Hi all,
Being something of a mechanical wombat, I got my RR S/C looked at by the RAC before I bought it a couple of weeks ago.
In short, it was a bit of mixed bag - the pre-inspection bit was very poor - they said that they would call me before the bloke arrived to see if I was available to be there while the inspection was going on (they didn't). Their records showed that I had opted not to share the findings with the garage while they were doing the check (I hadn't).
The bloke who actually did the work was great - the report was succinct, I spoke to him for a good 45 minutes about the car & its condition. He spotted a couple of leaks that needed new hoses & a new radiator which the vendor did for me.
He was unable to make the ICE work which caused me unnecessary alarm - it was just that he didn't know how to work it (should have taken an 8 year old child with him, I guess).
All in all £305 reasonably well spent for the peace of mind (though, I agree a knowledgeable mate would have done the trick for nowt)
Hope that helps.
Martin