Advice on Buying my first Car!

faithe

New Member
Hi all,
My hubby and I are planning to buy our first car, after considering the amount of our salary spent on taking cabs everymth!

But we do not know how to go about doing it, i mean what kind of homework to do before purchase?I have been surfing online for info e.g. OMV, ARF etc but are still confused on the calcution method, such as depreciation per yr,scrap value etc.Is there any website that teaches us on the calculations?or anyone can advise?
Our budget is about max $600/mth on instalment only,downpayment able to fork out about 5-7K, any recommendation for the mix of car suitable for us?
The purpose is just for transportation purpose, not for branding or prestige.More for family usage.
Really hope that some car expert can give me some guardian..
Thanks in adv first!
 


babyshannon

New Member
i will recommend toyota vios...is quite fuel saving...currently a full tank will cost me $60 which can last my husband and i for 8 days, considering tat we use very often (my husband drives to work then i take over the car) and i use it for my work too which requires me to travel 1-2 times from north to east per day...

do take in consideration, the petrol per mth, erp and parking charges and also road tax, insurance and maintenace fees...

hope it helps...
happy.gif
 

not_so_easy

New Member
usually you need to made a down payment of 30% and allowed to loan upto 70%...as to the instalment amount...you can take a longer period to meet what you can afford to pay.
 

faithe

New Member
isit, i think now already no more such rules right?Upfront can be as little as 10%,depending on u get from authorized dealer or parallel importer.
 

crazy_guy

New Member
basically now u can laon 100%!!!..some dealers just ask for $1 for the sake of making u 'pay' for something u pay..

now the car all very cheap..ard 50K can get a reasonable one..
 

hwey

New Member
You may wish to consider safety factor as well. For your budget, try continental cars like Renault, Opel.
 

airex

New Member
Hi,
I think for budget wise, choose Japan-made cars eg Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi.. But when I was choosing my car, the feedback I received from workshops etc was to choose Toyota or Honda for easy maintenance.
I agree that Vios is very fuel efficient. And the price has dropped due to COE. For Toyota, Borneo Motors will want a 10% downpayment, plus 1st yr insurance & 1st month installment etc.. This will amt to about 7-8k. As for Honda, Kah Motors is more flexible on the downpayment, not insisting 10% as long as the bank loan is ok.
Hope all this helps..
happy.gif
 

magic_alz

Active Member
hello faithe!
just saw this thread,
my hubby's a car broker and his service is super good..n i'm not just saying this coz he's my hubby..=)
if u need any advice, can email me n i'll give u his number to call..

he's very interested in car matters..so he doesn't mind giving people advice about buying cars..even if they don't buy in the end..

he deals in both new and old cars, but my advice to you is to go for a new one..if u're budget constrained, like us, can go for models like hyundai..my FIL drives a hyundai, n i drive a toyata vios, n frankly speaking, they're not much of a diff..

anywayz, my email is [email protected]

=D
 

airex

New Member
I think those who wanna buy cars, this is a great time to buy with the COE at rock bottom low!!! we were so sad that we have bought ours.. argh...
sad.gif
 

sweet_apple

New Member
Hi Tweety,

I'm driving a Mitsibishi Lancer. Fuel consumption is average only, I would suggest that you consider Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic if you are looking for sedan. Alternatively, you may want to consider Honda Jazz or Fit, it gives very good mileage.
 

not_firmed

Active Member
Hi.. coz we need to overloan for my old car, so only selected car can give us this benefit. Actually we would prefer Toyota vios.. but don think can overloan..

Icebaby.. what do u mean by no good ha??

Raindrops.. the rate is 3.25 now..

Apple.. How abt the maintenance?? is it v ex?? May I know how much u bought the car?? From main distributor or parallel importer??
 

sweet_apple

New Member
Hi Tweety,

I bought my car 3 years ago from Cycle & Carriage @$72K. Now you can get only around $55K right? The maintenance is not expensive, but it's not very fuel efficient as compared to Toyota or Honda. The pickup is also not very good. But overall, it's still ok lah.

Now the main factor to consider in getting a car is the fuel consumption. Honda Jazz/Fit is value for money. My friends who bought this car never regret the decision. Even though it's only 1.4, it picks up even faster than my car.
 

airex

New Member
Hi,
I definitely agree with Apple. Jazz is really a good buy!!!
happy.gif
Initially I wanted to buy Jazz but had to change my choice due to the space constraint. If you do not need to ferry people much. Jazz is good. Fuel consumption is very efficient. Too bad..
sad.gif
Love the sporty feel... choosing the interior colors..
 

doreamon

New Member
hihi

Yup, jazz is good .. kekeee me driving a jazz too.. pick up i dun know wether is better then other cars or not but it's sure better then my old car (a 1 lL nissan march) but for fuel consumption part is real good ... the car "drink" petrol beri slowly ... the monthly petrol chrgs abt the same as my 1L march althot this car is 1.4L ... now i think the price drop until quite low liao ... (sob sob, me bought it at $73k like that ....)
 

not_firmed

Active Member
Hi aplle, Kate & Jonju.. thanks for all yr advice n sharing yr experience of yr car.. Shall consider honda jazz.. thanks alot..
 

doreamon

New Member
okie ... u can go to kah motor side n c what they can offer for u ... juz tell them u need to overloan n see what they can do bah... do update us okie
happy.gif
 

not_firmed

Active Member
So sad to say that for overloan, we can only afford lancer. Honda don allow high overloan, so we only have Lancer as a choice. haiz..
 

doreamon

New Member
hi tweety

its okie la, lancer oso good mah.I can see that there are a lot of lancer on the road so the car should be okie lor .. U did call up honda n check ???
 

jess0707

New Member
hi tweety,

Good news! I have checked with my friend (she is with a car agent). She can help you getting a Honda Jazz and overloan for you.

