Automotive two post lifts come up in almost every conversation we have with vehicle collectors, and the used-versus-new question is usually the first fork in the road. A collector in southern Minnesota called us last spring with a garage full of project cars, a bad back, and a growing list of exhaust and driveline jobs he was tired of doing on jack stands. He wasn’t sure whether to chase a used lift on Facebook Marketplace or just buy new. We walked him through the whole decision, and a year later that lift has been through its first full service cycle, so we’ve got real data to share instead of just theory.
Compare new asymmetric and symmetric two post models built for exhaust and driveline access, with freight and install available across the Upper Midwest.
Why This Collector Was Torn Between Used and New
His shop had three project vehicles at any given time, and exhaust work was the constant thread — cutting out old systems, test-fitting headers, chasing exhaust leaks that only show up once the engine’s warm. He’d been doing all of it flat on his back on a creeper, and driveline jobs like U-joints and center support bearings were even worse without something to hang the car in the air by the frame. He found a used two-post on a classifieds site for what looked like a steal, an older asymmetric model with rust on the base plates and no idea on the arm pin condition.
We told him what we tell everyone: a used lift can be a great deal, but only if you know what you’re buying. Cylinder wear, worn arm restrictor pins, cable stretch, and missing safety documentation are all things that don’t show up in a photo. New automotive two post lifts come with a clean service history of exactly zero hours, a warranty, and parts that are still in production. For someone doing daily exhaust and driveline work, we generally lean new unless the used unit has verifiable service records and comes from a shop closing down rather than a private reseller.
The Concrete and Site Check Nobody Skips
Before we quoted anything, we asked the questions we ask every customer: how old is the slab, how thick, and is there a pit or is this a surface-mount installation. His garage floor was a standard four-inch residential pour from the 1990s, which meant we needed to core-check thickness before committing to anchor depth. This is the step people want to skip because they’re excited to get a lift in, but automotive two post lifts put enormous point loads through those anchor bolts, and a marginal slab means a lift that walks or a base plate that eventually cracks the concrete around it.
We also asked about access — is there a forklift on site, what’s the ceiling height, and can a lift truck actually get the crate into the bay. His garage had a single overhead door with decent clearance, so delivery wasn’t the issue; ceiling height for full-rise arms was the bigger question given his taller trucks. We measured twice before ordering because a two-post that can’t fully extend for a full-size pickup defeats the whole point of buying one for driveline access. Getting this right up front saved a return trip and a lot of frustration.
Symmetric or Asymmetric for Exhaust and Driveline Work
For pure exhaust and driveline access, arm geometry matters more than most first-time buyers realize. Symmetric arms center the vehicle between the columns, which is great for even weight distribution but can put a column right where you want to stand to work on a tailpipe or a differential. Asymmetric automotive two post lifts shift the vehicle rearward and offset toward the columns, opening up a clear walk-around zone at the back half of the car — exactly where exhaust and driveline work happens most.
We steered him toward an asymmetric configuration for that reason, since most of his work was rear-half access: mufflers, resonators, driveshafts, U-joints, and rear differential service on his trucks. If he’d been doing mostly front-end alignment or engine work, symmetric would have made more sense. This is the kind of decision that’s hard to reverse after installation, so we always talk through the actual work list before recommending a configuration, not just the vehicle type.
What New Bought Him That Used Wouldn’t Have
A year in, the clearest advantage of going new showed up during the first annual inspection. Every cable, pulley, and safety lock was still within factory spec, and because it was a current model, replacement parts were a phone call away instead of a guessing game. With the used lift he’d almost bought, he would have inherited someone else’s wear pattern with no baseline to measure against — no way to know if a cable stretch reading was normal aging or a sign of a lift that had been overloaded for years.
New automotive two post lifts also came with documentation that matters for insurance and resale: a clear installation date, a manufacturer’s warranty period, and a paper trail if he ever sells the collection. For a serious collector building value in a shop, that paperwork is worth almost as much as the steel. He told us afterward that the used lift he almost bought would have needed a full cylinder reseal and new cables within the first year anyway, which would have erased most of the savings.
The First Service Call at Twelve Months
Right on schedule, we came back out for his first annual service. This is where a lot of the used-vs-new argument gets settled in practice. We checked arm restrictor pin engagement, cable tension, hydraulic fluid level, and anchor bolt torque — the same checklist we run on every automotive two post lifts service call regardless of brand. Everything came back clean, which is what you expect from a properly installed new lift with light-to-moderate residential use.
We also walked him through what to watch for between visits: listening for grinding during travel, checking that both sides lock evenly, and keeping an eye out for hydraulic fluid on the floor around the power unit. He mentioned one arm felt slightly slower on the way up, which turned out to be a simple air-in-the-line issue from a fitting that had loosened slightly during break-in — a five-minute fix, not a warranty claim. That’s the kind of small, cheap issue that’s easy to catch early on a lift with a known history, versus chasing a mystery symptom on a used unit with unknown baseline behavior.
Cost Framework: Where Used Actually Makes Sense
We’re not against used lifts across the board — for a low-use garage doing occasional oil changes and tire rotations, a well-documented used two-post from a closing shop can be a smart buy. But for someone running exhaust and driveline work regularly, the calculus shifts. Cylinder reseals, cable replacement, and arm pin wear all cost real money and downtime, and those are exactly the components that see the most stress from lifting vehicles by the frame repeatedly for driveline access.
Our rule of thumb: if a used lift needs a reseal, new cables, and a full inspection before it’s trustworthy, you’re often within striking distance of new pricing once labor and parts are added up — and you still don’t get a warranty. Automotive two post lifts are a long-term shop investment, often running fifteen to twenty years of service life with proper maintenance, so the upfront gap between used and new tends to shrink dramatically when you spread it across that timeline. For collectors specifically, where the vehicles being lifted are often valuable and irreplaceable, we almost always recommend erring toward new or late-model certified-used with full documentation.
What We’d Tell Anyone Making This Decision
If you’re weighing used versus new automotive two post lifts for your own garage, start with an honest inventory of what you actually do — exhaust and driveline work wants different arm geometry and lift capacity than general service or detailing. Then get real answers about your slab thickness, ceiling height, and door clearance before you fall in love with a listing online. A lift that’s a great price but won’t fit through your door or anchor safely into your floor isn’t a deal at all.
We’ve installed automotive two post lifts across Iowa and into neighboring states like Minnesota for exactly this kind of collector setup, and the first-year story is almost always the same: the install questions matter as much as the brand name, and a clean service history is worth paying for. If you’re staring down a used listing and wondering whether it’s worth the risk, give us a call before you commit — we’d rather talk you out of a bad deal than sell you a lift that’s wrong for your shop.
Our Clients Include: