What I did......
The following remarks contain some personal opinions...they are only opinions.
I looked for months and found that prices on car lots were much higher than in the classifieds. You have to be very careful about a dealer. They often take a vehicle that has been abused and clean it up, do any repairs, and they have ways of turning back the mileage, they can make that thing look worth a lot more than it actually is.
I looked at a lot of vehicles then decided on a few models that I would enjoy owning. Then I focused on those and continued looking until I found the one that met my criteria...
1. My initial feeling was that the vehicle was a what you see is what you get.
No scams, no attempt to hide damage of any sort. For example, the owner
did not seem to go out of his way to fix every little item, glue every piece
of plastic back on, steam clean the engine, etc. This is not to focus on
any one item...but to just get an overall feel for it.
2. My initial feeling was that the person selling was not someone who has a
lot of interest in deceiving the buyer. In my case the owner had a shipping
company and his wife was a dentist. They just came across like...this is
not that big of a deal to them...lets sell it and move on. You will find this
with people who are educated, have money, and are focused on their
business which is other than vehicle sells. Again it is an overall feeling.
Easier to find this in Santiago.
3. Vehicle looked nice and did not appear to have any major problems. I looked at it and it looked nice, scratches which the owner did not attempt to
hide, a few dings which he did not attempt to hide, but overall it looked nice. And then I drove it and it drove nice. It drove like a new vehicle.
And it was the kind of vehicle I had been looking and the right color.
4. The price appeared reasonable in comparision to what else I had seen.
So...I think I have found the right vehicle. So...I then proceed to make excuses to visit it a few more times...each time driving it and having someone else with me...a mechanic...a friend. I put that vehicle through the ringer. And it passed all test.
So then I made arrangements to take it to a mechanic...where they checked it out...and oh yea...I looked over all the paperwork to confirm all was in order. I called the dealership where he bought it and confirmed he was on file as original owner. So his story checked out.
And that was that.
We went to his lawyer to do the paperwork...who just so happened to be in the same office as my lawyer and so that was good.
Then getting it put into your name...that was a mess. I did it myself...Best to have a good lawyer do that for you. I am sure your friends can help you there.
Good Luck