where can I buy a used car ?

Rocky

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It depends on what part of the country you're in.
We always buy from Espaillat Motors in Moca, in fact, we just picked one up today, a Chevy Tracker (Suzuki) 2002, in excellent condition.
They stand behind their product more than most, and generally have vehicles in better condition than most dealers.
Nothing's perfect, of course, and one still has to be a wise buyer.
We looked at many vehicles in a given price range and test drove 6 or 7 before deciding which one to take.
 

sybillecutey

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I'm in santiago.
I was reading the thread about buying a car and it seems so complicated !!
Is there an easier way ? all the legal stuff.:ermm:
 

Rocky

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I'm in santiago.
I was reading the thread about buying a car and it seems so complicated !!
Is there an easier way ? all the legal stuff.:ermm:
Some of that thread has to do with private sales and dishonest vendors, thus the extremes they go to, and then some people are ultra cautious by nature and may take that a bit too far.
When I buy a car from Espaillat, I do nothing, nada, drek.
They get all the documents for me, I buy the insurance right there, and I pay no more than if I went myself to do it all.
 

cobraboy

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Rocky-where is a place to buy good used trucks and 9-12 passenger vans?
 

Rocky

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Rocky-where is a place to buy good used trucks and 9-12 passenger vans?
Same place.
They have over 200 vehicles on hand at any given time, and if I truly could not find what I wanted/needed, I would ask them to find it for me.
My days of making major car/truck purchases from people I can't trust, are over.
 

AK74

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If you find a good car in virtually perfect condition, it should be approx. 20% to 40% more expensive that Kelly Blue Book used retail value.
New Car Prices | Used Car Values - Official Kelley Blue Book Site


There is NO chance for the kid to find one in DR for sale in perfect condition, with true miles and without hidden salvage history. 0%

If you can wait approximatelly one month and a half and have a friend-licensed dealer in USA - ask him ,for a commission, to buy one for you from a closed for public wholesale auction and to ship to DR. You`ll get a guranteed high quality car at several grand below retail price.

If you do not have one, you may PM me and probly I can help you out.
 

DRob

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Yeah, AK, and then she'll have to may thousands for the customs charges, wait for an interminable time while the vehicle clears customs, and run around taking care of all the issues associated with importing a vehicle.

Your "guy" will probably result in her spending thousands more than she needs to. She needs to realize that buying used in a third world country is not the same as doing so in Los Angeles.

I realize that you're from New York (and therefore know everything), and have done the sex tourist thing in Sosua on a few occasions, but I'd suggest you defer to Rocky, who's lived and done business successfully there for over a decade.
 

Rocky

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There is NO chance for the kid to find one in DR for sale in perfect condition, with true miles and without hidden salvage history. 0%

If you can wait approximatelly one month and a half and have a friend-licensed dealer in USA - ask him ,for a commission, to buy one for you from a closed for public wholesale auction and to ship to DR. You`ll get a guranteed high quality car at several grand below retail price.

If you do not have one, you may PM me and probly I can help you out.
You may have that impression of the market, as it is difficult to find good cars in perfect condition, but we have been dealing with Espaillat for almost 15 years now, and we have the vehicles inspected, previous to purchasing, and then we give them the list of everything that has to be done to get it into top shape, regardless of how tiny a detail it is, and they do it.
Importing a vehicle yourself can lead to nightmares and invariably costs one heck of a lot more than purchasing here.
 

AK74

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You may have that impression of the market, as it is difficult to find good cars in perfect condition, but we have been dealing with Espaillat for almost 15 years now, and we have the vehicles inspected, previous to purchasing, and then we give them the list of everything that has to be done to get it into top shape, regardless of how tiny a detail it is, and they do it.
Importing a vehicle yourself can lead to nightmares and invariably costs one heck of a lot more than purchasing here.


It is not "impression". It is experience after many years in car exporting business, including to DR on many occasions.

DR do not produce its own cars, so all (or at least 90% of ) cars on Dominican market are imported from the cheapest car market in the World - USA.
For this reason there is not even 1% chance to buy a car from a DR dealer cheaper than directly from USA.

