10 Tips For Purchasing Used Cars

I’m this post, Naijadriva is going to give you 10 tips
that would help you when you want to buy a used
car. If you don’t know about cars, you can be cheated
by car dealers or Private seller who would be haply
to let you have his or her problems, while paying for
it.
1. Research About Your Car Of Choice: After you
see a car you like, research about it online, ask your
local mechanics (more than 2) about how much the
engine, transmission, lower control arm, oil servicing,
any problem to watch out for? etc. One of the
mistakes prospective car buyer make, especially
inexperienced or first timers, is that they see a car
that tickles their fancy, their neighbor drives or some
other person and voilà! That is what they want to
buy. To purchase a car is one thing but the
maintenance cost is to be taken to account. Chances
are that you may change your mind about the
particular brand you like to make another choice in
the long run.
Recall that we listed
24 Cars You Should Never Buy
2. Find The Vehicle Of Choice: After you have have
a general background information about the car, find
where you can buy it. You may want to buy foreign
used or Nigerian used (be careful when buying
Nigerian used automobiles). You can find your car of
choice at car stands, along the road or even travel to
Cotonou (Well, the border is closed now).
3. Go With A Good Mechanic: When buying foreign
used (also called direct Belgium, or tokunbo), go with
a good mechanic or person who is well
knowledgeable of the particular brand you want to
buy and the mechanic’s workshop must be very far
from where the car is sold. This is because, mechanic
near where you want to buy a car may not tell you
the truth, even when you are paying him to inspect
the car for you because he may know the seller. Be
sure that the mechanic has a car scanner to scan the
vehicle for hidden faults.
4.
Checks: Be sure to check under the car for rust, so
that water doesn’t enter the vehicle when you drive
through a water puddle. Check for oil leaks, car paint/
body, and general checks.
5.
Test Drive: You never can know all the hidden
problems until you drive it. Start and drive it and
check if the gear selects well and the suspension is
ok or not. Remember, the more repairs to be done on
the car further drives down the price during
negotiations.
6.
Inspect The Vehicle Particulars: Whether the car
is Foreign used or Nigeria used, be sure to demand
for its Customs papers, among other documents to be
given to you to inspect. If it is a Nigerian used car, be
sure that it is up to seven years since the car is
registered or the seller must provide among other
particulars, its Customs papers, that is, If you don’t
want to run into trouble with Customs officers or
have your car impounded.
7.
Get the Means of Identity o f Seller: Make sure
that you get a photocopy or crosscheck the name of
the seller with the documents and let him sign the
necessary papers, like change of Ownership
agreement, receipt and so on. Where the seller’s
name is not on the documents but claimed he owns
the car, demand a police report or Change of
Ownership agreement/receipt he got from whose
name is on the car documents. You do not want to
hear, “I lost that document”, etc. Beware, stolen car
can land you in jail.
8.
Do A Vehicle Identification Number Check: You
must not pay immediately you see a car or done
checks. Copy the VIN number of the car, usually
imprinted on the driver’s door and go online to check
(but this may not give you full history of the vehicle)
or contact people that can do it for you. There are a
lot of them online, especially
http://
www.nairaland.com .
VIN checks shows if the car was stolen, flooded,
caught fire, accident vehicle and so on but it shows
you the car's report when it was used abroad,
especially in the USA. When buying Nigerian used,
VIN check may not show if the car was stolen
somewhere in Nigeria as we do not have good
database system in this part of the world.
Illustration: VIN is a combination of letters and
numbers used to identify an automobile
9.
Get A 7 Days Warranty From Seller: We know, it
is not the seller that made the car but before you
make payment, ask him to give you seven days
warranty, and he should write it on the Change of
Ownership or receipt that you can have your money
back if you discovered that the car isn’t “sold as is”.
10.
Pay For the Vehicle: When you have done your
checks and convinced about the cars, faults to fix or if
it is in pristine condition, negotiate and pay for the
vehicle. The seller’s asking price can be negotiated
down by considering the cost of the repairs to be
done but be reasonable when negotiating. Collect all
the keys, particulars and security codes (if any) of the
car.

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