So how do you decide on which car to buy?

[Robert]

One of the guys in the DR1 office brought a RAV4 about 18 months ago. He car faxed 64 2003-2005 RAV4's and only 2 had "true" records. He brought one of the good ones and up until now it's been a great vehicle.

[AK74]

Originally Posted by CFA123

I bought a 2001 Honda CR-V. Odometer, 79k. CarFax, 98k when it was imported 2 years earlier. I found a 20k-40k discrepancy on every vehicle I checked on Carfax. The U.S. accident history & knowing where the car originated was important to me as well. I didn't want cars from the northeast due to harsh winters and rust problems. I'll let the sea salt do the job for me.

6 months into it now with zero problems. It may break down tomorrow, but everything on it works, no rattles, runs great, doesn't burn oil. I'm hoping it lasts for years.

Rolled-back odometer ("Dominican mileage") is not about - "no rattles, runs great, doesn't burn oil." No. Much more srerious. The problem is , like human body a WHOLE car ages. Only mostly not with years but with miles. All parts of it. 100K miles can be roughly correlated to 100 year old person. Still moves, but anyday is expected to...

Even worse with 150K miles. All major safety components are practically dead.

A person may drive it nice without overloads, but one day he must stop it fast to avoid a head-on collision , and the brakes fail (they are supposed to fail at 150K miles) and all your family, your wife and your children instead of going to a party go to the grave.

Same thing will happen to your abused steering mechanism and to your tranny or engine when you need to accelerate fast to to complete a pass on a highway with two way traffic.

So, rolled back "dominican" miles is not such an innocent thing,amigo.

[sweetdbt]

Originally Posted by AK74

Rolled-back odometer ("Dominican mileage") is not about - "no rattles, runs great, doesn't burn oil." No. Much more srerious. The problem is , like human body a WHOLE car ages. Only mostly not with years but with miles. All parts of it. 100K miles can be roughly correlated to 100 year old person. Still moves, but anyday is expected to...

Even worse with 150K miles. All major safety components are practically dead.

A person may drive it nice without overloads, but one day he must stop it fast to avoid a head-on collision , and the brakes fail (they are supposed to fail at 150K miles) and all your family, your wife and your children instead of going to a party go to the grave.

Same thing will happen to your abused steering mechanism and to your tranny or engine when you need to accelerate fast to to complete a pass on a highway with two way traffic.

So, rolled back "dominican" miles is not such an innocent thing,amigo.

Not exactly a "glass half full" kind of guy are we "amigo"?

Depending on the kind of roads driven on and how faithfully routine maintenance has been done, a Toyota or Honda can be a perfectly useful vehicle for up to 200,000 miles. If it was bought new in the DR, oil not changed regularly and driven on back roads in the campo, it will obviously be less.

[CFA123]

Agree with much of what you say AK74, but quite happy with my choice for the type of driving I do here & am confident in the vehicle.

Driving the latest & greatest here would be more dangerous to my welfare than the 6 year old CR-V, I think.

[AK74]

Originally Posted by sweetdbt

Not exactly a "glass half full" kind of guy are we "amigo"?

Depending on the kind of roads driven on and how faithfully routine maintenance has been done, a Toyota or Honda can be a perfectly useful vehicle for up to 200,000 miles. If it was bought new in the DR, oil not changed regularly and driven on back roads in the campo, it will obviously be less.

Just being in car-exporting business and dealing with "retail sellers" in different countries including DR for over ten years. Have no more illusions regarding used car dealers left.
If a car is not right from a dealer-only auction with all original papers I will not touch it with a seven-footer...

[bob saunders]

AK74 - other than the price what is wrong with buying new in the DR?

[AK74]

Originally Posted by bob saunders

AK74 - other than the price what is wrong with buying new in the DR?

Nothing!
New is new. 3/36 warranty, peace of mind!

Best option.

[jalencastro]

Originally Posted by AK74

Nothing!
New is new. 3/36 warranty, peace of mind!

Best option.

i was about to ask if they offer the same warranties on vehicles similar to here in the states. I agree better off buying NEW!
then again a Honda should last you a pretty long time if maintained well so a used car isnt that bad? are prices outrageous for used cars in DR>? i have never noticed....

HOORAY! my 300th POST!

[AK74]

Originally Posted by jalencastro

i was about to ask if they offer the same warranties on vehicles similar to here in the states. I agree better off buying NEW!
then again a Honda should last you a pretty long time if maintained well so a used car isnt that bad? are prices outrageous for used cars in DR>? i have never noticed....

HOORAY! my 300th POST!

Prices are very high due to import tax that on some models goes up to 65% of the car value!

With this in mind it is especially important to do anything in power to get a good solid safe car when paying this much money.

Hence my old standing and only advice to all buyers of used cars - directly from a DEALERS-ONLY auction in USA with a help of a licensed dealer.

Cost-wise it will be a bit cheaper than buying locally, but you will have to wait three weeks delivery from Port Newark , then to go to Santo Domingo Port several times, do customs paper work, pay several hundred dollars bribes to corrupted customs officials but in the end of the day the result is well worth the effort and time spent you will recoup with time, stress and money saved on repairs ( that in DR is not piece of cake by far!!)

[cobraboy]

Originally Posted by AK74

Rolled-back odometer ("Dominican mileage") is not about - "no rattles, runs great, doesn't burn oil." No. Much more srerious. The problem is , like human body a WHOLE car ages. Only mostly not with years but with miles. All parts of it. 100K miles can be roughly correlated to 100 year old person. Still moves, but anyday is expected to...

Even worse with 150K miles. All major safety components are practically dead.

A person may drive it nice without overloads, but one day he must stop it fast to avoid a head-on collision , and the brakes fail (they are supposed to fail at 150K miles) and all your family, your wife and your children instead of going to a party go to the grave.

Same thing will happen to your abused steering mechanism and to your tranny or engine when you need to accelerate fast to to complete a pass on a highway with two way traffic.

So, rolled back "dominican" miles is not such an innocent thing,amigo.

I couldn't disagree more about your assessment of mileage. 25 years ago a car was "dead" at 100,000 miles. No longer for MOST models.

I have ALWAYS bought cars new and drove them for at least 200-250,000 miles before moving on. 150,000 miles is nothing on a well maintained vehicle. And YES, you can EASILY dtermine if a car has been well maintained, if you know cars.

I grew up in the US car biz, my dad was a life-long Ford & Chevy dealer.