Pre purchase inspection

Why look before you pay

A used car bought privately in Ontario is yours, faults and all, the moment the money changes hands. There is no going back to the seller because the transmission slips on the 417 a week later. An hour or so on a lift before you agree on a price is the cheapest protection you can buy.

It also helps when the car is good. Knowing that the brakes have half their life left and that the rear tires will need replacing in the spring is useful in a negotiation, and it means no surprises later.

What we look at

The car goes up on a lift and we work through it from underneath, then under the hood, then on the road.

• Rust on the frame or subframe, rocker panels, floor, brake lines and fuel lines
• Oil, coolant and transmission fluid leaks, and the condition of each fluid
• Brakes, tires, and the wear pattern on the tires
• Suspension and steering parts for play and leaks
• The exhaust, its hangers and the catalytic converter
• Belts, hoses, the battery and charging system
• Signs of body repair, flood damage or a bent subframe
• A scan of the engine computer and other modules for stored codes
• A road test for shifting, braking, noises and how it tracks

Then we call you and go through it. What needs doing now, what will need doing within the year, and what is just age. Where we can, we give you rough repair prices so you can weigh them against the asking price.

The scan tells you more than the dashboard

A check engine light that is off does not mean the engine computer has nothing to say. Codes can be stored without the light being on, and other modules keep their own records for the airbags, ABS and transmission.

There is a second thing the scan reveals. Every engine computer runs a set of self tests, called readiness monitors, while the car is driven. Clearing the codes resets them all to not ready, and some take several days of normal driving to complete again. A used car with several monitors not ready may have had its codes cleared just before you arrived. That is not proof of anything, but it is a question to ask. For warning lights that are on, our computer diagnostics page explains how we chase them down.

Rust, the Ottawa question

A car that has lived through ten Ottawa winters can look fine from the outside and be badly rotted underneath. Rust on the body is a cosmetic problem until it reaches the parts that hold the car together. We look hardest at the subframe mounts, the rear spring perches, the rocker panels behind the plastic covers, and the steel brake and fuel lines. A car with rotted lines can still be a good buy if the price allows for them. A car with a rotted subframe usually is not.

Ask for a cold start

If you can, ask the seller not to drive the car before it comes in. A cold engine tells the truth. Rattles from the timing chain in the first few seconds, a lifter tick, blue smoke from worn valve seals, or a rough idle until it warms all show up on a cold start and disappear later. If the engine is warm when it arrives, we will tell you that is a limit on what we can judge. Anything that points to deeper trouble inside the motor is covered on our engine repair page.

Pre purchase or safety

A pre purchase inspection and an Ontario safety inspection are different jobs. The safety asks whether the car meets the province’s minimum standard today. The pre purchase inspection asks what the car is going to cost you over the next year or two. If you are buying, the second question is the one that protects your money.

Booking

2 and 1/2 Mechanics is at 1345 Marchand Street, Ottawa, ON, a four minute walk from Cyrville O-Train station, so a seller can drop the car off by 9am and ride downtown while we look at it. We are open Saturdays from 8am to 3pm, which is when a lot of private sales happen. Book online, choose Inspection, and write that it is a pre purchase check. Paste the link to the ad if there is one.

Questions