Car Buying Tips

Are you planning to buy a used car in Pakistan? If yes then you are also going to be one of those people who go through the whole hectic process of buying a used car. The anxiety, pressure, lack of trust and fraudulent dealings are all part of this process in Pakistan.

Before we move towards the tips, it is important to tell you the basic difference in buying a used car from a dealer and buying it from an owner.

• Since you do not know how much the dealer actually paid for a certain used car, you may end up paying him much more than he deserved.
• Most dealers in Pakistan do not normally purchase the used car they are going to sell. They only display it in their showroom and pay off the owner minus their commission after the car is sold.
• Since the dealer charges both the buyer and seller with his commission, buying directly from the owner saves you that much amount of money.
• Dealers in Pakistan sell used cars daily; they have thousands of buyers and are in no hurry to sell it to you. Therefore, bargaining with them is a lot more difficult than with the owner.
• The dealer may offer you a car that has been resold many times and driven by many people. He may also offer you a car that has been used for rental purposes. Such cars are roughly driven and not taken care of. An Owner will offer you only his home used car that has been taken special care of.

Here are some important tips that you need to follow when buying a used car:

1. Check the engine of the car:

The most important part of the car is its engine. Some dealers in Pakistan are very smart to hire fraudulent mechanics who temper with the mileage. They may deceive you by rolling back the odometer to make the vehicle appear to have a lower mileage. You can’t really do much to avoid an odometer fraud but do check if the numbers in the odometer are in a disarray or not. Disarray in the odometer indicates possible mileage tampering. Mileage from 15,000 km to 20, 000 km is considered a good mileage. The engine should be clean with signs of leaking oil or other fluids.

2. Check the body of the car:

Check if the car has any rust or corrosion on its body, especially is you are buying it from Karachi. This is because the atmosphere of the city is humid and full of moisture. Make sure that there is no rust on the car because it is the most damaging thing that occurs on the body of the car.

3. Take the car on for a test drive:

Don’t go on the outer looks of the car; rather take it on for a test drive. Drive it on different road tracks i.e. fast motorway, slow urban track, twisting roads and roads with heaps. Check the reverse as well.

4. Check the interior of the car:

Another important thing to check is the interior of the car. Make sure that the seats are made of leather, the CD/DVD player is installed, Air conditioning is proper, lights and signals are working as well.

5. Verify all legal documents:

Verify the owner’s identification details with that given on the registration documents; match the registration copy with the ID card of the owner. The engine plate on the car should match with that given on the registration documents.

6. Check the price of the car:

Ask the price of the car from the owner and see what he demands; if he demands something below the market value then find out why. No owner in Pakistan would sell a car for 8 lakhs that has a market price of 10 lakhs. It only happens when there is a fault somewhere in the care, inner or outer.