Used Car

[debonaire]

I am thinking of buying a used car...budget is about13,000€...Came across two cars of 2005-2006 make,driven about 25-30 tkm...Now the question i would like to ask is what are the things that I should consider when buying a used car from a dealer....What are the documents that need to be cross checked...Is there any way i can get an idea about the actual condition of the car instead of going by the looks...and lastly,how much discount can i expect if I am willing to pay the whole price at one go...What would be a reasonable bargain?

[peteh]

If you are going to pay for the car with cash and no exchange you are maybe better off going private.
A secondhand dealer warrenty is worth jack! especially if the car is only a few years old with that type of km.
But it is a good time of year to buy as the buying and exchanging season starts about spring, so look around and spend wisely.
If a dealer is asking for about 13,000 I would start low and drop him to 10, let them do the barginning. You must remember though, a lot of dealers
like you to buy on the old "never and never" as they still get there money + a big fat bonus from the loan company.

[ajdias]

I recently bought a second hand car and found this info from AKE pure gold: Buying a second hand car in Finland
Explore the website, there's lots of info there.
Uncle Hank also has a couple of tips on buying a used car in finland

[debonaire]

thanx for the replies guys...now I have sufficient information regarding used cars...
just one more thing...the car in question has a price tag of 12,900€ and comes with a 5 yearguarantee which expires in 2011...Assuming that the car would be in good condition and the relevant documents are in order,what would be a reasonable deal for this car if I am paying everything in cash at one go and I don't have an old car to trade in...What would be an ideal price?I am not very good at negotiations...

[raamv]

I also put some tips on buying cars here..somewhere..used and new..and why a new car would make sense..( interest on used is way double than on used and warranty, haggling on insurance etc )

[raamv]

found the links

viewtopic.php?t=17528&start=0

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=17528&hilit=+cars

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21752&hilit=+cars

[debonaire]

great tips raamv...Now I know how to set the bargaining in motion...
I would definitely love to buy a new car(ford or toyota)but my budget is only 13,000€ which I can pay at one go and wouldn't like to go for any loan at the moment as I have some other liabilities to take care of...the car which I am planning to buy is as good as new,2006 make,26 tkm driven and comes with 5 year guarantee..Kia ofcorse...

[No.6]

If you are going to pay for the car with cash and no exchange you are maybe better off going private. A secondhand dealer warrenty is worth jack! especially if the car is only a few years old with that type of km.
But it is a good time of year to buy as the buying and exchanging season starts about spring, so look around and spend wisely...

These days any new car sold within the EU has a minimum 2 year warranty, and as many know a lot of makes have 3, 5 and even 7 year warranties. As in this case if the car is just over 2 years old it is of significance to know if the manufacturer's/importer's warranty is still in power for a few years more as that is a kind of insurance against any faults that do come (and they will!).

If on the other hand the warranty has just finished it is even more important to buy from a dealer as then the car will have an automatic warranty for six months as the assumption in consumer law anything that breaks *unexpectedly* in that time is the responsibility of the trader, but not in a private sale. The get-out clause to this is that within a 3-5 years it gets more difficult to maintain the belief something broke "unexpectedly", for example if when bought the car is 10+ years old., driven 200k+ KM, or was bought for half the price of a similar car at the next dealer, don't expect the dealer to be surprised it broke when you drove out of the shop.

There is a used-car bubble in Finland at the moment waiting to burst (and a new house bubble also), because the market was s**t in the second half of last year so good P/X values were given to help move new metal, and now there is a fight to get people to buy new because of the tax changes. Dealers have not had the opportunity to reduce prices to shed the excess used-car stocks but are keeping prices high to save making a big loss on stock value in the just-gone year-end financial accounts (maintaining artificially high prices also was some deterrent to self-imports also cos the tax payable is then aritifically higher). As you say it is a non-P/X buyers market now so go get a bargain and be prepared to walk away and look elsewhere if you do not get a reasonable deal.

BTW, in a recently updated Swedish survey of newish cars Ford maintained their No.1 position - as the most rusting make, so doubt you could do worse with any other make in that respect!

[sinikala]

BTW, in a recently updated Swedish survey of newish cars Ford maintained their No.1 position - as the most rusting make, so doubt you could do worse with any other make in that respect!

We have two 10 year old Fords, no rust, and neither has ever broken down.

Ford = bulletproof.

[hychamaz]

Ford = bulletproof.

No Ford =
Found On Road Dead
Fix Or Repair Daily
or you can go backwards Driver Returned On Foot

Just my experience from working on soooooo many.