What to look for when buying a used vehicle.

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're tuned into the all new freedom 106.5. 106.5. [00:00:09] Speaker B: Busy time, Antonio. Waiters, just unmute your mic and jump in away. All right, so we just awaiting Antonio to join us. Good morning to you, Mr. Prescot. Hello, good morning. [00:00:34] Speaker C: Hey, good morning Mr. Davy, how are you? [00:00:36] Speaker B: Good morning. Good morning to you. Nothing wrong with that. We just always get anything when we're dealing with cars, it is shut down. You understand, correct? [00:00:47] Speaker C: Yes. [00:00:47] Speaker B: So welcome to another excited edition of your car care segment right here on Freedom 106.5 FM. And this morning we're going to go through point four. So what Antonio, I'm going to ask him to do this morning. We know persons, a lot of persons can't afford to buy brand new cars. So sometimes you buy a roll on, roll off, which was, which is a car, what we just call a roro in Trinidad, a car owned previously by somebody else in another country and it was shipped to this country and we sell it or you buy what we call a second hand car, sometimes about nine hands or eight, but second hand, you buy it from somebody who already have it park up in a yard or they're selling the car. Buy the car. So we're gonna start off with when Brian, when buying, Sorry, I got to say, I say Brian, when buying a brand new vehicle, what are some of the things that you need to look out for when buying a roll on, roll off car or buying a secondhand vehicle? Some tips and tricks, some things that you need to watch out for when purchasing a vehicle. So we want to kick off Antonio point forms. We could start off, let's start off with brand new when you're buying a brand new vehicle. [00:01:53] Speaker C: Well, the thing about a brand new vehicle, Davy, is that once it is that you're under warranty, I know you have to check before you leave the compound. And with a brand new vehicle it's a bit difficult to decipher issues with the vehicle. But you basically would want to look at the interior of the vehicle, you would want to look at the engine of the vehicle to see if for some reason nothing was tampered with. Because sometimes you purchase something and you know that may change, let's say a particular part and you could see where that part has been changed. Maybe it was written. But what I realized that a lot of new vehicles know is that they are actually labeling parts so that when it is that you come to do your servicing, they would know if it is that part has been exchanged because they have been Getting complaints with mechanics within the different showrooms of different brands that's changing parts and giving persons older parts and saying that this part is faulty and they need to get this part. And I sure, maybe if you heard about that from before. [00:03:03] Speaker B: Well, I heard that, I heard that, I understood that to be. Sometimes when you look at the car, one person I noticed bought a car and you know there's a, a line on the rim or a spot on the rim and on the tire, the person said when they got it, didn't they saw it on the other three, but that one tire didn't have it. [00:03:28] Speaker C: Understood. [00:03:29] Speaker B: So on the other three tires had it, but this one tire. Because you know, when you buy a car, you will go and tell the sales rep what you want. And then if the car is not located in the showroom, or maybe it's any showroom, you see a car, you tell them, I want this car. And it ended up that'll go down on the lot and bring drives up to Port of Spain. And once everything is approved, you get your mortgage, then it goes through. And with that, now when it goes through it end up go to license office, come back, they detail the car and they present it to you. So what are some other things that we could look at when it comes to brand new vehicles to make sure that you're actually getting a brand new vehicle, A vehicle with all the parts on it that wasn't tampered with. What else we could look at? [00:04:27] Speaker C: You can check your kilometers, miles for sure, because sometimes you just see a brand new vehicle and you just like it because it looks nice outside, interior, but you haven't checked the mileage on it because as simple as that, sometimes you could switch it to a brand new vehicle and it may have a mileage of a thousand or something. So that means that vehicle may be driven a few times from before. So I would say as well, to navy test driving the vehicle is most important because you want comfort, you want to understand the braking system, the steering, any road noise. Because if it is, I am purchasing a brand new vehicle and I'm experiencing any sort of noise, then after, in my mindset, that's not a brand new vehicle. You know, I want to feel the air condition as well. Because if the air conditioner is not doing that well, then something is wrong. Because for example, I realize like ad wagons like Almira's Skeeters, air condition tends to blow pretty cool. And some new vehicles, I realized that it's not that cold despite that new vehicle. So that's something a bit disturbing, you know, and the smoothness of the vehicle driving on the nation's road because we know our roads are terrible. And for some reason having pitch lake in Trinidad and Tobago and then having terrible roads is like already happening in this country. Our beloved tnt. So also I want to see in terms of the steering feeling that's important because sometimes you purchase a vehicle and you could make, you could hear cluck, cluck noise what that could be, you know, locking left or right. So test driving is important in deciphering the vehicle and if it's really brand new. [00:06:16] Speaker B: All right, moving on from that now on a rural perspective. Roro meaning roll on, roll off cars coming in from a