unbiased used motorbike/car inspection service in Chiang Mai?

[lsemprini]

 

For people who are thinking of buying a used motorbike/car but who are not auto mechanics experts, is there some kind of trustable service in Chiang Mai that will give an unbiased (meaning not in cahoots with the seller) evaluation of a car/motorbike for a fixed fee?  Something similar to the AAA vehicle inspection service in the US.  Ideally the service provider would have access to equipment needed to make a good inspection that goes beyond superficial things like looking for smoke coming out the exhaust pipe.

 

Where to find such a service and how much? 

 

One good location would be near the large secondhand vehicle markets in Chiang Mai.

 

My friend is looking now and I've seen people ask about this multiple times before...clearly there is a market for something like this.  But so hard to know who is competent and actually unbiased...

 

[Bill97]

Got to love the expectation of being ripped off.

 

Go to a mechanic who has a lot of experience with the type of car you want checked.  Give him a list of what you want checked and get his bid.  

[johng]

Yes  find a willing "mechanic"   or use an official dealer like

"Toyota sure"   who sell second hand vehicles  with a warranty.

 

36 minutes ago, lsemprini said:

Ideally the service provider would have access to equipment needed to make a good inspection

Maybe you've set your sights a bit too high ?   if you need the highest quality then only way to be sure

( if you don't have an "expert eye" yourself)  is to buy new.

 

That said, repair costs especially for motorbikes is very low  in comparison to "other countries"  that is part of the reason second hand vehicles  keep their price here...obviously  I'm talking about common (mostly Japanese)

brand vehicles  Honda,Isuzu,Toyota,Mitsubishi,Suzuki,Yamaha,Kawasaki

where spare parts a very readily available

not a Peugeot , Skoda or Bugatti.

 

They don't use salt on the roads here so rust is much less of a problem.

So as long as the thing actually runs  has no smoke or bad engine/transmission  sounds on the test drive, the paint looks good

( take a magnet) and the aircon is cold   then getting it back into a good enough condition  in most cases shouldn't be too costly even if something goes wrong after the purchase .....YMMV

 

[gamb00ler]

51 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Got to love the expectation of being ripped off.

For me, it's not expectation of fraud but a difference of opinion on what constitutes a quality solution/job.

[lsemprini]

55 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Got to love the expectation of being ripped off.

 

Go to a mechanic who has a lot of experience with the type of car you want checked.  Give him a list of what you want checked and get his bid.  

 

That's the problem---for someone who is not familiar with the technical details of auto maintenance, they have no idea what that list would contain, and they have no way to tell which mechanics have experience with their vehicle type.  This is exactly the dilemma for non-technical people who want to evaluate a potential purchase.

 

If they already knew those things, they wouldn't need to hire a third party inspector (at most they'd need to visit a shop and order up specific tests they already know about).

 

And yes as gamb00ler said, it's not only about being ripped off, but also a question of finding a mechanic with vaguely the same standard of what is acceptable wear and tear vs. what is a red flag that should dissuade one from purchasing. 

 

If some entrepreneur takes up this role and establishes themselves with positive reviews from non-technical used vehicle owners who are happy with their purchase even in the long-term, then that entrepreneur would make a lot of money.  Especially if they can offer the service in English and meet the needs of farang vehicle owners.

 

[lsemprini]

29 minutes ago, johng said:

That said, repair costs especially for motorbikes is very low  in comparison to "other countries"  that is part of the reason second hand vehicles  keep their price here...obviously  I'm talking about common (mostly Japanese)

brand vehicles  Honda,Isuzu,Toyota,Mitsubishi,Suzuki,Yamaha,Kawasaki

where spare parts a very readily available

not a Peugeot , Skoda or Bugatti.

 

They don't use salt on the roads here so rust is much less of a problem.

So as long as the thing actually runs  has no smoke or bad engine/transmission  sounds on the test drive, the paint looks good

( take a magnet) and the aircon is cold   then getting it back into a good enough condition  in most cases shouldn't be too costly even if something goes wrong after the purchase .....YMMV

 

 

Interesting points, but even for motorbikes, surely there are things a technically knowledgeable person could check for that could benefit a non-technical client?  For example, when purchasing a used motorbike it seems the biggest ticket item would be when the engine needs to be rebuilt with new seals (often costing 5000-10000B, which might be near the purchase price of the motorbike)...surely there must be some tests a mechanic could run that can predict how close this event is more precisely than just smelling for smoke when you turn the motorbike on?  I've seen several bikes that had no visible/smellable smoke on purchase but that required engine rebuilds within 6 months of purchase....avoiding that would be a valuable service potentially worth thousands of baht.

 

 

[johng]

6 minutes ago, lsemprini said:

engine needs to be rebuilt with new seals (often costing 5000-10000B, which might be near the purchase price of the motorbike)...surely there must be some tests a mechanic could run that can predict how close this event is more precisely than just smelling for smoke when you turn the motorbike on? 

Yes engine rebuild is probably the worst case scenario  on a small motorbike   but they can be done for around 3000 baht

( base starting price)   mostly these engine rebuilds are necessary because the owner never changed or checked the oil and or coolant  especially on the fully wrapped in plastic "scooters"  where its hard to spot leaks of water or oil.

Some test when buying   try to start the vehicle from cold  hard to start ?  warning signal  once started  does it idle smoothly, if the rpm's jump around  then the timing belt or chain could be suspect ( high mileage)

rev the engine hard  no smoke...that's good  take it for a drive  does the engine "feel right"  good strong smooth power delivery are there strange knocking sounds and excessive vibration ( could be bearings)   test the electrical system  headlights,tail light indicator horn etc everything works great ...test the brakes  do an "emergency stop"  somewhere safe to do so    look at the tryes  are they bald and cracked ?  warning,   whilst down there  look under the vehicle and check for leaks  rust damage

if you find something wrong then negotiate a reduction on price to fix that problem ( or walk away if its a bigger problem like smoke)

at the end of the day  a private sale  has no warranty  they are "sold as seen"  a lot of the time the buyer  can actually "see" the faults if they take a bit of time to look...also trust your gut   if it doesn't feel right then walk away ...yes hard to do sometimes  when you "fall in love" with the the thing at first sight always dreamed of owning one.🥰