Pay for the checkride! One of the local DE's does at least 50% of my schools rides and know all of us instructors (most of us did our rides with him). The other guy is a retired 727 pilot who loves to tell you stories.

My one experience with an inspector was for my CFI ride. He was the POI for our school (where I worked line crew). He knew me and still grilled me for at least 5 hours and a 1.3 flight full of maneuvers. Not fun.