Car Inspections: Trust Dealers or get independent one?

[Jets4Life]

I had a question about buying from a Used Car Dealer in Airdrie (Carsco). It comes with a compete mechanical inspection, but I was thinking about getting one done at a reputable inspection shop. I found one that has really good reviews (InspectaCAR), near MacLeod near 39 Ave SE.

It will be just north of $100 for a 200 point inspection. Would I be wise to get an independent inspection done, even though the dealer has done a mechanical inspection? I wouldn't mind hearing from people who have had experience with this, as I am leaning towards getting an inspection done, just to be safe.

[Fuzz]

I would. I had an inspection done on my $4000 truck before I bought it, and found some deficiencies they "missed". It was around $500 in repairs and the dealer had the repairs done before I bought it, so it paid for itself.

[Calgary14]

I'd get it done independently from Inspectacar. I had a friend who got their vehicle inspected there and it saved her hundreds of dollars. It was around $100. In my experiences a vehicle inspection from a dealer (or anyone else that does the repairs on site) is a waste of time because of the conflict of interest

[llwhiteoutll]

They should also be providing you with a Mechanical Fitness Assessment. This is valid for 120 days from when it was completed. Ask for a copy of it before you go have the car inspected.

My mechanic found a pretty glaring omission on the inspection that was about $1000 to fix, the MFA was also expired. Went back and hit them with both, saved much more than the $1000 to fix the problem.

http://www.transportation.alberta.ca...assessment.pdf

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

If they give you an inspection report that says "All of this stuff is fine", and it turns out to be wrong, and you based your purchasing decision on that document, I don't see how the sale holds up. It's a misrepresentation.

[Jets4Life]

Thanks for you input. I'm probably going to go with a 200 point inspection from an independent dealer. Better to be safe than sorry even if it sets me back $100.

[JackJack]

My sister used Inspect A Car when she bought a used 2013 ILX last year. Mind you the km's were super low and the previous owners had all the records. But still, for peace of mind and due diligence we wanted to check it out.

They were awesome to deal with. She went for the Gold Level which was 129 and bought the CarProof which was additional. If I recall, they even had a 10% coupon for first time users. They also had appeared on Dragon's Den a few years back and got a deal.