Inspecting car before buying

[ShawnaGotschall]

I have a friend who was going to buy a car from another friend. She was supposed to take it and have it inspected before buying. She was told it had bad brakes and may need rotors. She gave my other friend 500 and took the car. She took it to a garage to have it checked out and the mechanic told her she would have to fix the brakes before he could inspect it because he would have to drive it and it was too dangerous. She paid 300 to fix the brakes and then he told her the wheel bearings were bad and the transmission was shot!

2 questions:
Does a mechanic need to drive a vehicle to see if there is anything wrong?

If the transmission and wheel bearings are shot, will the vehicle even move?

[Allenriddoch]

It is good that you are buying used vehicle as it is the better option when one have less financial budget but make sure that the vehicle your friend is offering to you should be in good condition and for this inspecting the vehicle is very important. Only the car mechanic will inspect the vehicle well and can tell you whether the vehicle will be able to move or not. I think you should ask your mechanic that how much it would cost you to put the car in good running order.

[crumpd13]

I think an inspection before you purchase the vehicle is the best insurance you will spend. At our shop it costs 65$. More or less in other shops, but well worth it. Even sellers might not know what problems they have. So I highly recommend an inspection.

[Dave B.]

Originally Posted by ShawnaGotschall

Does a mechanic need to drive a vehicle to see if there is anything wrong?

Not necessarily. An experienced mechanic can spot many problems with just a visual inspection. The wheel bearings and/or transmission could have been making noise when driven into the shop or could have exhibited other clues when inspected.

Originally Posted by ShawnaGotschall

If the transmission and wheel bearings are shot, will the vehicle even move?

In most cases, yes it could move and very likely still drive down the road, although it would probably make noise or exhibit other odd characteristics.

Originally Posted by ShawnaGotschall

She took it to a garage to have it checked out and the mechanic told her she would have to fix the brakes before he could inspect it because he would have to drive it and it was too dangerous.

Having said all that I have so far, I'd also have to say that this is a very suspicious set of circumstances. While $300 isn't completely out of the ordinary realm of pricing for brake repair, it still is a lot. Is this 'mechanic' someone she - or you or the seller - has dealt with before? If not, I'd be checking something like Angie's List or polling my friends for the name of another garage for a second opinion. I'm sure that she's trying to save money; but, if this mechanic isn't honest, he could well bleed your friend dry financially by continuing to find things that 'had' to be fixed.
In my opinion, it would be worth her while to take the car home with the repaired brakes and have it re-inspected by someone she knows to be trustworthy.