CAR FOR CITY OR LONG-DISTANCE DRIVING
Consider whether you need a car primarily for city or long-distance driving:
- Cars with smaller engine displacement are more fuel efficient in city driving
- Cars with bigger engine displacement are more fuel efficient in long distance driving
- If you want a car for long-distance driving, buy cars 4m or longer, driving those is less tiring for the driver
- Cars with small engine displacement tend to be noisy when driven on the open road, make sure you double check this
- Pay attention to HP (horse power). If you are planning to use the car primarily for long-distance driving, HP needs to be higher so the car is more agile. Comparison of HPs is not enough to conclude whether a car is more sluggish than the other. The weight of the car affects it, as well. The heavier the car heavier, the more horsepower it requires.
- Lower cars are more stable for high speed driving
ENGINE
Fiat's 1.3 multijet engines are currently the best on the market. Some Suzuki cars have this engine built in even though Fiat name does not show anywhere on the engine as Suzuki does not want to advertise Fiat. If Suzuki was bought in Serbia, calling Suzuki representative office and giving them details of the car will give you reliable information as to whether it is multijet engine or not. Multijet engines are still diesel.
Citroen C3 1.4 HDi diesel engine is the second best.
When you like a car, check the website www.whatcar.com for the review and see which variants of the car are recommended and which variants you should be avoided. My advice is to avoid cars that have been rated below three. Here's an example of a review on this website: http://www.whatcar.com/car-reviews/used/ford/fiesta-hatchback/summary/23676-5.
If an engine has a chain instead of belt, the car does not require a major service that normally costs around 200 euros and ‚it should be done after 50.000 - 70.000 km, depending on the car and personal beliefs of interlocutors. This does not have to be crucial in making the decision on the car purchase, but if there is a variant of the engine with a chain, why not?
Unfortunately, it is widely known that mileage on cars can be easily manipulated with. The less mileage, the better, of course, but you can not be sure of that by looking at the mileage info. If the car was owned by a company, it is a sure sign of a big mileage on it, and I'd avoid purchase of such cars.
After the test drive, check immediately whether there are drops of water under the cap of the oil reservoir of the engine - which would be a sign that the engine is not in good shape. When you're already there, pull the oil meter up and if you see smoke coming from the pipe, it is also a sign of a bad engine.
Another sign that the engine is bad is when the black smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe while lightly pressing gas. If the white smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe, it is a sign that the nozzles on the engine are not good, and the nozzles are very expensive. Thus, there should not be any visible smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe.
If you notice that the steering wheel and gear shift are worn out, it is a sign that the car was driven aggressively.
If the car pulls to one side when steering, this may be a sign that it was in an accident or it bumped into a hole. Repair can costs only 50-60 EUR, but this also may be more serious problem, and I would think twice before even considering to buy such a car.
If you buy a car from the auto lot, expect that they will thoroughly wash the engine before they exhibit the car. However, if the engine has not been washed, and you see that there is no oil leakage, it's a sign of a good engine. While you are still there, take a look at the metal under the hood - if the car was hit, from this angle you can easily notice irregularities and evidence of the accident.
METAL
Metal on "garaged" cars is in much better shape, and if you buy a car relying mostly on you intuition and common sense ;), look only at the garaged ones.
Be sure to check what state is the metal around the spare wheel if you can not bend over and look at how the car looks from the underneath.
Toyota cars for some reason tend to be have a very endurable metal, even when they are not garaged.
Car must have all symmetrical lines and it is easier to determine that when viewing it from behind. Otherwise, it's a sign that he had been in an accident.
Pay attention to the wheel arches. If they have already started to corrode, it means that they have not been very well protected and this is impossible to fix.
PRICE, MAINTENANCE COSTS AND PAPERWORK
Usually the cars that are sold through car lots are more expensive. But still, you should call to check the prices. It happened to me that a seller from a car lot told me that the last price for which I could get a certain Suzuki is 500 EUR LOWER than the price listed on the website: www.polovniautomobili.com?!?!
Automatic car air for some reason is better than manual air, ie, those cars are more pricey.
Cars with "metallic" color are also more pricey, which is totally illogical to me.
There are not many adequate service shops for cars with "automatic" transmission in Serbia, because they are still quite rare and fixing them could be a challenge...
Matte cars are the most expensive. Cheaper and more common a variant of "matte" color is matte car wrap which is much cheaper than genuine matte color.
Owning a car with Euro 3 emission class engine has become very expensive in Germany because of amendments to the law in early 2015, so that the prices of the cars with these engines dropped significantly in Germany, and if you have an option to import such a car, I am certain it would be affordable.
Maintenance of Japanese cars is not so expensive as there is a prejudice that it is, and on an average they break more rarely, so you will not pay more for the maintenance of Japanese cars on an average. My personal opinion is that it is a very smart move for a woman to buy a Japanese car simply because it doesn't break almost ever, but the majority of men from this area will not agree with this statement.
Lamella on the clutch is cheaper than floating flywheel, therefore, maintenance of a clutch with lamella is cheaper.
Be sure to check the condition of the tires. Purchasing all four new tires after buying a car can be very expensive.
Be sure to ask when the last time was done minor, and when a major service on a car.
If the car has already been registered in Serbia, you as a customer, regardless of the fact that this is the legal obligation of the seller, pay sales tax for that car. This tax is 2.5% of the market price of a used car as determined by Tax Administration in the city where the car is originally registered.
If the car is registered in your city, then you pay a new registration card, and not the new plates.
If you are buying an unregistered car in another city, you have the option to pay the one day plates which cost from 2,500 - 4,000 din.
If you are buying unregistered just imported car, you pay for the registration and license plates.
And so on, so forth...
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS
Citroen C3
Go for ... 1.4i SX
Avoid ... 1.1 / Sensodrive
Toyota Yaris
Go for ... 1.3 VVTi GS 5dr
Avoid ... 1.0 S 3dr
Lancia Ypsilon (or Chrysler Ypsilon)
Go for ... 1.3 multijet
Mazda 2
Go for ... 1.25 S
Avoid ... 1.6 Sport or Capella
Mitsubishi Colt
Go for ... 1.1 Classic
Avoid ... 1.5 CZT
Ford Fiesta
Go for ... 1.25 Style 5dr Climate
Avoid ... 1.3 Finesse 3dr
Suzuki Swift
Go for ... 1.5 GLX
Avoid ... 1.3 diesel
Alea iacta est...
