Team-BHP - ARTICLE: How to buy a *USED* Car in India

Quote:

Originally Posted by wantarangerover (Post 2819226)

Buying a good condition used car is much more difficult than I thought!

Yes. Buying a good used Cars, especially from User Car Dealers is really difficult.

I have bought three used Cars in last two years & the experience in first two cars was really bad. The first Car had Water leakage problem & the Second one had problem with ECU.

Luckily my third used car seems to be perfectly fine & I have faced no issue so far.

Thanks,

Hi all, I just got home after seeing a Ford Ikon 1.6Nxt, reg. in 2004 (dec, apparently). Unfortunately, the guy was not there, and I had to be happy with seeing the car from outside, will have to check back later for a detailed look. Anyway, here are the observations, other than the regulation small dents and scratches.

1. Front left fog-lamp missing (there is just a hole in the bumper now that is)
2. The driver seat is torn with the sponge all visible (it think its the stock seat with no cover...the seats were black )
3. The tyres are pirelli p400 Aquamile 175/65 R14. Is it the stock size? If not, is it a correct fit?? The condition of tyres seems fine.

Ford Ikon lovers/owners ( I have seen many here :p) please comment. Thanks

I would appreciate a reply for my above post!

Some more details of the vehicle:

1. The insurance is expired (for some 7 months!!), but they will insure it for free. Is the gap in insurance going to cost me dear in the future in any way?

2. I will have to refill the AC with gas, and possibly a fuel pump.

Can someone advise me how to proceed??

To transfer the insurance, I guess the car has to be in my name? So I will have to buy it before insurance is transferred I guess. How do I play this?
How to pay the seller? cash/cheque?

I think I can get the car for 75k. Will do a garage checkup of the car later on sunday. Please advise. Thanks in advance

Quote:

Originally Posted by rex_varghese (Post 2819396)

Any experience with TOYOTA TRUST (Toyota's Used Car Division) with respect to transparency in deals, reliability, quality of cars, competitive pricing, etc?

Anybody dealt with TOYOTA Trust any time?

Regards
Rex

Looked at a used car yesterday.

I could see two areas of concern:

1. An external battery was used to jump start the car. The person with whom I was dealing with told me that the battery got drained due to it's age and sparing usage. I'm not sure about this. What is the normal life of a battery? Can it age quicker if sparingly used?

2. There were really noticeable rust holes in the sheet below the bonnet hood. At least, at two places the wholes were around 5 cms diameter and quite a few of them smaller ones. I could see edges of the rust holes chipping away when I pressed along them. The hole/rusting was not in any specific location or pattern but randomly all over the sheet. The dealer told that he will replace this sheet. Replacing the sheet is not my issue, but the real root cause for this.

My concern is what all could be the reasons for these two issues? Are they just bad piece/material causing these issues or there could be deeper causes for these? Any input/thoughts from folks are welcome.

It's a 2008 Altis Petrol that has ran only 12k.

Regards
Rex

Quote:

Originally Posted by rex_varghese (Post 2840398)

Just 4 years and already rusting ??? I have never seen rusting with just 4 years ... do we have a lemon at hand ?
with odo at 12K, it looks most likely tampered with... what does the date on tyres say ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptaneja (Post 2840521)

Thanks for the reply!

I couldn't read the tire since it was kind of dark and the boys were busy washing up the car. One thing I noticed is that the spare tire was very dirty and muddy. The sales person told me that 'it might be due to a tire change due to puncture or something like that'.

The last 4 digits of the VIN read 0808, which tells the manufacturing month/year as Aug/2008. But then, I read it from the plate stuck inside the boot, not on the passenger side floor (I remember somebody mentioning that the VIN is actually engraved here. Is that correct?)

Regards
Rex

Quote:

Originally Posted by rex_varghese (Post 2840609)

Rex, check the exact location of VIN number from this -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying...cture-vin.html

ideally it should be in engine compartment - not in the boot ?!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by wantarangerover (Post 2851614)

Hi,

I just wanted to know how much are the charges related to RC Book Name change for a four wheeler? I am planning to get it done through an agent. I have all necessary documents. Thanks

Technically this would be called as "transfer of ownership of vehicle" - costs a mere 100rs in Delhi if you do it yourself without any agent involved.
More details can be found here -
Transport

Friends, I am planning to buy a used Linea MJD and have come across a May 2011 Emotion pack model run only 15000 Kms at ask price of Rs. 7 lacs. The owner is having loan with a bank. I am going to check the service record of the car with my friend at Tata service center tomorrow, but not sure if it has completed the 1st service. I have not yet checked the vehicle in person, but my friend at tata service will join me next week for this.

I would need expert advice from members on this on the following points:
1) Is this a good price?
2) How to deal with the loan situation? What is the safe method to get it transferred in my name?
3) How do I check if there is any accident history especially if it is not done through authorised service center.
4) Any other point that I should need to consider.

Ideally I would have gone for the new Linea, but considering the uncertainty around Fiat, I do not want to take that risk, but can settle with well maintained used Linea for just for pleasure of driving it. I plan to keep the car for another 2-3 years with annual run of 20K.

Thank you in advance for valuable inputs.

Hi,
I would like to share my experience with used cars. I desperately wanted to buy a Hyundai Accent CRDi used car. I went to a local used car dealer. I checked out a 2006 model (Cherry Red) car. The digital odo was displaying 60K. The engine did not have knocking sound and the ride quality was good. The car had a new set of tyres. The dealer told me that the tyres were under warranty. Overall, it looked like the perfect one for me.
Before finalizing, I decided that I should perform a background check on the car. I called up the local hyundai service center and i was glad to find out that the person on the phone was actually willing to let me know the history of the car. I came to know that most of the car manufacturers have access to the purchase/service database of their company cars sold in the country. The car had done more than 1L Kms the last time it had come for service. This incident seriously put me off!!!
Then i decided to approach the Hyundai Advantage (Used cars division) and finally found a car (Hyundai Accent GLE Petrol - could not find certified diesel cars) befitting my specifications. The Hyundai guys were kind enough to show me the history of the car and thankfully there were no major accidents or damages. So I bought the car!!!
Moreover I got a one year warranty for all the major components of the car and 3 free services!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by i20maverick (Post 2857616)

I went to a local used car dealer. I checked out a 2006 model (Cherry Red) car. The digital odo was displaying 60K. The car had done more than 1L Kms the last time it had come for service. This incident seriously put me off!!!

Hello i20maverick,

You need to be very careful when buying Used Car from Dealers.

Tampering with ODO meter reading is very common in Used Car market, specially Diesel Cars, one because these are in big demand now-a-days & second because generally people sell Diesel Cars after rigourous usage.

Other than ODO Meter tampering, another common thing in Used Car market is accidental Cars which are scrapped by insurers & bought by scrap dealers. These Cars are generally repaired & painted to look like very well maintained Used Cars & sold to unsuspecting buyers. Infact my Maruti WagonR was sold as scrap to salvage buyers & after two months it was sold by a used Car Dealer in Mumbai. When I saw the re-built car, I could not believe my eyes.

Thanks,

HI,

I am considering buying a used Safari EX 3.0 LTR DICOR (2007) as my second vehicle for long drives with the family. THe SUV seem to be in good condition and will be taking a TD in the next 2 days. Any specific things to look out for in this 3 Ltr model? I am unable to find a EX 3 Ltr review on TBHP. ANy pointers to check and watchout for will be appreciated. please:

Cheers
Vasu