Mobile Mechanic in Sunnybank

Why the inspection has to happen where the car is

A private seller is not going to drive their car across Brisbane so a stranger's mechanic can pull it apart. That is the practical reason pre-purchase inspections work best as a mobile job.

It also means the car is seen in its normal state rather than after a wash and a hurried tidy-up. How it starts from cold, what is underneath it on the driveway and how it has actually been kept all tell you something.

What gets checked

The mechanical condition, including engine and transmission behaviour, fluid state and any leaks visible from underneath. Brake pad and rotor condition measured rather than eyeballed, and tyre wear patterns that give away alignment or suspension problems.

Diagnostic scanning for stored fault codes, including ones that have been recently cleared. Body and panel condition, which matters because previous accident repair is often more visible to somebody who does panel work than to somebody who does not.

Then a road test and a written report with what is wrong, what it will cost and what is fair wear for the age and kilometres. A ten year old car with worn bushes is normal. The same car with a transmission that hunts between gears is not, and the report says which is which rather than listing faults without weighting them.

What that changes about the negotiation

A report with figures on it is a negotiating position rather than an opinion. Pads at 2mm and rotors at minimum is a real number attached to a real cost.

It also stops the expensive version of buyer's remorse. Plenty of cars that look tidy need a significant amount of work in the first six months, and the time to find that out is before you transfer money, not after.

If the car has a safety certificate already, remember that a certificate says it met the standard on the day it was inspected. It does not say the brakes have plenty of life left.

What we need from the seller

Access to the car with the bonnet openable, the keys available and somebody there for the duration. The car should not have been run immediately before we arrive, because a cold start tells us things a warm one hides.

Firm level ground helps, since some checks need the car safely supported. A driveway or a hardstand park is fine, while a grass verge or a steep slope limits what can be looked at underneath.

If the seller will not agree to any of that, it is worth asking yourself why. Most private sellers with a decent car are happy to have it looked at, because it removes the buyer's main objection.

Timing it

Book the inspection once you are seriously interested rather than at the first look. Sellers get impatient with buyers who arrange inspections on every car they view, and inspections cost money.

Have the money and the decision ready to move afterwards. A report that comes back clean is worth acting on quickly, particularly on a car that has been priced sensibly.

The rest of the mobile run in Sunnybank

Sunnybank sits around Mains Road and Kessels Road, next to Sunnybank Hills, Macgregor, Robertson and Runcorn, and it is part of the Brisbane Southside area our own vans cover along with Mount Gravatt, Coorparoo and Holland Park.

The same visit can cover servicing, with oil and filter from $149 and a full service from $330, brake pads and rotors, batteries and charging system testing, and diagnostics on warning lights. Logbook servicing gets the book stamped.

Anything needing a hoist, an alignment rack or a rotor lathe comes to 2 Baldock St, Moorooka instead. The parent mobile mechanic page has the full breakdown, and the rest of what we do for the suburb is on the Sunnybank page.