Car Buying Advice

I encourage to always check the car on CarFax and have a recommend mechanic on hand.

Carfax is a good tool, with limited reach. firstly, it does not work for the Korean cars such as the Hyundai Sonatas and Kia Lotze and K5. it does not work on cars like the Honda Fits and Mazda Demios imported used from Japan. it does not work on cars bought new from a Dominican dealer. it  does not work on a car from the USA which was part of a self insured fleet.  if a car had an accident on the street, and it was not reported to an insurance company, it would not show up on carfax...

if you recruit the services of a mechanic to vet a car you wish to buy, try to get someone who has an OBD scanner.  cars have a light on the dash cluster called the ''check engine light''.  when that light comes on, you have issues. the problem could be simple, such as a leaky gas cap. it could also be major, requiring serious intervention. the interesting reality is that any person with a scanner can turn off the light, so, when you go to buy a car, there is no telltale warning that something is amiss.

the good thing is that merely turning the light off with a scanner , without fixing the problem, does not work against a guy who comes along with another scanner. the problem will pop up on the screen of that scanner, and the reason why the light illuminates will also be revealed.

CaFax only covers reported events

My last 2 cars were imported to the DR as new cars in dealerships
No CarFax exists for them

I prefer original DR cars... less electronics... built for export.. not domestic use

True. CarFax would be used mostly for recently imported vehicles from the USA.

exactly. there would be very little point to using carfax for a 2008 car...it will have been in the country long enough for it to have gotten torn up here. Condition is the main thing...

Recently bought a vehicle that was imported from the USA and sat on a lot for a while. It had never been registered for use on DR roads.

I used a mechanic , Greg in Sosua, to perform a check of the computer with his very expensive OBD diagnostic tool that is more thorough than my inexpensive tool, as well as a physical inspection and then we reviewed the CarFax which showed the ODOMETER was probably correct.   It had one issue that the dealer fixed that was uncovered by the diagnostics and I purchased it.  Greg told me that he would buy the car himself if he found it first.

it is nice to have an expensive OBD scanner, but it is the age of the scanner which really counts, unless you do the updates. there is no point in having a 1000 dollar Launch which only goes up until 2014, and you are trying to scan a 2017 car.

cruffman wrote:

it is nice to have an expensive OBD scanner, but it is the age of the scanner which really counts, unless you do the updates. there is no point in having a 1000 dollar Launch which only goes up until 2014, and you are trying to scan a 2017 car.

Since I rarely purchase cars, I will rely on mechanics that have that latest toys like $1,500 OBD scanners and updates. It was well worth what I paid him to verify the condition of the vehicle, and not just because of the scanner.

My first car here was a 2003 Santa Fe that I just donated to someone. Still going...

^^ Let me tell you an easy way to see if a car has a check engine light. Drive the car for 10-15 mins, stop, turn it off , lock it. Start it again and drive it for 10-15 mins. If the check engine light was erased/reset and IF there is a real problem it will come back during the first  drive( most of the time big issues) or during the second ( smaller issue) .
NO WAY they can hide you  a check engine !

Scooter wrote:

^^ Let me tell you an easy way to see if a car has a check engine light. Drive the car for 10-15 mins, stop, turn it off , lock it. Start it again and drive it for 10-15 mins. If the check engine light was erased/reset and IF there is a real problem it will come back during the first  drive( most of the time big issues) or during the second ( smaller issue) .
NO WAY they can hide you  a check engine !

No way they can hide it?

I had a car that had a piece of black tape covering the check engine light behind the panel.
This was after it had some work done on it that did not fix all of the problems.


When there is a will, there is a way..

Aha !!

The Dominican fix !!
Problem solved - no more check engine light

windeguy wrote:

Scooter wrote:

^^ Let me tell you an easy way to see if a car has a check engine light. Drive the car for 10-15 mins, stop, turn it off , lock it. Start it again and drive it for 10-15 mins. If the check engine light was erased/reset and IF there is a real problem it will come back during the first  drive( most of the time big issues) or during the second ( smaller issue) .
NO WAY they can hide you  a check engine !

No way they can hide it?

I had a car that had a piece of black tape covering the check engine light behind the panel.
This was after it had some work done on it that did not fix all of the problems.


When there is a will, there is a way..

OMG !
Yes...ok, but that's a very different story. Have not seen that in  a LONG LONG time !!
If you THINK they would do something like that look carefully for the tape. You should be able to see. Or ask some kids, younger people if you have some eye issues.
fURTHER more....GOOGLE check engine light for ( ENTER CAR MODEL) and images will show you where that light should be . So look carefully at that spot .
I would never tell somebody buy a car without checking it by a pro.  I was just trying to give advice for somebody who is maybe on a low budget....or doesn't have time to waste to take it a mechanic only to find out about the check engine. It was just an "easy fix" to save time.