Aa Car Inspections

seagram · August 8, 2003

when i purchased my lexus i had a full aa inspection carried out for approx 240 pounds.the main problem was the aa inspected the car on the street during heavy rain and road tested the car in heavy rain(as confirmed in aa report) after purchasing i noticed verious scratch marks as well as a pinking noise upon accelaration that was not pointed out because its only heard when the windows are down and during the rain the windows would have been up in addition to this there were other small things that were not pointed out.the aa have refused to compensate me in any shape or form.2 days ago my brother purchased a vw passat i clearly told the aa on 3 seperate occasions to phone us when the inspector arrived so we could be present the aa man decided to phone us after the inspection was carried out and when i tried to ask questions over the phone he refused to answer stating the 140 pounds we paid did not include a verbal report.i made several calls to the aa and was told we are sorry this happened there was a misunderstandind as the aa inspector did not read the information on phoning us.when i asked for a good will gesture as compensation for my 2 bad experinces i was offered a double apology.can someone [please tell me im alone in this mess with the aa and they really are professional.

Matthew_McNally · August 8, 2003

My only experience was with the RAC - and that guy was superb.

I had had an accident and was fighting my insurance copmpany to get my car written off. I ended up getting an independent report from the RAC

For £149 I got a full report, and the guy not only rang me up several times, but gave me his mobile number so I could call him for advice, and spoke to the Direct Line engineers involved in my case, fighting my corner with them.

I would defintely recommend the RAC to someone

ColinBarber · August 8, 2003

I have heard from several sources that the RAC inspections are much better than the AA ones.

james2210 · August 8, 2003

Sorry to ruin the RAC are better than the AA thing, but I had a bad experience with the RAC. I got them to inspect a car I bought once. When I drove the car, I noticed that one of the rear wheelbearings was grumbling quite loudly and asked if they could pay particular attention to it when they were doing the inspection. The inspector called me personally and highlighted a few things such as a small dent in one of the wheels, and when questioned about the wheel bearings, he said they were all fine. About 3 weeks buying the car, I took it to be MOT'd and guess what. It failed on the right left wheelbearing due to excessive play. Luckily, the RAC refunded the test fee which I think was about £120 and that covered having the bearing done and left me with enough for some petrol.

ifraz · August 8, 2003

Luckily, the RAC refunded the test fee which I think was about £120 and that covered having the bearing done and left me with enough for some petrol.

I assume you complained to RAC for them to refund you the money.

On what grounds did you file your complain? Did you have to prove that the fault was there when the RAC guy inspected it as I guess they could say it's wear and tear and it happended after it was inspected?

james2210 · August 8, 2003

They did not really put up much of a fight at all. I wrote them a letter explaning everthing that had transpired and I received a call from one of their regional managers who said that the inspector had obviously overlooked this problem and he offered my my money back (without me having to ask). This is probably going back 3 or 4 years so I don't know if they might have tighened up on things a bit. I usually find that the best way to complain about something is to try and find out who the highest person in that company is and then write to or email them. After all the troubles I had with my Lexus, I wrote a letter to Karl Schlicht (Lexus GB MD) and he replied via an email admitting that what I'd been forced to endure was not on and that he'd give me yet another years warranty to make up for all the trouble I'd had.