Pre Purchase Inspections

Professional Inspections Of Used Cars in Plano, TX – Before You Make The Purchase

Have you ever bought a used car and thought to yourself, “I hope this thing isn’t a lemon!”? Or better yet, have you ever looked at a used car that was too far from your home for you to check it out in person?

It’s incredibly common these days for people to look at cars on eBay, Cars.com, or some other website. You can narrow down the search to only show cars in your area, but if you’re looking for something special, you may need to open up that mileage radius a little more.

Having a pre-purchase inspection performed on a car gives you peace-of-mind that you’re buying a good car that’s going to be dependable and won’t end up being a money pit.

Pre Purchase Inspections For European Cars

When buying a used European car such as a Mercedes or BMW, it’s imperative that you have a professional look over the car before buying it. If you skip this step, a car that looks like a great deal may end up being a bad buy by the time you catch the car up on unperformed maintenance and overlooked repairs.

A single repair like replacing a leaking air conditioning evaporator core could cost you thousands of dollars. These needed repairs are easy to hide by simply topping off the refrigerant, leaving you weeks later with a hot A/C and a large repair bill.

Our ASE Certified Master Technicians know what to look for when performing a pre-purchase inspection, especially on a European car. At EurAutoshop, we work on European cars every day. We know the common failure points and we’ll catch the things that other shops may miss.

A Mercedes at EurAuto Shop for a pre-purchase inspection

What Is Included In A Pre-Purchase Inspection?

Every car we perform a pre-purchase inspection on gets a bumper to bumper, tire to sunroof inspection. Many shops tout a “59 (or some other number) Point Inspection” based on a generic checklist. That’s fine as a baseline, but every model of car is different based on its features.

Each model of vehicle will have specific inspection points that others will not, but as a general rule, below are some of the things we will check when performing a pre-purchase inspection.

  • Test drive – each pre-purchase inspection will begin with a test drive. This allows us to see, hear, and feel how the vehicle drives. If we hear a noise during the test drive, we’ll seek it out when the car is in the shop and on a lift.
  • Diagnostic check – we’ll connect our factory equivalent scan tool to the vehicle and check for codes. Pending codes that are stored but have not yet turned on a malfunction indicator lamp (such as the check engine light) can tell us a lot about problems that may just be beginning.


We’ll also check:

  • For any fluid leaks
  • The braking system
  • The suspension joints and bushings
  • The climate control system
  • Tire condition (including the spare tire, jack, and tools)
  • For proper operation of the windows, door locks, and other body electrical components
  • The overall status of maintenance
  • For collision damage


The inspection will be a digital vehicle inspection, which means all of our findings will be documented with images and/or video.

How Much Does A Pre-Purchase Inspection Cost?

At EurAuto Shop, we have 3 different levels of pre-purchase inspection, starting at $139. The digital inspection report, complete with photographs of our findings, is an amazing tool for you to use in the negotiation of the purchase price of the vehicle.

Repairs And Maintenance After The Pre-Purchase Inspection

In many cases, clients will complete the purchase of the vehicle while it is still in our possession. Many clients will choose to have the needed repairs and maintenance completed so when they pick the vehicle up from us, it is ready to provide them with a long life of dependable service.

Schedule A Pre-Purchase Inspection At EurAutoShop In Plano, TX

Scheduling a pre-purchase inspection is easy. Just give us a call at 214-552-4194 or use our online appointment request form.