MECHANICS/SALES AGENT TRICK YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU PAY FOR THAT CAR

Normally, you need an expert opinion or a professional to accompany you into a business or deal you're not too familiar with its inner workings.

This is just to protect your interests and secure you a better deal.

Though it costs some money as professional fees apply but it's usually worth it than deal blindly Usually cost from 10k upwards depending on distance for inspection aside transportation etc

However, in automobile business, especially if you want to buy, you may need an automobile expert. In other words a mechanic.

And not just any mechanic; has to be one who specialises in the brand of car you're interested in.

But before this you would have done your personal research online, consulted users you know about the car brand, model and year to be sure its not a model that is problematic and parts are available everywhere as well as mechanics and electricians. I touched on this in my last post.

You also need to firstly find out cost of the major components like engine, gearbox, brainboox, body parts like bumpers, side mirrors, windscreen, dashboard components etc. This is crucial.

Back to the topic. In hiring a mechanic be sure it does not end with just hiring. Its important to hire a knowledgeable and trusted one who won't, as result of lack of knowledge depth about the particular car brand you're interested in, could encourage you to buy a bad car, or as a result of greed, get compromised by the car dealer or seller.

In my experience, I've had car sales agents or mechanics call me ahead to inflate the cost of the car for their client/buyer they're accompanying so they can convince the person to buy and thereafter will come back to take their cut. They make this arrangement earlier by reaching an agreed price and extracting a commitment from the seller often behind the buyer who they will be representing trusting them for their expert or professional guidance.

And not just mechanics, car sales agents do same too. In fact agents are notorious for this.

And if you as a seller refuses to play ball they will discourage the buyer from buying from you even if there's nothing wrong with the car.

In some cases, some won't reach out to you nor show like they're interested in such shady practices but will be keeping an eye contact with you expecting you know what's expected of you and give them a sign signifying you will pay them if they approve of the car.

Same scenario play out between parts sellers and mechanic but that's a topic for another day.

How do you do you then ensure this doesn't happen or even if it does you don't get taken advantage of?

Firstly, prior to situation like this, as I have earlier stated and my previous post highlighted, do your own initial market survey for the average cost of the brand and model you're interested in. Online markets or platforms like Facebook market Place and are good places to get an idea as it relates to prices.

For durability of components and reliability use Google to search and read up from several car blogs like carcomplaints.com and Edmund car websites.

For availability of parts and cost contact parts dealers. You can do this too on and Facebook market place etc by calling parts dealers to find out the cost of the major components like gearboxes, engine, body parts and brainbox.

During inspection, find a way to get the contact of the seller yourself if you aren't the one who found the seller at first so as to call back to renegotiate, and inspect again possibly with a second mechanic or anyone knowledgeable about cars.

Be vigilant during inspection so as not miss or to discourage any form of communication between the seller and the mechanic or whomsoever accompanied you.

Be sure to pay the mechanic a fair amount to be agreed upon prior and warn him to not compromise. This will let him know you know their trick.

Adopting this few steps will help get a good bargain as well as minimise the chances of your being cheated or sold a bad car.

PS: I also provide car inspection service with my high-end Canadian made OBD11 scanner. I also help find cars within your budget as well as using my experience, network of dealers, mechanics and parts sellers to advise on which car is best suited for you depending on your need for a pocket friendly fee.

Next topic will be how to easily spot a scammer and time wasting and unserious, frustrating car sales agents on online car sales platforms. I'm just a DM away.