Car buying questions

I am about to take the big jump and finally buy a car.

I have about $115,000 to play with and want something fun, not the usual runaround Mum thing, i'm thinking Mini, Beetle.....

It will be used for going to and from work and for playing taxi with my kids so not bothered by the fact that both cars i've mentioned are 2 doors.

Questions:

1. When buying how much 'off' the price should i go in at?

2. Apart from FSH, having it mechanically checked, is there anything else i shoudl do.

3. Any warnings about the two cars i've mentioned

4. Any other info is GREATLY appreciated.


Husband has company car and we're virgins about buying cars in HK.

Thanks for you help and please don't nag me to check the threads, i already have hence this thread.

I would say that as a general rule, going in at 25% off the 'average' price that you see on cars advertised on asiaxpat is not a bad rule of thumb. Mind you I could be getting stitched!

The problem with rules of thumb for used car prices is that it really does depend on the quality / mileage / previous damage before you can apply the rule!

Definitely, definitely get it checked out. The HK Automobile Assoc probably do this. There are also garages (eg HP Cars in Sai Kung and Chai Wan - who I used and found to be very helpful) who offer this service. If you are new to this game in HK, then the services / garages recommended on the other threads here on the forums are a good place to start....you are less likely to get ripped off.

Personally, I think the Mini wins hands down over the Beetle - no contest. But it does depend on how much of a 'drivers car' you want. The Mini, in my opinion, is a proper driving experience. The Beetle is, err, ...not that.

Finally, and again if you are a newbie to usedcar buying in HK...be careful of the big used car malls/marts. You CAN pick up good cars there. But you can also get EASILY ripped off, will find it next to impossible to get a GOOD price (unless you speak Cantonese and have very robust haggling skills). Personally, I tried most of these - found the whole thing deeply unsatisfactory, then just bided my time until what I was looking for came up on asiaxpat (which took a matter of 10days or so).

hope that helps!

Rule number 1. Don't ever buy a used car off a car dealer/agent or associate. You will pay 20 to 50% more than from a private seller.


I'd probably lean toward the Mini ( pref manual ) over the Beetle, the reviews all say what an awesome drive the Mini is and being BMW based, it has proved to retain a higher resale value over the Beetles.


There have been a few Mini's listed on Asia Xpats auto trader section and you could also try adpost.com under the Hong Kong vehicles for sale.


In general the golden rule is to buy off a fellow expat, ignore mileage unless it has service records to back the numbers up, carefully look at service records that are complete and that the last service corresponds to the current odometer reading. If the figures don't add up or there is a bit of verbal evasive duck shuffling, say thanks and walk away.


When having the car inspected, make sure you have a engine compression test, make sure that the Transmission fluid and its internal filter has been replaced yearly, check service records on that one.


If you look at the mileages listed on 90% of the cars listed on asia xpats own autotrader, they all do 7000 - 12,000kms per year. Most xpats only use their cars for fun, yet the moment you see local cars they seem to only do 2000 - 4000kms per year depending how old it is.

The crux of the matter is, it is very common practice for dealers to reset the odometer to around 28 - 48,000 kms for a 4 - 10 year old car.

Low mileage on Hong Kongs cars is probably the biggest lie that exists.


Service records will always prove it, in your home country you would never dare buy a car that cannot prove its mileage/service history, Hong Kongs used car trade is many times more brazen than even the most shonky car dealer back home. Back home atleast we have staunch govt regulations that protect the consumer via dealer licensing with penalties of 300,000HKD/licence suspensions for rogue dealers, not here though. If they can get away with it, they will.


Take your time and buy well, you wont regret it.




BTW.

There was a very nice xpat owned red Mini Copper, even had the Union Jack emblazened on the roof, looked very trick. You'll find, like the one advertised, xpat examples seem to always be manuals, apparently the auto version is a real slug.

http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/classifieds/view.asp?cat=15&page=5