PPIs if buying from a reputable Independent specialist

[TwoHeadsTas]

OK, what is the thinking about getting a PPI if the car is at one of the acknowledged reputable independent workshops / sales businesses, thinking, for example, Weltmeister in Melbourne or Autohouse Hamilton in Sydney?  Certainly I would get a PPI if looking at a car from a private seller or a yard without the cachet of these 2 businesses (as examples), but given their reputation and statutory warranty requirements what are people's thoughts?

 

cheers

 

Peter

[Ozvino]

Weltmiester, PM me...

always get a PPI regardless of how reputable

[Mike737]

I'd definitely be getting a PPI from one of those as I've heard them tell porkies to sell a porkie. Sold as 'never been in an accident', but upon closed inspection whole front bar had been replaced with a second hand reco'd bar. If you have an existing relationship with them then maybe it may go differently.

A PPI at the end of the day from a 3rd party which isn't biased can save you a bucket in both the hip pocket and in mental state. It's also a great time to check out the car yourself and see what it looks like underneath.

[edgy]

Yes, always PPI. 

As pointed out, it's a good time to get under it and see what's going on, I did one with Porsche centre Adelaide last year. They absolutely insisted I be there do do it with them, would love to do it that way evey time. Alas not always possible 

my car was at a "reputable shop" and had a ton of work needed that wasn't disclosed to me 

[scashin]

"everybody lies"  Doctor House

[KGB]

A PPI at the end of the day from a 3rd party which isn't biased can save you a bucket in both the hip pocket and in mental state. It's also a great time to check out the car yourself and see what it looks like underneath.

Everyone has bias.  The correct bias is the key.  Not always easy to achieve when you turn up with a car from a competitor's workshop....

[Mike D'Silva]

Weltmiester, PM me...

always get a PPI regardless of how reputable

ooo.. sounds like there is a good story here

[Stepo]

No doubt a PPI is important and cheap insurance, but if I am in the same State as the vehicle is being sold, I think I would have a better overall understanding of the car after pouring over it during the test drive / inspection phase.  From what I have experienced, workshops have a standard PPI template and things are checked quickly, therefore easily missed.

Earlier this year I had a PPI done by a "reputable independent workshop" in Sydney with the end results being less than perfect.  I specifically asked for a power steering fluid leak that I had seen in pictures to be checked and the report said it was minor (also discussed after the PPI over the phone with the workshop and told it was minimal).  I purchased the car, drove it 1000km back to Melb and straight to my mechanic.  I was there when we pulled the rubber steering boot back with a simple tool to see fluid pouring out of the boot like a tap was on (definitely not minimal).  $1500 later, new rack installed to rectify the issue which was obviously never checked properly, even after I raised the concern originally .  I fear some so called reputable workshops may have high opinions and not interested in spending too long to inspect low level water cooled S2 variants or possibly no return business Interstate time wasters.  Feedback over the phone and email whilst setting up the PPI was also poor.  The best move I made was to ask for a compression test which came back very positive and all things tend to work out OK in the end.  In the future, I would be paying a little extra to purchase a car locally that I have better control to inspect myself rather than interstate or fly in and be there during the PPI.

I ended up buying another similar car here in Melb that had the roadworthy done by a local "reputable independent workshop".  To be honest, there were several items that shouldn't have passed but were easily attended to so no biggy.  I had some work done on the sunroof by this said "reputable independent workshop" and went back to complain given it didn't open properly or lock in the correct position (like they hadn't even checked their work).  I returned the car, went for a coffee, waited two hours as I thought they were fixing it but nothing was done and they never called me.  I called to find out it was ready and when I returned they told me the roof issue was due to a fault I had with the ignition barrel, not their problem.  This workshop has a dedicated customer service manager on the desk that needs to go back to school to understand how customers should be treated, how to follow up, improve communication and a little personality would go a long way.  For reference, I ended up taking the roof in for repair with Stuart at Nineauto (no affiliation and not my regular mechanic) who fixed the roof and told me the gears that control the mechanism were never aligned properly to work with each other, nothing to do with the ignition.

Sorry for the rant & lengthy comment.............always get a PPI and consider a compression test for higher k's, be there if you can, ask for a sample of their PPI template and add checks if you see holes.  At the end of the day, there will probably be unforseen issues to resolve but the joy of driving will soon out way any initial hiccups .