What Things To Pay Most Attention Too When Looking For A Used Car ?

[iCumKitteh]

I don't trust cars that are repainted, but what actually are the things to pay most attention too when looking for a used car ?

What are best models to buy used ? (prefer 4x4)

I only remember a lot of holes in the head lights means high milage and the V-snare must have undamaged sides.

[ScubaBuddha]

I don't trust cars that are repainted, but what actually are the things to pay most attention too when looking for a used car ?

What are best models to buy used ? (prefer 4x4)

I only remember a lot of holes in the head lights means high milage and the V-snare must have undamaged sides.

#1 thing to pay most attention: Is the owner Thai?

[iCumKitteh]

I don't trust cars that are repainted, but what actually are the things to pay most attention too when looking for a used car ?

What are best models to buy used ? (prefer 4x4)

I only remember a lot of holes in the head lights means high milage and the V-snare must have undamaged sides.

#1 thing to pay most attention: Is the owner Thai?

Guess 99,5% of cars here are Thai owned (don't ask me why) And as everywhere in the world, car sellers in general belong to the most unreliable people, but when bought from a private person it can be a real good deal. More looking for the tecnical side of it.

[stingray]

I don't trust cars that are repainted, but what actually are the things to pay most attention too when looking for a used car ?

What are best models to buy used ? (prefer 4x4)

I only remember a lot of holes in the head lights means high milage and the V-snare must have undamaged sides.

#1 thing to pay most attention: Is the owner Thai?

1. EVERY cars are repainted after a couple years. Overhere Sun fade out colors, Shopping carts dent the cars, Motorcycles scratches sometimes at the traffiglight, etc. Noone can mangage to use a car in this heavy traffic, for let's say 5 year without any damages.

2. We living as guests in Thaialnd and if we don't like to buy a car from a Thai, than we should consider to leave the country and buy a car overseas. Even "Farang Cars" got driven by their Thaiwifes, so what's this all about.

Used cars are used (not new), therefore they are lower in the price. Expect to spend some money for repairs and "make up" . Don't buy frame damaged cars. Check engine, transmission and suspension. Important: Only buy a car if have blue book. Don't buy if it's still in finance, unless you have expirience enought to check the paperwork exactly!

[guzzi850m2]

I recently bought a 2006 Honda City from a second hand car dealer here in Pattaya. I asked the sales man if we could take the car to Honda for check before buying the car and he said no problem. At Honda they confirmed that the car was to a 30k km check on a certain date which made me believe that the odometer had NOT been tampered with. If you check other topics in motor forum you can see that tampering with the odometer seems to be very normal in LOS, sadly.

So if you buy a fairly new car/truck have it checked by a autoitized (can't spell that, sorry) dealer before buying.

You can also bring a friend who knows his way around cars a let him try/check the car.

So far I am very happy with my car and I saved app. 200k compared to a new. I am only driving app. 10-15k km pr year so it would be madness in my case to buy a new.

Good luck finding a good car/truck

[Loz]

good indicators of neglect are as follows:

tyres not the same brand throughout.

uneven wear on tyres and or steering wheel not straight when wheels are.

lack of "comprehensive" service history that is documented. Not just changing the oil, but all the little jobs that were due at each interval.

blown bulbs not replaced prior to sale.

Things to look out for:

check the cooling system by letting the car idle for a long period in the blazing sun. watch the temp gauge carefully.

Before you start, check under the oil filler cap and the radiator cap. If there is a Mayo looking substance. oil and water are mixing which at best means replacing gaskets.

Check the air filter depending on age of the car. If more than 4 years old, 60k km it should not look like the orriginal air filter. if thats not been changed, what else has been neglected that could be more critical?

Ask for records showing timing belt replacement if its past due.

Ask to to drive it and go through the transfer (4wd) box carefully listen for any noises you wouldn't expect.

If it has ABS check the light comes on when you start the car. A very cheap fix for faulty abs systems is to disconnect it! It might just be a sensor but, pull the wire is cheap if you are selling it to a mug punter. Light shoudl come on and go off when car is running.