Let`s talk about 2003 Toyota Camry with 50K miles. A licensed dealer can buy it at a wholesale auction (cheapest source) for, say 10G. Then another $1200-$1500 cost of shipping. Another $6000 - customs charges. $18 000 - cost of a DR dealer. Plus his mark-up $2000- $3000. Sale price $21 000.

There is no way to buy from him for less than $18 000 that he paid himself.

So, if he sells a 2003 Camry for, say, $16 000, you can be sure that his car is not really 2003 Camry with 50K miles free from accidents and life-threatenning hidden problems like he claims.

It is simple arithmetics, not even mathematics.

Let`s do not fool ourselves believing that he sells us something this unreally cheap because he is in a very good mood and wants to sell at a loss. to himself.

Our illusion may well cost us or our children or parents our life in an emergency critical road situation.

And most of us have one life only. Is it really worth risking it trying to save those three-four days that might be needed to do the customs paperwork?!

I do not think so.

And those customers who did their homework normally did not have any problems or headaches, except $200-$300 in bribes to port/customs workers.
 

DRob

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Arithmetic is mathematics.

The spell check function is in fact working. Try it sometime.

AR74's occasional long weekends in Classico's versus Rocky's 15 years in DR. I wonder whose advice is more credible....?:tired:

Oh I forgot, AR74's a stereotypically obnoxiously arrogant NYer. But wait, that would make him much less credible, come to think of it.
 

Rocky

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It is not "impression". It is experience after many years in car exporting business, including to DR on many occasions.

DR do not produce its own cars, so all (or at least 90% of ) cars on Dominican market are imported from the cheapest car market in the World - USA.
For this reason there is not even 1% chance to buy a car from a DR dealer cheaper than directly from USA. Nobody is saying that, in fact, I made it clear that we pay 20% to 40% more than in the US.

Let`s talk about 2003 Toyota Camry with 50K miles. A licensed dealer can buy it at a wholesale auction (cheapest source) for, say 10G. Then another $1200-$1500 cost of shipping. Another $6000 - customs charges. $18 000 - cost of a DR dealer. Plus his mark-up $2000- $3000. Sale price $21 000.

There is no way to buy from him for less than $18 000 that he paid himself.

So, if he sells a 2003 Camry for, say, $16 000, you can be sure that his car is not really 2003 Camry with 50K miles free from accidents and life-threatenning hidden problems like he claims.

It is simple arithmetics, not even mathematics. ?????

Let`s do not fool ourselves believing that he sells us something this unreally cheap because he is in a very good mood and wants to sell at a loss. to himself.

Our illusion may well cost us or our children or parents our life in an emergency critical road situation.

And most of us have one life only. Is it really worth risking it trying to save those three-four days that might be needed to do the customs paperwork?!

I do not think so.

And those customers who did their homework normally did not have any problems or headaches, except $200-$300 in bribes to port/customs workers.
You've missed two basic points.
The import taxes are prohibitive and the local importers get better deals than we do, thus enabling them to give us better deals than if we do it ourselves.
It's like trying to reinvent the wheel.
You're not the first guy who thinks that he can get better deals by importing himself.
Many have come and gone before you, trying to make that business fly.
You're competing with Dominicans, and you shouldn't underestimate their capabilities.
The other point is that I have 14 years of track record with these people, and I and my friends and acquaintances have purchased collectively, approx. 100 vehicles from them and all been satisfied.
 

AK74

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You've missed two basic points.
The import taxes are prohibitive and the local importers get better deals than we do, thus enabling them to give us better deals than if we do it ourselves.
It's like trying to reinvent the wheel.
You're not the first guy who thinks that he can get better deals by importing himself.
Many have come and gone before you, trying to make that business fly.
You're competing with Dominicans, and you shouldn't underestimate their capabilities.
The other point is that I have 14 years of track record with these people, and I and my friends and acquaintances have purchased collectively, approx. 100 vehicles from them and all been satisfied.

"You're not the first guy who thinks that he can get better deals by importing himself."

I do not "thinks" I actually export to DR for a number of years and some of my cars can be seen driving around Sosua-PP- Cabarete.

