelt webbing when it's pulled all the way out, green or white corrosion inside connectors and on ground straps under the carpet, a musty smell, or an interior that looks newer than the car. Florida gets a hurricane season every year, and flood damaged cars do come back onto the market afterward, sometimes retitled through another state. That's not a reason to avoid used cars. It's a reason to look at one before the money moves.
We check the body for evidence of repairs: paint thickness that jumps from panel to panel, overspray in the door jambs, gaps that don't match side to side, fasteners that have been turned. Past repair work isn't automatically a problem. Undisclosed structural work is a different thing, and you deserve to know which one you're looking at.
Then we scan it. Stored codes, pending codes, and whether the readiness monitors have set, because a computer that was cleared recently hasn't finished checking itself yet. Brakes, tires, and fluids get measured, and those numbers become facts you can negotiate with.
You get a report with photos. Take it back to the seller and talk about price, or walk away. Walking away is a perfectly good outcome, and when that's what the car deserves, we'll say so plainly. There's always another car.
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The seller says it's never been in an accident
That's often true, and when it isn't, the car usually says so anyway. Paint thickness, jamb overspray, panel gaps, and turned fasteners tell the story regardless of what anyone remembers or reports.
The price seems really good for the year and the mileage
Sometimes it's a motivated seller and sometimes it's deferred maintenance you're about to inherit. Measured brakes, tires, and fluids turn that guess into a number you can add to the purchase price.
The check engine light isn't on, so it must be fine
A light can be cleared minutes before you arrive. Pending codes and unset readiness monitors show that it happened, which is why the scan matters more than the dash on a car you're about to buy.
It came from out of state and the history report is clean
History reports show what got reported. A car that was never insured for the damage, or that changed states along the way, can look clean on paper. What's under the carpet and inside the connectors doesn't clean up the same way.
The dealer already inspected it and it passed
That inspection was performed for the party selling the car. It isn't automatically wrong, it just means nobody involved in it was working for you. Ours is the second opinion you're paying for on purpose.
It's a private sale and we're meeting in a parking lot
Ask to bring it to a shop before any money changes hands. Most sellers with a good car are fine with it, and how somebody answers that question is useful information all by itself.
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Learn morePre-Purchase Inspection questions, answered
Common questions about our pre-purchase inspection services.
Does the car have to come to your shop?
Yes, because most of what makes this worth doing happens with the car in the air and a scan tool plugged in. Sellers who are confident in the car are usually happy to arrange it. If somebody won't allow an inspection at all, you've learned something without spending a dime.
Will you tell me whether to buy it?
We'll tell you exactly what the car is and what it's going to need, with photos. And if it's the kind of car we'd walk away from, we'll say that out loud instead of hiding it in a list. The decision stays yours, but you won't have to read between the lines.
How is this different from a vehicle history report?
A history report covers what got reported to someone: title changes, insurance claims, recorded service. It can't measure a brake rotor, see corrosion on a connector, or read what the computer has stored. The two answer different questions, and buying a car on paperwork alone leaves the mechanical half blank.
Is it worth doing on a newer car with warranty left?
Often yes, because factory coverage varies by what's left on it and generally doesn't include wear items like brakes, tires, and alignment. Those are the same things that decide what the car costs you in the first year. Knowing where they stand is useful no matter how new the car is.
Can I really use the report to negotiate?
That's a big part of why people get one. Saying the car needs tires soon is an opinion, and showing a photo with the tread depth measured on it is a fact. Sellers tend to respond differently to the second one.
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