How to buy 2nd hand car from owner? Need advices.

[Hotisland]

I've fixed my eye on a 2nd hand car which is being sold by the owner. However, I am not really sure what should I do other than inspecting the car and negotiating the price.

 

I believe many bros here had bought cars from owners before. Can you please shed some lights on the process? Following are some areas I can think of by now. I may have overlooked some.

 

1. Car loan - Heard that you can take it either from a bank or other financing house such as GE Mondy or even take some car dealer's in-house loan. Should I start talking to one of them 1st or go seal the deal with car seller 1st? How much downpayment whould the loaner ask for? I'm looking at a $45K car and looking at borrowing 40K and repay the loan in 3 yrs. Is it possible?

 

Also not sure how the bank would process the loan. Are they going to take over the car from the owners financing house 1st and "lease" it too me?

 

2. Transfer of car ownership - Some website suggests that the buyer can handle it himself. Is it a easy process? How to start?

 

3. Insurance - when should I start looking into it? before or after seal the deal?

 

Also heard that you can hire someone (maybe a car SE) to do all the paper work for you and also help you to secure the loan/insurance etc. It sounds ok and I do not mind paying a few hundred $ for the service. But are there Pros and Cons using the dealer's service?

 

I assume that I will need to:

1) talk to a bank and secure the loan;

2) close the deal with the owner;

3) bring the necessary documents to bank and sign the loan contract and insure the car at the same time;

4) bring docs to LTA to transfer ownership.

 

 

Thanks.

[Tedyruby]

It's complicated. Even if you go to a bank to secure a loan on your own, the bank officer from the car loan department will evaluate the car to determine the OMV of the car & come out with a figure. Very difficult to get 1 or 2k over loan from the bank. Most car dealers will have better bargaining power and most of the time, the bank will offer loan to the car dealers, credit company then to individuals

 

My advice is to seek consultations from a used car dealer or credit company. Do a little bit of home work & remember to read the terms,conditions as well as the clauses melted out by them.

[Iamlazy]

Hi hotisland,

When I bought mine from the owner, I engaged a 3rd party to run the necessary errand. Unfortunately I can't remember who this person is as my car was purchase 3 years back. This 3rd part will advise you accordingly too.

[Hjteo]

Hi ,

Can't advise you on the loan part but from my personal experience of ownership transfers with my motorcycles:

 

1. Insurance - you will need the insurance 1st as ownership transfer needs the insurance. I bought insurance from NTUC with just the vehicle registration and my particulars. Quotes can be checked on line.

 

2. Ownership transfer - Details can be found in http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onem...p_Transfer.html. There is a checklist there as well.

Apart from going LTA for the transfer, I believe there are other places as well.

 

3. It may be good to have some form of written agreement with the other party.

 

Cheers

[Nhrisuzu]

maybe it will be a good idea to look for trade assist..

 

http://www.tradeassist.com.sg/

[Hotisland]

Many thanks for all the infor provided.

 

As suggested, I am going thru all the website and trying to find a friendly dealer to find out more details.

[Jl1500k]

Actually just like buying a resale HDB Flat. Let car agent handle all the things and paid abit commission will do. All you need to do is read the term and condition and sign on the dot. If any things handle alone and all by you self will

Edited May 13, 2008 by Jl1500k

[Hotisland]

I talked to a dealer the other day and now have a better picture. I think I'll use dealers service which costs a few hundred dollars. They can also help me to get quotes for loan, insurances etc. - the rates may be better than what I can get.

 

Anyway, it's still my responsibility to make the deal with the car owner. And I have a few more questions here. Hope bros here can advise me.

 

1. If it's a under 3 yrs old car, it should still under warranty. I heard that if the car has not been serviced by the AD, the warranty might be void. How do I confirm if the car has always been serviced by the AD? Possible to call up the AD and check up even before purchasing the car?

 

2. Judge by the milage, the owner might have driven up Malaysia for at least a few times. How do I check if it has any traffic infringement record in MY?

 

3. I would like to send the car for a check up (evaluation) even it's still under warranty. Do you think the check up service worth the money? Heard that they only do simple checks which may not help much unless the car is an obvious lemon. And which one you would recommend - among AA, STA & VICOM?

 

Many thanks.

Edited May 15, 2008 by Hotisland

[Lorrliew]

NO NO, don't pay; ask dealers to do it for you (loan, insurance & LTA Transfer) free because they get commission for loans & insurance. That's what happen to me the last time, just check on classified ads in Straits Times for these services.

[Leepee]

I would say only the loan part is a bigger issue, you may need a dealer to handle for you.

 

The insurance price is usually the same whether you go thru agent or yourself.

 

Trasfer of the car is the easiest, just go to SinMing LTA on a weekdays, fill in some forms, pay the small transfer fees, and the car will be in your name in no time! 5minutes done deal at the counter itself(not inclusing of queue time hor).

 

 

The problem of loan is the biggest issue when it comes to selling a car privately. Usually the buying party will 'find' it very very troublesome to handle the paper work themselves. Many are thereby willing to pay a premium of up to $10k more to buy the same second hand car from a dealer for the so called 'ease of mind'

[Hotisland]

Ah, didn't know I can get the dealer service free since they are making commission from the loans. Great infor! thanks. I may check out the weekend newspapers.

[Hotisland]

Any idea how to check the AD servicing & MY driving record?