They can actually do the checks for outstanding fines, tax etc. at the Notary office now. Cuts that awful visit to the Maliye out of the equation!
When we bought our car a few months ago we made an expertiz raporu a condition of purchase. We paid for it and although not cheap (200 TL) it saved us a lot of money in the long run. We went to Su Otomotiv, the main Fiat agent, as we were looking to buy a Tofas. You could probably get away with paying a lot less if you went to the sanayi. We used work needing doing to negotiate the price of the car down and after we'd bought the car we got the work done locally anyway for much, much less than Su had quoted.
We paid an agent 125TL, plus the cost of the plates etc, to go to Mugla on our behalf. Of course we had to pay for a power of attorney for the agent. Apparently it is a painfully slow process and once you've been to the traffic police you have to go across the city to get your plates made. We thought it was money well spent as it saved us the trip.