New Twist in Dominican Used Car Market

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the gorgon

Guest
the local used car market goes through paradigm shifts every so often, and is in the process of going through yet one more, at this very moment. here is what is happening..

some years back, Dominicans discovered the glories of the Hyundai Sonata N20, and its Kia counterpart, the Lotze. they are propane cars, used in Seoul as taxis and rentals. a taxi in Korea is not the same as one in the DR. here, a guy buys a Corolla, uses it as his means of livelihood, and his personal car. they accumulate higher miles than a car of a guy who goes to work and parks his car, but nothing like the Korean cars.

in Korea , 3 guys pool their money, and buy a car. they each get an 8 hour shift, so the car never rests. there is one day in the month where it goes into a shop for a checkup, but by the time they get to the DR, they have at least 250k kilometers on the car. of course, the sellers do the old laptop trick, and tell you they have 75k. buying one is a skill. novices should never try to buy a Hyundai propane car. banks will not even finance them these days. the times they are a changin...

so, here comes the new fad...the Japanese imports...the small cars, like the Toyota Vitz, the Honda Fit, the Mazdia Demio, the Nissan Note, and other cars like those. if you want a car with genuinely low mileage, and not one of those bogus cars from the USA, look into these. in Japan, there are no 3 year old cars with 150k miles on the streets. when you buy a Demio, and the guy says it has 88k kilometers, that is very close to the truth.

i just picked up a 2014 Fit for a member yesterday, and rode back in it to POP from Sto Dgo....it ran like a brand new car...

this is the way to go..
 
D

drstock

Guest
But beware - many for sale here are ex-rental cars that have been used hard for their size and capacity.
 
E

ElVenao

Guest
Nice insight... Thanks

However, what do you do with Japanese cars having the steering wheel in the right LOL!! You have to modify that for DR and bring it back to the left side, which is a hassle and a job and it doesnt end up being that nicely done anyways
 
T

the gorgon

Guest
Nice insight... Thanks

However, what do you do with Japanese cars having the steering wheel in the right LOL!! You have to modify that for DR and bring it back to the left side, which is a hassle and a job and it doesnt end up being that nicely done anyways

the cars are all sent to a special facility in Chile, where the switch is professionally done. they are then shipped here...

they used to be switched over here, but the government put a stop to that..
 
E

ElVenao

Guest
I hear the facilities in Chile are full of Peruvians and the quality of the switch is not great... but those could work
 
C

chico bill

Guest
I would prefer a model which comes from the states since all parts are easier to get but I assume these Japanese cars are the same except for kilometers on the dash, which can be swapped out too.
But you have to give props to the Hyundais and Kia taxis - if they run 24/7 and go 300 K before coming here then still seem to hold up well they must be decent vehicles.

I know that they recommend top end valve train oil kits for gas powered cars - there must be someone in DR doing that add on too. Seems logical as gas cars drive hot.
 
B

badpiece33

Guest
the local used car market goes through paradigm shifts every so often, and is in the process of going through yet one more, at this very moment. here is what is happening..

some years back, Dominicans discovered the glories of the Hyundai Sonata N20, and its Kia counterpart, the Lotze. they are propane cars, used in Seoul as taxis and rentals. a taxi in Korea is not the same as one in the DR. here, a guy buys a Corolla, uses it as his means of livelihood, and his personal car. they accumulate higher miles than a car of a guy who goes to work and parks his car, but nothing like the Korean cars.

in Korea , 3 guys pool their money, and buy a car. they each get an 8 hour shift, so the car never rests. there is one day in the month where it goes into a shop for a checkup, but by the time they get to the DR, they have at least 250k kilometers on the car. of course, the sellers do the old laptop trick, and tell you they have 75k. buying one is a skill. novices should never try to buy a Hyundai propane car. banks will not even finance them these days. the times they are a changin...

so, here comes the new fad...the Japanese imports...the small cars, like the Toyota Vitz, the Honda Fit, the Mazdia Demio, the Nissan Note, and other cars like those. if you want a car with genuinely low mileage, and not one of those bogus cars from the USA, look into these. in Japan, there are no 3 year old cars with 150k miles on the streets. when you buy a Demio, and the guy says it has 88k kilometers, that is very close to the truth.

i just picked up a 2014 Fit for a member yesterday, and rode back in it to POP from Sto Dgo....it ran like a brand new car...

this is the way to go..

Bought a 2010 Hyundai 6 years ago in Santiago and that car runs great, I will get another one in 2-3 years Love me my Sonata, Propane is the best
 
T

the gorgon

Guest
Bought a 2010 Hyundai 6 years ago in Santiago and that car runs great, I will get another one in 2-3 years Love me my Sonata, Propane is the best

if you know how to buy a Sonata, or a K5, you will end up with a great car. as i said in my posting, buying one is not for a novice buyer. many of them were regular private use vehicles, and you need to get one of those. if you get one of the mamey paintovers, you could be in a world of hurt. you have to know that a 2010 only came in white and grey. if you saw a black one, somebody here painted it. you also need to know that if you are going to buy one, do not even think of getting it in Santo Domingo...all garbage cars. Santiago is the place to buy one.
 