foreign country to us, what could we look for? What are some of the challenges persons when they buy these vehicles end up in? [00:06:32] Speaker C: Most challenge that people face is certified copyright ownership papers. You purchase a vehicle but the vehicle is not on that person name but on somebody else's name and that person not in the country or that person died. And then you have to find the family members in order now to get a certificate for the vehicle to be transferred on your name. So a lot of people, I don't know why, because they get a good deal tv, they just purchase a vehicle. So let's say for example an extra PCZ may be valued. I just seen for example valued at 60,000 and you get it for 40,000. But the vehicle is not on that first name. You think in your mind as a great buy, I can always locate that buyer and you could be with that vehicle for years and not able to get a vehicle transfer because you cannot locate that buy that buyer. Maybe in the next country that buyer may be died or something and you have to find the family member. Put that said here to. So that's one major issue that happened in license office a lot. [00:07:34] Speaker B: All right, but that's if you're buying roll on, roll off or that's if you're buying. How could roll on, roll off have ownership issues when a company brings in the car? [00:07:44] Speaker C: No. So all right, so I think used vehicles, right? [00:07:49] Speaker B: All right, all right, so let's go to the used vehicle second hand. Forget the roll on for now. We'll come back to that. We'll circle right. So used vehicles or vehicles that you purchase from somebody, somebody have it up on Facebook marketplace. Somebody. You're driving around the country and you see people like the pop for sale signs on cars call this number and you're calling number. They say yeah, we want this for the car what, what are some of the other things that you could look out for? So you said the certified copy is one you want to make sure that the vehicle you're purchasing, the person who is selling you the vehicle that is certified copy is on their name so that you all can do the transfer in an effective and quick manner as opposed to. Right. So if the vehicle is not on his. On the person's name, you should stay away from purchasing such a vehicle. [00:08:35] Speaker C: Definitely. Because you could end up in problems. And the worst thing is to own a vehicle and then when it is that you want to upgrade or for example, you just want to sell the vehicle because it could be in a financial debt, you can, you can't because ridiculous dot on your name. [00:08:52] Speaker B: All right, so we definitely had to check the certified copy where that is concerned. What else on buying a secondhand car, we need to look at as well that person should be aware of before purchasing or surrendering their hard earned cash. [00:09:09] Speaker C: Sure. For example, a lot of people I see, they would go and check a vehicle. They would look at the exterior vehicle, they would look at the interior. And for some reason, women in particular, well, we know women may not know vehicle such as men do. But once a woman see a vehicle interior is looking great in their mind, that's the purchase and like selling vehicles maybe I realized a lot of people didn't start a vehicle and that's crazy. So you want to make sure and you start that engine and see that it cranks smoothly. You know, no knocking, no rattling songs. Because knocking, you know, that's basically the engine. Maybe the engine is going. It may not have lengthy lifespan. So these are the things you want to look at. If it have any excessive smoke from the exhaust, you know, so smoke warning is so important. Like they say blue is when you like burning oil. And the white smoke is possibly the engine or head issue. And also I think the black smoke as well is like the fuel or engine problems. So these are the things that you want to look for. Test driving a vehicle is extremely important that I mentioned with a new vehicle as well, you know, because the engine response of the vehicle, sometimes you literally mash a vehicle extra mod and the vehicle for some reason is pulling back. Is it the transmission? Is it that it have a faulty transmission mount? So all that. And also you want to know, because you can't just be purchasing this used vehicle and you are petting that vehicle driving down the road. You need to go on the highway and go over at least 100 came and see how the gate Will respond funds on the nation's route. [00:10:59] Speaker B: So you recommend a test drive for sure. [00:11:02] Speaker C: What about test drive? That is not like petting on the vehicle itself. [00:11:07] Speaker B: What about buying a car? The person say, boy, does hardly drive this. Let me. We have a texter coming in here. Let me hear what he has to say on this issue. [00:11:15] Speaker D: And Davy and Antonio, one of the main thing when you're buying a used vehicle is the look on a certified copy and make sure everything matching color, engine number, chassis number is the main thing. [00:11:31] Speaker B: So outside of ownership, you want to make sure that the engine number matching the engine in the car. You want to make sure the color matching and the chassis number matching. [00:11:42] Speaker C: Let me tell you this D. I only give my manager's check over to someone when I put purchasing a vehicle in license office. So I want the license officers to do that for me. And if they tell me this vehicle is not good, that person who is selling the vehicle cannot get my manager's check. You know, because they are the experts. Yes, you want to double check the certified copy, but they are the ones when you go there because you could double check on your own knowledge and when you go there something different. So I always tell people when it is that you are purchasing a vehicle, buy that