Buying A Used Car,and The Legalities?

[French jurist]

To know the mileage of a car requires a thorough inspection:
- Check the driver seat for the parts that usually get worn first (sides, etc.)
- Check what's left on the tires to see if that computes with the mileage (tires should be near new at 13.000 km)
- Check the stickers near the engine to see if they are in perfect shape (if the car had an accident on the front at some point, those stickers get damaged). Same thing for the back of the car.

13.000 km seems to me very low as well = let's say 30 months of use = 430 km per month? Just doing a round trip between Belgrano & Microcentro will take like a total of 30/35 km, or 600/700 km monthly if done 20 days per month.

 

[Rich One]

To know the mileage of a car requires a thorough inspection:
- Check the driver seat for the parts that usually get worn first (sides, etc.)
- Check what's left on the tires to see if that computes with the mileage (tires should be near new at 13.000 km)
- Check the stickers near the engine to see if they are in perfect shape (if the car had an accident on the front at some point, those stickers get damaged). Same thing for the back of the car.

13.000 km seems to me very low as well = let's say 30 months of use = 430 km per month? Just doing a round trip between Belgrano & Microcentro will take like a total of 30/35 km, or 600/700 km monthly if done 20 days per month.

The car may have been owned by a little Old Lady from Recoleta

 

[thorsten]

The milage is pretty low but it always depends on the circumstances: my car in Germany did probably have a similar milage after 3 years due to traveling a lot. However, faking milage for getting a higher price is common in general; check out the tips in frenchie's post. Personally, I'd just go to a dealer and get some offers for a new car. You might get a discount and the 3 years warranty + 0 milage alone are worth alone something in terms of future cost and reselling potential.

 

[French jurist]

The car may have been owned by a little Old Lady from Recoleta

There's such an old lady in my gated community.
Until 6 months ago, she was driving a very recent VW Golf, always driving very slow and she doesn't seem to drive a lot. I was thinking of proposing her to buy her car the day she would sell it but never asked. She has now a bigger brand new VW so I might ask this time!

 

[Jaredberryman]

Another good recommendation for all, run your fingers around the edge of the hood and the doors and the trunk where there are openings. If you feel it smooth all around, no crashes in that area. If not, if you feel bumps, then there was a crash of some kind.

 

[splaying]

I certainly appreciate what everyone had to say on my question. With this make and model not holding up well. Would each of you who has a car tell me your top three choices if you were to purchase a new one this year. and if possible give me a couple of reasons each. I am not looking for a luxury car. I live in BA five months per year. my friend might possibly use it but I doubt it. A garage I would think would be a good investment too. We could speak another time on that subject. Renting a car is always possible but i have gotten some losers plus the overall cost is often quite high. I like exploring. I have seen most of the country going by bus yet with a car one might opt to stay in some smaller out of the way places knowing if not up to speed one can exit quickly.. Any and all thoughts would be most appreciated. Thank you. Walter

 

[Jaredberryman]

Walter:

My top choice for a car that is not astronomically expensive would be a Toyota Corolla. Especially if you are thinking of buying a used car. On the cheaper end, it would then be anything Ford in the last three years, such as Ford Fiesta as Ford has much better quality and post sale CS. Citroen has pretty nice cars so you could opt for a C3 which is their cheapest car. I have never driven that one but have driven Citroens before and they are really good quality (comparatively speaking).

If you have to buy one of the much lower end models, then I would stick with VW. They are cheaply made cars from Brazil, BUT if you buy a Gol Power (1.6 engine) or Trend, then you get an AUDI engine in the car from what I understand. The rest of the car is very bad quality and the parts are not great and will wear out. But these cars, especially the Gol Power, are fairly cheap and the engine is excellent. Gol Power is cheap brand new and if you are basically using the car for yourself, you can get a two door for even cheaper. If you are driving out on the road outside of Capital, though, I recommend you get an airbag and ABS at least with the car, which will make it more expensive. If you are going to buy used, I would stay away from the Gol Power as there are so many that it's frightening all of the fake parts that have been spliced onto them. Gol Trend is a newer model so I don't know about that. One thing to be aware of when purchasing the cheaper cars like FIAT, VW, and Corsa, your car is much more targeted by thieves since there are far more volume of these cars and parts are in high demand. So if you buy one of these cheap kinds of cars, do yourself a favor and get an alarm installed. Don't park it on the street if possible. I had a Gol Power and parked it on the street (without an alarm). It was broken into ten different times, and eventually was stolen outright at 1PM in the afternoon (to be honest I was glad to be rid of it, and fortunately the insurance covered me). This was in broad daylight in the middle of Caballito.

I hope that basically helps you a bit. You might also want to look at reviews from users online. But please remember to take people's reviews with a grain of salt, as the ones I read were generally completely exaggerated because people once drove a car in Europe or the U.S. and have the expectation that the cars here have the same quality as in the first world. You'll also get people that fell in love with their car because they worked so hard to get it and it is their prized possession.

 

[Matiasba]

In my opinion, the VW Bora is the perfect car. Not expensive, at the same price that Corolla, but with a better engine, especially the TDI model. It is safe, it is a car that responds. If you have more money I will go for the Vento.

 

[Gringoboy]

We've sold our 2004 Ecosport and the bloke is picking it up tomorrow morning which leaves us without wheels, but a bird in the hand etc....
Looking at Chevy Astra or similar and must be 5 doors. I hope the Astra isn't plagued by the same problems as the Corsa.
Our budget is limited, must be used up to around $75k.
Frenchie, that Golf you mentioned, is it fairly new?

 

[French jurist]

Frenchie, that Golf you mentioned, is it fairly new?

The Golf mentioned has likely already been sold (or taken back by the dealer). Too late now. But yes, it was a quite new model (like 2010 or so), in an outstanding condition (this lady likely never drives above 90 km/h!).