Get a Pre-Purchase Car Inspection on the Sunshine Coast

🚗 All new customers get $50 off a service or repair

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Our Pre-Purchase Inspections

Are you worried that buying a second-hand car could cost you a whole lot more than you can afford?

Even if your second-hand car comes with a roadworthy certificate and warranty, there’s no guarantee that expensive service and repair bills aren’t lurking around the corner.

Roadworthy certificates are a basic safety inspection that render a vehicle safe for road use and warranties do not cover general wear and tear such as tyres, brakes, belts or hoses.

The only sure-fire way to guarantee peace of mind is to have Carite Auto Repairs perform a thorough pre-purchase vehicle inspection. In addition to pre-purchase car inspections, we also offer comprehensive transmission servicing to keep your car running smoothly.

For trusted service and expert advice, call us today on 1300 797 608 to book your inspection on the Sunshine Coast.

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Detailed Assessment

Hidden Faults

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Thorough Support

Vehicle Safety

Peace of Mind

Why Should I Get a Pre Purchase Inspection?

A roadworthy certificate is a basic safety inspection of a motor vehicle that renders it safe for road use.

A roadworthy certificate does not indicate how worn the components of a motor vehicle are; it’s a basic pass or fail test where the requirements to pass are to meet or exceed the manufacturer's minimum specification.

Even the best, top-of-the-range, platinum-plated solid gold warranty does not cover general wear and tear items such as tyres, brakes, belts or hoses.

Aftermarket vehicle warranties do not cover head gaskets, which are the most common cause of engine failure. Cars somehow seem to have a way of knowing when the warranty period is over because you can almost guarantee a minor fault won’t turn into a problem until the warranty runs out.

A thorough vehicle inspection and report, along with a written quote for all required and upcoming repairs, can be a valuable bargaining tool when negotiating the price of your new vehicle.

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A Man Is Looking Under The Hood Of A Car And Writing On A Clipboard — Carite Auto Repairs In Warana, QLD

What’s Covered in a Pre-Purchase Vehicle Inspection?

Tyre condition, inflation and wear pattern.
Brake operation and condition, including handbrake, brake pad and rotor thickness, brake fluid condition, fluid leaks, hoses and lines, ABS operation.
Steering and suspension check for play, wear in bushes, ball joints, tie rod ends, shock absorber condition, rack for play and leaks, pump and hoses for leaks, deterioration and fluid condition.
Cooling system for leaks, hose condition, coolant condition and correct operation.
Belts for deterioration, tensioner and idler pulleys for noise or wear.
Timing belt history and due date.
Service history for maintenance records or missed services.
Engine condition, including engine noise, smoke, leaks, correct operation and performance, compression test (extra cost if manifolds require removal for access to spark plugs).
Transmission and final drive for noise, correct operation, smooth shifts, leaks, fluid condition and levels.
Exhaust system for correct operation, leaks and corrosion.
Electrical components, lights, horn, washers, wipers, power windows, central door locking, SRS systems and PCM scan for fault codes.
Underbody check for damage, corrosion or previous repairs.
Body inspection for visual damage, paint matching, evidence of previous repairs, corrosion and general condition.
Interior for correct operation of doors, windows, seats and restraints, heating system and A/C, instruments and gauges, audio system, interior lighting and general wear and condition.
Road test for correct performance and handling, noises, wheel alignment, brake pedal and handbrake travel and operation.

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Why Should I Get a Pre Purchase Inspection?

Here’s an example of why you should get a pre-purchase inspection before you buy a used vehicle.

In Australia, the minimum tread depth of a tyre is 1.5mm across the entire treaded area. If a safety inspection is performed on a vehicle and all tyres are at 1.8mm, the car is considered safe, so the tyres will pass a roadworthy certificate. Needless to say, if you bought this car, you’d need 4 new tyres almost immediately.

With the cost of tyres on some cars today, particularly four-wheel drive tyres and run-flat tyres on some European vehicles, you could be up for an extra couple of thousand dollars before you know it.

Worn tyres are generally easy to spot if you know what to look for but what about something less obvious like the brakes? Let’s say the manufacturer specifies 1mm as the minimum brake pad thickness and 22mm as the minimum brake rotor thickness.

A Man Is Working On A Car With A Multimeter — Carite Auto Repairs In Warana, QLD

A Man And A Woman Are Looking At A Tire On A Car — Carite Auto Repairs In Warana, QLD

If the brake pads and rotors are even just slightly above these minimums, the brake components would be considered “safe” and pass a safety certificate. However, that doesn’t mean they won’t need replacing soon at a cost of several hundred dollars.

Or even worse, what if there was a slight oil weep from the rear of the engine? A weep is an oil stain that is not wet and does not drip, unlike an oil leak. This weep doesn’t cover any engine mounts, suspension bushes, brake components or hoses, so it rightly passes a safety certificate.

However, a few months later, this weep could turn into a leak, specifically a rear main oil seal leak. Fixing this would require removing the transmission, which can be a costly job. If you remove the transmission and find the clutch is 70% worn, you’d be wise to replace it to avoid another costly job in a few months. However, late-model clutch kits, especially dual-mass flywheel types prone to failure, can cost over $1,500.

Now imagine you’ve just traded in your reliable old car for the vehicle described above. You did everything right—researched the car, bought from a reputable dealer and paid extra for a warranty. Yet your new $20,000 car could quickly turn into a $25,000 headache. Suddenly, spending a couple of hundred dollars on a thorough pre-purchase inspection sounds like a smart investment.

Give Matt and the team at Carite Auto Repairs a call on 1300 797 608 to arrange a pre-purchase vehicle inspection today, before it’s too late.

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