T

the gorgon

Guest
I would prefer a model which comes from the states since all parts are easier to get but I assume these Japanese cars are the same except for kilometers on the dash, which can be swapped out too.
But you have to give props to the Hyundais and Kia taxis - if they run 24/7 and go 300 K before coming here then still seem to hold up well they must be decent vehicles.

I know that they recommend top end valve train oil kits for gas powered cars - there must be someone in DR doing that add on too. Seems logical as gas cars drive hot.

what is the point of swapping out the kilometers on the dash?

http://www.jpvehicles.com/whatsnew/why-mileage-of-cars-in-japan-is-low-67.aspx

i looked at 14 Hyundai Elantras, 2014 to 2016, which came from the USA. ....not a single one had less that 150k MILES, not KILOMETERS. i saw a 2016 with 163k. they get here, and the laptop guys make that 59k miles, and if you do not carfax them, you are getting 100k miles more than the seller says. even when the carfax says 150k, the dealers still roll the mileage back, then they tell you it is legal to do that in the DR. in the USA, you get hard time for odometer rollback.
 
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T

the gorgon

Guest
here is one reality of the used car market in the DR...most of the cars are bought at fleet auctions. they were rent a cars, previously owned by small companies, not Hertz and Avis, but guys you and i never heard of. when they get to 150k miles, they unload them, but nobody in Boise and Sioux Falls is going to buy a 2015 car with 140k miles, so they do not end up in a car lot in America, but in auctions in Florida and Texas..then they get bought and sent to places like the DR. they do not end up in the British caribbean, because the steering wheel is on the left.
 
C

chico bill

Guest
what is the point of swapping out the kilometers on the dash?

http://www.jpvehicles.com/whatsnew/why-mileage-of-cars-in-japan-is-low-67.aspx

i looked at 14 Hyundai Elantras, 2014 to 2016, which came from the USA. ....not a single one had less that 150k MILES, not KILOMETERS. i saw a 2016 with 163k. they get here, and the laptop guys make that 59k miles, and if you do not carfax them, you are getting 100k miles more than the seller says. even when the carfax says 150k, the dealers still roll the mileage back, then they tell you it is legal to do that in the DR. in the USA, you get hard time for odometer rollback.

You can roll an odometer back in the US if you sign an affidavit - but there are huge penalties if caught selling an altered car (but it does go on)
If they have to swap a car from right to left hand drive they have to move the steering column, entire dash (which requires a lot of rewiring, the pedals, linkage and master cylinder and maybe the power drivers seat and window and power mirror controls and gear shift selector button, - man that's a lot of complicated and $$ work. But when they are doing this the instrument cluster must be swapped too as they are not always symetrical ( what keeps them from tweaking the mileage? )

As far prefering miles on the odometer it is just a matter of preference - what you grow up with.
 
T

the gorgon

Guest
You can roll an odometer back in the US if you sign an affidavit - but there are huge penalties if caught selling an altered car (but it does go on)
If they have to swap a car from right to left hand drive they have to move the steering column, entire dash (which requires a lot of rewiring, the pedals, linkage and master cylinder and maybe the power drivers seat and window and power mirror controls and gear shift selector button, - man that's a lot of complicated and $$ work. But when they are doing this the instrument cluster must be swapped too as they are not always symetrical ( what keeps them from tweaking the mileage? )

As far prefering miles on the odometer it is just a matter of preference - what you grow up with.

why would they tweak the mileage if the car has 100k kilometers?
 
P

playacaribe2

Guest
You can roll an odometer back in the US if you sign an affidavit - but there are huge penalties if caught selling an altered car (but it does go on)
If they have to swap a car from right to left hand drive they have to move the steering column, entire dash (which requires a lot of rewiring, the pedals, linkage and master cylinder and maybe the power drivers seat and window and power mirror controls and gear shift selector button, - man that's a lot of complicated and $$ work. But when they are doing this the instrument cluster must be swapped too as they are not always symetrical ( what keeps them from tweaking the mileage? )

As far prefering miles on the odometer it is just a matter of preference - what you grow up with.

Nothing keeps them from tweaking the mileage/km.......either at the point of changeover or point of sale. There is no carfax/autocheck for Japanese cars made for their market .....and then even carfax/autocheck is not foolproof.

So if you do not have the requisite equipment to check the ECM/BCM etc (and most shops do not)............for the actual mileage stored in resident memory........you are at the dealers mercy.....as to actual miles/km.

You are also right about the changeover though........it involves a fair amount of work..........and the parts are different than those vehicles made for the North American market.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 
J

JDJones

Guest
Nothing keeps them from tweaking the mileage/km.......either at the point of changeover or point of sale. There is no carfax/autocheck for Japanese cars made for their market .....and then even carfax/autocheck is not foolproof.

So if you do not have the requisite equipment to check the ECM/BCM etc (and most shops do not)............for the actual mileage stored in resident memory........you are at the dealers mercy.....as to actual miles/km.

You are also right about the changeover though........it involves a fair amount of work..........and the parts are different than those vehicles made for the North American market.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

I have one that uses an app on my cell phone. It cost $10 dollars on Amazon. I bet gorgon has one.