Bought a car, thanks DR1ers!

Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
999
12
0
I finally bought a car in Santiago, and I want to thank everyone for sharing their experiences and thoughts. It's amazing how right on everyone is, although everyone has a different viewpoint. Because I was buying it more for my girlfriend who is a novice, and I am in NY 90% of the time, I decided to buy a new car - a Diahatsu Terios - so that I would not be dealing with long distance maintenance problems, hopefully.

Firstly, to everyone who said don't buy new because driving in the DR is insane, you'll be happy to know that 1 hour after picking up the car I was side swiped coming out of the La Sirena parking lot. Fortunately, the marks from the other car (and I use the term loosely) washed off.

To Marc, who warned me that the car is underpowered and not the most stable: it is absolutely not the most masculing vehicle I have driven, but for her, it is perfect. Just enough power to pass cars safely, nice ground clearance, good on gas, relatively inexpensive and cute. If it were just for me, I'd go to Moca and buy something used with more power.

I was also warned that parts might be hard to get. Of course the dealer says no, that there is a parts distributer in POP. I was happy to see about 40 Terios in my long weekend in Sosua & POP, including one owned by the police, but I'm going to have to wait to cross that bridge.

I learned about the car by following a thread recommending Skodas which led to JD and his Daihatsu to my buying the car sight unseen from Peravia. Daihatsus are not sold in the US, so I had some trepidation, but when I got to the showroom to pick it up I felt I had done the right think. Now Marisol can drive her son to school and put her baby in the car seat, just like any other suburban mom. But she appreciates it alot more. Boy is she proud! - D
 

LOPTKA

New member
Feb 12, 2002
136
2
0
lucky

Your novia sure is lucky to have found such a nice guy to buy her a brand new car. I noticed all the men had positive things to say and positive advice when you were lookin. I hope when a girl asks the same ??'s about buying car for her "novio" they get tha same respect. Wait. I don't think a woman would go that far. But congrats on your car anyway. LOL.
 

gringo in dr

New member
May 29, 2003
434
0
0
Danny W said:
I finally bought a car in Santiago, and I want to thank everyone for sharing their experiences and thoughts. It's amazing how right on everyone is, although everyone has a different viewpoint. Because I was buying it more for my girlfriend who is a novice, and I am in NY 90% of the time, I decided to buy a new car - a Diahatsu Terios - so that I would not be dealing with long distance maintenance problems, hopefully.

Firstly, to everyone who said don't buy new because driving in the DR is insane, you'll be happy to know that 1 hour after picking up the car I was side swiped coming out of the La Sirena parking lot. Fortunately, the marks from the other car (and I use the term loosely) washed off.

To Marc, who warned me that the car is underpowered and not the most stable: it is absolutely not the most masculing vehicle I have driven, but for her, it is perfect. Just enough power to pass cars safely, nice ground clearance, good on gas, relatively inexpensive and cute. If it were just for me, I'd go to Moca and buy something used with more power.

I was also warned that parts might be hard to get. Of course the dealer says no, that there is a parts distributer in POP. I was happy to see about 40 Terios in my long weekend in Sosua & POP, including one owned by the police, but I'm going to have to wait to cross that bridge.

I learned about the car by following a thread recommending Skodas which led to JD and his Daihatsu to my buying the car sight unseen from Peravia. Daihatsus are not sold in the US, so I had some trepidation, but when I got to the showroom to pick it up I felt I had done the right think. Now Marisol can drive her son to school and put her baby in the car seat, just like any other suburban mom. But she appreciates it alot more. Boy is she proud! - D

Congrats! Peravia treated me well with my Skoda. I'm glad they took good care of you too.

Enjoy your new car.
 

Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
999
12
0
gringo in dr said:
Congrats! Peravia treated me well with my Skoda. I'm glad they took good care of you too.

Enjoy your new car.

I found out about them from your post. I was following up on the Skoda and that led me to the Daihatsu. Muchas gracias! - D
 

Jerry K

New member
Jan 1, 2002
285
2
0
Food for thought

If Diahatsu brought the Terios mini SUV to the US today they would find a more eager group of buyers than they found when they brought the Charade to the states in 1990.
The Terios is not for cross country runs but a nimble, gas mizer, around town hauler that has good AC and looks smart.
 

gringo in dr

New member
May 29, 2003
434
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0
Danny W said:
I found out about them from your post. I was following up on the Skoda and that led me to the Daihatsu. Muchas gracias! - D

No problem, glad I could help.

Scott
 
T

TiberiusMineola

Guest
One Year Later???

It would be interesting - to me at least - if a year from now [Sept. 2005] you gave us a 'status report' of how the Terios had treated you & your lady - for the past year. Worth the bother? I don't know. Don't forget the insurance.
In any event, I hope that you get 200,000 miles from the car, never have an accident, & never have to spend more than 2,000 Pesos on repairs. Buena Suerte!!
 

Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
999
12
0
TiberiusMineola said:
It would be interesting - to me at least - if a year from now [Sept. 2005] you gave us a 'status report' of how the Terios had treated you & your lady - for the past year. Worth the bother? I don't know. Don't forget the insurance.
In any event, I hope that you get 200,000 miles from the car, never have an accident, & never have to spend more than 2,000 Pesos on repairs. Buena Suerte!!

I'd love to give you a report on the car a year from now, but there's no way I'll ever remember. Lately I find myself renting movies only to discover that I watched the same one the month before. As for 200,000 miles, from what I read online from Terios owners and the way the car feels, my guess (and hope)is that this car will hold up like a Corolla - in fact Daihatsu is partners with Toyota. It feels well engineered. But I have no intention of keeping it that long. I figure 80,000 is plenty. Reliability means everything to me, and especially since I'm in NY most of the time, I won't have time to nurse the car. I drive an Accord here, and I figure after about 75K, it's time for a new one. It's Sunday evening, and I just got a call from my ex-wife that her car broke down in Queens. Ex-wife...broken down car...ugh!! - D
 

IA70

New member
Feb 25, 2004
14
0
0
What did the Terios cost?

Can you share what the vehicle cost? :glasses: My wife is also shopping for a car and it sounds like it would be ideal for her. Thanks
Paul
 

Gimabella

New member
Sep 15, 2003
120
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0
41
i want a car too

hey i'll be also looking into buying a car

and would need toinvest in a car or a jeep........

how can i go about that,how much should i expect to spend?
 

Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
999
12
0
IA70 said:
Can you share what the vehicle cost? :glasses: My wife is also shopping for a car and it sounds like it would be ideal for her. Thanks
Paul

I paid $15,700. I must admit I didn't bargain much or check with other dealers as I live in NY and basically had 1 day to go to Santiago. It is registered as an '05 and they threw in a cd player. The original price was 16k. I know there are other dealers, and I gather that many people save money by buying last year's model when the new ones come out. Good luck, and let me know if I can be of any help. - D