And customs charges are set for each particular car (make, model, year, modification) irrespective who bring it in - dealer or private person.

The goal of my post was to warn people that buying a used car from a Dominican dealer equals ten-fold increasing your chances to get killed on the road due to a failed major system (brakes, steering, timing belt) on a car with 200K rolled-back miles or disconnected air-bag light, or improperly adjusted low rails /brake lines after a unibody accident.

New car from a DR dealer - OK if money is not an issue.

But used car -you are probably buying your ticket to the graveyard.
 

AZB

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My friend has a car for sale in santiago, honda civic 2001 in perfect condition. The car was bought brand new so the mileage is all original. It has low miles and the car is kept like new condition. He uses his company's SUV so the car just sits there collects dust. I have driven the car many times and I know its a good deal. Asking price = 300k pesos.
Honda civic 2001, emerald green, cream color interior, nice mp3 ready stereo, 4 doors, runs like new and all original parts inside. Good condition tires. Automatic transmission and power doors.
Send me a PM and I will put you in contact with the guy.
AZB
Plus legal work can be performed easily because his brother is a lawyer. They are very serious and professional folks.
 

Rocky

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"You're not the first guy who thinks that he can get better deals by importing himself."

I do not "thinks" I actually export to DR for a number of years and some of my cars can be seen driving around Sosua-PP- Cabarete.

And customs charges are set for each particular car (make, model, year, modification) irrespective who bring it in - dealer or private person.

The goal of my post was to warn people that buying a used car from a Dominican dealer equals ten-fold increasing your chances to get killed on the road due to a failed major system (brakes, steering, timing belt) on a car with 200K rolled-back miles or disconnected air-bag light, or improperly adjusted low rails /brake lines after a unibody accident.

New car from a DR dealer - OK if money is not an issue.

But used car -you are probably buying your ticket to the graveyard.
Sorry dude, but your scare tactics won't work on us.
Maybe you can snare yourself a gullible newbie, but we all drive good cars here and they are as safe as any other car anywhere else.
You must think your dealing with children of feeble minds.
You'd probably pee yourself if I told you how much I paid for my Lexus GS 300, specially after seeing what a gem of a car it is.
 

Rocky

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My friend has a car for sale in santiago, honda civic 2001 in perfect condition. The car was bought brand new so the mileage is all original. It has low miles and the car is kept like new condition. He uses his company's SUV so the car just sits there collects dust. I have driven the car many times and I know its a good deal. Asking price = 300k pesos.
Honda civic 2001, emerald green, cream color interior, nice mp3 ready stereo, 4 doors, runs like new and all original parts inside. Good condition tires. Automatic transmission and power doors.
Send me a PM and I will put you in contact with the guy.
AZB
Wait.... Has Ak74 told you how dangerous that car is?
You'll probably die if you drive it again.;););)
 

AZB

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"But used car -you are probably buying your ticket to the graveyard.

Not true. if one knows what he is buying and does his detective work right, you can get a very good car here for reasonable amount of cash. I bought a nice camry in almost new condition with all original miles and original parts. I did my research right and I won a good car.
AZB
 

DRob

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Socrates said the path to wisdom begins with confessing one's ignorance. I realize that in most things dominican, I'm pretty clueless when compared to the collective experience of the people on this board who actually live there. As a result, I ask questions, and frequently defer to their suggestions. Consequently, my visits are much more enjoyable, especially when I venture outside the touristy areas (which happens more often than not these days).

Rocky, what we're experiencing is known as a Brooklyn Paradox. See, AK74 has been confronted with information that is contrary to his understanding, yet clearly correct. What he's doing is refusing to back down from offering bad advice because that, seen through the eyes of an obnoxious New Yorker, causes him to lose face - and thus credibility.

He'd just as soon write a lengthy trip report about his enjoyable recent voyage aboard the Titanic than admit he's wrong. To him, that's normal conversation. To the other seven billion of us, he comes across as pushy and unpleasant, as well as woefully uniformed.

He thinks he's "keeping it real" and representing. What he's actually doing is representing why reading, writing and arithmetic are such crucial subjects to master, lest you become like him.