Why Inspect?

Why choose Elite Inspections?

Of the 31 million vehicles currently registered in Britain - and that includes everything on four wheels:

• 1.6m are in women's names.
• Companies account for 4.9m registrations.
• 8.2m vehicles are still with their first owner.
• 30 out of every 100 are "ON FINANCE".
• 10 will have had a number plate change.
• 8 will be showing a mileage discrepancy.
• 6 are insurance write-offs.
• 1 will have been stolen.
• 55 out of 100 vehicles

There has been little change in these figures over the last several years.

These figures do not include imported vehicles.

We can help with expert inspections in the followng areas:

• Car Inspections
• Classic and Modified Car Inspections
• Ebay buyers
• Irish Car Buyers

 

BEWARE! A lot of inspection companies will promise that they can help you with problem cases. These companies deal mainly in pre-purchase inspections and can have contracted engineers with little experience or no relevant equipment. Also they will normally only inspect in a basic visual nature. This can be dangerous and costly to you. We want to stress that you should be extremely cautious and be assured that we can provide documents to assure our validity etc.

E-Bay Car Buyers

Welcome all Ebay car buyers to our new service!!

The online auction site eBay is becoming a more and more popular way to buy, and is now a serious alternative to scouring the small ads of your local paper or wandering around a car showroom. eBay can be a great way to buy your car, as the range of choice is far greater than in your local paper or at your local garage, and there is always the chance you will find yourself a bargain!!

When buying a car from a showroom or car dealership it is easy to see what you are considering spending your hard-earned cash on; with eBay, however, it's not quite that simple. Before even thinking of parting with your money we can take any worries you have away by providing you with a first class service including full detailed inspection (including digital images of the vehicle and any concerns found e-mailed to you instantly) to allow you to make the right decision and offer. We can also negotiate with the owner on your behalf. You don't even need to have seen the vehicle personally! Click on one of the logos on the right hand side to see a more detailed description of the inspections we carry out.

If you're thinking of buying your next car on eBay, here are some points worth keeping in mind:

Before you start bidding you must register with eBay.co.uk - this is the usual name, address and telephone number. You also need to choose a User ID and password. Once this has been accepted you will receive an e-mail confirmation; then you are ready to start bidding.

To find the car you are looking for will require you to either browse the car categories (the various categories are listed under ‘eBay Motors' on the main page) or perform a search. You can either do a basic search, which will bring up all the listings which include the word you have entered, or an advanced search. This allows you to be a bit more selective, as you can choose not only the specific words you want to search for but also things such as price range, auctions which accept PayPal, and even words which you want to exclude from your search.

When you have found a car you are interested in don't go straight in with a bid; you need to do a bit more work first. One of the most important things to check is the seller's feedback rating.

Feedback is shown in two ways: the total number of feedback entries a seller has, and the percentage of positive feedback the seller has received. I recommend only buying from a user who has a positive rating of 98% or above. You should read the feedback that has been left for a seller, as this can give a good indication of the person you are dealing with and the goods you are likely to receive.

Bidding for the car you want can take one of two forms: placing individual bids, where you manually enter each bid you want to make while watching the auction; or proxy bidding, which means that you settle upon a figure that is the highest you would be prepared to pay, and you enter this one and only figure. Ebay.co.uk does the rest of the bidding for you, beginning at the starting bid. This doesn't necessarily mean you will pay the full amount that you bid, as eBay will only bid just enough for you to win. Your maximum bid may be £500 but you might win only having paid £400, if the other bidders give up.

It is important not to get carried away with bidding; only bid what you are realistically willing to pay, otherwise you may end up spending a lot more on a car than you had planned, which may not even be worth the price you paid. Our engineer will give you an idea of what the value should be.

