Are you interested in buying a used Saab or Volvo, but are afraid that you will just be buying someone else's problems? So what are you to do, buy a new car instead? That is certainly an option. However, we believe that in most cases buying a used car is the most cost effective way to go.

The smart thing to do is to have the used vehicle thoroughly checked out by an expert before you buy it. To do this, make an appointment to bring the prospective purchase to Danneman's. For $103.00 we will perform a pre-purchase inspection of the vehicle. The first part of the checkout is a road test. If the vehicle demonstrates a serious problem during the initial drive, such as a noisy transmission, then we will waive the fee and suggest that you continue shopping for another vehicle.

The actual inspection process takes 2-3 hours and will result in a detailed estimate of needed repairs. However, if after the first hour of the checkout it appears that the list of needed repairs seems excessive, we will stop the inspection and ask if you if you would like us to proceed. If you ask us to stop, then we will only charge you $51.50.

After the pre-purchase inspection is completed, you can return to the seller of the vehicle and negotiate the price of the car based on the car's book value and the cost of needed repairs. Remember that even if a car needs some repair, if you buy it at the right price it can still be a good deal.

On the other hand, we have had customers bring beautiful and immaculate cars to us, but as the result of our pre-purchase inspection they found that the cars were not so beautiful after all. A pre-purchase inspection is money well spent. Buying a car is a big investment. As an informed consumer you can position yourself to buy a quality vehicle at a fair price.