1/5 $240 for a Night-Time Photo Session with the Seller's Jack
1/5 — $240 for a Night-Time Photo Session with the Seller's Jack
I paid $240 for a Greasemonkey standard inspection ($190 base + $50 upgrade) on a 2000 Honda Prelude — my daughter's potential first car, bought with her own savings, needed daily for a 60km freeway commute. I specifically upgraded to the standard package for greater confidence. That confidence never came.
They arrived 5 hours late. With no jack. And no light.
Booked for 3pm. Showed up at 8pm in complete darkness, without the basic equipment needed to do the job. I know this not from my own observation but from a text message from the seller himself — the person trying to sell the car — who wrote: "They rocked up with no light source or jack at 8pm so I helped out a little." The seller had to lend his own jack so the inspector could lift the vehicle. This is not a professional inspection service. This is someone turning up unprepared and winging it in the dark with a stranger's equipment.
Every single photo in the 25-page report is taken in complete darkness. I am attaching them so you can judge for yourself. You cannot assess panel condition, paint, rust, bodywork or underbody integrity from black rectangles with torch glare. These photos are worthless as documentation and are themselves proof the inspection should never have proceeded under those conditions.
My specific concerns — communicated before booking — were completely ignored.
The timing belt was my primary concern. The seller had told me it was replaced by himself and his father (a diesel mechanic, not a Honda specialist) with no receipts and no documentation. On a 26-year-old Honda with an interference engine, an unverified timing belt is not a minor detail — if it fails, the engine is destroyed. The inspector listed it as "Pass" with zero notes, zero supporting detail, and zero evidence of any investigation.
The seller also disclosed an oil leak to the inspector on the night — staining visible on the lower engine block. It does not appear in the report at all.
The handbrake was a known issue I flagged upfront. Also listed as "Pass."
The result? A 26-year-old car with an unverified timing belt, a disclosed oil leak, and a known handbrake issue scored 10/10 across almost every category. The only concerns noted in the entire 25-page report were scratch marks and a missing tyre inflator kit.
Here is the most damning part: the inspector missed things the seller openly admitted to me himself. After the inspection, the seller texted me confirming he couldn't find the timing belt paperwork and pointing out the oil leak staining on the engine block — the same oil leak that somehow didn't make it into the report. I walked away from the purchase not because of anything Greasemonkey told me, but because the seller's own casual text messages revealed more than a $240 professional inspection did. My daughter's savings are intact — no thanks to this service.
When I raised my concerns, Greasemonkey offered $100. I paid $240 for an inspector who arrived five hours late, brought no equipment, worked in complete darkness, ignored my stated concerns, and produced a report that missed defects the seller himself disclosed. A $100 offer is not a resolution — it is an acknowledgement that something went wrong while refusing to accept full responsibility. I am requesting a full refund of $240 and will be escalating to Consumer Protection WA if that is not forthcoming.
Do not use this service if the inspection actually matters to you.
7. mars 2026
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