NRMA Vehicle Inspections

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 7:56 pm

Hey guys,
I have some questions regarding nrma vehicle inspections, first of all, the biggy, are they worth getting done to the fto? I mean would the inspector inspect all the components like the gearbox, clutch etc...

Or if i posses semi-car knowledge, would i see most of the things that the inpector would?

What kind of things, if any of you have to share with your experience with the expections?

And also, i know that the fto is quite old now, but how many things do you think should i be prepared to be wrong with it?

Post by **smorison** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:25 pm

i think an insepection is a must however i'd probably get a good quality performance shop to do it rather than NRMA there is also a company in sydney who do them Sydney Vech inspections??? (someone will be able to tell you the name) they are much more reliable and detailed than NRMA.

what can go wrong? well the same stuff that goes wrong with any 7-10yr jap import.

the car has to have a major service at 100k.

suspension (stock) wears out at abuot 70k
bushes and the rest are normally pretty worn out when the car is imported
aircon goes (condensor seems to fail pretty often)
plenty of minor electrical issues (windows / central locking / etc)

it just depends on how the car was treated in japan (and australia if your not its first aussie owner). and you won't know this until you drive it.

all FTO's have rattles so just turn up the stereo.

Post by **Supplanter** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:30 pm

When I was looking for FTOs last year, I heard of one in Sydney.
I considered flying up and having a look myself, but couldn't justify the cost, so I got it inspected instead (by Sydney Vehicle Check, I forget the number

It turned out the car was a dud, so I definitely think an inspection is important.

Guni_GuGu · Post by **Guni_GuGu** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 1:08 am

Definantly get a check, but like Smorison said, I would probably get someone else, other then NRMA to do the check. I've never had one, done by NRMA (I think their Sydney only), but, I would imagine, they'd be similar to RACV, in whichcase, I definantly recommend these guys:
http://www.stateroads.com/

I found RACV to be way to broad, and try and generalise everything. They basically returned a report saying, Alternator made noise - not sure why? Oil - Could be from gear box or elsewhere, and so on... I mean, it's not horrible, but I had the guys at stateroads check out, what I thought, was a perfect and clean silver FTO, turn out, the thing had been smashed and thrashed to shithouse. But the guy checking the car was very through, he did a paint thickness check, checked the chassis (there was a kink in the rh chassis rail, which he showed me), and geninuely told me, DON'T BUY THIS CAR. The guy at RACV actually said "I can't tell you, wheather to buy it or not, but this is basically whats wrong with it".

Stateroads, should actually be a be a lot cheaper for most cars, but for imports they are a bit more expensive.

I'm still FTO shopping, and the next car I get, I will prolly have inspected again, by http://www.stateroads.com/, unless someone else, wants to recommend another one in Vic? Stateroads, was definantly a good run though.

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 8:36 am

Thanks for all your feedback guys, it's much appreciated, unfortunatly, a day after this thread started i already booked an nrma inspection, and i didn't know about Sydney Vehicle Check, so maybe next time.

I will let you know how the inspection goes, and if i feel they are too broad and not good enought.

Post by **smorison** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 11:20 am

have you taken it for a test drive yet?
you may be able to get one of us to come along and check out the car with you.

btw what is the car you have found?

Chiangstar · Post by **Chiangstar** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 12:25 pm

hi all
the problem i found when getting an nrma check when i was buying my car was that particular inspectors service particular areas in sydney....so after a while, the car dealerships develop relationships with the inspectors....which obviously isnt in the consumers interest ...

simon

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 12:55 pm

I had bad experience with RACV inspection.

They inspected my first car (before i brought it), & they claim everything its in A1 condition, but after 2 wks the car broke down, & my mechanic said the car was in pretty bad shape to start off with, & i only traveled 200km since i had it.

Ever since that, i never use RACV inspection again, & that was like 9yrs ago.

As Guni_GuGu said, they are too generalise on everything, & it seem the same after all these yrs.

lal · Post by **lal** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 1:57 pm

I highly recommend these guys:

SVC
Sydney Vehicle Check
(02) 9153 0888
http://www.sydneyvehiclecheck.com.au/

I used them twice. The first time was when I was going to buy a Japanese CRX import (eletronic roof and boot). Anyways, it was advertised as '97 even the RTA papers were '97.. it only had the compliance plate which showed '97... anyways, to cut the story short... these guys were able to easily determine that it was in fact a '92 model (even the lady owner was really shocked as she paid '97 price)

THese guys checked the seatbelt labels (which NRMA don't do)... and it specified '92 model and it original... the lady was under denial and said.. they may have switched the seatbelts... his other evidence was that the aircon fitted on the car was the old type (forgot what it was called) and any car after '94 has the CFC free thingy... so this can't be '97 ... plus many more things...
in short, they were very thorough and helpful... but they don't advice you whether to buy it or not.. they tell you everything and you make up your own mind.... they check the engine, interior, paint, etc... and a much detailed report than NRMA..
PLUS... they're CHEAPER.... and they have 24hr booking service... I only got them cause NRMA couldn't book me in the next day... i went to them...
and it was worth it.

same person from the place checked my FTO...

Redboost · Post by **Redboost** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 8:36 pm

I highly recommend SVC as well - they did a complete check on my car and picked up things I would never have caught out. The check itself took close to 2 hours but you can't say they weren't thorough!! In the end, I managed to knock off $2 Gs off the price of the car cause the girl I bought it from had no clue what was wrong and thought she'd better sell before I backed out (the problems listed were minor - basically needed new fluids, front tyres were slightly bald, minor chips on the bodykit etc...). Also, they usually send out a guy who's familar with the car, so you know he knows his sh*t - the guy who checked out my car had dealed with FTOs before and was familar with what should be right/wrong with the car. Aside from giving you peace of mind, you can also use the report they provide you with as a bargaining tool to knock down the price of the car (assuming there are problems with it)!

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 6:41 pm

I think after just having done an NRMA vehicle inspection to a car, i think next time i might be trying the SVC, that you guys have recommended.

NRMA was just too unspecific... So basically instead of having one guy that can look at it and tell me what's wrong, and how to go about it, i now have to get another person to tell me how to go about and how much it will cost...

lal · Post by **lal** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 6:53 pm

SVC probably won't tell you how much it will cost to fix... as they're not in that business. I think they do this so that ppl can't go bcak to them and say hey... you told me it would only cost me $1000 to fix.. but in reality it ends up conting $3000... coz.. once you open up the parts etc... there could be whole new can of worms

it's probaly because of this aslo, that they can't "advice" you to get it or not...
but a way around it is: HOW TO WORD your SENTENCES

instead of asking "should I buy this" -- answer would be... it's your decision.. this inspection is to help your decision..

ask this way: "if you we're buying this car for you son/daughter... would you buy it for them?"

this way, they may not be directly implicated by they're response.

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 7:24 pm

Thanx lal, i might try that

Has anyone actually had an inspection, and the report came back with no crosses? But with a few things that needed minor attention...