Mechanical checks on a used van before purchase?
I'm looking at vans with 80-160,000 miles.
Normally with a used car, I take it to a mechanic for an inspection before deciding on a price. But mechanics are telling me that, with these big vans, it is too much work to get at the engine to look at compression, spark plugs, or anything. Like $400 in labor too much.
I did find a trans guy willing to do general inspections with extra emphasis on transmissions, and I figure he knows enough to get a good sense of a tranny from the outside. (Is this realistic?) I didn't ask him specifically about engine stuff.
What do you all expect from a pre-purchase inspection? And what do you get?
If you do it yourself, what do you do? I mean, I do all the basics -- drive, listen, feel, check fluids, tire dates, crawl under the rig and look for anything untoward. But I am not even a shade tree mechanic, with cars younger than me ;).
Normally with a used car, I take it to a mechanic for an inspection before deciding on a price. But mechanics are telling me that, with these big vans, it is too much work to get at the engine to look at compression, spark plugs, or anything. Like $400 in labor too much.
I did find a trans guy willing to do general inspections with extra emphasis on transmissions, and I figure he knows enough to get a good sense of a tranny from the outside. (Is this realistic?) I didn't ask him specifically about engine stuff.
What do you all expect from a pre-purchase inspection? And what do you get?
If you do it yourself, what do you do? I mean, I do all the basics -- drive, listen, feel, check fluids, tire dates, crawl under the rig and look for anything untoward. But I am not even a shade tree mechanic, with cars younger than me ;).