Hope this helps, I could go on but I am tired.

[bino]

Lots of good tips above.

Thai people do like to dress up their cars and drive something different from everyone else, and paint their cars with a custom paint job. I saw a really cool looking Honda Jazz with a dark purple metallic paint job a few days ago.

However, repainting can be a sign that a car has been in an accident... especially so if the new paint is in one area only. IE one fender or door is a darker shade than the rest of the car. If the accident was minor and repairs were done properly, you might be able to negotiate a good deal on a car like this if you point out to the salesman that the car has been damaged before and push him hard.

If the car has been completely repainted, it may have been in a very bad accident such as a roll-over, causing structural damage to the entire unit-frame of the car. When a car is damaged this badly, it is almost impossible to make it perfect again. Imagine trying to straighten out a crushed beer can. If the repairs are shoddy, you may have problems with wheel alignment, steering, tracking, tires wearing quickly, etc.

So- unless the paint job is done to customize the car, I would be very suspicious and inspect the car thoroughly for structural damage before buying a repainted car.

A few good indicators that you can check for structural damage;

Pull the rubber door molding off the door frame close to the roof of the car and door pillars on all the doors, and look for suspicious looking folds, ridges or creases indicating that the metal has been bent and straightened.

Get a flashlight and have a good look in the trunk (boot if you're from the UK) of the car, paying close attention to the top corners and front- close to where the metal meets the rear window and rear doors. Look for similar damage as described above. Also- the color of the paint in these areas is likely to tell you the original color of the car, as most repainters don't bother with these areas.

Get someone else to drive the car on a test drive, while you follow behind in another car. Look to see that the car is driving "straight", and that the front wheels appear to line up with the rear wheels. Cars that have had a bent frame will often appear to drive "crooked" or "sideways", or the wheels will not appear to line up when you follow them. The explanation might not be the best, but it is dead easy to spot- the car seems to be "crabbing" its way down the road.

Unless you are working with a very small budget and trying to get the best deal / cheapest car possible, I would look for a car that has its original paint scheme and suggest just avoiding any car that has been repainted.

[deankham]

1. EVERY cars are repainted after a couple years. Overhere Sun fade out colors, Shopping carts dent the cars, Motorcycles scratches sometimes at the traffiglight, etc. Noone can mangage to use a car in this heavy traffic, for let's say 5 year without any damages.

Are they? 1st I've heard of it. In fact I don't know anyone who has ever repainted a car except if it's been in an accident!

Sure I've seen some very old cars look 'washed' out due to the sun. But with modern painting systems used by the car manufacturers I'd be amazed if you had to re-paint a car that was only a couple of years old!

To OP, if your that unsure or worried buy new. Depreciation on new cars here is very low compared to europe / usa. You can usually get a good finance deal (if needed) and have the piece of mind your car has been well looked after.

Cheers

[culicine]

Well many people repaint their cars to fix scratches and small dents and they do this with their insurance. Most of my car, except two doors have been repainted in this manner. So repainting like this can indicate either minor (small carpark dents and scratches, "keying") or possibly major accidents. Similarly, actually changing colour could be done for many reasons.

I think "Testcar" can scan the car body to check for structural damage. Whether a dealer will let you check the car is another matter! A few thousand baht investment to get a car checked could save a lot of money in the long run. Personally I wouldn't buy a car that a dealer/private seller would not allow me to get thoroughly checked.

[steelepulse]

>>I think "Testcar" can scan the car body to check for structural damage. Whether a dealer will let you check the car is another matter! A few thousand baht investment to get a car checked could save a lot of money in the long run. Personally I wouldn't buy a car that a dealer/private seller would not allow me to get thoroughly checked.

I'm looking to buy a 2nd hand car in BKK and out of over 10 cars either via tent or private, only 1 seller said I could send it to testcar. That tells me all these other cars have something to hide.

[katabeachbum]

>>I think "Testcar" can scan the car body to check for structural damage. Whether a dealer will let you check the car is another matter! A few thousand baht investment to get a car checked could save a lot of money in the long run. Personally I wouldn't buy a car that a dealer/private seller would not allow me to get thoroughly checked.

