Is it worth paying for an inspection of an old 4X4?

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Mr Punch

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I posted earlier on today about looking for a 4X4 and think I've decided on a Jeep Cherokee.

I've found a 2004 reg on ebay which seems to tick all the boxes.

I'm not expecting a world beater and realistic when it comes to buying an older car. It would only be used for towing but not been mechanically minded I don't want to buy something that's either not safe to tow with or going to die straight away.

I've seen that RAC do a basic inspection report for £99. Has anyone ever got one of these done and is it worth it on an older vehicle? I don't have anyone mechanically minded that I could take with me.

Thanks
 
Having just looked again i've seen RAC don't do the inspection report on 4X4's so can anyone recommend anyone else in the West Yorkshire area?
 
Thanks Alice. That's helpful never thought of looking! It did fail it's last MOT. Was then put through again but does still have some advisories on it.
 
Whereabouts in West Yorks? It may be worth googling reviews of the garage that did the MOT if the vendor will tell you which it was. I can think of one local 4x4 garage that I would NEVER buy a used car from, sold my father a Jimney that three months later had no brakes at all, but oddly had no advisories!
 
Mr Punch said:
I posted earlier on today about looking for a 4X4 and think I've decided on a Jeep Cherokee.

I've found a 2004 reg on ebay which seems to tick all the boxes.

I'm not expecting a world beater and realistic when it comes to buying an older car. It would only be used for towing but not been mechanically minded I don't want to buy something that's either not safe to tow with or going to die straight away.

I've seen that RAC do a basic inspection report for £99. Has anyone ever got one of these done and is it worth it on an older vehicle? I don't have anyone mechanically minded that I could take with me.

Thanks
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you say it would only be used for towing but surely that is the hardest thing for a vehicle to do. Many can poggle along with little load on them but towing requires a good and powerful engine. I can't comment on an RAC inspection but on a 2004 vehicle i would certainly get a mechanic's inspection done and also test it actually towing. I think the older the vehicle the more important an inspection would be otherwise you could end up with a lot of garage and call out bills it if fails especially if you are considering a horse on board.
 
paddy555 said:
you say it would only be used for towing but surely that is the hardest thing for a vehicle to do. Many can poggle along with little load on them but towing requires a good and powerful engine. I can't comment on an RAC inspection but on a 2004 vehicle i would certainly get a mechanic's inspection done and also test it actually towing. I think the older the vehicle the more important an inspection would be otherwise you could end up with a lot of garage and call out bills it if fails especially if you are considering a horse on board.
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Saying it will only be used for towing is not making light of what will actually be required of the vehicle I mean that's literally all I will be using it for no day to day driving. Hence the fact I'm considering a report and getting opinions from other horsey people.
 
YorksG said:
Whereabouts in West Yorks? It may be worth googling reviews of the garage that did the MOT if the vendor will tell you which it was. I can think of one local 4x4 garage that I would NEVER buy a used car from, sold my father a Jimney that three months later had no brakes at all, but oddly had no advisories!
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It's not from a dealer this one is a private seller. I've already written a few off already from dealer reviews.
 
It really screams no to me. Your towing vehicle is what will either kill or save you and your horses.
 
Can't comment on your original question but we test drove an old jeep once for towing and found it was horrible to drive - it swayed around corners. Would also suggest you pay for Horse Trailer assistant in addition to your Normal breakdown cover.
 
You could google the MOTs for more of the 2004 Jeeps for sale on ebay to see if you can get an idea of what is likely to wear as the miles clock up. I just did one and it showed up a few fails in the history but for things like worn tyres, nail in tyre and usual wear and tear. Worth having a chat to a mechanic about costs if they go wrong, some cars are better value than others in that respect.

Do you have a local mechanic that would go along and give an opinion? Just googled MyCarInspections and they do an all singing/all dancing one for a Jeep (took a guess on the model) for £225.
 
i assume that you will be taking it to a mechanic for maintenance when you find a vehicle to buy. Why not ask that person to go along with you and do a pre-purchase inspection?
 
Mr Punch said:
Saying it will only be used for towing is not making light of what will actually be required of the vehicle I mean that's literally all I will be using it for no day to day driving. Hence the fact I'm considering a report and getting opinions from other horsey people.
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I didn't think you were making light of it. Towing is hard work, will test and old vehicle that may well not have been maintained at the best in the past. I would ask if it is going to be very successful if you only use it for towing without regular driving. Our vehicles are all landrovers and they don't do very well sitting for periods of time without regular driving. I doubt a jeep is any different.
 
paddy555 said:
I didn't think you were making light of it. Towing is hard work, will test and old vehicle that may well not have been maintained at the best in the past. I would ask if it is going to be very successful if you only use it for towing without regular driving. Our vehicles are all landrovers and they don't do very well sitting for periods of time without regular driving. I doubt a jeep is any different.
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It will probably be used 2-3 times a week.

I don't want to take any risk when it comes to towing with horses so going to give this one a pass I think and keep looking.
 
are you sure the RAC dont inspect 4x4? I had to ring and ask but they inspected my van before purchase (which came under commercial) and they said they would also inspect a horsebox for me.

a commercial one would be about £200 from memory but givent he money pit old 4x4s are it would probably be worthwhile.
 
