Mr. bleakley showed up to inspect a car for a prospective buyer (he was more than 30 minutes late)…read more He looks serious at first and has all the fancy gadgets that completes the "expert" look. He probably has some great knownledge about cars, but his harsh reports seems to be made up to favor his clients (I was told he is also a court appointed expert).
Where it hurts is when he started to mention some problem that are obvious even to none mechanically inclined people. He declared the oil level of the vehicle too high while taking a mesure of the dip stick when the vehicle was sitting at a more than 8 degree angle in the driveway. He also noted a oil leak around the oil pan and told me that it might only be leaking oil on the ground while the vehicle was running eventho I pointed out the fact that the vehicle has been sitting for 30 minutes running while he inspected the whole truck and not a single drop of oil was noted. He refused to test drive the car because the front brakes had supposedly wore to a point of note being good anymore. he was unable to verify the brand new rear drums (he did not even ask what maintenance was made on the car), because well he can't lift a car to remove the wheel (the only way to properly inspect drums. I don't know how you are suppose to inspect a car properly without even lifting it, but heck I am not a professional car inspector). He pointed out several supposed trace of fluid he reported as leaks (place where parts has been changed and leak fixed. I had all the receipts), but did mention it was only possible to find them only after washing the engine thoroughly . He also noted that exhaust fumes were going inside the vehicle after leaving my truck to idle for more than 30 minutes with door and windows open with wind pushing them inside, also declared catalytic converter shot (no idea how he did take a look at it without going under the vehicule) and muffler rusted (it was brand new)... and finally noted a possible engine misfire when it is a known fact that a misfire might seriously damage a engine left running (while letting my truck engine run for more than 30 minutes). I just drove that truck 250km the weekend before, and 10 000km the year before. I won't go into details, but he deemed several suspension and direction parts wore out without lifting the truck and only by looking at them with a little telescopic mirror and a flash light.
Looking at Mr Bleakley report, my truck was good for the scrapyard when all it really needed was front brake pads. I guess the 3 or 4 different specialists that had their hands on my truck over the past four years must have been pretty bad to all miss all the obvious problems reported by him with only his trusty flashlight and telescopic mirror. It was indeed a good show.
Then Mister Bleakley asked his client 170$ and promptly left without even saying good bye and wasting my time and gasoline.
If you are looking for a car inspector that will give you arguments to lower the price of a vehicle you intend to purchase, then go for it. Would I want someone who is not even able to properly check the oil level of a vehicle to give me a mechanical report of the said vehicle. Well I guess not.
