Purchasing a car from another province/city - where to start?

[Venomous]

Hmmmm okay no I'm looking at slightly older ones, so chances are good it won't carry the original factory warranty. 30 days does give a person some peace of mind, but then again I will probably do 1000 km well before that. Tough call

And that is good enough reason to walk away.

You posted here coz inside you, you had doubts. Believe in yourself and leave it be.
It is not likely to cost you R5k or less. That can hurt, imagine if you pay the value of the car as schoolfees?

 

[Fazda]

All that I can say to wabbit16 is that if you still go ahead with it and ignore everyone's advice, please don't come back and look for sympathy if the wheels fall off

 

[PhireSide]

All that I can say to wabbit16 is that if you still go ahead with it and ignore everyone's advice, please don't come back and look for sympathy if the wheels fall off

I promise I won't

Anyways wheels are easy to put back on It's the rest of the car I'm worried about!

To Venomous, I was posting here more since this is the first time I am financing a car and I do not know the flow of the process and if others have been in the same situation as what I am now, that being the fact that I am looking at a car that I cannot physically inspect. I do have technically inclined family up that way, though - even more so than me. I am hoping that if they pick something up that they would be able to accurately tell me, plus with the AA check I am hoping I have all those bases covered.

I understand there is a big risk doing it this way, but I have my stupid heart set on this car and it seems to tick all the boxes I need (I was originally looking at a Lancer, until I found out what I would be paying per month for my insurance premiums )

I will do some more thinking about it...I am not going to rush into anything yet, and I have asked the seller for some more pictures and VIN number, reg. number, etc. so that does buy me a bit of thinking time

 

[Sonic2k]

If you still want to go with the deal, fly down and go check the vehicle out yourself first before signing.

 

[PhireSide]

If you still want to go with the deal, fly down and go check the vehicle out yourself first before signing.

I am contemplating it, just first getting as much detail as possible from the seller before I commit/if I commit.

I also see I can get a one or two year warranty through the finance house that covers mechanical breakdowns, but they do not go into detail as to what they cover and if there are limits on the amount of repair bills. I will look into it as it is a little bit of financial outlay for a bit more peace of mind

 

[Rocket-Boy]

I understand why you would want to buy from JHB, I always buy my cars up there but I only buy from dealerships.
I get family to test drive it and then when Im happy I do the paperwork, fly up and drive it home.
The prices in the EC are just a joke.

 

[PhireSide]

I understand why you would want to buy from JHB, I always buy my cars up there but I only buy from dealerships.
I get family to test drive it and then when Im happy I do the paperwork, fly up and drive it home.
The prices in the EC are just a joke.

That was my idea too, except for it being private in my case

This car-buying is a load of bull

 

[SauRoNZA]

Never buy a car without driving it.

Not even from a well known dealership.

 

[Fazda]

Never buy a car without driving it.

Not even from a well known dealership.

Very sound advice - AND be careful of looking at a photo and thinking that you can see what the car is like - I have seen many dogs look beautiful in a photo.

Caveat emptor !!

 

[PhireSide]

Very sound advice - AND be careful of looking at a photo and thinking that you can see what the car is like - I have seen many dogs look beautiful in a photo.

Caveat emptor !!

Buyer beware indeed. I know what I would typically look for when looking at a used car, and whoever from the family I have up north will probably also have things they would look out for.

I generally look around the vehicle,and especially look for cracked plastics near the bumper (gives me an indication of if they ever hit a speed bump hard, climbed pavements, etc.), stone chips or touch-up paint near the front windscreen, front of the bonnet, loose headlight assemblies, scratches on the sides of the outside rear view mirrors, whether body panels line up correctly...it might not tell the history of the car immediately but it will give me an idea of how the owner treated the car before me. This is all just my recipe for viewing cars, and every person will do it a bit differently.

