Buying car Tips/Best practices

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ozil-madrid
Posts: 66
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2018 1:28 pm

Buying car Tips/Best practices

Post by ozil-madrid » Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:44 am

Hi There!

I need your help with all experience on hands regarding buying a car as it would be my first in Finland.

1 - What are the most reliable cars ? I see a lot of Nissan Qashqai's although i heard that they're not reliable, any idea if its good or not ? happy to hear about top 5 brands. my family had 2 VW in another country where both cars had issues regularly, they would just turn off while driving. Is VW in Finland reliable or also not ?

2 - I live in Espoo, so what are some of the best places to get those new/used cars?

3 - Should i get new or used? In other countries there is a saying that once a car hits 100K kms, it opens its mouth as in it needs to get a lot of repairs and starts costing a lot to maintain it, so what is your experience in that area please ?

4 - How much would a full insurance cost for accidents/if car got stolen for example

5 - what kind of expenses come at what kind of kilometers usage and how much they usually cost so i can understand how much money does it cost to own a car ?

6 - leasing or owning ? And if you own, what are best practices for car loans, 3 year or 5 year and so on ?

7 - what kind of engine gets what kind of taxation so i'd take that into consideration ?

Thank you very much!



Buying car Tips/Best practices

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FinnGuyHelsinki
Posts: 1439
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:52 pm

Re: Buying car Tips/Best practices

Post by FinnGuyHelsinki » Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:08 pm

First of all, if you think you can manage without a car, don't buy one, it's very expensive. Second, you can find most of the information on https://www.traficom.fi/en/ .
ozil-madrid wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:44 am
1 - What are the most reliable cars ? I see a lot of Nissan Qashqai's although i heard that they're not reliable, any idea if its good or not ? happy to hear about top 5 brands. my family had 2 VW in another country where both cars had issues regularly, they would just turn off while driving. Is VW in Finland reliable or also not ?
Toyota has a reputation being reliable. Then again, every brand has various models, and the more mileage a car has, it's more about how the individual has been taken care of. Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen/Škoda/Audi/Seat,.. any of the more common brands have a reasonably priced service (and parts) available. This is not to say that other brands (Mercedes, BMW, Porsche,...) would be bad, but they just may cost more.
ozil-madrid wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:44 am
2 - I live in Espoo, so what are some of the best places to get those new/used cars?
Check nettiauto.com and autotalli.com, also companies advertise on those sites (otherwise, search "autoliike Espoo" ).
ozil-madrid wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:44 am
3 - Should i get new or used? In other countries there is a saying that once a car hits 100K kms, it opens its mouth as in it needs to get a lot of repairs and starts costing a lot to maintain it, so what is your experience in that area please ?
The cheapeast way of having a car in Finland is to buy something that has recently passed inspection (i.e. it's legal on the road for almost a year), in the 1000€ or below price range, use it while it lasts, and buy another one when it fails the next inspection (unless it's a cheap enough fix to keep for another year). A new car is at the other end, it has a warranty, so no worries about it breaking down (or at least paying for the repair), but depreciation is easily several thousands of euros per year. Everything else falls in between of those two. There's no set limit at 100 000km where cars start to break down, the interval for more costly service (should one adhere to the manufacturer recommendation) has probably been reached at least once at that time. Honestly, no-one can say what's the best choice for you, you will have to look into it and find it out yourself. For a used car, 10 000+km (especially without a warranty from the seller), unless you can do it yourself, I'd suggest to take the car to https://www.autotohtori.fi/ or similar, to check its condition. A small price to pay to avoid a potential disaster.
ozil-madrid wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:44 am
4 - How much would a full insurance cost for accidents/if car got stolen for example
It depends on the car and your (accident free) drinving history, if any. Traffic insurance ("liikennevakuutus"), which is mandatory, costs around 300-500€. Full extended coverage ("kasko") for your own vehicle, without any discounts, in excess of 1000€.
ozil-madrid wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:44 am
5 - what kind of expenses come at what kind of kilometers usage and how much they usually cost so i can understand how much money does it cost to own a car ?
Add together insurance, inspection, maintenance, wearing parts (tires,...), fuel and depreciation of the car. Of the latter, you can get some idea by going to nettiauto.com or autotalli.com and see how prices vary between older/different mileage cars. At least for newer cars, -10% for the first few years isn't that far off.
ozil-madrid wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:44 am
6 - leasing or owning ? And if you own, what are best practices for car loans, 3 year or 5 year and so on ?
I'm sure you can do the math yourself. The longer the term, the more total interest you end up paying.
ozil-madrid wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:44 am
7 - what kind of engine gets what kind of taxation so i'd take that into consideration ?
The annual car tax is based on the manufacturer claimed CO2 emissions. For cars running on diesel, there's an additional tax based on the weight of the vehicle.

jvihrea
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 9:47 pm

Re: Buying car Tips/Best practices

Post by jvihrea » Sun May 09, 2021 2:11 pm

Thanks FinnGuyHelsinki,

We are moving to Northern Savo and I am trying to build a budget. This was helpful indeed.


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