Theaacarcheck Reviews 

I paid 305 for an advanced inspection and wanted to be there. To my surprise I got told the inspection was booked in next day chased time no reply then told it had been done. Up to 10mile roadtest as AA website itself says a short run is not sufficient, basic is a 3-5miles. This guy did 4 MILES ONLY on a Ford ranger truck. After i complained I got email saying due to roadworks yet he apparently did 70mph ?? Plus i was there the day before no roadworks or signs for any. I went back today nothing at all. He took it 5minutes i total. When I requested AA to go back and do the complete test or refund part they outright refused. I have been waiting for a manager to call me for a day and half now. I have been with aa 20 years. The test should have at least been over 6 miles to not be a basic its also the same guy who does others in the area dealer was pleased to tell me and goes there often which is why i wanted to be there. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY CHOOSE RAC INSTEAD.

I paid nearly £300 in advance for a vehicle check before buying and received a email confirmation of my purchase. AA seem to start planning the appointment with garage and i waited for a report. However after several request for follow up information, the AA eventually contacted the garage after 10 days! The car was obviously sold by then and i wasted 20 days waiting !my £279 was eventually paid back buti lost precious time

Booked a car inspection 9 days ago for £250. No contact from the AA and no one has visited the dealership. Called several times to be told by the customer service team that they "don't know if it's been done. It was supposed to be done but it was late so he went home."

In short, from the experience i received. Beyond awful. As a used car dealer, i always welcome any inspections.

21/05... Inspection Booked for 28/05.

So booked that car for wheel refurb 29.. Valet 30.. Collection 1st.
Day of inspection arrives and no show by AA. Contacted them numerous times to eventually be told it was cancelled by them and i had to rebook.
Eventually at 7pm, i got through to someone to rebook for 30/05... So rebooked my wheel refurb and valet to the 1st / 2nd etc.

Day of 2nd inspection arrives,,, and no show by AA.
Again, numerous calls / on hold / promises of calls back that never happened. Eventually after many calls by myself, rebooked for 31/05 at 9am. I explained the situation, messed around TWO times and having to let down paint shop and valeter etc. No one from AA cares.

Day of 3rd inspection arrives, after being promised they would definitely arrive at 9am, they eventually show at 10;15.
Inspection complete and car passes with flying colours.

BUT,,, after all MY calls to AA, i never ever received a call back from them. I was promised numerous times, a manager would call me, and my case has been excalated, yet here we are, 10 days after the 1st failed AA arrival, and NOT one person has called me back.
I also lodged a complaint on line,,, to which i have had no response at all.

AA managed to cause me a lot of stress, with failed arrivals, leaving me to have to let down other companies, leaving ME to have to call AA to rebook and discuss, leaving ME with wasted times and even staying later at work for no reason.

All i was expecting, was for at least 1 call back to apologies for their awful service, is that really too much to ask. It also seems to me, the call centre people are all told to lie, as i must of spoken to a dozen different people, all told me i couldnt be put through to anyone, and all promised me a call back.

Absolutely awful and disgusting service.

Missed MOT failure -avoid at all costs!

Factually incorrect inspection.

• 26th March £200 deposit paid
• 3rd April AA inspection
• 9th April balance paid £10,495
• 10th April Inspection identified as wrong by me
• 13th April Email went to the AA to say report was wrong.
• 22nd April 2nd inspection carried out by TheAA – report never sent back to me, but internal notes at TheAA confirm damages matched my concerns - £5k of damages missed by first inspector.
• 8th June Damages rejected.

AA have said it is irrelevant if inspection is wrong. It didn't matter that the vehicle had £5k worth of damages - they have no liability at all.

In truth, I was just asking if they would meet me half way and help with the costs - nope, nothing.

7 weeks I have been requested information, bank statements photos etc. from TheAA and the reply: nothing -TheAA accepts no liability.

This firm is a legal liability. I am speaking to a law firm and in addition have put in a claim with the Ombudsman.

If you let this firm inspect your vehicle the report was simply wrong, worse than this- IT WAS DANGEROUS. Forget the value -Don't trust this firm.

Ref.
Inspection report: N79620
TheAA complaint: 2026-03887
Ombudsman: PNX-6042496-P2H6

The AA have well and truly wasted my time and money. I booked an inspection to ensure the car I wanted to buy was ok, but the AA NEVER provided a report, even though I paid for it. I am £400 out of pocket, lost my deposit, lost the sale of my car now and am looking into legal action. DO NOT USE THE AA VEHICLE INSPECTION SERVICE.

