Had my 13 year old ToyotaAA checked for a customer the other day. Items picked up included stiff rear view mirror (had not been adjusted in many years due to one owner), front end rattle (rubber bonnet stop need a half turn) and torn CV boots (I had it on the hoist hours earlier to have a look and they didn't look torn to me. The inspector was here well over an hour and had my car idling almost the entire time, including 'breaks' he took to smoke cigarettes. On the basis of the above 'faults', the customer decided not to buy. Needless to say, I don't recommend the AA.
thunderbolt,
Jun 24, 11:29pm
All very simple faults, which should not have stopped the sale unless you would not offer to fix or give some discount on.
If the faults, however minor, actually exist, then he has done what the purchaser has paid him to do.
dagon1,
Jun 24, 11:39pm
yeah mine was the opposite to this i bought car off trade me and was doing the right thing by putting it through a AA inspection.it came back with nothing wrong with it at all.i got a mechanical warranty for the car so i had to do the first service within 5000km and.what came back with faults was.i had to do the cambelt.engine mounts needed to be done.needed new AYC had oil leak.had a stuffed head gasket.front brakes and discs needed to be done.but none of this was mentioned in the report at all.at the time i thought the inspector that did the AA knew the owner of the car so he passed it through.idk but was pretty peeeed off paying i think at the time it was $140 for the AA check
andrea_w,
Jun 24, 11:40pm
'stiff rear view mirror'
Are you effing serious!!
.and the customer didn't want to buy it based on those very, VERY minor things! The customer is an idiot, just like the AA guy.
On a plus side. no cigarette burns! They are good at spotting those over spotting actual mechanical issues!
djazza,
Jun 24, 11:41pm
Exactly why I do not use the AA and always use Car inspection services. Car inspection services inspector would adjust and free up the mirror while inspecting, turn the rubber bonnet stop so this is not an issue and mention to the customer the cv boot is only a $50 (approx) job and not an issue at all.
spead,
Jun 24, 11:50pm
he was doing his job,. Well done.
matthew111,
Jun 25, 12:20am
you were silly enough to use the AA. Take his decision on the chin.
grangies,
Jun 25, 12:26am
An AA inspector could walk into a new Bentley dealer's showroom and start picking faults.
Bentley report.
Too Big - X
Uses too much fuel - X
Too expensive - X
Tyres worn 0.00000000001 mm - X
tgray,
Jun 25, 12:55am
The AA also picked up a panel repair that had been done that I did not know about and that was the thing that put my buyer off. Fair enough. My point however, is that a stiff rear vision mirror is petty in the extreme (It worked perfectly as far as I was concerned) and calling a bonnet stop adjustment a front end rattle is misleading (I fixed that before he left the driveway). I should have worded the original post better,sorry. He did not reject the car on those points alone, just thought inspector was going a bit too far.
doublek,
Jun 25, 12:59am
You should have asked the AA tech to sit in the back seat, then you get in the driver's seat, look in the rear view mirror and say "you're right, there is a stiff in the rear view mirror."
guider1,
Jun 25, 1:07am
I'd say the only thing stiff was what the inspector had his hand on! Used them once & they are an absolute joke. Told the interested buyer that my engine was tired & had a bigend noise & wouldnt last very long, yet told me it's the best one he's ever heard!. like WTF!! The noise was the rocker shaft (which I knew about) but I couldnt tell him that as he was a so-called expert on TD27's. yeah right! Sold the ute to a friend & it's still going 170,000km later. Should be able to have some sort of come-back on these idiots. The one I had tgray was a complete moron, so I know fully what you are saying.
tgray,
Jun 25, 2:26am
He told me it's in excellent condition and then told the customer something else. It looks and drives like new and has since been sold. New owner very happy with it ,as they should be.
robbie42,
Jun 25, 2:26am
haha love it
crzyhrse,
Jun 25, 2:27am
I suspect that the 'inspector' was in fact Goldilocks! "This mirror is a bit loose. This mirror is a bit tight. This mirror is just right!"
tgray,
Jun 25, 5:11am
Yeah, Tony. I actually told him what it probably was and I fixed it in 10 secs. He wasn't going to change his report though. I too have had many AA inspections done, but I have never had anyone so picky and take so long. He was here atleast 1-1.5 hours and had the car running the whole time other than the compression check. I was watching him from the window smoking his cigarettes and seemingly standing there desperately trying to find something wrong with my immaculate looking, sounding and driving car. I've got to chuckle really, if a "stiff rear vision mirror" needs to be reported, lol. Just to be clear, it was a panel that had been damaged and repaired that ultimately stopped the sale.
johnf_456,
Jul 25, 4:50pm
Are you serious
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