It still kills me that I have to sell a perfectly good car after a few years, just to go and buy another new car, just to have to sell it again before I feel I have even broken it in. But with laws being legal and such, I have no choice. The two countries we have moved to in the past 3 years have very strict, and expensive, rules about importing cars from other countries. In Chile's case, it was just downright illegal to bring a used car into the country.
So why not just buy used, or better yet, certified used once you settle in, you ask? Especially since you know all about the steep depreciation factor and the fact that you will be selling almost before the new car smell has a chance to wear off?
There are a few reasons. Certified used does not exist in all countries and finding an used car at a dealership can be tough. Usually you have to buy an used car directly from the person selling it and you just never know what you are going to get. We have heard many a horror story about what expats do to their cars in the few short years they own them. And then they have no problem cleaning them up pretty, and not disclosing the problems/accidents/lack of warranty compliance, and passing them on to you. I mean, why would they, they won't be around to hear the complaints, they will be in another country by the time you figure it all out. So, we made the decision that buying new would take that uncertainty out of the equation. One less thing to worry about when you already have plenty on your plate.
Having purchased 3 cars in 8 years, you would think that we would be pretty good at it by now, right? Wrong. Because everything keeps changing on us. The US has one set of rules, makes and model. There, I had the Kelly Blue Book to make sure we were getting a good deal and I had Consumer Reports to make sure we got a safe car. We could lease, or finance, or buy certified used. Here, we didn't have any of those resources and that can create some interesting issues.
First issue, I didn't recognize most of their popular makes - Škoda, Dacia, Renault (though I had heard of the last) - and the few I did recognize - Peugeot, Mercedes, Volkswagen- are all still high end imports in the US. Nothing that I knew anything about. It meant the first order of business was research, research, research.
Here in the Czech Republic the number one Make is the Škoda. Škoda is the low end of the Volkswagen line, is built here in the Czech Republic and makes up about 50% of all new car sales here in the Czech Republic. But it is still an expensive SUV choice, and out of our budget, which was issue number 2. The budget.
Our budget isn't just a guideline, it is the line. We don't have the luxury of getting a lease or a loan when living out of the country. We must pay for our cars in cash at time of purchase so we are limited by the amount of cash we can shell out at any given time. It's great for the fact that you don't pay any interest. It isn't so great on the pocketbook.
After weeks of research, we had decided we would go with the Dacia Duster. Before we even left Santiago. It had great reviews, it was large enough and small enough all at the same time, and it was well within our price range. Luckily we had a contact at Renault (they own Dacia). Win Win!
Which turned out to be not such a Win Win... We quickly learned a lesson in why you would never buy a car without seeing it in person. We took one look at the Duster and instantly knew this was not what we wanted or needed. It may have great reviews and work for others but it just wasn't sturdy enough for our family. I felt like I was going to break the door handle each time I touched it. And the final deal breaker - it only comes as Manual Transmission. I have to juggle enough things with two little kids fighting in the back seat, figuring out the roads here in Europe, and making sure I am not exceeding the 50 km speed limit (about 30 mph) without having to deal with a stick shift too. No go. Back to square one.
Thankfully the Renault showroom was right next door (they own Dacia). And in about 3 minutes I knew I had found the car I wanted. I just needed B to make it happen. Which he is good at. If he speaks the language. Issues 3 and 4, all in one.
We don't speak Czech. Most workers at the car dealerships don't speak English. We stumbled through with a translator and a few phone calls to a work associate of B's. We knew what make and model we wanted, and we wanted it as soon as possible (I had kids to get to school). The dealer could get us the car in 4-6 months. What? Yep, they have to order the car with our specifications and then wait for it to be made and shipped. They do not have an inventory of cars waiting on the lot to be purchased. Our only option was to take the one on the showroom floor if we wanted one sooner. And we were lucky to get that offer as that is not the norm. We discussed, and decided that was the way to go. I left B to do the haggling and we finally had a deal. Which is where we were confronted with Issue 5...we found out we couldn't actually purchase a car until we had our Czech ID cards. Which could take a couple of weeks. Or a year. Seems that government time lines are the same all over the world.
About an hours worth of phone calls later, we agreed to transfer the cash, a coworker of B's agreed to put the car in her name, and we signed a bunch of paperwork that could have said that we were giving the dealership access to all of our bank accounts, our first born child and a toaster because we couldn't read a word of it. But we had a car that would be ready in two weeks. A car we don't even really own. Sure, we paid for it, we pay the insurance on it, and we drive it. But anytime B's coworker wants to, she could come and drive off with it and be within her rights because her name is on the title.
Told you things were a bit different...When in Rome (or in our case, Prague).
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