What would you think if a seller asked you to not share your vehicle inspection results?
Test Drive Technologies has been in business since 2009 and we have inspected upwards of 1500 vehicles from coast to coast. TDT is the only true independent and unbiased mobile vehicle inspection company providing used car, classic car, exotic car, motorhome and commercial vehicle inspections in St Louis, Mo.
Over the last 7 years and 1500 inspections we have never been asked by a seller to not post our inspection photos and report on our website until most recently. This made us stop and ask ourselves “why not”? Here’s the conclusions we came to on our own. Let us know in the comments section if we are off our rocker panels or if we are driving straight. As a preface to our following conclusions we will say by law if a seller ask us to not post the inspection on our website we are bound by privacy law and copyright to adhere to their request and we do honor their request but this is the first time we’ve been asked to hold our findings to only our client.
Our first thought, and likely yours too, is they want to protect their reputation. Hey we get that, so do we, but if you’re doing business in a clean, fair and morally right way you wouldn’t have to worry about your reputation being mard right? That’s what we thought too.
The next thing we thought of was why wouldn’t you like your vehicle listed on another website and get more exposure if the car happens to not sell to our client? The answer we came up with for that reverts back to the previous answer which is they don’t want the true condition of the vehicle made public for their potential future customers to see.
The last thing we could come up with is the seller don’t want the photos, video and inspection report exposed to the public in case they do sell a vehicle and the inspection findings can be used in court for a misrepresentation suit which we have testified to several in both Illinois and Missouri. A misrepresentation claim is exactly what it sounds like. It would be something similar to a seller telling you there is nothing wrong with a vehicle such as a certified pre-owned vehicle or that it will pass a state inspection and then after the purchase the owner discovering pre-existing damage, undisclosed structural repairs which effect the vehicles performance or safety. We are not lawyers by no means but we have seen several of these types of claims, some valid and some not. Needless to say a seller may not want that information made public even if we do not publish names or locations.
Wrapping up on this last point we will say that there are good sellers, fair sellers and they guys you don’t want to deal with at all. Do your research online and read reviews on Google, Yelp, BBB and ask your friends in social media what their opinions are before you make a decision to move forward with purchasing a vehicle from a particular seller. Unfortunately we are not able to make any list of sellers in St Louis if they request to not have their information made public. However, if you the public and consumers leave reviews and happen to post information in our comments with the sellers information nothing can be done about that so leave your reviews here….
We wish you the best in your next vehicle purchase endeavors and remind you to be sure you get that vehicle inspected before you finalize your purchase.
