MTA inspections are not worth it

[gympie41]

To further my post on the "rattle in my engine" if any of you are interested in buy a new car we bought our diesel 03 pajero from SYDNEY.
. As we live in GYMPIE QLD, we thought we would do the right thing & get it inspected b4 we bought it by the MTA.

They (the MTA) said all was fine but from the go the engine was too rattly. We trusting the MTA thinking its fine drove it.

All our friends said it sounded noisy but i just said it a diesel. It wasn't until we thought to take it to Mitsy that they said there is something wrong. We tryed ring the MTA but they don't take any responsibility. Even though there was an issue with a rattle in the engine last Sept.. I have the report from the previous owner who took it to a mech & they replaced the timing chain tensioner but did not report it had fixed the rattle. So obviously the problem was existing b4 we bought it.

What ever you do save your money dont bother with those inspections its not worth it they cant even diagnose a engine noise that literally could cost me $8000 for a new engine if the chain was to snap.

There excuse is "You wouldn't of been able to drive it out of SYDNEY if there was a serious problem".

Not true my previous diesel went 2yrs with a serious problem (unawares to us) before it died.

This goes with all those INSPECTION places save your money they are just not worth it.....

Get a private inspection done from a mech & tell him the things you want inspected

REGARDS

SEAN

[rotare]

Hi mate,

I sympathise with your situation as I found myself in a similar situation when buying a secondhand car, from a car yard, here in Adelaide a few years ago. I used the RAA (Royal Automotive Association) for a full blown, top dollar, vehicle inspection. The RAA generally have a good reputation here.

To cut a long story short, they indicated in their inspection report that the vehicle had some wearing on the inside tyre on one of the front wheels, and advised a wheel alignement be undertaken asap. Apart from some other minor things, the vehicle was assessed as being sound and no major issues found.

After handing over the cash and buying the vehicle, the very next day I drove off to get a wheel alignment, only to find that wasn't possible as the vehicle had a severely bent front chassis rail! The wheel aligner was kind enough to show me, very clearly where the previous owner had tried to repair the chassis, as well as other repairs to panels and paint over spray etc. Underneath the car this damage & repair was obvious to me and should have also been picked up by someone doing this for a living.... but wasn't.

The RAA was very supportive through the process and acknowledged their inspector should have picked this up. However, they also made me aware of the fine print on the contract I signed. In simple terms they cannot be held accountable if something is missed or a problem is worse than described. In the end the car yard paid to have the car professionally repaired and I got on with life.

I still think a pre-inspection is a good safe guard and would have one done again if purchasing a second hand vehicle....just don't rely on it to pick up every single problem with the vehicle. It's still ultimately a case of buyer beware.

[gympie41]

Hi mate,

I sympathise with your situation as I found myself in a similar situation when buying a secondhand car, from a car yard, here in Adelaide a few years ago. I used the RAA (Royal Automotive Association) for a full blown, top dollar, vehicle inspection. The RAA generally have a good reputation here.

To cut a long story short, they indicated in their inspection report that the vehicle had some wearing on the inside tyre on one of the front wheels, and advised a wheel alignement be undertaken asap. Apart from some other minor things, the vehicle was assessed as being sound and no major issues found.

After handing over the cash and buying the vehicle, the very next day I drove off to get a wheel alignment, only to find that wasn't possible as the vehicle had a severely bent front chassis rail! The wheel aligner was kind enough to show me, very clearly where the previous owner had tried to repair the chassis, as well as other repairs to panels and paint over spray etc. Underneath the car this damage & repair was obvious to me and should have also been picked up by someone doing this for a living.... but wasn't.

The RAA was very supportive through the process and acknowledged their inspector should have picked this up. However, they also made me aware of the fine print on the contract I signed. In simple terms they cannot be held accountable if something is missed or a problem is worse than described. In the end the car yard paid to have the car professionally repaired and I got on with life.

I still think a pre-inspection is a good safe guard and would have one done again if purchasing a second hand vehicle....just don't rely on it to pick up every single problem with the vehicle. It's still ultimately a case of buyer beware.

Well this is the last time ill use one of those guys. Ill get a private mechanic to do an inspection in the future with things that i would like checked. Those mobs are a raught they just rip you off.

[Uncle Fester]

I had the NRMA do one for me on a car and the only thing they picked up on was the "wheel base demension was out, CSX wheels fitted". 4 weeks after purchase the car was backed into by a tow truck of all things. NRMA repairer wanted to charge me more than what the car cost me to repair previous accident damage to car (bent chassis rail). NRMA corperate who I was insured with backed their repairer. 2 month wait to go thru fair trading NRMA made to repair car fully as the 1 item they pick during the pre purchase inspection was not explained to me properly only being 18 years old at the time. Turns out "wheel base demension" and "CSX wheels fitted" should have been 2 seperate items as "wheel base demension was out," actually meant the chassis was bent but they still gave the car a very high rating.

[Pete]

It's still ultimately a case of buyer beware.

I am on just under 40 cars in this life and many motorbikes and boats and stuff. Never had a pre purchased inspection (i was a mechanic in a previous life) and i have certainly ended up with some lemons...most of the time cars have tell tale signs of poor maintenance, abuse or damage.

...in the past i always had a 3 breakdown policy. If any vehicle had 3 breakdowns, of any description, then that car was replaced. It can be cheaper to avoid repair and servicing costs and spend a couple of grand a year on upgrading cars. For example the tyres i bought for the paj this year were the first full set of new tyres i have ever purchased.

Now i have decided to keep the paj and will be spending loads of money on it in mods and repairs cos we have decided to keep it until its dead.

In my experience those pre purchase inspections are best performed by retired mechanics. Older meticulous guys rather people who are not quite mechanics so settled for inspection jobs.