Items for inspection

[SublimeHiPpOs]

I'm looking at purchasing an 18 Platinum out of state and planning on having a local shop inspect it before I send payment tomorrow. What specific items should I have them check for? Thanks!

 

[Deadman]

Gosh, I'd be really nervous buying any vehicle without seeing it MYSELF!

 

[SublimeHiPpOs]

Gosh, I'd be really nervous buying any vehicle without seeing it MYSELF!

Yeah, not ideal but haven't found any that matches what we want in our price range locally and right now I can't really travel far myself. Just trying to mitigate the risks best I can.

 

[Craigga542]

There are companies that do inspections also, such as Lemon a squad or AiM Certify. I’d lean towards one of them, better reports and typically have ASE certified techs do the work. With that being said, still somewhat of a crapshoot. How many miles on it?

 

[DenSanAZ]

Before I bought my 18 Limited in May, I'd been looking online for months. Carvana and Vroom always had 1 or 2 cars listed. I only looked at them for a price reference, there's no way I'd spend that type of money on something i hadn't seen, even though they have a 7 day return (how does that work with a trade? "I don't want this car, can I have my old one back?"). That being said, I'm no mechanic, so even seeing a car and test driving it really proves nothing, outside of that it starts and runs and most things seem to work. Anything can go wrong on any car at any time, whether you've seen it or not! But Vroom and Carvana had their vehicles priced higher than local dealers, so i still discounted them.

 

[SublimeHiPpOs]

There are companies that do inspections also, such as Lemon a squad or AiM Certify. I’d lean towards one of them, better reports and typically have ASE certified techs do the work. With that being said, still somewhat of a crapshoot. How many miles on it?

Almost 25k. It still has about 10 months left of the original warranty and I'm planning on buying Ford's 8 year/125k extended warranty, so I feel like that should mitigate a lot of the risks.

 

[Craigga542]

I went through the same thing, and actually just bought my first sight unseen vehicle. 18 with 4300 miles on it. I had the same thought, 1 year warranty and a Ford ESP after that. My opinion is to look for anything cosmetic that you could live with and have the dealer take as many photos and videos as you want. Warranties should take care of most everything else. I’m sure there’s quite a few that will disagree, but I was looking for very specific features and couldn’t find anything close for a decent deal. Not far from Omaha, so you may have the same struggles. I had mine shipped in from NC

 

[Vipersinu2]

I would stay way from 2018, 1st year of new body style

You would want to check for cold start rattle, cam phaser issure

Also turbo wastegate rattling

Sunroof rattle

Some 18 had cross contamination with the freon fluids.

I read about the front hubs grinding when switching to 4x4

Leaking shocks

Thats a start!

 

[Craigga542]

I would stay way from 2018, 1st year of new body style

You would want to check for cold start rattle, cam phaser issure

Also turbo wastegate rattling

Sunroof rattle

Some 18 had cross contamination with the freon fluids.

I read about the front hubs grinding when switching to 4x4

Leaking shocks

Thats a start!

All covered by the warranties though.

Leaking shocks are only on non-CCD, OP looking is at a platinum

 

[SublimeHiPpOs]

I would stay way from 2018, 1st year of new body style

You would want to check for cold start rattle, cam phaser issure

Also turbo wastegate rattling

Sunroof rattle

Some 18 had cross contamination with the freon fluids.

I read about the front hubs grinding when switching to 4x4

Leaking shocks

Thats a start!

I hear you about the 2018s, but this one is one of the later builds that should have the mid-year updates (aluminum instead of plastic oil pan, etc.). Thanks for listing those out, I hadn't heard of some of those before!

