Dealership not allowing ppi on used cars
 

Is this common practice to not allow someone to take a car out for an inspection by an indy shop? The salesman's rationale was that the car was inspected during the trade in and have full service records. He also said that there is a risk by letting me take away the car for a period of time. Is this acceptable practice in the car sales industry or should I just walk away?

Thank you

run

Easy decision. Walk away. Have some patience and find the perfect example. Always worth it in my experience.

Definitely not normal. I wouldn't get it inspected if i was buying from a reputable dealership
(like a manufacture dealership. Nissan, toyota, honda dealer etc.)

If its at a small used car dealership then run.

Park Shore BMW

Ultimately, they don't have to allow a PPI to be done by an independent shop and you don't have to purchase the car.

You can, however, use it as a negotiating tool if you still plan to go forward with the sale. If they're unwilling to do the PPI, demand a discount that represents the potential risks a PPI would alleviate (or at least make you aware of).

He probably won't let you take it out for inspection because the cooling and power steering system is already leaking, and the suspension is probably shot. :troll:

In all seriousness, as others have mentioned in previous posts, you can either choose to walk away and keep looking, or use it as a negotiation chip if you are adamant that this is the car you want.

What if you brought a mobile mechanic like BCAA and do it on their lot? Maybe the dealer would feel safer about that approach?

From dealer point of view, there is a lot of risk in letting someone take car out for a couple of hours for mechanical inspection. Lot of things can go wrong or funny sh*t can happen. Somebody mentioned in above post how a guy could download a code from obd2 onto a BMW and then ruin the car temporarily, negotiate a lower price, then remove it after purchase. Guy might have did that on just a test drive.

If this is a manufacturer dealership of course they wont let you take it out. They don't know what you are going to do with it, or your indy shop could damage it without them knowing. It just too risky. I'd say from past experience the manufacturer dealership inspections are pretty safe, and thorough. They can take trades ins, but if its not deemed worthy for sale they usually just wholesale it out, instead of selling them on their used car lot. I think the most they would do is allow you to enter the repair bay with the car on the hoist so you can take a look. Usually the used car come with a warranty still so you can always extend it if you want.

Yeah, no

I work for a manu dealer (Actually all three i've worked for over the years) and we let people take cars for a PPI if they want.

We have a good inspection process, so we really don't care if they take it to a reputable shop. Dealer employee drops off and picks up, as long as a deal is written subject to an inspected

If you're really interested put in the deal papers "deal pending subject to own PPI" after you have worked out all the numbers. If you're not then don't need to waste your time regardless.

good luck

It's for a N54 so I want a compression and leak test and the whole shebang haha

From manu dealership standpoint, it's higher risk that people will swap the parts.