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I'd like to preface this by saying, firstly hello! This forum is a gold mine and I love the attitude of everyone on here. Secondly, I know the following is entirely my fault.
So I bought my Prado the other week, 120 GXL 2004 TD. Want it to do the Big Lap round Oz, it's done 260kkms. It's got all the bells and whistles and it looks great, drives nice, but I'm a responsible buyer and I try to do things right, so I make sure to book in an inspection. Problem is the buyer is leaving the country in two days, as they're an old Swiss couple who've finished their fun, and I can't make it over the following day, so the inspection and purchase need to happen on the same day realistically.
The inspection happens and I speak to the mechanic - all good he says. There's a few bits and pieces that need fixing but nothing expensive, nothing major. We have a long chat about some of these things, and I tell him - look I'm not a mechanic so I can't do these myself, and he tells me in a few short sentences the bits that need doing and what a shop would need to do them. Sounds fine. I do a bit of work on my motorbike so I'm not completely clueless, and this guy seems confident, he has great google reviews. Is this good value etc? He reckons I can negotiate a fair price, which is essentially the top redbook value plus some money for all the accessories.
I make the purchase, happy days. That night I get the full report and I glance over it, looks ok. The immediate repairs section is what he told me I think, no problem. Then I google what I need to do
and after plenty of frantic hours:
The first one knocks me for 6. Looks like either 6-8 hours labour and a minimum $250 in parts, or nearly a grand in parts and labour to replace the entire control arms.
The second, shock rubber bushes...potentially not too bad, but the juries out.
Auto transmission - rear main seal. This one sounds like either a massive job or a tiny one, and I can't figure out which?
Turbo oil feed pipe - I haven't even managed to figure this one out yet
I send this to a shop who gives me a rough guess at $3-4k for parts and labour. Another tells me it will take them a few days to put together an estimate 'due to the extent of the work that is required'. So I feel slightly sick, and I'm panicking a bit. I know this is my fault, and if I'd googled these things beforehand I would have at least knocked the price off the car. However, I do feel pretty aggrieved by the fact that I paid for a mechanics opinion, and I don't think it was accurate.
Moral of the story here is google the stuff that comes up in your inspection before you purchase.
Any advice?
So I bought my Prado the other week, 120 GXL 2004 TD. Want it to do the Big Lap round Oz, it's done 260kkms. It's got all the bells and whistles and it looks great, drives nice, but I'm a responsible buyer and I try to do things right, so I make sure to book in an inspection. Problem is the buyer is leaving the country in two days, as they're an old Swiss couple who've finished their fun, and I can't make it over the following day, so the inspection and purchase need to happen on the same day realistically.
The inspection happens and I speak to the mechanic - all good he says. There's a few bits and pieces that need fixing but nothing expensive, nothing major. We have a long chat about some of these things, and I tell him - look I'm not a mechanic so I can't do these myself, and he tells me in a few short sentences the bits that need doing and what a shop would need to do them. Sounds fine. I do a bit of work on my motorbike so I'm not completely clueless, and this guy seems confident, he has great google reviews. Is this good value etc? He reckons I can negotiate a fair price, which is essentially the top redbook value plus some money for all the accessories.
I make the purchase, happy days. That night I get the full report and I glance over it, looks ok. The immediate repairs section is what he told me I think, no problem. Then I google what I need to do
- Control Arm Bushings - cracked, need replacing.
- Front lower shock rubber bushes (distorted) - Replace bushes
- Auto transmission - rear main seal (leaking) Replace seal
- Turbo oil feed pipe (leaking around gasket) Replace gasket
and after plenty of frantic hours:
The first one knocks me for 6. Looks like either 6-8 hours labour and a minimum $250 in parts, or nearly a grand in parts and labour to replace the entire control arms.
The second, shock rubber bushes...potentially not too bad, but the juries out.
Auto transmission - rear main seal. This one sounds like either a massive job or a tiny one, and I can't figure out which?
Turbo oil feed pipe - I haven't even managed to figure this one out yet
I send this to a shop who gives me a rough guess at $3-4k for parts and labour. Another tells me it will take them a few days to put together an estimate 'due to the extent of the work that is required'. So I feel slightly sick, and I'm panicking a bit. I know this is my fault, and if I'd googled these things beforehand I would have at least knocked the price off the car. However, I do feel pretty aggrieved by the fact that I paid for a mechanics opinion, and I don't think it was accurate.
Moral of the story here is google the stuff that comes up in your inspection before you purchase.
Any advice?
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