Mr Punch said:
I don't want to take any risk when it comes to towing with horses so going to give this one a pass I think and keep looking.
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Just curious, why?
I've owned various 4x4 and TBH the Jeep was the best of them. Towed trailer for 1000's of miles with mine.
Mechanically not a lot seems to go wrong with them, weakness is in the electrical system such as electric windows, heater fan etc but just niggles.
Mine never left me stranded in 7 years and 100,000 miles of use.
Only downside to the jeep is price of parts if needed, they can be expensive so perhaps check out prices for stuff like brake discs, exhausts etc.
Mine stood for 2 years untouched. All I did was charge the battery and away it went.
Having owned both I would pick Jeep over landrover any day of the week.
Another thought, what engine does it have? The petrol version can be very thirsty, the diesel a tad under powered.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
are you sure the RAC dont inspect 4x4? I had to ring and ask but they inspected my van before purchase (which came under commercial) and they said they would also inspect a horsebox for me.

a commercial one would be about £200 from memory but givent he money pit old 4x4s are it would probably be worthwhile.
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When I went on to look at what the inspection covered it said it didn't cover 4X4. I've seen that the AA do but it's £250 for the inspection.
 
PaddyMonty said:
Just curious, why?
I've owned various 4x4 and TBH the Jeep was the best of them. Towed trailer for 1000's of miles with mine.
Mechanically not a lot seems to go wrong with them, weakness is in the electrical system such as electric windows, heater fan etc but just niggles.
Mine never left me stranded in 7 years and 100,000 miles of use.
Only downside to the jeep is price of parts if needed, they can be expensive so perhaps check out prices for stuff like brake discs, exhausts etc.
Mine stood for 2 years untouched. All I did was charge the battery and away it went.
Having owned both I would pick Jeep over landrover any day of the week.
Another thought, what engine does it have? The petrol version can be very thirsty, the diesel a tad under powered.
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Think I've just got myself in bit of a worry with reading what previous posters have put and also that it's from a private seller.

It's a 2.5 CRD Turbo Diesel
 
9tails said:
What screams no to you? If the vehicle has an MOT then it's roadworthy no matter what the advisories are.
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Not really. It means the things tested in the MOT are roadworthy. Can still be totally unsafe to drive. MOT only tests a limited number of things.
 
9tails said:
That is a ridiculous statement. The MOT is there so that unsafe vehicles aren't on the roads.
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Not true.
No part of the car is allowed to be removed during the inspection. Therefore, any part that is hidden from view can not be inspected.
There are brake pipes on some cars that run between inner and outer wing. Could be corroded to hell but would still pass as not able to inspect. The sills on my Jag are covered by trims. The sills are critical to the structural integrity of the car but again, can't be checked.
having an MOT only means the items that could be checked seemed safe at time of inspection. Nothing more.
 
And they are also somewhat subjective, havind had a vehicle with a fresh MOT deemed unsafe :p. I wouldn't trust an MOT for 'safeness' ever again.
 
PaddyMonty said:
Just curious, why?
I've owned various 4x4 and TBH the Jeep was the best of them. Towed trailer for 1000's of miles with mine.
Mechanically not a lot seems to go wrong with them, weakness is in the electrical system such as electric windows, heater fan etc but just niggles.
Mine never left me stranded in 7 years and 100,000 miles of use.
Only downside to the jeep is price of parts if needed, they can be expensive so perhaps check out prices for stuff like brake discs, exhausts etc.
Mine stood for 2 years untouched. All I did was charge the battery and away it went.
Having owned both I would pick Jeep over landrover any day of the week.
Another thought, what engine does it have? The petrol version can be very thirsty, the diesel a tad under powered.
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I have a '98 Grand Cherokee for towing, driving up the field and generally lugging stuff about. It was an MOT failure project and cost £275.

It's great! It has the 4 litre straight six, which is pretty much indestructible, but very thirsty. It does tow very well though.

I have had various electrical annoyances, but nothing I can't put up with. It's nowhere near as bad as a Range Rover P38!

It also no longer sways around corners since I replaced the suspension bushes and drop links, in fact it actually handles surprisingly well for a 4x4.

Prices for exhausts and brakes seem to be pretty much the same as for any other similar vehicle and for other parts, Rock Auto in the US are very good.

I would rate it higher than the equivalent Land Rover. It is better built and less inclined to rust.
 
Yes it is. I took a land rover mechanic with me when I was looking for a discovery for towing - budget was for an old TD5 (ended up with 2002 model).

Despite me stressing to people that I would be bringing said factory trained mechanic with me, and he would be going over their cars with a fine tooth comb, the number he rejected as being unsafe/rubbish after I'd been assured they were nearly perfect was terrifying. Most of them had MOTs as well.
 
asmp said:
Can't comment on your original question but we test drove an old jeep once for towing and found it was horrible to drive - it swayed around corners. Would also suggest you pay for Horse Trailer assistant in addition to your Normal breakdown cover.
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Just to contradict the above, I had a 53 plate Jeep Cherokee (2.7 CRD) and I loved it. Towed two horses with ease and had no issues cornering. Sadly I had to scrap it as the cylinder head cracked.
OP, just find a reputable local garage/mechanic and they should be able to do an inspection for you. I would definitely do this in your shoes.
 
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