Cars for sale

Hiya Drummer Boy...

To be honest Ray autodealers is a great place and they are really nice people there.. and they have a cheaper section aswell.

Have you looked on Maltapark ?? there was a nice car on the classifieds here ... depends on how much you are looking to spend....

Julian

Cheers Scubaboy, will check out Rays and am assuming Maltapark is an online company.  Really don,t want to go over 2000E.  We only arrived in Malta 3 weeks ago so not familiar with areas and buses yet, but it,s all an adventure!!!

Welcome to the rock Mate...

www.maltapark.com

This is a selling website such as Gumtree in the UK... ALWAYS look at the Car before partiung with any money, if you know a Maltese then bring them with you..

also look in the Classifieds of www.timesofmalta.com

anything else then just ask here

Julian

Hi,
you can also check out this: autotradermalta.com

Or you simply walk/drive around and keep a lookout for phone numbers behind car windows. If you have checked the online-offers you can approx. guess the prices of these cars.

But to be honest: thx to the new road tax scheme it will be not easy to find a car with aircon in decent condition for 2000,-

Many thanks for the info and we are beginning to realise we were too optomistic in our needs.  Obviously we have no idea what you mean by the new road tax scheme but guess its something to do with a car having air con.  It will all become clear in the fullness of time and by making a few mistakes along the way.

Mike

The "new" road tax scheme was introduced 2009 (some say because of the flood of japanese imports) and is based on horsepower, emissions etc etc ... I also do not know the details, you can find all on homepage from Transport Malta (or google it).

But for all cars made after 2009 or have been imported to and registered in Malta after 2009 (take a look at the logbook) the annual road tax is much higher now (in some cases up to 4 or 5 times) and is increasing in steps every year.
Therefore the price of all used (old) cars built/imported before 2009 increased a lot.
Watch out for terms like "old tax sheme", "old licence", "old road tax", etc.) in the classifieds. On the other hand "Imported from UK" means you have to add a lot of money to get it registered here !

Other issue is the "registration tax". You have to pay approx. 35% of the current vehicle value to get it registered in Malta (there are some exeptions ...)
So, because of the registration tax I sold my Mitsubishi 2003, 90.000km, 98HP, 1600cc with aircon in very good condition etc. in Austria for 2000,- and bought an old Avella 1999, 130.000km, 75HP, 1300cc with aircon in quite used condition at 3000,- (prices in summer are also much higher than the rest of the year) ... but the good thing is, that I have to pay only about 150,- (or something) per year for insurance and road tax instead of about 400,- or more for a newer car with similar engine.

And also take care of the VRT date (vehicle roadworthy test), especially for old cars ! If you buy a "bargain" that needs to renew the VRT in a few months it's possible you have to spent lots of money in repairing and parts.

I learned that there are following "conditions" for used cars (below approx. 5000,-):
* "in perfect condition" - means the car is OK (exept shocks, gearbox and steering )
* "in mint condition" - means the car is still OK, more or less, anyhow, your expectations should not be too high
* "in good condition" - means the car is already very much used (like mine) and needs litte attention here and there, but it is driving
* "without any description" - drive it as long as you can and then sell it to a scrap company

Always keep in mind: the cars in Malta are used at low speed (1/ 2/3rd and reverse gear), the steering mechanism is highly stressed, also the springs and shocks. Because of the sun all plastic/rubber/textile parts are aging very fast ... and the cars are mainly used for very short distances (which is deadly to diesel engines ... look at the black smoke coming out from not soo old diesel cars).

That was brilliant info, many thanks.  Sounds like it's a bit of a minefield.  Think I will buy from a car dealer, must be the best option for us.

Mike

Drummer Boy wrote:

Think I will buy from a car dealer, must be the best option for us.

Especially concerning cheap used cars:
Take care of (small) car dealers which try to sell you a used car without warranty ... first it tells you everything about what the dealer thinks about the car and second, it's against EU law, thgerefore the dealer may try to sell you the car as "private person"

Sometimes private sellers are much more reliable ... and cheaper - Better check the car thoroughly, not the seller/dealer

And: Insist on a test drive in any case !!! Only this gives you information about the stressed parts.