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The $50 white “big-eared” Zaporozhets was the first car I was allowed to steer on my own. The car broke almost everything, but the price and the feeling that such equipment is not a pity from the word at all, interrupted all the shortcomings. Never again did I drive through the fields, forgetting about the suspension and the condition of the paint.
Say what you like, used cars for three kopecks have their own charm. But still, most used cars are not bought for racing on arable land. Therefore, they pay not 50 dollars, but much more. And it is unlikely that the new owners will want to contact the repair of vehicles every month.
Price and age
Don’t be fooled by overpriced deals. We chose a model, found it on the ad site, sorted the options by price … Then you can safely skip the entire first page.
Because the risk is too great: the photo may not have the right car, the car could have been restored after an accident, the documents may not be in order. Yes, not much else. Saving now is highly likely to result in problems in the future.
According to car selection expert Vladimir Larin, you need to choose a car more expensive than 450 thousand rubles. If the car is cheaper, then you can spend a lot of time looking and not find anything good. Of course, you can buy transport with the expectation to bring it to mind later with your own hands.
Do not take a car older than 14 years. All savings on age will go to the cash desk of a car service.
Ad
Before calling up the seller and going to see the car, study the ad itself. The car must be photographed from all sides, including in the cabin. If some details are missing, this is a reason for suspicion. Evaluate the steering wheel and seats from the photo – with a small mileage (up to 50 thousand km.), Their condition should be decent.
The same goes for rubber. With normal driving, it is not erased in one or two seasons. And if a fresh 3-year-old car has brand new tires, then it’s worth asking the owner what happened to the previous tires.
Ask questions by phone
Any seller – whether a salon or a private trader – is obliged to tell everything about the car being sold. What was the damage, what maintenance work was carried out. Any questions after viewing the picture? Feel free to ask them.
The reluctance of the owner to provide details, suggestions to “look on the spot” should alert. A good seller will be able to explain everything over the phone.
Avoid meetings without an address
Now in underground parking lots, in guarded parking lots, “black” salons are often opened. Resourceful people buy wrecked cars, restore them, and then sell them in public parking lots. The buyer is rarely offered to go directly to the car – usually they make an appointment at the metro station, at the gas station, so that later they can go somewhere else together.
If you are stubbornly not told the specific location of the car, then you are probably dealing with a reseller. It is unlikely that he will tell something about the car, rather he will try to hide information about accidents or encumbrances.
Where to look when inspecting a car
Steering wheel, pedals, shift lever. These parts wear out only from driving. If the car is not old, but these three places are badly worn, then the vehicle has a high mileage.
Assessing paint with a thickness gauge. Thickness gauge – a device that shows the distance from the metal to the outer edge of the paint. In most cases, the thickness of the paint layer after repair will be different from the factory thickness. The device will show which parts were repainted. 90-160 microns is the usual factory paint thickness. The device can be bought on the Internet for 1500-5000 rubles. or rent for 200-400 rubles. per day.
Explore the trunk. Pay special attention to the spare tire niche. After blows to the buttocks, the outer panels are carefully restored, and the inner parts are usually only tinted. The tinsmith will not be able to straighten the complex shape of the niche for the spare tire at all. Folds in the metal under the trunk upholstery indicate participation in an accident.
Motor. There should be no leaks under the hood. Check the level of all fluids that you can reach. A low level of oil in the engine or coolant indicates a poor attitude of the owner towards his equipment. Bad sign.
Clearances. The distances between the parts must be the same everywhere. There should be no clearly recessed or protruding elements. This applies less and less to cars – they can come out of the factory with curves.
Documents Editing
All original papers must be with the owner: his personal passport, title, registration certificate. Be sure to check the VIN numbers. Various powers of attorney and duplicate documents are suspicious.
Do not forget to write down or take a picture of the STS number – it will come in handy for checking the car against the databases.
Checking legal purity
In recent years, authorities have begun to share information from their databases. On the Internet, you can officially get a lot of information about the past car. Here are the main sources
Gibdd.ru/check/auto – on the traffic police website by the VIN code, you can find out the history of registrations, participation in an accident, being wanted, and the presence of restrictions.
Avtokod.mos.ru – by the STS number you can find out the history of the car from the capital or the Moscow region. To use the service, you must register on the Gosuslugi portal (Gosuslugi.ru).
Reestr-zalogov.ru is a service from the Federal Notary Chamber that checks the pledge of movable property. You need to know the VIN code of the vehicle.
Fssp.ru – the base of the Bailiff Service shows vehicles arrested for debts. To check, you only need to know the full name and region of the owner.
Ulsugi.mosreg.ru – the license plate service checks a car for work in a taxi. Unfortunately, the verification can be bypassed by obtaining a new number before selling. But the traffic police base will show the re-registration.
Fts.ru – on the website of the Customs Service, you can find out by the VIN code whether the car has been cleared by customs.
Car service before buying
We chose a car, checked the legal purity, examined the body and interior … Now, for complete certainty, it is worth showing the car to the master from the service workshop. Diagnostics will cost 3-5 thousand rubles.
It is better to go to a service that serviced transport before (there is a history of all work performed), or one that specializes in the brand you have chosen. The categorical unwillingness of the seller to show the car to specialists should alert. If it is not possible to agree with the owner on an inspection in the workshop, then it is possible that you should refuse to buy a particular car.
Money after registration
There were cases when the new owner of the car came to the traffic police to re-register the car for himself and learned from the police that the VIN code on the body had been changed. The reasons may be different: the code was damaged in an accident, the numbers were deliberately changed after theft, the entire plate with the VIN code could be taken from another case. The result, unfortunately, is one – it will be impossible to register such a car.
The only way out is to sue the seller and demand money back.
Therefore, when making a transaction, you can insist on full payment only after re-registration in the traffic police. But the seller has the right to refuse – after all, he can already become a victim. Go and prove that you didn’t receive money when the car is officially not yours.
Cheap new or old used
No one has ever sat in a new car, never smoked, there is a factory warranty and the car definitely did not get into an accident. But you will have to be serviced by officials at high prices, and an overpayment of 20% for novelty is not small.
Another thing is a used car. For the same amount, you can take something more prestigious, large. Repair wherever you want. From the old owner, most likely, will get an additional alarm system, a second set of wheels. But there is a risk of taking a broken or stolen car, a car that was not serviced on time.
Everyone makes a choice for himself. But if you have already decided to buy a used car, do not be too lazy to first study its birth sores. Much has been written about the characteristic shortcomings of running cars in the auto press and on thematic forums. Knowing the weaknesses will help plan the cost of future repairs.