I also like to use this as a guideline: http://www.wesbank.co.za/SiteBranding/documents/coza/WesBank_Expert_Checklist.pdf

I am still waiting to hear from the finance house and pictures from the seller, but I am also still looking around for others. None in the EC worth looking at unfortunately and as Rocket-Boy said, the prices here are unjustifiably high

Thank you everyone for the input so far

 

[SauRoNZA]

Very sound advice - AND be careful of looking at a photo and thinking that you can see what the car is like - I have seen many dogs look beautiful in a photo.

Caveat emptor !!

Yup, although a car which generally is looked after well outside is also looked after inside I would never ever buy a car without testing it first purely because you might not be compatible with it.

Other stuff which you just can't see if that the clutch might be a dog to use as well as the gearbox. You might be too fat or too thin for the seats etc.

Seats especially might look great but are sat in their moer from the previous owner.

Short of buying new if I can't drive the exact same car before purchase...I won't be buying it.

 

[PhireSide]

I have an idea of how the cars drive, handle and seat as I have test driven one (1.6 Petrol though) before, and I really find them comfy and they suit me well. Now that you mention the clutch, I have heard that the diesel clutch is a bit stiffer, but my current Honda is much worse so I can deal with it. Gearbox is another issue - if I do end up going for a 2.0 TDCI I will need to get used to another cog as well. With regards to the seats being a bit worn, that is something I hadn't considered. I'll ask the fandamily to test for firmness and make sure it isn't altogether pap in places.

But I do get what you're saying, SauRonZA - every car is different and as such appeals to different people. Honestly the only car I have driven that I felt very incompatible with was an old company car, a Spark Lite. I just never gelled with that sardine can

 

[PhireSide]

Well, I think I am going to take this as a sign. I phoned about five dealers in the Gauteng area, four of which promised to get back to me...ten days later, zilch.

So no more Ford Focus for me - just too much hassle to find a good one

Thanks for all the advice everyone

 

[Willie Trombone]

Whats the deal with the diesels? I'm curious... are they particularly finnicky or are they incredibly expensive to repair if things do go wrong?

 

[PhireSide]

Whats the deal with the diesels? I'm curious... are they particularly finnicky or are they incredibly expensive to repair if things do go wrong?

From what I can understand diesels have higher maintenance needs than the equivalent petrol. You rarely will need to replace the glow plugs, but on the other hand you need to service or even replace your injectors at least once throughout the lifetime of the car. Also, your service intervals are usually shorter (10'000km vs 15'000km on a typical car). Then there is the issue of the turbo...it is recommended to let the car idle a bit after you have been driving it before shutting it off so that the oil can recirculate to the turbo and help cool it off. The same goes for starting, where people recommend that you idle the car for a while before driving off to get the oil circulating

That said, I had an older 2.7 turbodiesel bakkie with 400K km on the clock and didn't have one issue with the turbo, although the bakkies are not made for power and thus they aren't as highly strung as say a typical turbodiesel car

 

[Willie Trombone]

Aah, cool, thanks for that info!

 

[PhireSide]

Aah, cool, thanks for that info!

Cool man

I eventually went for a 2011 Hyundai i30. Test drove it today and fell in love. Finance has been approved but I have to go see if they can get me a better rate. First time car buyer, a credit card + overdraft but few accounts bagged me 13% through either MFC or Wesbank. SBSA declined my offer and ABSA could offer me 14.6%

 

[Willie Trombone]

Hyundais are solid verhicles. Very well made. The i30 is a very cool car. Congrats!
Pics?
I feel your pain - They offered me 9% when I applied because of years of credit with the bank including homeloan.

 

[PhireSide]

Thanks bud! Pics soon to follow...she is charcoal grey, a bit dusty as it has been standing at the dealership but they promised to have it cleaned and serviced before I take delivery.

Prime right now is 9% IIRC, and I think it's going to tank soon so I am going fixed. Still think prime + 4% is a bit much so I am going to see what they are going to do about that, if at all. I seem to recall that Wesbank needs a 20% deposit if you are a first time buyer like I am, and if that still stands I am going to have to rather go with MFC (maximum deposit I can afford is 15%). Would love to go Wesbank as I have been banking with FNB since 1998 and I think that might count in my favour

 

[PhireSide]

Signed, sealed and delivered