Absolutely shocking service.
Booked vehicle inspection online.
Relayed to car showroom that they will be contacting them.
No phone call within the 4 day limit.
After 5 phone calls to customer service team being promised it would be sorted nothing.
So I cancelled the service and then was told I have to wait up to 21 days for refund to be processed. Stay clear.

Wish I'd checked trust pilot before booking! Absolutely awful, from start to finish. Booked the inspection Thursday. Heard nothing. Called Tuesday morning. Put on hold for ages. 'We called the garage on Saturday and couldn't get through. My colleague isn't in until 10, he'll call you back.' Did he? Nope. Called in the afternoon. Put on hold for ages. Finally got through to someone. 'We're sorry for the delay, the garage missed it.' 'Missed what? Did you book an appointment? Why didn't you tell me?'...'Sorry, we can't give any more details.' So I call the garage, who are adamant that they have had no contact from the AA, no messages left. Miraculously, the AA manages to contact them five minutes after I get off the phone to their complaints line, and asks sheepishly if they can book an inspection for...Saturday. 9 days after I paid over £300 for a premium inspection that was supposed to happen 2-4 days after booking.

And then they closed my complaint. So I had to call to ask them to reopen it, and ask for a full refund. Waiting to hear back.

Never, ever use this service.

Never did due my diligence as expected AA to provide a reasonable service. Paid over 300 quid for an advanced inspection and am still waiting 3 days later for promised report and phone call. Have chased 3 times and still no further forward. Previous RAC inspection called same day and sent report through same day.useless service and am now pulling 300 quid worth of breakdown cover to put with RAC.

Wasted 2 days waiting for a date and when I called to chase them up, I spent 40 minutes on the phone only to be they couldn't do the inspection and were refunding the payment.

Bought an inspection for the car I was about to buy . The AA went to the garage on the date , but could not get his computer to start . 2 hours later , off he went , no communication .
They came back 2 days later and did the inspection , I received the report , minor problems , so I confirmed the buy with the garage. They next did an MOT test , it FAILED because front lights not working .. REALLY ?? Not checked by the AA ? and when I got the car , it appeared that there was only one key for the car .
How could have they missed that ... Now I have to spend £300 for a new key . Also AA communication is horrendous, lies after lies to keep you away . Never again.

AA customer service are not great, I asked them to put me through to the mechanic as I knew he wouldn’t be able to find the address and also wanted to pass on a message but they refused and said they would tell the mechanic themselves which they didn’t ask he called me on the day with these queries. However, if you do use the pre purchase inspection, highly recommend using JOSEPH B (if you are able to request him), he called immediately after, gave me a detailed report even though I booked the basic check, came early and was super friendly and informative.

Very disappointing experience with AA Vehicle Inspections.
I don’t usually leave reviews, but I really wish I had read others before using this service. As I don’t think it is fit for purpose and misleading. What I will say, is the engineer was a nice lad. However...I purchased a vehicle based entirely on a Comprehensive AA Vehicle Inspection report, trusting that it would give a reliable assessment of the car’s condition. If the report had highlighted serious issues, I would not have gone ahead with the purchase.
Within a few weeks of buying the vehicle it broke down three times. The first breakdown happened in the outside lane while I had my toddler in the car, when the vehicle suddenly went into limp mode, apparently a crankshaft pulley and belt failure and replacement needed. Another time I was on my way to hospital with a my partner who has cancer, both extremely frightening and upsetting for all. Within six weeks of driving we’ve had to be recovered from our holiday destination 500 miles away with toddler in tow. Our home garage advised that the car had multiple faults and should be returned to the dealer. The faults have been 1) intake system leak
2) manifold absolute pressure 3)DPF restriction
4) EGR insufficient flow The dealer of course, is currently disputing responsibility and we have the added stress of having to do this through legal channels.
What I found particularly disappointing was the AA’s response. They have refused liability, explaining that their inspection is limited to an external visual and diagnostic check and that they cannot be held responsible for defects that were not apparent at the time of inspection
The inspection circa £299 and I relied on it when making a significant purchase. Unfortunately the vehicle (a 2017 Land Rover Discovery) is now off the road while the dispute is ongoing. My advice to anyone considering this service is to make sure you fully understand the limitations of the inspection before relying on it when buying a vehicle. They say ‘Our Inspection is an external audio-visual check only, and unless something is noted at the time of the Inspection, our Inspector would not go looking for faults.’ AA you have the audacity to have on your website ‘The AA’ was created by people like you – keen drivers who just wanted fair treatment. Yet, one of their engineers has carried out an assessment that has not been good enough and frankly left a child and someone with terminal cancer without a vehicle as the vehicle that they passed, is currently sat on the road unused as it is dangerous to drive as deemed by an engineer, which is wholeheartedly unfair. No apology, no refund has been offered. AA Reference: 5625316