Once you have been successful with your bid there are a number of ways to pay a seller on eBay, but not all of these will be suitable for the purchase of a car. PayPal, which is owned by eBay, simplifies a transaction. When buying a car, however, the chances are you will have to pick it up from the seller yourself, so you may wish to pay with cash. The seller may also accept a cheque and allow you to pick up the car when it has cleared, but unless you can be completely sure that the car will be there when you go to collect it do not use this method of payment.

Once you have paid the seller they should leave feedback for you, and you should leave feedback for them. This is a chance for you to let the seller, and other potential buyers, know how you think the transaction went, good or bad. Only leave negative feedback if you feel it is really necessary. The risk of negative feedback from either side helps to keep everyone honest.

So go on…. If you are thinking about buying on Ebay or have already found a vehicle you like then give us a call today on 0800 248 9048 for more information or alternatively e-mail us at enquiries@eliteinspections.co.uk.

Irish Car Buyers

Welcome! all our Irish friends to our new service which will get you the car of your dreams!

We have found in recent times, a huge increase of customers from the Republic of Ireland blicwanting help to source a specific vehicle or have a car they have already found inspected in the UK or Europe and imported into Ireland. And why not? It has never been a better time with the Euro so strong against the GBPound.

Let Elite Inspections take care of everything for you from a full detailed inspection (including full digital images of the vehicle and of any concerns found) to let you make the right decision and offer. We can even negotiate with the owner on your behalf! And, on top of that, you'll have full verbal direct contact with our engineer who will give you an honest opinion and talk you through any queries putting your mind at ease and helping you make the right decision. If you want help sourcing the right vehicle to have inspected we can even take care of that for you.

Why Should you Import A Car From The UK?

There is a few reasons why you might to consider importing a car from the United Kingdom. The main reason is simply choice. The United Kingdom has a massive car market dealing in everything from the smallest hatchbacks to the largest performance cars. As a result, the main reason for car shopping in the UK is selection. More cars to choose from, which means you can get the exact car you want in the exact specification you want in the exact colour you want.

But it's not just a matter of having a greater selection of interesting vehicles to choose from in the UK as opposed to Ireland. In Ireland, VRT (the dreaded Vehicle Registration Tax) is charged on the cars value including the cost of extras. This means that the better the specification a car comes with, the more expensive it is to import. This has the effect of discouraging new car buyers from adding all important things like air conditioning and even electric windows to their car because they're prohibitively expensive.

As a result, it's pretty common in Ireland to be able to buy a 'luxury' car, such as the BMW 5 Series, with cloth seats, no air conditioning and a woefully underpowered engine. In the UK, these cars just don't exist to the same extent. Used cars in the UK, as a general rule of thumb, tend to have a better spec sheet to their Irish equivalent.

Now that we've got the main reasons for going car shopping in the UK, specification and selection, out of the way, let's look at some of the other reasons you might want to source your car in the UK. As a general rule of thumb, cars in the UK are maintained to a much higher standard than their Irish counterparts. It's not just that UK tarmac is maintained to a much higher quality than Irish roads, it's that there is a culture of car maintenance in the UK. That's not all either.

For example, in the UK car market, a fully stamped service history is essential, over here, it's a bit hit and miss. Service intervals also tend to be strictly adhered to. Not being able to present a proper service history from a specialist or main dealer when it comes time to sell your car can knock a massive amount off the price it's worth. In the UK, the value of proper servicing, and proper evidence, neatly documented with a folder of bills and receipts, is considered essential on the used car market. It shows that the previous owner cared enough about the car to give it the maintenance it needed, and you're not buying a car which has been woefully neglected in the maintenance stakes.

It can also be quite difficult to check the history of a used car in Ireland. In the UK on the other hand, there is what's called a HPI check (Included in our inspection fee) where you can check if a car has been stolen, crashed and repaired, or has any outstanding finance. Lastly but not least, there's price. Depending on the make and model, you can save yourself and absolute fortune by shopping in the UK. So go on… If you are thinking about it or have found your dream car give us a call today for more information on 0800 248 9048 or alternatively e-mail us enquiries@eliteinspections.co.uk.