 

[rjdelp7]

Buying a vehicle is the 2nd biggest purchase you can make. Don't buy it without driving it/seeing it. It could have 1000 and 1 minor things, a shop could miss. Things like missing a key fob, chipped windshield, minor paint scratches, a funny smell inside(dogs, cigars), curb rash on the rims, armor all on the leather, with awful oily shine, Worn driver seat from the last owner being 400lbs, slight differences in paint on panels, orange peel from poor repairs, swirl marks under artificial lights, from being buffed wrong by a lot boy, water/fog/moisture in headlights/taillights, marked up door panel, from the last owner kicking open, Marks/scratches on the screens, displays, steering wheel leather, headliner or dash. Last, you just might not like how it drives. I bought a brand new Ford Ranger in 1993. It was too small and rode terrible. I really only drove it, a few miles prior to buying. 18 months later I traded it in.

 

[Craigga542]

Buying a vehicle is the 2nd biggest purchase you can make. Don't buy it without driving it/seeing it. It could have 1000 and 1 minor things, a shop could miss. Things like missing a key fob, chipped windshield, minor paint scratches, a funny smell inside(dogs, cigars), curb rash on the rims, armor all on the leather, with awful oily shine, Worn driver seat from the last owner being 400lbs, slight differences in paint on panels, orange peel from poor repairs, swirl marks under artificial lights, from being buffed wrong by a lot boy, water/fog/moisture in headlights/taillights, marked up door panel, from the last owner kicking open, Marks/scratches on the screens, displays, steering wheel leather, headliner or dash. Last, you just might like how it drives. I bought a brand new Ford Ranger in 1993. It was too small and rode terrible. I really only drove it, a few miles prior to buying. 18 months later I traded it in.

I agree with you there. Most I didn’t have to worry about at 4300 miles, and I asked 100 questions on the ones I did. High quality videos, pictures, and independent inspections can answer 99% of those which I felt ok with at my mileage. With due diligence, in today’s age, I think you can make it work site unseen. I did. Only thing not caught was a panel on the dash, passenger side by the windshield. A mystery, but the dealer is replacing for free. I feel the current vehicle environment allows for some gambling, my personal opinion, if you want a great deal.

 

[Wangle]

I took a chance once, and bought a vehicle site unseen. There were a lot of pictures and it passed an inspection. When it was delivered on the flatbed I checked the oil and it did not touch the dipstick. My heart sank. Turns out it was a cold start, but it was still 2 quarts low out of 4.5. Didn’t hurt a thing. The only reason I did it in the first place was I bought it $4000 under market value. But I have never done it since then. That was about eight years ago. If you find a vehicle that you think is a super great deal, fly out there and inspect it yourself. Or rent a car one way. If that is not possible make sure that you get such a great buy that you could replace or repair anything that was missed and still come out in good shape.

 

[SublimeHiPpOs]

I did end up pulling the trigger on this one and it was delivered a couple days ago. Overall it looks great, the only issue I've noticed is some rattling in the sunroof. But that seems to be pretty common in the these.

 

[DMW1]

If possible have the mechanic hear it cold start. I looked at one at a dealer and they drove it around to me. The next time I looked at that Expedition I heard it cold start and it made a big racket for a few seconds like bolts clanging around in a coffee can. Apparently that is a sign of the cam phaser problem, which I’m hearing a lot about. A bullet proof service record is critical. You want to see oil changed regularly in these engines.

 

[lobsenza]

I assist people with new or used vehicle purchases. Ideally, it is better to see a used vehicle before purchase. Most cases, that is what I do. I do negotiate the price before seeing the vehicle. I have bought vehicles sight unseen, aside from pictures, when needed. I have even shipped them across the country once or twice. I have never had an issue. I do have them inspected, when needed. I always check the CarFax report.

There was 1 case when I bought a salvage title handicap minivan sight unseen. The buyer needed an inexpensive vehicle with the handicap features. Difficult to find and none were local. We ended up having 3 inspections on the vehicle, one of which was by a body shop. There were 2 mechanical inspections. The first one found some issues. The 2nd one verified the issues were repaired properly. The vehicle was perfect for my client. He did very well economically, even with the high inspection cost. Normally I would not have done this, but in a nationwide search, I only found 5 vehicles that met the criteria, so I had little choice.