vehicle when it is that you are in licensed office. And it's actually pass that fit because the pit is the actual test. [00:12:27] Speaker B: That's a good point. You know. Morning, Davy. New vehicle come with miles as they have to be driven from storage to license office to showroom, etc. But changing parts, that's not true. As you have a warranty. [00:12:48] Speaker C: I think we know better than that. [00:12:49] Speaker B: To this texter, you don't put nothing past tricky Daddians by all right. You see Tricky, tricky, tricky Trinis, you don't put nothing past them Tricky Dadians, tricky Begonians. You don't put nothing past them. If they could find a way to take out your water pump and change it to the faulty pump or next pump, they might be faulty easy. But a nice used pump well polished up, nice clean up. And. And they go on with your brand new pump. [00:13:15] Speaker C: And the thing about it, you know, you don't be there when it is that they are service in your vehicle. You sometimes sitting in the waiting room, [00:13:22] Speaker B: you ain't even see what they're doing [00:13:24] Speaker C: with your laptop doing your work. And you think, hey, I am, you know, waiting on my vehicle. They are doing so great on my vehicle. Exceptional service. And that time they are changing your part. [00:13:34] Speaker B: You do not know another text Another text saying, what I also recommend to do is inspect the engine bay area. When an accident may have happened and a paint job is done. It is almost easy to determine whether the vehicle was in an accident by looking at the headlight area or the fender areas. And for an anomaly in the pain job. And that's fact. Unless we change in all the parts. Brand new, right? You're buying a whole front end and everything. Brand new. You often find yourself having to knock and pong and straighten that little pot. Some people, if they go, if they're expensive enough, they would use polyester stopper. Others will use regular filler. And you could see those things. Now, what about walking around and knocking the car? You're passing your hand, walking around, people can't. Knocking it, knocking it. As a, as a, as a, as a seller, would you encourage somebody to knock up your car while they're walking around? [00:14:37] Speaker C: Well, simple knocks, not heavy knocks. To say that somebody is so strong that you actually see that dent in the vehicle. But at the end of the day, the buyer has all rights, you know, to check your vehicle. And that knock is something we would say traditional. But if you are purchasing a used vehicle, you could never tell what that person could do. Because remember, some people could be in a financial debt or these treatment patents could say, hey, this is normally 7,000, but I could give you this feature for 3,000. And they know why, because they are going to use excessive filler. So the old school ways, as we say, sometimes always be the better way. So nothing is wrong knocking around the vehicle to see, see if it is that they have excessive fillet in a particular area. And that way you would either maybe negotiate and say, well, okay, this door in particular, a lot of filler. Maybe we have to negotiate where I now have to purchase a door from the bamboo because so much filler, I do not want that door like that. Or is it that you're going to look at another vehicle and bypass that vehicle, you know, yeah, man, I would [00:15:43] Speaker B: say, I say, yeah, go ahead. [00:15:45] Speaker C: Yeah, I would say maybe as well too. I realized that some buyers, they would come with their mechanic, but they do not come with a straight and painter. And that's so important because you are not just buying the engine and the vehicle. A mechanic is knowing the engine, the suspension of the vehicle. But what about the body of the vehicle? To know this vehicle got in a serious accident and the streetland team that just tried to fix back things, you know, so you need to work with the both parties in order to get a Good vehicle because it's an investment, you don't want to invest. And then after it's a good point, you say you could just get it back. [00:16:23] Speaker B: That's a good point, huh. And you don't go and look at cars any night. Don't go and visit. [00:16:28] Speaker C: You know Davy, a guy told me he wanted to come and check a vehicle I was selling 7pm and I was like between you and I not trying to sell it anytime thing wrongly. But oh gosh, come during the day where it is, have bright light that you can see this vehicle. Because if it is, you come and see this vehicle in night and you see, take this in the morning and you purchase this vehicle and you go on your way. And then after you telling me something else, I cannot do anything for that. [00:16:58] Speaker B: The tab itself. [00:16:59] Speaker C: Yeah, it's like they just want a vehicle, as we say, we use any term, tough speed. They just want a vehicle to drive all over the place. [00:17:09] Speaker B: Well, if you want a vehicle to drive just over the place, then you're subjected to, to whatever you get if you come in the night and you buy. Another tip I want to share with them as well is the valuation, the evaluation of our evaluation report on said vehicle. Now a lot of persons go out and the vehicle looking real good demand say yeah, I know spending 8, $10,000 and do for this engine and then I spend another 8,000 and paying the car. I buy new bucket seats at this, at that. But you do all of that. All of that he doing in a 2000 model Lancer at 2000, a Lancer from 2003 or 2004. He do all of that in a CK2 Lancer. He spent $56,000 in rest in restoring this Lancer. The Lancer is in pristine condition. The vehicle looking nice. I just using a Lancer. It could be a Toyota Corolla, it could be any car. But the vehicle is dated 2004. And when he done, he spent money looking real good, it functioning nice. It's