Buying an (almost) new car

[jamora]

Sorry if this has been covered, but can't find it on searches.

I am in the process of selling my current car, and buying a new one. Was planning to get the new Volvo XC60 T8 Inscription, and was planning to change next month (June).
But I then came across a pre-owned 2020 XC60 T8 Inscription, which has driven 6,500km, in the exact same trim and color as I was planning. It is sold through a large used car dealer, specializing in Mercedes and BMW. I saw it as my current car is a MB c350e, and I went to the dealer to get an appraisal for my current car.

The Volvo is 25% below new price, and the past owner bought a 5 year warranty, 5 year service, and 5 year 1st class insurance plan, which has 4 years left.
It must have been some very expensive 6,500km for the original owner...

It sounds like a no brainer, but I also know when something is too good to be sure, it often is.

Is there something to be aware of when buying used cars in Thailand? I have only owned new cars before this, so I have no experience buying a used one.

Volvo confirm it is still under warranty and service.
The insurance company has also confirmed it is still under 1st class insurance.

I know the 2020 model has air suspension, which can be a headache (I have had one replacement on my current car), but apart from that, it's pretty much identical to the 2021 model.
A facelift XC60 is out soon, so this might explain the drop in price.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Kwasaki]

13 minutes ago, jamora said:

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I had a Volvo in UK for 24 years so l would say if you like car fine. 

[beachproperty]

My only thought is ....Has it been in accident? This is Thailand so maybe it has.

[Dmaxdan]

Perhaps the car was bought under finance and some payments are still owed? 

[jamora]

6 minutes ago, beachproperty said:

My only thought is ....Has it been in accident? This is Thailand so maybe it has.

That was my thought as well, but nothing reported to the insurance. Is there anywhere to check if it has been involved in an accident?

Logically it would have been reported to insurance, but again, it's not always logic will triumph ???? 

Another thing could be flood, so we are getting a mechanic to check on that.

[Rampant Rabbit]

1 hour ago, jamora said:

Is there something to be aware of when buying used cars in Thailand?

Everything and everyone selling it.

[jamora]

35 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

Everything and everyone selling it.

Yeah, which is why I want to know what to check.

If an external mechanic, Volvo Thailand and the insurance company green lights it, what else to check?

[canthai55]

1 hour ago, jamora said:

 Is there anywhere to check if it has been involved in an accident?

Put it on a lift. Grab a flashlight.

 

[jamora]

2 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

Perhaps the car was bought under finance and some payments are still owed? 

Will check on this, thanks for the advice!

[JAS21]

Just bear in mind that there would have been quite some discount on that car and also the five year warranty and service thrown in… I don’t know what the five year insurance plan is.

 

You are loosing one years warranty and the same on the hybrid battery.

 

You should be able to get a really good deal on a new one. You might even get 0% finance if you need it.

 

Have you asked your dealer if they have a demo?

 

Don’t forget the last couple of days of the month is a good time to discuss the price.

 

I wonder what ‘extras’ will come with the face lift.

 

You already are aware that air suspension is a pain… Merc are going away from it and you say Volvo are as well

 

If money is not a problem go new and I wait for the facelift. Read the foreign motor mags and see what you can find out about the facelift

 

I just looked the facelift is already out..Google xc60 facelift.

 

[pedro01]

3 hours ago, beachproperty said:

My only thought is ....Has it been in accident? This is Thailand so maybe it has.

 

The insurance company should be able to tell you if it's had major accident repair work.

[jamora]

12 hours ago, JAS21 said:

Just bear in mind that there would have been quite some discount on that car and also the five year warranty and service thrown in… I don’t know what the five year insurance plan is.

 

You are loosing one years warranty and the same on the hybrid battery.

 

You should be able to get a really good deal on a new one. You might even get 0% finance if you need it.

 

Have you asked your dealer if they have a demo?

 

Don’t forget the last couple of days of the month is a good time to discuss the price.

 

I wonder what ‘extras’ will come with the face lift.

 

You already are aware that air suspension is a pain… Merc are going away from it and you say Volvo are as well

 

If money is not a problem go new and I wait for the facelift. Read the foreign motor mags and see what you can find out about the facelift

 

I just looked the facelift is already out..Google xc60 facelift.

 

Thanks a lot, this is very useful.

It's a 1st class insurance, so it will cover pretty much anything.

Was concerned about loosing on the battery, but as it has only driven 6,500km, I believe this would be minor. My current car just his 90,000km, and we have almost unnoticeable loss on the hybrid battery.

 

Financing is not really needed.

I asked for a demo, and they have them. They are about the same milage as the used we saw, but in-between the price of the new and the second hand. From my understanding, the benefit of a demo, is that you get the red plate, and you are the first owner, which will benefit the resell value. But if we plan to drive it 5 years, I am not sure the benefit of that is enough.

Yeah, air suspension could be a pain. From what I have read, XC60 should be a little more durable than our current c350e, as it's an SUV, so it's built for more bumpy roads, where the c350e is built for the German highway. 
Air suspension is very nice for the ride quality, but expensive to repair. I think we have paid close to 250,000 THB in repairs for the c350e in the past 5 years.

Just google the facelift (thanks for the hint). It looks like minor bodywork, I actually prefer the old one, but the main upgrade is the infotainment system, where the 2022 will be running on a Google platform.

This was really useful, thanks a lot!

[canthai55]

49 minutes ago, jamora said:

Air suspension is very nice for the ride quality, but expensive to repair. I think we have paid close to 250,000 THB in repairs for the c350e in the past 5 years.

Unbelievable !

[JAS21]

24 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

Unbelievable !

Every corner of the Merc Air suspension is close to 100K and the pump isn’t much cheaper… that is why we bought 5 years extra Merc warranty with our E350e.

