It’s like going to the doctor to get a blood test. Just like a blood test, a test of a vehicle’s fluids can help diagnose potential problems that could leave your vehicle sick and broken down by the side of the road.
“We see things happening before you’re stuck on the side of the road because we see it in the blood test of the unit,” said Dale Finch with Titan Certified.
Finch took engine oil and transmission fluid samples from vehicles at justcar in Vancouver as part of a new certification process being offered to consumers by the used car dealer.
CTV News Vancouver also asked Finch to test one of its fleet vehicles to see what would be found.
The samples were sent to a lab in Edmonton for analysis. It analyzed the samples to detect 104 different metals and chemical compounds to expose potential mechanical problems.
“Whether there’s wear in the bearings, in the camshaft bearings, in the lifter followers, in the lifters,” Finch listed.
The analysis can also detect additives in the fluids, like sealers for head gasket repair.
“What we call masking agents, so that we can tell whether someone’s been trying to cover up a problem,” added Finch. “Anywhere in North America between 7 and 14 per cent of car dealer lots fail.”
In 48 hours the results were available. All of the vehicles Finch tested for justcars passed but with some recommendations.
A Prius Prime had elevated silicon in the engine oil which the report said was most likely from road salt. A fluid change was recommended.
A transmission fluid change was also recommended on a Dodge Charger.
However, the CTV News Vancouver vehicle failed on both of the tests.
Our 2011 Nissan Pathfinder had critical levels of potassium and sodium, indicating a head gasket leak with coolant in the oil. There were also critical levels of aluminum in the transmission fluid, indicating critical wear in the torque converter.
“It needs to have serious engine work. It needs to have a new head gasket and then the transmission is going to need to be overhauled. I wouldn’t want to take this vehicle on any long distance trip,” advised Finch.
We reported the findings to our fleet team and justcar says it will address any issues before putting the vehicles up for sale.
“It’s all about transparency,” said Rob Wissenz of justcar.
He just signed up with Titan Certified to analyze all the vehicles it sells. If a vehicle passes, it would be labelled as Titan Certified.
“It’s assurance. The last thing we want to do is sell a car that’s going to have a problem,” said Wissenz, adding that his dealership is willing to pay for the testing.
“That is cost but if I sold it to you and you come back the cost is much higher. Bad reviews, bad customer service and to build an online reputation is really important,” he said.
Consumers don’t have to buy a vehicle from justcar to being able to get a cars fluids analyzed. Titan Certified’s mobile unit can be hired to test any vehicle. The cost is $145 to test the transmission fluid and engine oil.
If a vehicle passes, it comes with a $1500 guarantee, to cover you if there’s a mechanical failure on covered components within 3 months or 1500 kilometres. ( Updated from Titan Certified following the original publication of this article.)
However, George Iny from the Automobile Protection Association isn’t convinced the service will catch on.
“It's very hard already to get a consumer to spend a $100 or $150 to have a vehicle checked by a third party, this would be an additional check that does not replace a general inspection and road test of the vehicle in the APA's view," said Iny.
A fluid analysis is just a piece of the puzzle. You should get a complete third party mechanical inspection, a full vehicle history report and also do a road test.
However, Iny does believe that fluid analysis would be great consumer tool in warranty claim disputes. Some manufacturers have denied claims for engine failures, engine knocking and transmission failures blaming consumers for failing to maintain their vehicles properly.
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“That might prove that in fact your missing oil change receipt from 2015 or 2016 is not why your engine has packed it in or is having a knocking problem. In fact it’s not related to that at all,” said Iny.