sounding good. But then because he spent 55, $60,000 on repair and upgrades and restoration works and he want to tell you because you had to get profit, you had to pay 90,000 for this car. You want 90, you are 80,000 for the car. Here's the trick with that. If you go to the bank or a financial institution to get a loan, a mortgage to purchase said vehicle, an evaluation report from a reputable evaluation company is needed. And when they value the car, they don't value the car by how much money you spend to Restore the vehicle. The, the engine you put in, you change the engine because you didn't buy a, a brand new engine, you buy another engine and you upgrade it. You're putting some new plugs and all of that. But it is not an engine that came directly from the company. So you go down in the bamboo. You buy a next, you buy a next engine. They value the manufacturer's date of that vehicle and it's worth today, some 20 years later. So people have a habit of modifying vehicles and spending money on it and then telling you what they spend, perhaps maybe showing you receipts that the upgrades were legitimate. But the value of the car is not dependent on how much money this person spend to upgrade the car. The value rests with when you go to these reputable and when I say reputable, not that people do have reputable, but you see the ones that the financial institution will send you to or they recognize those are the ones. And the banks, credit unions and lending institutions, they are aware, they have a list of vehicles and the price range these vehicles will be at. So even if you pay somebody in one of those companies to issue you something, here is the kickback. And the thing with that, if you issue that document to the bank, that's fraud. You bribe the person to increase the value of the car. When the bank check it, they call the people on them. You issue this report. Now these companies are people, they don't want a bad report or to be blacklisted by a bank because they issue you with a report that is false. So you can't bribe them to hike up the price. Hello. Good morning. [00:20:37] Speaker E: Hello, Davey. [00:20:39] Speaker B: Good morning. [00:20:41] Speaker E: Good morning. Yeah, you're quite correct with that. Members does modify the car thinking and then feel any modification you do to your car is considered dead money. The only people who does actually pay the price you're calling for what you did to the car is other enthusiasts. Yes, a car sound off enthusiastic. And you spend $40,000 in music and put in your car. And the next enthusiast, music enthusiast buying it, he may pay the price because guess what? He's buying the car to do the same thing. And you already have it installed. Same thing like, let me say, euros. European cars people might modify and put in Brembo brakes and different exhaust and all kind of thing. And they call it a formula confetti. The only people who want to purchase it at that price is other enthusiasts who if they were to purchase that car stock in the same modifications they were looking to do with it because that it has certain standard enthusiast modifications that People do so they will pay the price. But once you say mada paka, that is dead money. The next thing, the same thing, procedure with license office. They're going to purchase a car. First thing you go, your CD car, you check it out. You could go and, and check out and see if it's what title search, see the people owing anything on it and so on. [00:22:07] Speaker B: That's another point. Good point. [00:22:08] Speaker E: Right? You carry about 500 with your max. That is to make a down payment. Now, the down payment on the car is so that you, you promise the person that, hey, you're taking this car next two days, right? And you say, the bank say, all right, make a deal. We go in nice office, two days, you take the man, proper spelling a name to make your manager's check and pay down the 500. The 500 is on the terms that if you don't show up to purchase the car on the set date, next three or four days, 500 dead, right? He could be 500. So in other words, then you are paying him for causing him so for you blocking his sale with somebody else. Could I come and take the car? Right? So you go down to license office with your manager's check, you pass it over the pit, everything okay. And when they say in front and listen for your name, then you hand over your check, you take the keys, shake their hand and go along the merry way. [00:23:09] Speaker B: Well said. Yeah, man, I love that. That's a very, very good point. I mean modification and I was, that was the last point I was coming to before we close off the segment. We probably have a part two next week. But the thing about it is this modification on cars is for car enthusiasts. A person really want a car, they go spending money again because they understand the value. But the regular citizen of somebody coming and they like it, they're not going to. Especially if you call in a price where they need to go to the bank and get a loan or a credit union, they need a report. [00:23:37] Speaker C: Especially the vehicles the suspension tampered with. Like the drop low vehicles. Like, there you go. Elderly person, you know, ageable person may not want a vehicle that is drop low that they have to be going sideways, going over humps or driving so slow on the nation road. So things like that would be a deterrence. [00:23:55] Speaker B: Exactly. Antonio, I want to thank you very much for your continued effort to be in here to sharing these thoughts. Thank you again and enjoy the rest of your day. All right, will definitely pick up again next week and beautiful topic this morning. I was very excited part two next week. Maybe we can get somebody else to join us as well. Have a good one, buddy. [00:24:13] Speaker A: All right, you're tuned into the all new freedom 106.5. 106.5.