What a pre-purchase inspection costs in NYC
Ours starts at $95, takes about an hour, and includes the road test and a written report. Across the city the going rate for an independent inspection runs from roughly that to a few hundred dollars, and the spread is mostly about who is doing it and whether you have to bring the car to them.
One flat starting price for the full inspection, road test and written report, anywhere in NYC. No travel fee within the five boroughs.
What the money buys
| Option | Typical cost | What you get | What you do not get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile mechanic (us) | From $95 | Full inspection at the seller, scan, road test, written report | A lift; we use a jack and creeper instead |
| Independent shop | $100 to $300 | Lift inspection, scan, sometimes a drive | The seller has to let the car leave with you |
| National inspection franchise | $100 to $300 | A contractor with a checklist, sent to the car | Consistency, and usually no road test |
| Dealer service department | $150 and up | Brand tooling, multi-point form | Independence, and any appointment this week |
| Free dealer or seller inspection | $0 | A form | Anything they would rather not tell you |
The $100 to $300 figure is the range the national car-buying guides publish; a chain will sometimes advertise less, a specialist more. The only number on this page we can promise is ours.
Why the price varies so much
Three things move it: how thorough the inspection is, who is paying for the inspector's time, and whether the car has to travel.
A quick look and a printout of fault codes is cheap because it is quick. An hour with a paint gauge, a brake gauge, a scan tool that reads every module, and a proper road test is not, because it is an hour of a mechanic's time on a car they are not going to repair.
A dealer's own inspection is often free or cheap because they are selling the car. That is not a bargain. A franchise inspection service charges more because it has a national brand to fund and a contractor to pay from what is left.
A mobile inspection cuts out the part where somebody has to get the car to a shop, which for a private sale is the part that usually kills the whole idea. The seller keeps their car where it is, you keep your afternoon, and the inspector's travel replaces everyone else's.
What $95 gets you from us
The whole inspection, at the car, wherever it is in the five boroughs or Long Island.
Cold start and a listen. Engine, every fluid by condition, cooling system, belts, hoses and mounts. Transmission and drivetrain. Brakes measured. Suspension, steering, and every bushing and joint checked for play. Tires for wear pattern and date code. Underbody for rust, damage and fresh undercoating. Every panel with a paint thickness gauge for hidden respray. A full scan of every control module for stored and pending codes, and a check for whether codes were recently cleared. Then a road test of fifteen minutes or so with highway speed in it.
Then a written report, ranked by what matters, with a ballpark for what each item costs to fix. You own it. Use it to negotiate, to plan, or to walk.
What it does not include is a lift. We cannot bring one. We use a jack, stands and a creeper, and the honest limitation is that a few things are easier to see from underneath with the car in the air. For the overwhelming majority of used cars that changes nothing about the verdict.
Cheaper than what it finds
The arithmetic on a pre-purchase inspection is not subtle.
A set of tires at the wear bars is a few hundred dollars. A brake job with rotors is more. A transmission that shifts hard when warm can be thousands, and a car with hidden frame repair is worth a lot less than the asking price on the day you try to sell it. Any one of those, found before you buy, either comes off the price or sends you to a different car.
Buyers who use the report to negotiate routinely come out ahead of the fee on the first item. The ones who walk away from a bad car come out ahead by the price of the car.
When it is not worth paying for
Occasionally. A car being sold for scrap value where you already expect to fix everything. A vehicle you have owned before, or that a family member has serviced for years and can vouch for. A brand new car with a factory warranty, which is a different question with different answers.
For anything else, and especially anything from a private seller, a small independent lot, or an online retailer with a return window, an inspection is the cheapest hour of the purchase.
Deposits, travel, and the questions people ask before booking
We do not charge extra for travel within the five boroughs. Long Island and Westchester are quoted case by case if the drive is long. There is no deposit; you pay when the inspection is done.
If the seller cancels on us at the door, or the car turns out to have been sold that morning, tell us and we will sort something fair. It happens.
If the inspection finds the car is not worth buying, the fee is the same. You are paying for the answer, not for the answer you wanted.
Anywhere in NYC, usually the same or next day
Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau. Text us the listing and the seller's location and we will tell you when we can be there. $95 to start, the report in your hand before you sign anything.
Common questions
Is $95 the whole price?
For the inspection, road test, and report on a normal passenger car anywhere in the five boroughs, yes. Exotic or specialist vehicles, very long drives outside the city, or a request for something beyond the standard inspection get quoted first. Nothing is added afterwards.
How much is a pre-purchase inspection at a dealer?
The published guides put a dealer used-car inspection in the $150 to $300 range, and it is scheduled around their service bay. The bigger issue is not the price but that you are asking the dealer's employee to evaluate a car on the dealer's lot.
Do you charge more on weekends or evenings?
Private sellers are mostly available on weekends and after work, so that is when a lot of inspections happen. The $95 starting price applies. Late-night requests get quoted like any other after-hours call.
What if I want two cars looked at the same day?
Tell us both. If they are close together we can usually do them back to back and we will quote the pair rather than charging two full fees.
Is a cheap online inspection service the same thing?
Usually it is a contractor with a checklist and a phone camera, sent to the car by a company that has never seen it. Some are fine. The tell is whether the inspector road tests the car and uses a scan tool and paint gauge, and whether you can speak to them afterwards. Ask before you pay.
Want the number before you book?
Text us the car, the year, and the symptom for a free quote. We typically reply in under five minutes and can often come the same day.
More on pre-purchase inspection
Pre-Purchase Inspection by borough
Back to our pre-purchase inspection service.