Inspection service

Just an idea I had and forgive me if it's already in practice, but I thought I'd mention it and see what happens.

I notice there's a real sort of community spirit here with people looking to help out others when and if they can.
There's the international rescue and courier zones where people put in a request for help and someone will offer their services if they're able to.

Well I'm told to not be afraid to travel large distances to check out a land rover in search of a good one and a bargain, but that's not always possible. The usual, work, family, life, it can get in the way.

So to get to my point, what about a sub forum where someone like myself could post a request for help along the lines of;
"Saw a defender 90 on eBay I'm interested in. It's in Birmingham and I can't travel there myself, is there anyone local who could go have a look at it for me and check it over?"
Someone nearby, if willing, could volunteer and report back on the condition and any other info they managed to get from the seller.

What do you guys think?
Is it feasible?
Would people be willing?
Or has it been tried in the past and it didn't work out for whatever reason?

Worms , cans and liability spring to mind.

Dunt the a/a rac do this sort of thing???

Chrisw8 said:

Worms , cans and liability spring to mind.

Dunt the a/a rac do this sort of thing???

Click to expand...

I had thought of that, but the same could be said of the international rescue and courier service provided as well e.g. "you damaged my car when you pulled it out" or "the package I asked you to drop off wasn't broken when I handed it over so you must have done something to it".
I think it's all working because of a gentleman's agreement type of thing.

And yes, I'm sure the RAC and AA do offer a service like that, but
A) They most likely don't specialise in land rovers.
B) They'll charge you for it.

Like I said, this is all just an idea and if people weren't keen on it then fine, I just thought I'd suggest it and see what happens

Stick around a bit longer and you'll find that it happens all the time. It usually starts somewhere on here but then disappears into PMs when precise details, phone numbers and addresses are exchanged.

Id hate to recommend a buy for someone else. There are always surprises found when you get a car home and begin tinkering. If you made the decision yourself then you just get on and sort the problems but I would always assume the buyer would be cursing under his breath if someone else had said it was OK.
I have just had to replace the rear crossmember on my series although it looked in good nick when I viewed it. It wasnt long before a bit of close belting with a hammer found it had been botched with plastic sheet and body filler.

Im sure pointers could be given when viewing by someone experienced. I once took along a friend who worked for Vauxhall many years ago when buying a vectra but as he said, although a vauxhall main dealer mechanic for 20 years he couldnt possibly say for sure if it would even make it to the end of the drive or not.

Then again someone local may know of the vehicle or the seller, could at least say "this is a dog I wouldn't even take parts off" or "doesn't look too bad you need to see it yerself"

I haven't seen or heard of any problems with people viewing for others and it happens fairly regularly.

Even a cursory once over to check the vehicle is somewhere close to as advertised can save a lot of wasted time and expense travelling across country to look at a bucket of rust.

A recommendation to buy is a different matter and would be bound to cause problems but a heads up to whether it's worth making the journey to look is great.

Whether it's worth a sub forum I'm not sure. Posts asking for viewing help are more likely to be seen in general sections imo unless there was a off forum contact list like LZIR.

Quite true. Only the buyer knows what he truely wants and is prepared to renovate.
I wanted a cheap dog to tinker with so am quite happy ripping bits off and making good.