Inspection - what is the best process?

[miura]

Hi all,

I have done a search before posting but am still unclear - my apologies if subject has been done to death.

I know that PPI is a must and I know, thanks to the forum , the list of specialists that offer the service I am however not clear on what is the best way to proceed.

Let's assume that the car in question is sold by a trader, a sports cars specialist that only do sales and do not have a workshop.
Do you:
a/ test drive the car, negotiate a price, put a deposit down on the condition that a PPi is performed and that any fault may lead to a renegotiation of the price
b/ perform the PPI and negotiate on the basis of the PPI result
c/ other?

What i am struggling with is that, in any scenario, if as a prospective buyer I am proceeding with a PPi then a decent salesman would know I am committed and would therefore have no reason to negotiate ?

last question: is it the car travelling to the expert or is the expert performing the PPI travelling to the sales point ? if the latter, how do you manage my scenario (a sales outlet that has no workshop/ramp)?

Thanks for your advice !

 

[dem maser]

Hi there, the way i would do it is this.....

Go and have a look at the car, you might not like it so why commit to an inspection?
If you like it (make sure you drive it) talk numbers DEPENDING on an inspection!
Get to a price your happy with knowing that after the inspection you could probably go down a little further and try to not commit to a deposit, your deposit is by getting an indie doing a check tell them!

If your happy and no further negotiation is needed, well done!
If not and you want a further discount then mention why and if a deal cant be agreed then walk away!

Whatever you do, you must be in a position mentally to walk away, if not then the salesman will know he has you where he wants you!

I see it everyday at work, people that fall in love with houses and let me know this, i then try to get the most i can for the sale, those that get good deals are those that are prepared to walk away, they offer what they think is right and of ots a no then they walk.....more often than not they get contacted that its been agreed anyway!!

 

[mjheathcote]

Bought mine from a dealer, but not a Maserati dealer.
Saw car, liked it, arranged a test drive.
Still liked car so agreed a price, subject to inspection.
The dealer drove car to main Maserati dealer for inspection.
Inspection came back with just a few minor niggles.
Dealer agreed to rectify niggles at no cost.
Niggles rectified, car serviced and MOTed.
I pay and collect car.
Enjoy car, lots!

 

[dem maser]

Bought mine from a dealer, but not a Maserati dealer.
Saw car, liked it, arranged a test drive.
Still liked car so agreed a price, subject to inspection.
The dealer drove car to main Maserati dealer for inspection.
Inspection came back with just a few minor niggles.
Dealer agreed to rectify niggles at no cost.
Niggles rectified, car serviced and MOTed.
I pay and collect car.
Enjoy car, lots!

Nicely put

 

[mjheathcote]

Nicely put

Thanks.
Key thing is for the dealer to agree for an independent inspection. Too easy if they are not Maserati specialists to say not required if the car is being sold with a warrantee, which it should even if only 3 months.
Fortunately in my case it was no problem at all, more the case "I would too if I was buying a Maserati"!

 

[dem maser]

Well if the say no to an inspection id walk away.....

Every trader has to by law give you 3 months

 

[Parisien]

The inspection is way more important than a sieve like warranty........gottta have one!

P

 

[Woody]

I think Dem has it right....go see the car yourself, if you like it, mention you'd like to proced to an inspoection and see what they say. I would have thought that they'd be OK, assuming they're confident in the car.

However, be prepared to walk away. If you have it inspected and it comes back with £2ks worth of work (easily done!), I doubt a dealer would knock £2k off. I had a list of a number of things that needed doing on the car I eventually bought and worked out what I thought was a fair 'discount' given what I would chose to have done. I made the offer and while the vendor came back and said "its a Maserati, be prepared for bills", I pointed out that I expect bills, just not £2k on day one! He was OK about, but the insection is for you to make an informed decision, not to use as a blunt instrument to financially rape the vendor.

All IMO, of course.

 

[dem maser]

yes, the inspection is there for you to decide on whether this is the car for you, not for you to go back and expect say all of the 4k it needs to be knocked off as this wont happen.....but if its 4k worth of stuff then bargaining for me in the region of 2k is where ill be happy......

 

[miura]

You are indeed a helpful bunch...
thank you all for your contributions
Woody I competely agree, I never envisaged the PPi as a blunt price negotiation tool (or seller's rape as you put it , I am just concerned that if you show too much commitment too early you remove all margin for (realistic) price negotiation.

I have been like all of you I suppose, both a car buyer and a car seller. I have however never used/needed PPI before

 

[jamesc69]

Agree with the comments above.

I try to shakes hands on a price subject to "no nasty surprises coming to light " on the PPI. Never leave a deposit.

The buyer needs to be reasonable with regards the PPI findings, after all most of the Maserati specialist PPI's are extremely comprehensive. You would expect a list as long as your arm on any 10 year old car. In the past i have asked the PPI provider to catagories faults into seriousness, eg urgent/safety issue, recommended repair, and cosmetic nice to do at some point in the future repair. Hopefully the seller should be wiiling to tackle the more serious safety issues at his cost.

J

 

[Parisien]

Pretty much nails it down for you Miura.......let us know how the hunt goes!


P

 

[miura]

It does indeed. Thank you guys ...