AA Vehicle Inspections

I purchased a car for my son and decided to get it inspected by the AA. They completed the report and highlighted a couple of minor issues so I decided to purchase the car. About 1.5hr after the inspection was concluded we purchased the car and I followed my son home. Immediately one of the rear light clusters was not working correctly and my son reported a loud noise coming from the front wheel. Upon inspection one of the wheel arch valances was sheered off and was flapping about. For me this called into question the whole thoroughness of the inspection. I had to pay to get both issues sorted. The AA response was to offer me 25% refund - I initially refused and said the inspection was substandard. They refused to budge and that was that. The informed me that they aren't regulated or part of an ombudsman so I had limited choices. Don't waste your money as the AA inspections just aren't worth it if they can't detect simple issues.

Booked an inspection via their website, that promised to do it in 2-4 working days. Paid £299. Received a call from AA saying they were unable to inspect the vehicle for TEN DAYS due to staff shortage. No apology. The bloke who phoned me clearly had a job to clear his spread-sheet & was delighted when I didn’t wish to accept their proposed new date (10 days after booking date) I asked for a refund & was told I’d have to wait TWENTY ONE DAYS for one. Utter shambles. AVOID AVOID AVOID.

I agree the length of time is not 2-4 days… I paid and booked for my review after I had bought my car and was hoping it would be within the 14 day grace period of buying my car but ended up almost 10 days after that had ended… that said… the AA engineer was very good… I thought he was very methodical, checked everything thoroughly, and was very comprehensive… annoyingly there is an issue with my gear box which I can hopefully sort out but I’m really reassured by the check otherwise. Im glad I paid for this and feel reassured by it massively. Really grateful to the engineer who was really nice and professional thank you so much!

I still cannot really believe how bad my customer experience has been with AA vehicle inspections.

I was contacted on the morning of the inspection to tell me that the inspection was cancelled because the vehicle concerned had been sold to another buyer. I had presumed that this news would be followed by a profuse apology on behalf of the AA for wasting my time and messing me around. After all, this issue was entirely down to the fact that the earliest inspection date that could be delivered was almost a fortnight after the booking date, leaving plenty of time for other parties to purchase the car. But no, instead of an apology and sympathy, I was handed a bill for a cancelled inspection. The representative was completely unreasonable, even when it was pointed out that the inspection date was way outside the maximum lead time of four days given at the time of booking.

When informed of the inspection date it occurred to me that it was likely that the car would be sold before that time, but was assured by the agent that I would not be charged if this were to happen.

I am obviously not going to held liable by for costs incurred by a firm's failure to deliver services within sensible lead times, so this is likely to be the start of a lengthy dispute.

Booked a vehicle inspection. Inspection was finally confirmed for over 1 week later. On morning of the inspection, we received a call (as did the sellers) stating that the inspection had been cancelled due to staff shortage. The sellers had sat patiently for a week and were now understandably very frustrated as am I. No attempt to rectify this was made by the AA. In fact the lady who informed us of the cancellation actually commented to say the sellers were” not waiting any longer and were very unhappy”. Well done AA. ! Terrible service and waste of everyone’s time.

I paid for and arranged a vehicle inspection from a private seller. However, the seller could not take the day off because the AA refused to give a timeframe. I searched for another car the same day and called the team again and gave them the address and details of the car. A few days pass and no word from the AA, so I gave them a call. It turns out that the call taker didn’t take any of the details of the second car and didn’t book an inspection, so I asked for a refund. This was two weeks ago! I still haven’t got my money back and two phone calls later. I am still stuck with the same answer.- it takes up to 3 to 4 weeks to get my money back! This is absolutely ridiculous, especially considering that it wasn’t my fault! Please avoid this company!!!

If you are looking to buy a used car, please do not use AA pre-purchase car inspection service. They claim that they can usually arrange the inspection between 2-4 working days. In my case, they called as soon as the money went through, to say they could only arrange it for two weeks after. However, as soon as the dealers learnt that it was AA, they refused access. The dealers said that their customer services has been very lacking in the past and I can certainly see why. They call at any time, they are very rude on the phone, and they do not deliver on what they promise. When I contacted them again to organise an inspection for a different car, they refused unless I pay again as according to them, they had already processed the refund, even if it will take 21 days before I see the funds back in my account. I will never use their services again.

I purchased a used 2011 Mazda 6 in July 2023. Due to the AA reputation, I wanted peace of mind when purchasing this car, so I paid £202 for a comprehensive inspection.

I was unaware that the AA did not perform these investigations themselves, but intead they out source this important work to Ace Contractors.

I had to chase them for verbal feedback, which was hurried, they missed vital faults with the car and a concerning MOT. I made a complaint, but didnt get very far. Customer Services were rude and unhelpful. I did apply for a refund through S.75 as i paid on my credit card and the service received was poor and not to the standards.

The car has now been returned tp the dealer due to a gearbox fault, this should have been picked up by the AA.

The AA are incompetent. Don't waste your time, do your own checks.

Absolute joke of a service. The complaints department are so incompetent, they don't even read, understand or attempt to answer the queries and simply fob you off with nonsense that has no relevance to the issue whatsoever. They close off the file with nothing resolved and refuse to reply to emails hiding behind their computer screens. Avoid at all costs! I now need to make a complaint about the complaints department.

I have never purchased an expensive second-hand car privately before so in February this year I decided to give myself peace of mind and paid for the AA premium inspection at £200, which should include a 10 mile road test. I was never made aware the inspection is not carried out by the AA, but sub-contracted, on this occasion to Ace Vehicle Inspections The car is a 2015 Mazda MX-5 ND convertible, selling for £9400. My own research indicated this car is prone to sub-frame corrosion, of which I could see myself, but wanted the extent confirmed. Of note the car had passed an MOT a few days before inspection, with not even an advisory. Post inspection the engineer gave me a verbal report, later followed up by an email. He confirmed he did not carry out the test drive, as he found cracking in the tyres. This and minor corrosion of sub-frame were the only negatives in his report, thus I travelled to buy the car. The seller later confirmed the engineer spent less than an hour looking at the car and was clearly in a hurry to leave. On the long journey home I noticed a clunking noise from the rear suspension on winding, uneven roads. Sadly my own research and then 2 mechanics confirmed bushes in the suspension hub to be worn. Mazda conceded this was identified as a design fault, for which they would cover the cost of repair, but not for a car of my age. They gave me a price of £2000 for replacement of both hubs, as they do not supply bushes only. Both Mazda and another mechanic expressed surprise the engineer did not know of this fault, which is well known in the industry, or identified it during inspection, which is easy to do. The engineer recorded the suspension as being in good order.Both mechanics and another Mot tester totally disagreed with the decision of the engineer not to test-drive the car and found the tyres to be totally safe and road legal. I managed to have the car repaired at a reduced cost of £1100, sourcing independently engineered components and thereafter lodged a complaint with the AA Inspection Team Dept seeking compensation for the missed faults, as per their terms and conditions. In summary they supported their engineers decision not to test drive the car and rubbished the validity of an MOT carried out a few days before. The fault should easily have been identified even without a test drive, but the AA wouldn't even confirm this, but did confirm the suspension would not have been touched, hence the fault found,just visually examined. In summary, DO NOT waste your time or money on an AA inspection. Sadly as I didn't, but if you check the Internet there is clear evidence that their engineers are incompetent, disinterested and look for excuses not to road test cars. As it is only a visual inspection you might as well just look at the photos of any car advertised on the Internet yourself, because that's as good as any inspection. As an AA member I found the AA and their complaints team an absolute disgrace, who are happy to rubbish their reputation by sub-contracting.