Hi, Is there any website or forum that we can hire part time people to do some inspection of the machines in Auctions? I want to buy a 20000-30000 EURO machine in Britain but I don't want to go there for that. Thanks.
Call up a dealer in the area that works on that brand of machine, for a fee I'm sure they would send a mechanic out and look it over, maybe even take some fluid samples.
That will be quite expensive though?
Probably not near as expensive as buying a machine in poor condition at top auction prices.
I priced doing the exact thing up in Canada. 1/2 hr each way travel and 2 hrs for thorough inspection time at $185/hr CAD. Cheaper than me traveling up there and piece of mind if I bid on the equipment.
Is it from official dealer? Do you guys think if we make a website that we can find inspectors for auctions will work? Like if you want an inspector for a certain auction, you post it. And the mechanics plan to go there can take the job and do it part time.
Yes, from a dealer. The dealer is very close to the auction site and they deal with the type of equipment that I am looking for. If I was a heavy equipment mechanic, I would really love the idea of an inspection on demand website to fill in evenings and make more money. An independent inspection can save a lot of aggravation if it is done correctly. There used to be a Spyder Hoe forum that, if still active, would have helped locate contractors and jobs for bid via the web. It was a great idea but other circumstances pulled the plug on that. The inspection process would be much the same and would help providers as well as end consumers. Let us know if you get it started.
I called a nearby Deere dealer for a quote on 'pre purchase inspection' they ran it through the field service guy and the quote came back at $800 That would have been plenty enough for me to fly and make a weekend of it. I called another branch of the same dealer, they said $450 and the actual bill was $350 all said and done. Call around
The American Association of Appraisers (ASA) includes designated members who specialize in the appraisal of heavy equipment. Part of the appraisal of heavy equipment would be an analysis of the operating condition and remaining economic life of the components of the machine. ASA designated members have demonstrated their abilities to the satisfaction of their designating organization, and are pledged to uphold a rigid standard of ethics, which includes avoiding being biased. Unfortunately, because the ASA designation is not easy to obtain, finding and ASA designated member and close proximity to the equipment may be difficult. However, it is worth inquiring of the economic potential of engaging such an appraiser. Remember, appraisals are not only of value, but can be only of the condition of the property. Caveat: I am a commercial real-estate appraiser holding the MAI designation of the Appraisal Institute; I am no affiliated with the American Association of Appraisers. Neill
that's a lot of words and I'm still on my first pot of coffee. :drinkup
Haha, I was kinda thinking something similar. The dealer is set up for the business by having certified mechanics, insurance, and hopefully the best knowledge of the machine in question. You'll pay for that, but what do you want? Any Jethro off the street taking your $200 to tell you "it looks clean and the seat's comfortable"? I'm not aware of any better certification than Tarhe Driver mentioned, and that is limited to America I assume. If you compare it to housing in the US, there's an equally unappealing lack of solid professional guidance. We have appraisers who are paid around $500 to come up with a justification for a purchasers offered price on a house, surprise surprise, they usually manage to come pretty close to the number they're told to make. Then you have house inspectors who are paid about the same and might pick up some defects, but there's so much that they don't, and won't look at, that they're as good as useless. And of course home inspectors don't comment on value based on the condition, that's what the appraiser is for. About the only way I could see an inspection service working is by taking pictures to send to the client, and oil samples. There's just too much liability in giving an opinion of used equipment. Whatever trade group that formed to establish standards (to shield liability) would have a mess dealing with different country's legal systems.
My apologies, the correct name for the appraisal organization I mentioned is the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). Their website is at www.appraisers.org/ They designate both personal-property appraisers and real-estate appraisers. Here is the link to finding an appraiser on their web-site: http://www.appraisers.org/find-an-appraiser . If I were seeking a heavy-equipment appraiser, I would start asking among the "Machinery & Technical Specialties" listed on the ASA website. As many might acknowledge, a referral is often of great value, so for an evaluation of heavy-equipment, I would begin asking among the ASA folks, and if no one near enough was qualified, ask those folks for their recommendation on who you might use.
While that's very true. The used machinery inspection is one of the most difficult and tricky ones. Anyone could make mistakes and there are just too many responsibilities in it. So maybe just 50-100 USD for a guy to take numerous pics of all the details of the machine, and several running videos and some basic judgement of the machine. It will be better than nothing, if you are not willing to go there and bid online anyway. And the guy could do several of those inspections in one day, so after all it won't be a bad day for him.
And also the comments from the previous buyers are very important. If there are several bad comments, it must be no business for him right away. But if there are many good ones for a guy, he will be quite popular whichever auction he goes.
The problem with what you are asking is that it can't really be done on a part time basis and there is not enough money in it to make a living at. From the sounds of things you really don't know what it is that you would want looked at in an inspection. You could hire a mechanic and supply them with a list of items to inspect on each machine. Iron Planet does that for all their auctions. Next that person is going to want to paid before even going out unless you have some way to guarantee payment. The liability issue is easy, you will assume all liability because you will sign a contract with a Hold Harmless Agreement because no one is going to be held liable for what happens between the inspection date and the arrival in China or where ever else the item will end up. As for a web site, posting comments on the work the person does could be a black hole of liability and slander law suits. The dollar figure you propose would not interest some one with the required knowledge to accomplish what you are asking. It is likely a dealer mechanic will be your best option for what you are describing. Unfortunately you will have to pay a fair amount for the service.