New to SG, need help in buying 2nd hand Car

DDGuy SG

OK guys, I came to SG with family on a 2 year EP, just 3 weeks ago. I have my family with (wife plus 2 kids - 9 & 7) and working in Ayer Rajah area. Will be moving in to a condo near Bayshore Road (Kids's school is closer to there) . While the MRT/ Bus system here is great, I will be needing a Car as my office is quite far (~20+ kms).

Buying a new Car is out of question, sold both my Cars back home and so no option but to buy a 2nd hand car here. Criteria as follows

1) Budget - 25-28K (Any more and the downpayment will be a problem)

2) Decent enough FC (due to long drive): Not necessary to be 14-15+ but not below 10 also. So a manual car is prefered.

3) Good resale value - will be selling while going back 2 years later.

Only 2006 Verna, Sunny and Rio seem to fit the above bill (as per sgcarmart). Saw and test drove one Verna and one Sunny till now. Seem to like the Sunny more (bigger, Japanese and so better resale, some extra features). Need advice on-

1) What to ensure before buying from a used car dealer. Already paid the Sunny dealer to do STA evaluation, what else?

2) This Sunny has upsized (+2 I think, 205/....) sports rims. They look cool but what will the effect on FC (I have read a lot of horror stories on Sunny's FC). I guess I can always trade later with OE rims with someone who wants the looks?

3) The music player is original Clarion but can't play MP3 CD's. Where can I get some 2nd hand MP3 player?

Thanks for reading and advice, if any !!

DDGuy SG

Forgot to add-

4) Sunny Dealer is offering only $500 discount on listed price of around $27000. Is this OK in Singapore or am I getting ripped?

5) Dealer is offering in-house financing at 2.68%. While both my bank and Verna dealer were offering 2.98%. Is there a catch here? Can this "in-house" financing be trusted

nightsky87 SG

Buying a new Car is out of question, sold both my Cars back home and so no option but to buy a 2nd hand car here. Criteria as follows

1) Budget - 25-28K (Any more and the downpayment will be a problem)

2) Decent enough FC (due to long drive): Not necessary to be 14-15+ but not below 10 also. So a manual car is prefered.

3) Good resale value - will be selling while going back 2 years later.

1) What to ensure before buying from a used car dealer. Already paid the Sunny dealer to do STA evaluation, what else?

3) The music player is original Clarion but can't play MP3 CD's. Where can I get some 2nd hand MP3 player?

Thanks for reading and advice, if any !!

So are you staying in The Bayshore or the elite COSTA DEL SOL?

First things first. Your Sunny manual will probably give you about 10-12km/l, but only if you can drive consistantly on highways. Yes the 205 profile tyres will make a difference to your FC. Change then back to the stock profile of 185 if I recall correctly. Do take note the road leading out from your condo onto ECP only goes in the ECP (Changi) direction. You'll have to drive out to East Coast Road and then enter ECP (AYE) from Bedok South entrance.

Resale Value - None to speak of. Please take note that there is currently not much demand for Sunnys, you may have to scrap the car after your 2 years as you will be hard pressed to find a buyer for a 5 year ++ Sunny.

Sound system - Most ICE units have MP3/USB support. Don't have to buy second hand! Get some cheaper brands good enough. Various china brands, with LCD touchscreen, can play DVDs as well, are very, very cheap.

Sunny discount. Typical marketing tactic. Please do take note on top of you Sunny buying price, you may have to foot the bill for Admin fee, Transfer fee, STA fee, etc etc.

In-house financing. Please read the fine print. Usually a lower percentage usually requires you to take up a) higher loan amounts, and b) longer loan tenures resulting in c) higher interest paid overall. Do your sums and see which payment plan you are more comfortable with.

lianamaster SG

Forgot to add-

4) Sunny Dealer is offering only $500 discount on listed price of around $27000. Is this OK in Singapore or am I getting ripped?

5) Dealer is offering in-house financing at 2.68%. While both my bank and Verna dealer were offering 2.98%. Is there a catch here? Can this "in-house" financing be trusted

4) I think it's ok.

5) Check out the terms and conditions like that Nightsky87 has mentioned. 2.68% isn't the lowest though but you got to see which finance company you are borrowing from. Read and understand the terms first before signing.

lianamaster SG

1) What to ensure before buying from a used car dealer. Already paid the Sunny dealer to do STA evaluation, what else?

3) The music player is original Clarion but can't play MP3 CD's. Where can I get some 2nd hand MP3 player?

1) If the report from STA shows that the car is fine, then I believe it should be alright. Be wary on the financing, insurance and delivery date of the car, quoted by the dealer. Got any qns, just shoot to them.

2) I'm not too sure about that... Nightsky87 has provided some feedback on that.

3) Perhaps, you can get some car magazines that feature some good MP3 players and you can decide from there. No need to buy second hand ones though, there's ought to be plenty of affordable ones on the market.

DDGuy SG

Thanks to the replies.....Hmmm, not too many people like Sunny, do they !!

Thanks for the tip nightsky about ECP. Yes, most of the drive will be ECP/AYE and so let's see what FC I get, else it will be bye-bye to those 205 profile tyres (Any takers already? :-)

The dealer says no admin fee, only one time trasfer fee to STA and of course Insurance. Yet to come back with financing details, will go through carefully.

lianamaster SG

Good luck in your Sunny!

dalim1966sg SG

Another FT ! PUke !

DDGuy SG

dalim....I have not been in Singapore long enough to even understand your post, so no offence taken :-)

The agent called to say that the Car came up Grade B in STA Evaluation. I guess for a 3.5 year old car, its OK, right?

(will look at the report tomorrow in detail and also apply for loan - from Tokyo Leasing I am told)

sir_peanuts SG

for someone who's here for 3 weeks, you've certainly done your homework about getiing a car!

sunny's beyond cure because of "hereditary" flaws. it's too heavy.

and you're been here long enough to know what "FT". you'll survive.

nightsky87 SG

STA grading uses a 120pt checkpoint.

The issue is NOT the A or B.

The issue is to find out WHY it is B.. Since you have paid for it, I highly recommend you getting a copy of the report and sharing it with us so that we might help you make a better choice.

DDGuy SG

120 point? The report I saw had around 10 categories (e.g. engine, body, brake, transmission....etc.) with 4 possible Grades. The Car got A's in Engine, Chasis, transmission...and a few more) and B's in body (report of some minor body scratches), brakes and some more.) Overall equal A's and B's - could have been better but then its a 3.5 year car afterall, I guess one gets what one pays for.

I have braced myself for the poor FC which I feel will be at least 20% poorer (say 10-11 km/ltr as against 12-13 from say a Corrolla Altis) than other possible cars that I could have bought but with a monthly commute of max 1500 Kms, that's an extra cost of max $500 per year or $1000 for the 2 years that I want to keep this car. But to get a same age Altis I need to pay way more than that $1000 (10 times more actually). So I am cool with this Sunny, given its really low price.

nightsky87 SG

Enjoy your car..

lianamaster SG

I find it acceptable for a 2nd-hand car.