1 hour ago, West Peterson said:In regard to photographing every defect, it goes without saying that it would be very important to do so, but as you point out, there needs to be context, and the location needs to be known.
In regard to not driving the car... there's no excuse for that if its a running operable car. Why did the inspector not drive the car??? Only once did I not drive a car I was inspecting for a PPI, and that was because I had just fallen off a ladder and was too injured to do so. The buyer was from overseas, and couldn't put his own eyes on it.
I suspect driving the car is a liability issue for them.
As far as context, almost nobody does it and certainly not the big inspection companies. I wish they would. Most inspection reports are little more than an exhaustive list of flaws, which, taken in aggregate and without any other information, can be scary and make a car look like it is rife with problems. They never mention any positives at all. If you receive a report with 20-30 photos of chips and scratches that are so close-up that they look like significant damage, the lack of context may make you think the car needs expensive paint work. If an inspector is unfamiliar with the operation of an older car with a carburetor, his report may say something like, “Vehicle is hard to start, would not idle properly, and blows smoke.” Again, such a detail sounds alarming and may indicate significant mechanical issues.
Or not.
How does context help? Imagine if the photos show all those scratches, but the inspector’s report also says, “Nice 80-year-old original paint with the usual signs of use but nothing that detracts from the overall appearance and none of the scratches requires immediate repair to prevent further deterioration.” Now you understand that yes, there are some blemishes on the car, none of them are serious enough to need professional repair. Or if the inspector’s report says, “Typical carburetor start takes some extra cranking to compensate for the choke but once the engine is warmed up and the choke is open, it runs properly.” Now you understand that the engine is healthy and simply uses old technology (carburetor and choke) instead of modern fuel injection. In short, context transforms a report from being only about the bad aspects of a car to being a complete picture.
Inspectors could do their jobs better. Most simply don't want to because it's not as profitable.