Pre-purchase Inspections

Take The Risk Out of Buying a Used Car

Buying a second hand car always involves an element of risk, especially if you are purchasing it from someone online as opposed to a dealership; dealerships are registered businesses so there are certain legal obligations that they have to uphold, but when you are buying a car privately off someone you’ve never met before, the legalities can be a bit of a grey area.

If you are thinking of buying a used car, we recommend bringing it into Sunshine Steering first for a full top-to-toe vehicle inspection before you sign-off on the papers – we’ll help you avoid buying a dud by letting you know if the car is a sound investment or if it requires a lot of repair work.

Sunshine Steering are:

  • Members of the Institute of Automotive Mechanical Engineers (IAME)
  • REPCO Authorised Repair Station
  • Certified RACQ Mechanics

If you’ve got any questions about our pre-purchase inspection service, or would like us to take a look at a vehicle you’re thinking of purchasing, give us a call on (07) 5478 8020 today.

Pre-Purchase Inspections

The pre-purchase inspection process at Sunshine Steering is quick yet thorough – we have a detailed check list of all of the different elements of the car’s motor, steering, wheels/tyres, electrical, transmission and brakes that we run through. As we inspect each element we compile a report that you will be handed at the end of the inspection – this will help you decide whether or not to purchase the car.

The pre-purchase inspection is much more comprehensive then your standard road-worthy inspection – in a roadworthy, the car is being certified that it is in current working condition; any element of the motor might be on the way out and need replacing within the month, but as long as it is working on the day of the roadworthy test then it will be certified. The point of a pre-purchase inspection is to let you know the overall health of the vehicle and it includes some of the following additional checks:

  • Brake fluid quality check – we test the brake fluid and provide the percentage in the report.
  • Coolant system check – we always give a percentage of the coolant in the report to ensure that it meets manufacturers standard.
  • Battery health check.