Buying a car

Diesel is cheaper. I've been checking diesel today at belgium and it was 1.11 euros a liter. In the netherlands its 1.73 a liter. Also the taxes on a yearly basis are 4/5 times cheaper than what they are here. For example. A audi A6 costs 650 for 3 months TAX. In belgium it would costs me 400 a year

well really depends how you would use your car. If you drive only short distance daily i would pick a car which use gasoline but if you drive 100+ km i'd pick diesel. 1.9 tdi is pretty good in vw golf. i am about to make a retro car VW golf I and i will put an 1.9 tdi in it ;)

diesel will cost you more in the long run, unless you are getting a truck and do long drives, i think

but if you buy you should buy VW golf GTI, i wouldnt buy that 1.6 gasoline shit :D

Don't get a VW Golf only road ragers drive those. :D

used to have 1.6 gasoline - too slow and feels heavy with this engine
however it was good for me, very comfortable

since you're buying a used car, just make sure you check the mileage and the engine condition before you make your purchase.

Dla Ciebie cwelu to taczka z plandeka

Don't buy a car, use bicycle and you will thank me later.

Check mileage:
there are many (or at least more than you would think) scammers, that are cheating on the mileage. So, check interior (especially steering wheel, seats and pedals), does it look like it has been driven far more than the mileage says, e.g. heavy wear on the leather/cloth of the steering wheel/seats, heavy wear on the pedals, no maintenance booklet


You prolly arent a professional, but there are few things you can check for yourself:
Brakes:
- the discs shouldn't have any creases that are deeper than your finger nail
- rust is a big nopenopenope
- check the brakes during driving, so do a fucking emergency breaking from 50 km/h and lift your hands off the steering wheel, if the car isnt driving straight during braking there might be problems with the steering, unequal brake power distribution or the camber (or tons of other things) -> expensive fixes
- also, high piercing noises during breaking dont have to be (super)bad, but it might be an indicator for bad/low-quality parts/work

Corrosion:
- check the seams and folds of the doors, the trunk and the engine hood, these are the most "prominent" places for corrosion (and bad fix ups), also - if possible - lift up any rubber seals
- obviously, the engine room shouldn't look like complete shit with flash rust all over
- look for any places of bubbly paint (which is a big nopenopnope too)
- look at the paint job, if you see any patches or car parts that have a slighly off-tone color ask for the accident history, if the seller then tells you "no, no, no accidents" back off immediately

Engine:
- if there is a maintenance booklet, check the intervals, have their been big pauses, has the oil/cam belt been switched at the right intervals, normally once per year (more frequent oil switches are an indicator for rough drivers that dont warm the engine before kicking it or regular track usage -> back off!)
- check the engine idle - it is really constant? does it change when you switch on/off light or ac? doesnt necessearly have to be a big problem, but might be connected to faulty addition parts (AC compressor, electric generator), still: a perfect engine should constantly run at the idle
- obviously, the nicer it sounds, the better it is gonna be (prolly)

Tires:
- at least 3-5 mm of profile left, you can calculate with about 1-2mm of removed profile during a summer/winter season (depending on driving style of course)
---> uneven profile depths at left/right, front/back might also indicate problems with the steering/camber/absorbers
- below 1.5mm ---> insta-back-off, no serious seller would sell you a car like that (at least not without telling that youll need new tires right after you buy the car)
- not older than 7 years (older and the rubber starts to become brittle and it just wont work that good)

Exhaust:
- lay down on your back and have a look at the exhaust and stick your finger into any patches of rust you see, if everything is solid - good, if it crumbles (rust has already eaten through the whole metal) --->instanope
- exhaust fumes shouldnt "smell" particularly bad (of course they arent pleasant from the start, but you will more or less instantly smell bad combustion conditions)
- exhaust fumes should be more or less transparent ---> blue or black? --> bad combustion --> nopenopenope

Diesel or Gasoline:
- Usually longer drives & high yearly mileage: Diesel (lots of small trips are bad for diesels as their filters will start to clogg eventually, also bad for the turbo due to frequent thermal load switches (heating/cooling))
---> Diesel looks cheaper on the paper, but taxes are always higher and in most cases insurance is also higher (people who drive diesels will drive more, hence they will cause more crashes, hence you have to pay more)
---> Diesel engines are (generally) more complex than gasoline engines (Turbo, High pressure injection, higher temperatures during combustion, more corrosive gases during combustion), so repairs will most likely be more expensive

- Low mileage, small (but frequent) drives: Gasoline, naturally aspirated engines are way more durable in these situations because of their more simple construction (in comparison to Turbo-Diesel engines)
---> usually lower taxes and insurance, lower repair prices if something in the engine breaks down
---> gasoline engines have (inherently) less torque, so they will feel much slower during acceleration than equally powered diesel engines

Obviously, you want to buy a used (and in the best case scenario cheap) car, so you will never be able to achieve all those mentioned points all at once. Personally, I would take a little bit of corrosion or a faulty exhaust over e.g. faulty brakes or tires (these things keep you alive at the end of the day!). Also, any bad things you find about the car you can also use during your price negotiations.
Serious sellers will allow you to bring the car into a repair shop and will let you have a look beneath the car (best case: repair shop with a professional), might cost some money in the first place, but might keep you from unwanted suprises, that will turn your car into a financial grave. More serious buyers will even have a "status report" from an independent reviewer that will estimate price and general condition of the car (would take such a car with 10/20k more mileage than the same priced car without such a report).

Happy Mercedes benz e220 cdi owner reporting in

make sure ur car is equipped with kolmosen kautta nelosen puhaltimella.

You can find all the taxes on the internet
Might be less expensive in the nothern part of the country than it is here

e: gotta say that golf is like seat ibiza, a car for irresponsible drivers

For some reason I never liked VW cars. I either stick to Subaru, Accura, Infinity or Lexus. All 4 car range are pretty nice. You don't get this cars in Germany? Just curious.

add 10k and buy something decent

plebeian, who doesn't own a Skyline GTR as daily car.

unforgiven, if you buy a car of 10.000 euro and when its out of garage its 8000. So you price always fall more and more.

By the way, what you should keep in mind as well. Check the milage and year of car. If the milage is way to low for a old car, stay away from it. Meaning it either has some engine problems, that most of the time it is under repair or if you get lucky really careful people used this car and drove not much.

It is always better when a old car has decent ( not much ) but decent amount of milage, it is telling that the car has been on the road more than in the service or under repairing.
But it also means that it has got a real pounding on the engine. Now if you check the overall condition over a car you can easily see who was driving it.

And a big pluss will be, when the car you want to buy had only 1-3 users. To many are bad, either something wrong.

If you can also, would nice to see cars VIN number and if possible to check in local incurenc companys for hidden accidents. ( we in Estonia have this option possible and very good thing, a lot sellers hide minor crashes and stuff, but via VIN number I can login to insurance company and check there. LIke this you can either drop the price or if the person does not want to share VIN number, he hides something )