Getting A Used Car Inspected Before Buying

[vagabond48]

I hope I can get some concrete leads.

I have an opportunity to buy a 3 1/2 year old Honda Civic with LPG conversion from my wife's foreign friend. It appears to be in clean and good working order. Since he is the 2nd owner, I would like to have the engine and other components inspected.

I was hoping to get some recommendations for a reliable shop that can give it a thorough look over.

Would also be helpful if they can speak some English?

Edited May 14, 2013 by vagabond48

[Greenside]

Look at the very bottom of the index in my map. They've always been good when I have taken cars in for a check and I've had some repair work done in the past too.

[tango]

Hi,

Try these folks here in CMai:

http://expatautocm.com/services

Q: Can you do an inspection on an outside car I am
thinking about buying?

A: We will only inspect a car from a private seller (no
dealers cars) at a pre-scheduled time. The car will need to be dropped off with
us for 1 day. The cost for this service is 3000 THB and we will give you a list
of recommended repairs within approximately 24-48 hrs (sorry we cannot give an
estimate on repairs as we do not carry the parts on stock). This is not a guarantee
that we will find every problem, but it will give you a baseline to know what
you are looking at.



Q: Do you take in outside repairs?

A: We normally only offer on-going repair services for
vehicles that were previously purchased from us.



Q: Can you take care of the paperwork involved in transferring an
outside car that I am buying or selling?

A: Yes, we can arrange the paperwork and go to the transport
office on your behalf. The cost for this service is 2500 THB + pickup/delivery
if applicable.

Cheers

[Greenside]

The garage I recommended charged about 250 baht if I recall and I took two cars from a private seller and one from a dealer for him to look at. One private car we passed on because he said the parts were difficult and expensive, the other we bought and he fixed up for very close to the estimate he gave us when he looked it over and the dealer car we bought and are very pleased with. Probably not quite the farang friendly service that the company above offers but I felts that few private buyers were willing to wait for a couple of days and if the car is a good deal time is of the essence.

Edited May 16, 2013 by Greenside

[vagabond48]

The garage I recommended charged about 250 baht if I recall and I took two cars from a private seller and one from a dealer for him to look at. One private car we passed on because he said the parts were difficult and expensive, the other we bought and he fixed up for very close to the estimate he gave us when he looked it over and the dealer car we bought and are very pleased with. Probably not quite the farang friendly service that the company above offers but I felts that few private buyers were willing to wait for a couple of days and if the car is a good deal time is of the essence.

Sounds very reasonable. I passed a Honda dealer and their service wanted 470B. The expatauto at 3000B, is a bit ridiculous.

[jbrain]

The garage I recommended charged about 250 baht if I recall and I took two cars from a private seller and one from a dealer for him to look at. One private car we passed on because he said the parts were difficult and expensive, the other we bought and he fixed up for very close to the estimate he gave us when he looked it over and the dealer car we bought and are very pleased with. Probably not quite the farang friendly service that the company above offers but I felts that few private buyers were willing to wait for a couple of days and if the car is a good deal time is of the essence.

Sounds very reasonable. I passed a Honda dealer and their service wanted 470B. The expatauto at 3000B, is a bit ridiculous.

Taking it to a Honda dealer would be your best choice, even if they charge a bit more. Make sure though that it isn't the dealer where the car has been serviced or where the seller has ordered a new car.

[OldChinaHam]

I don't think I get it, as usual.

Why not just drive the car to a reputable dealership and ask for an itemized estimate of all the repair work they think your car should have to get it into top running condition.

They will go over the car thoroughly and provide an itemized list of the repair work the care requires.

Won't cost you anything. And they will be more thorough trying to find every last part that might need replacing or fixing.

Anyway,

That is what I do in Taiwan

And it works there.

Might work here

Might not

I dunno.

[taotoo]

Is this a car that was lpg out of the factory? If not, I presume a Honda dealer wouldn't give an opinion on the state of the conversion. I might ask myself why two owners have decided to sell it within 3 1/2 years.

[uptheos]

Look at the very bottom of the index in my map. They've always been good when I have taken cars in for a check and I've had some repair work done in the past too.

Just a side note, your map is becoming very helpful - thanks.

[vagabond48]

Is this a car that was lpg out of the factory? If not, I presume a Honda dealer wouldn't give an opinion on the state of the conversion. I might ask myself why two owners have decided to sell it within 3 1/2 years.

Good question.

In this case, because I know the couple who is selling the car, I trust the information I have gotten about the history of the car.

Regardless, I still wanted to get it inspected just to be on the safe side since a late 2009 Civic in Thailand is pretty expensive compared to the price in USA.

[MESmith]

Perhaps the OP should post a question in the motoring subforum with regards to the possible pitfalls of buying a second hand car converted to run on lpg.