I'm looking to buy a 2nd hand car in BKK and out of over 10 cars either via tent or private, only 1 seller said I could send it to testcar. That tells me all these other cars have something to hide.

testcar measures the thickness of paint and plaster, indicating if its original paint, just resprayed or plastered. Plastering more than 1,5-2mm is crap bodywork, far to common in LOS

[culicine]

>>I think "Testcar" can scan the car body to check for structural damage. Whether a dealer will let you check the car is another matter! A few thousand baht investment to get a car checked could save a lot of money in the long run. Personally I wouldn't buy a car that a dealer/private seller would not allow me to get thoroughly checked.

I'm looking to buy a 2nd hand car in BKK and out of over 10 cars either via tent or private, only 1 seller said I could send it to testcar. That tells me all these other cars have something to hide.

That's why it's risky to buy second hand here. There are many reasons for people to sell their car, especially when it's got major problems! 15 y.o honda civic can sell for more than 200-300K It doesn't make sense to buy second hand when a new jazz cost 6-700K. Unless I know a car's history I would be hesitant to buy second hand.

[stingray]

Lots of good tips above.

Thai people do like to dress up their cars and drive something different from everyone else, and paint their cars with a custom paint job. I saw a really cool looking Honda Jazz with a dark purple metallic paint job a few days ago.

However, repainting can be a sign that a car has been in an accident... especially so if the new paint is in one area only. IE one fender or door is a darker shade than the rest of the car. If the accident was minor and repairs were done properly, you might be able to negotiate a good deal on a car like this if you point out to the salesman that the car has been damaged before and push him hard.

If the car has been completely repainted, it may have been in a very bad accident such as a roll-over, causing structural damage to the entire unit-frame of the car. When a car is damaged this badly, it is almost impossible to make it perfect again. Imagine trying to straighten out a crushed beer can. If the repairs are shoddy, you may have problems with wheel alignment, steering, tracking, tires wearing quickly, etc.

So- unless the paint job is done to customize the car, I would be very suspicious and inspect the car thoroughly for structural damage before buying a repainted car.

A few good indicators that you can check for structural damage;

Pull the rubber door molding off the door frame close to the roof of the car and door pillars on all the doors, and look for suspicious looking folds, ridges or creases indicating that the metal has been bent and straightened.

Get a flashlight and have a good look in the trunk (boot if you're from the UK) of the car, paying close attention to the top corners and front- close to where the metal meets the rear window and rear doors. Look for similar damage as described above. Also- the color of the paint in these areas is likely to tell you the original color of the car, as most repainters don't bother with these areas.

Get someone else to drive the car on a test drive, while you follow behind in another car. Look to see that the car is driving "straight", and that the front wheels appear to line up with the rear wheels. Cars that have had a bent frame will often appear to drive "crooked" or "sideways", or the wheels will not appear to line up when you follow them. The explanation might not be the best, but it is dead easy to spot- the car seems to be "crabbing" its way down the road.

Unless you are working with a very small budget and trying to get the best deal / cheapest car possible, I would look for a car that has its original paint scheme and suggest just avoiding any car that has been repainted.

IN THIS CASE YOU HAVE TO BUY A NEW ONE!

As i said there is no car ever repainted after 1 or 2 years only (unless it's never used). Sometime peaple forget: A used car is used, not new. And who would buy a used car with seven bumbermarks, front and rearside. Cars getting Motorbike scratches, shopping carts, sun faiding tops, etc. Not everyone lives up country. Most of peaple stays in Pattaya, Bangkok or Phuked, where is heavy traffic. And todays plastic bumbered cars always get marked up with scratches, maybe not even by your self, but it's happen. 7 scratches arround in six months? Not worth to repaint each piece. The whole car will be repaintet, because it wil cost almost the same and not 7 different colors. Peaple living in Theorie. Practical peaple know that there it's impossible to drive a car in LOS without any paintdamages.