Buying a new-(ish) car 'katsastus' needed?

[spoonsey]

Hi,

I am looking at a couple of cars to buy. (I am a first time buyer.)
One is from 2013 and the other is almost new (2015, only driven 300km.)
I heard when buying you should get a pre buy car check (katsustus), to make sure all is ok with the car. But is there any point of it if a car is this young?
Also is it true you get a one week insurance free time? (In which time I can drive the vehicle home and then register it under some insurance?) I am a newbee so forgive my lack of knowledge on this ☺

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

Hi,

I am looking at a couple of cars to buy. (I am a first time buyer.)
One is from 2013 and the other is almost new (2015, only driven 300km.)
I heard when buying you should get a pre buy car check (katsustus), to make sure all is ok with the car. But is there any point of it if a car is this young?
Also is it true you get a one week insurance free time? (In which time I can drive the vehicle home and then register it under some insurance?) I am a newbee so forgive my lack of knowledge on this ☺

Inspection is not a pre-buy check, but a mandatory thing for getting and keeping a car registered in Finland. If the cars are not yet registered in Finland, then you have to have them inspected (registration inspection). Otherwise, the mandatory inspection is on the third year after first use, second one on the fifth year, after which it is to be done annually. I.e. not yet needed for either of the mentioned cars.

There are services, e.g. http://www.autotohtori.fi/ (by one inspection provider), for checking a car's condition, personally I would consider such only for cars that are older and/or have been driven a lot.

You have to get insurance within 7 days of transfer of ownership.

[spoonsey]

Ok, thanks, that clears things up a bit for me.