Absolutely useless, worse.... I lost the car I was going to buy due to 1. Their telephone consultant informing me that I'd receive a report relating to the structural integrity of the vehicle. They checked the conversation, admitted it, but refused to send the guy back unless I paid more money. 2. The mechanic reported that the bonnet hadn't been removed when I discovered later that in fact it had. 3. The seller said the guy was there about 15 minutes during which he took lots of pictures including one of the nearside showing the wheels without hubcaps - the seller later informed me that these had been taken off for cleaning; he asked the AA guy if he should put them back, the AA guy said no and more and more.
DON'T WASTE TIME AND MONEY LIKE I HAVE, DON'T USE THE AA.

Had a inspection booked for one o'clock so I could be there the AA tuned up at 10 o'clock in the morning we stated things on the telephone to me that I've no found out would not true regarding my Audi A4 and the gearbox removal I am now going to have the card take into Audi and pay that myself do not repeat do not reached your money on eaa unreliable and clueless and the fact he said he's been doing this for 20 years it's greatly stubborn when people tell you that as if to say I knew everything is 20 years absolutely discussed

Booked a van inspection at an eye watering £299. AA say it normally takes 2-4 days from day of booking, dealer called me after 2 days to ask what was happening as AA had not contacted him, I called AA, spent 25 min on call waiting to be told they were really busy and inspection would take 8 days from time of booking. Not good enough. Cancelled booking at cost of £20 and I have to wait 21days to get refund. Got a next day inspection on Clickmechanic for half the price. Don't waste your time with AA.

I wish I had read the reviews on here before booking the service, as it isn't fit for purpose.
Everyone I worked with was polite and cordial, it's just that the service didn't prevent me from experiencing high repair bills shortly after purchase.
The service is delivered by a 3rd party, with very little accountability on the part of the AA.
The AA complaints process for this service was a shambles.

If I could give no stars I would! Absolutely appalling and not worth the nearly £220. It cost me as I knew nothing more about the car after the inspection. I had a phone call from the engine to run me through his report. Firstly, he told me he wasn’t able to look at the bodywork condition because it was raining. He then proceeded to bamboozle me with techno speak. I kept explaining that I had absolutely no idea what that was or what it did in the engine and he provided no clarity whatsoever. I asked him for a simple assessment of whether he felt the car was fair for its age and he said he was not allowed to say I then asked whether he felt that the car was at least safe to drive and again he said he was not able to share that information with me. What was the point of the inspection? In fact the engineer advised me to take the report when it arrived some two days later to a garage and pay for them to decipher it. Absolutely ridiculous waste of money.

In June 2024 i booked an AA vehicle inspection for a second hand car, i would then go on to purchase. What isn't made clear at the time of booking is that just because you book an "AA inspection" doesn't mean an actual AA employee in an branded yellow van with AA approved training will actually conduct the inspection, which is kind of the whole point of going for a large, well known company. Instead AA outsource their inspections to local mechanics. So save money and just go through an independent click mechanic inspection.

The inspection itself was a disaster; the mechanic turned up late, then rushed through the inspection missing out key elements, like running the vehicle at high speed or even spotting things like the 12v socket not working or indeed the air-con not working (despite ticking both off as working in the report), which immediately brought into question anything else they'd ticked off in a hurry without actually testing.

By far the biggest disappointment was that despite picking up multiple valid error codes relating to the automatic gear box in the report (seen in photos) this was not mentioned at all in the written report or verbally. And as it's not my job to understand all the error codes (thats why i paid the AA to do it!), i assumed it wasn't something to worry about. Shortly after buying the car the gearbox failed. The seller was clearly running a con, as they'd packed up and gone, leaving me to foot a £5,000 bill for a complete gearbox rebuild on a car i'd just bought.

All of this could have been prevented if the inspector had been qualified enough to understand and advise on the seriousness of the error codes. I contacted the AA on multiple occasions, and was mostly ignored, and the only email i did get back i was told that the inspector carried out a full report and did their job. So they completely shook off any responsibility.

In summary, you'd go for a large company like the AA thinking you're getting a big nation wide brand to give you confidence in buying a vehicle. In reality i got a palmed off to a local incompetent mechanic who rushed through an inspection in order to get home early on a Friday evening, who missed a massive error code in the diagnostics that should have been a huge red flag, which ended up costing me almost half the value of the car to replace and them absolved themselves of any responsibility.

Avoid the AA Vehicle Inspection at all costs and just go for a smaller local brand or use Click Mechanic.

Still waiting for report 2 weeks after inspection took place not good enough is it