Buying used car

Unlike a private seller (where you buy "as seen"), professional used car dealers have to provide a two-years warranty. This includes all defects that were present at the time of purchase (NOT things that broke afterwards!) and were not specifically mentioned by the dealer or so obvious that you must have noticed.

The dealer can arrange a TÜV inspection and also tell you the cost of it. Please note that TÜV does only check whether legal requirements are met - not whether the car has any other defects!

It's been around 10 years since I bought my last car. It was used from a dealer. The warranty was only for 1 year, which I think was the rule - at that time at least. New cars have at least 2 years if not more. But the motor gave up within the year and I got no compensation for it. Small dealers don't actually repair anything if it breaks under warranty; They buy a contract with a company that should take responsibility. What I had overseen was that the contract with the company stated that I had to have it serviced by an official Opel dealer within 6 months. I had the service done although according to the mileage it was unneeded, but at a non-Opel service place and the 6 months was up. Not sure if it was legal. Seems that putting in stipulations that made it invalid after 6 months doesn't exactly fulfill the requirement of being valid for at least a year. But a lawyer told me that it not absolutely clear and to fight it in court could take years and cost a lot so I did not pursue it. As important as having the car checked is to see what the warranty contract says!

The TÜV and Dekra both offer various levels of inspection. They will check the legal things like safety and exhaust levels which need to be done every 2 years anyway. But they also offer more complete inspections looking for possible problems. Even then it is NOT a guarantee that a car will be trouble free - but it also doesn’t cost more than 100 – 200 euros if I remember correctly. Usually worth the investment if the dealer doesn’t offer it already.

Great Guys, thank you very muchRon