Please call me at 9815-8189.

Cheers!
 

not_firmed

Active Member
Hi Jonju.. I didn call, all from dealer..

Apple.. May i know which model is yrs?

Jess.. I will ask my Fh first k.. thanks ya
 

doreamon

New Member
hi tweety

c, jess can help u leh ... go n ask ur hubby la but i think maybe ur hubby prefer lancer cos my hubby at first dun really like jazz too but he has no choice be4 i "nag n nag" until he cannot take it then later we bought jazz instead of his favourite subaru ... but from that day onwards he never regret getting a jazz ... he's getting more n more into it...
 

jess0707

New Member
hi tweety,

np.. afterall no obligations.. i can understand ur situations.. feel free to contact me.

Cheers!
 

sweet_apple

New Member
Hi Tweety,

Mine is the old face lift - 1.5GDI. If no other choice, then get Lancer lor, it's a not too bad car lah. But then I prefer the old face lift to the current one.

Below is the mileage you can get for different cars (data frm my friends)

Nissan Sunny - 11km/ltr
Mitshibishi Lancer - 12km/ltr
Toyota Corolla - 15km/ltr
Honda Jazz - 17km/ltr

Of course, the information varies from different driver and road conditions.

Heard that the interest rate is going up again soon - current is 3%. So you better decide fast.
 

ttsh

New Member
Hi,

I just bought a new nissan sunny ex auto yesterday. My friend had just bought the same car so he recommended me to use group discount. Both of us got $200 dicount each. If you are interested in buying any nissan car, dun miss the chance to pull in for more group discounts. Btw, we had to present our identities and invoice no. to the SE to show that it's a group buy. If you are interested, pls let me know.

Currently, I feel it's a good chance to buy a new car since the COE is going to increase, esp LTA had announced the cut of no. COE to be issued. So dun miss this opportunity.
 

ttsh

New Member
Starcom,

There's a facelift for Nissan Sunny. Maybe you could go to their website. I knew the older model, I dun like it too. The new facelift had make the back looked v stylo.
 

not_firmed

Active Member
Jess.. yr friend not reliable leh...
I bought honda fit from her.. but all her promises to me before buying are blank promise..
She told me got sports rim, leather seat, body kit and audio system.. after paying deposit, she told us that she doesn,t know, she thought have all those thing. so... at the end all don hv...

Now our car having problem.. and she said not her problem.. ask us to go to dealer.. we make appointment with that dealer, but he fly us kite.. dissappear... OMG...

dear all.. please aware of this agent.. especially this friend of Jess... She is malaysian, who carry mobile phone that never on.
 

bladers

New Member
Anymore recommendations, preferably Jap brands? Like Honda jazz, honda civic (new one), Vaios, Altis, Corolla or Lexus? For frst time buyer...
 

cosmicstar

New Member
Since depreciation of cars occurs in the first 2 years, is it better to get a 1 year old second hand car? For e.g. a brand new Toyota Vios cost $54K, a 1 yr old Vios costs $46K. Is it so simple as to compare it like that? How about the COE depreciation?
 

monkie

New Member
fuel consuption has to do with how a person drives also apart from the nature of the car.

but since this is your first car, even consider a second hand car?

i think its better to get a japaness / korean car.
right now, should be toyota vios that is quite popular. next is honda CTI. both cars have great designs, spacious.
but the car body for toyota is much lighter than honda so fuel consuption is lesser.
 

monkie

New Member
jo,
correct, body softer = larger dent.
but no matter how hard your car body is, always drive with care.
 

cactus_79

New Member
Hi Jo, softer body may mean safer car if the softer body acts as a compression zone. If not, in an accident, the human body absorbs the shock, and not the car's compression zone.
 

monkie

New Member
another way to know whether the car material is able to absorb shock well is to see how badly a car got damage after an accident.

for what i know, toyota vios is not make of any composite material otherwise it wun be so cheap.
 

sangay

New Member
Look at consumers guide for cars they have all the good and bad listed on a chart.
I bought my toyota highlander that way it has the same V6 as the lexus but a way better value even fully loaded. ALways buy last years model as long as its the fifth year or so of the bodystyle. THe bugs come with it the first year or three before the upgrades are made. Im a classic chevy fan at heart still got my 402 monte. worth more every year.
 

rosemarie

New Member
To all Experts in the Forum.....


Im planning to buy my first car. budget is around 1Mn. Basically I dont have a much knowledge to take a decision straightaway. need your advise

Few Concerns.

- I have to tarvel about 25 KMs daily so that the fuel consumption should be good enough
- The Car should be minimum of maintenance so that I dont want to waste my time a lot

Thought of buying a Jap car in good condition. Also Alto is in my wish list... pls adviz
 

tinselspark

New Member
Buy a car that you will love and that is within your budget. Like what steve jobs say, don't settle. Its a heavy and dying investment so at the very least make sure its a car u enjoy driving.
happy.gif
 

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