[JAS21]

1 hour ago, jamora said:

Thanks a lot, this is very useful.

It's a 1st class insurance, so it will cover pretty much anything.

Was concerned about loosing on the battery, but as it has only driven 6,500km, I believe this would be minor. My current car just his 90,000km, and we have almost unnoticeable loss on the hybrid battery.

 

Financing is not really needed.

I asked for a demo, and they have them. They are about the same milage as the used we saw, but in-between the price of the new and the second hand. From my understanding, the benefit of a demo, is that you get the red plate, and you are the first owner, which will benefit the resell value. But if we plan to drive it 5 years, I am not sure the benefit of that is enough.

Yeah, air suspension could be a pain. From what I have read, XC60 should be a little more durable than our current c350e, as it's an SUV, so it's built for more bumpy roads, where the c350e is built for the German highway. 
Air suspension is very nice for the ride quality, but expensive to repair. I think we have paid close to 250,000 THB in repairs for the c350e in the past 5 years.

Just google the facelift (thanks for the hint). It looks like minor bodywork, I actually prefer the old one, but the main upgrade is the infotainment system, where the 2022 will be running on a Google platform.

This was really useful, thanks a lot!

My wife and I considered the XC60 just over two years ago…was very close to buying…the offer from Volvo attractive but as we already had a low mileage MY15 Everest we went for the E350e… I think you dumping the Merc in favor of Volvo is a good idea…XC60 is nice…

 

Don’t believe one word that the salesman tells you, go hard for a deal… he is not your friend!

[canthai55]

3 hours ago, JAS21 said:

Every corner of the Merc Air suspension is close to 100K and the pump isn’t much cheaper… that is why we bought 5 years extra Merc warranty with our E350e.

They must be very poor quality to fail as often as people here say they do.

[Thomas J]

22 hours ago, jamora said:

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I have purchased numerous used BMW's online in the USA never even seeing the cars.  I always do the same thing.  I  strike my deal conditioned on the car being inspected by an actual dealer.  I pay for the inspection.  If the inspection comes back with no negatives that would stop me from wanting the car, I complete the purchase.  I have yet to have an inspection that showcased anything more than minor items.  I never had a bad one. 

If a person balks at letting me have the car inspected by a dealer, the deal goes not further.  I have rarely had anyone not agree.  I did however have such an instance in Pattaya.  When I asked if I could have the car which was a Honda inspected, he said I was just wasting his time.  The deal ended there.  I later found out, he was a person who typically buys damaged vehicles, repairs them and resells them as part of his "rental" fleet. 

[JAS21]

1 hour ago, canthai55 said:

They must be very poor quality to fail as often as people here say they do.

The car is not suited to Thailand Roads… correction Thailand potholes. 
 

The C300e and E300e do not have air suspension… I don’t know about the S class

[4MyEgo]

The problem with buying 2nd hand, even an almost new car, is you don't know it's history, hence the reason I purchased a new car here 5 and a half years ago with no regrets.

 

I have seen my brother in-law (farang) buy a year old car, blew the gearbox a 3 months later, then the motor a few months after that, call that a coincidence if you like.

 

Then a guy I know who purchased a car less then a year old who said it only had 7,000 kilometres on the clock and he was saving a bundle, a few weeks later he noticed his speedometer was working so took it to the dealership, not the 2nd hand dealer he purchased it from as they were a good 10 hours drive away, anyways, the dealership (manufacturer) told him that the speedometer had been replaced, so who knows how many kilometres the car had on it.

 

I know I do 30,000 kilometres a year just driving into town to drop and pick up the kids every day, now this car was owned by a company, so it could well have travelled all around Thailand.

 

If your buying 2nd hand here, you have to expect the worse, commensurate with what your paying for it, near new, well, personally, I would pay the extra for the warranty alone, which is usually 3 years or 100 kilometres, in other words, not the hassle as the laws here are not worth it and no where near as good as they are back in the home country, where authorities would apply heavy fines, loss of dealers license and possible jail time for flipping a clock back.

[Chongalulu]

On 5/18/2021 at 12:29 PM, canthai55 said:

On 5/18/2021 at 9:25 AM, JAS21 said:

Every corner of the Merc Air suspension is close to 100K and the pump isn’t much cheaper… that is why we bought 5 years extra Merc warranty with our E350e.

They must be very poor quality to fail as often as people here say they do.

JD Power reliability survey (the go to publication) puts German prestige brands pretty low down on their list. Top brands are mainly Japanese- Honda ,Toyota,Lexus and the S Korean Hyundai/Kia. In U.K. the latter have a standard 7 year warranty! Volvo not what it was either…

[Deli]

Keep your Daimler, why going for something sub standard ?

[1FinickyOne]

my wife's advice is always that if 2nd hand and has value, then a family member would take it - if a problem, they sell it... this would not apply to a farang owned car and probably not an expensive car - - too much to give away... 

 

if it's almost new maybe they will accept almost money = bitcoin... 

[The Theory]

You must be a rich man. 
Volvo in Thailand !!! ????

[whaleboneman]

Jamora - I have no advice for you about your car purchase. However, I admire the way you asked for advice and your responses to those that offered it. Yours should be a template on how to ask questions on any public forum. Good luck with the new car!

[brianthainess]

Thoroughly check the warranty service book, if it missed a dealership service then, the warranty will be nullified.

[br12stol]

I have a Volvo V60 T8 Hybrid which has same engine, I know through researching that the T8 Hybrid is well regarded and pretty problem free, also the Volvo warranty is very good we also have an XC40 R design and have had repairs done under warranty no quibble was quite impressed with Volvo service tbh. 

 

I would take car to a Volvo dealer for inspection before purchase.

 

Good Luck