Independent Garage for Used Car Evaluation

80POSTS

12 years ago

Is there a good garage/mechanic to which one can take a used car for evaluation before buying? Typically, these guys would charge a fee and carry out an independent evaluation of the car and point out potential trouble spots.

Such a service would be very useful if buying cars from independent sellers

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Farhaz ViP

2081POSTS

12 years ago

When. I bought my first car in Bahrain - which at that time was a 10 year old Toyota Cressida - I took it to a garage i had got used to. They took the car for a drive and gave me a quick and candid opinion. Based on their advise, i bought the car and used it without too much problem for a good 5 years.

Perhaps you may wish to do something like this.

jazzy851 ViP

1487POSTS

12 years ago

I've always heard that Toyota's run for quite a few years due to their reliability.

They are work horses and run well.
Toyota corolla's have a good history here in Bahrain. Of course, if you are selecting a second hand car, you can do some basic checks your self to see if the car is worth purchasing.. Some basic things to look for ;

*Mileage of vehicle
*Service history of car (ask the owner for the service book - should have dealer stamps and work carried out.
*Accident history (can be obtained from traffic dept)
*Air condition works ok
*Generally check the electrics in the car, lights, indicators, fans, electric windows, wipers..ect
*when test driving the car, make sure it's not going to one side on a straight road.
*seat belts work ok on ALL seats.

These are just some if the checks I would do.
So if you do some of these basic checks and notice something isn't quite right, you can ask your chosen mechanic to look into these issues and what it may cost to rectify. This may also help you in reducing the price of the vehicle.

Please do share on the forum, if you find a decent mechanic who is reliable and trustworthy. This may help others on the forum too

Best of luck.

Farhaz ViP

2081POSTS

12 years ago

jazzy851 wrote:
I've always heard that Toyota's run for quite a few years due to their reliability.
They are work horses and run well.
...

*Service history of car (ask the owner for the service book - should have dealer stamps and work carried out.
...

Do we have service record stamped by agents? I have always serviced my current vehicle at the agent and do not have any records nor stamps. I thought I could rely on the agents own computerized records.

But you are right about Toyotas. Very hardy and reliable vehicles.

jazzy851 ViP

1487POSTS

12 years ago

Hi Farhaz,
Normally when you take your car into a service station, and you have just had your car serviced, you can ask the person at the counter to stamp the service booklet you get with the car.

Also keeping the receipts for the service, you can show the buyer these receipts to prove what has been done to the car.

On another note, Honda's and Nissans ate quite reliable too

Hope this helps

5hutterbug Active member

80POSTS

12 years ago

Farhaz wrote:
Perhaps you may wish to do something like this.

Thanks, Farhaz. This is exactly what I had in mind. Would you mind sharing this mechanic's information on the forum? If not, can you send me a PM with the name and contact number?

Thanks for the other tips, jazzy851.

It would help if an experienced mechanic can look into the innards of the car and give a candid opinion about the car's condition. This would be after you have satisfied yourself with the service history, etc.