Wondering if there is access to a second hand car market by private owners
I know there are many dealers, but of course want to buy cheaper directly from private owners.
Have seen the second hand magazines, which are full of car dealers.
so what is the best way to find the private owners? or does it not exist in Taiwan?
much appreciated
Marc
thanks for the tips!
the ocar site is just what I was looking for although not that many privately owned cars
also good to be prepared with the auto checkers…
I will give the yahoo site a miss … just too irritating
cheers
marc
If you need any advice on purchasing or prices, drop a line or put your questions up here, I’m sure others like to chip in to.
Opinions on value and price:
I’m looking at a 1994 Subaru Tutto for $38,000. The guy has it listed online for $30,000 though, so I’m sure he’d honor that price.
Extremely clean exterior, good interior, engine runs smooth. 3 cylinder, standard shift.
I worked on those for over 7 years. They have a variety of common faults which don’t often get seen to by owners. Check out:
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The rubber mounting brackets on the top of the rear shock absorbers. They normally separate after about three years and cause a knocking as the strut moves up and down over bumps.
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[On the carburetor models] Check the throttle body. The spindle which the throttle swivels on wears the alloy carburetor and allows air to leak into the carb causing uneven running and excessive fuel consumption. If so then the carb needs replacement. Check by spraying WD40 around the throttle body with engine running. You should hear a drop in engine performance and engine speed if damage has occured. (Don’t do this on the move
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[On injection models] With the engine running wriggle the wiring loom that runs on the top of the engine rocker cover. Wires would split in this loom and would cause injector failure. Simple fix, but the wires need to be lengthened and soldered with new ones.
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Brake pipes near the fuel tank would corrode in salty British road conditions. Not to say they would fail as quickly in Taiwan, but check them anyway.
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Front anti roll bar mountings. Prone to early wear and corrosion. May often corrode then break off.
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Rocker cover gasket. Will perish and leak over time due to normal hot~cold conditions. Replace.
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Early engines required manual adjustment of the valves, so check for engine top rattles which should indicate poor servicing.
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Manual clutch plates usually lasted around 70,000miles.
The car overall was a brilliant and rare car, being just about the smallest 4WD available, which was its main advantage. Aside from its common and very expensive carburetor fault, it was very cheap to run and extremely reliable. Even with torn, snapped suspension components it would just go and go and it wasn’t even apparent that it was a three cylinder. I never did have an opportunity to work on the engines as they were so reliable.
The ECVT (Electronically Controlled Variable Transmission) model was also reliable, but I did once get to replace a drive belt on one.
My advice is don’t pay over 20~30 for this car in Taiwan as no dealer would. When looking for information online, search for “Subaru Justy”
Taiwan’s conditions don’t really demand the 4WD Tutto and so they generally tend to be just 2wheel drive. As they don’t produce this car any more then I would recommend a Nissan March/Micra instead as the parts are cheaper and easier to come by. The Nissan is just as practical too in term of interior size and function and is more familiar to most mechanics.
[quote=“kjmillig”]Opinions on value and price:
I’m looking at a 1994 Subaru Tutto for $38,000. The guy has it listed online for $30,000 though, so I’m sure he’d honor that price.
Extremely clean exterior, good interior, engine runs smooth. 3 cylinder, standard shift.[/quote]
One thing I do notice in Taiwan is that very few cars actually get sold for 30k. When the value is that low the owners give them away and extract favors down the line.
If you are able to find cars for sale that cheap (and with the economy in the toilet there might be more than ever on the market) then look instead at either a Nissan March or Ford Festiva. There are a lot more around than the Tutto or Justy, spares are more easily available and probably cheaper. The March in particular is a great little car.
The March is a good little city car, and can easily be played with to make it a good little race car too. Probably not good for tall people…
See Nissan Micra in other countries.
K11 and K12 series are much safer than the k10 series, though I’m not sure the Micra was sold here in the K10 series (K11 post 1992).
and avoid the variant styling ones: most of them are best described as fugly…
Thanks so much for the info and advice 
. I’ll take a closer look and see what the guy might be willing to come down to. I also have an acquaintance that has a car they’re wanting to sell, so I could likely get a great deal if it’s worth buying. I haven’t seen it yet, so I can’t tel you about it, but will as soon as find out more.
Yeah, I like the March as well and I’ve seen a couple around town for sale. Thanks for the heads up on parts and service availability.
OK, what about mini/micro vans, like those offered by Mitsubishi, Ford, etc? I like the room and I just like vans. Again, serviceability, value, cost opinions or experiences? Actually I’ve only seen one or two for sale.
Micro vans are best kept for shifting things around and not people. They are loud, light, unstable, uncomfortable and concertina in a crash. They offer the aerodynamics of an upturned loaf tin which doesn’t help your fuel consumption. The engines can be tricky to get at and repair and its not always easy to find one in reasonable condition for reasonable money.
Stay away is my advice. You were on much better lines with the interest in a car, unless you have some requirements that you didn’t mention earlier.
I have been looking around for cars in teh 30K range. I noticed that you can find Daihatsu Skywings for pretty cheap. Does anyone know anything about them? I was also looking at the Charade too? It seems cheap, easy to find parts, easy to park, etc.
wrong post.
Was this directed towards me? Sorry?
People just gave their opinions about a couple of cheap cars that are on the Taiwanese market. If you look back to the last page people talk about the Subaru Tutto, Nissan Match, mini/micro vans…so I thought I could ask about the Daihatsu’s reputation’s too. They are in the same price range as all the other cars just mentioned. It doesnt seem out of context to me.
Was this directed towards me? Sorry?
My mistake. I should have typed “post deleted” which would have made more sense. No, it wasn’t directed at you at all.
Dihatsu wasn’t what I would have called a good quality car really and I would tend to stay away from them. They may have improved more recently however.
You’ll do much better with the March/Micra as previously stated in my opinion, the parts are cheap, they are still being produced, its easy to find a cheap one and they have a hatch!
What would you reccie for slightly increased personnel/cargo requirements over a March (pronounced, obviously, Mar-Tseee)?
Subaru Impreza hatches can be had for a reasonable price and are very reliable cars. Heavy on fuel though. Still, not bad if expected mileage is low. Another here
Although it isn’t one of my favorites, Freecas can be found for not too much money and are quite large.
There’s also the rare Mitsubishi Libero
Out of all of those I would go for the Impreza however.
so my wife likes this car
http://tw.f5.page.bid.yahoo.com/tw/auction/e28429813?r=1219471573
However, more seriously, we’ve also been offered a free car off our friends, which is closer to our budget - they say its pretty pants, but its free…
Im more concerned with being lumbered with a brick since its so easy to end up blowing the cost of a new car on repair costs, hence, defeating object of taking a free car
other options would be a 2nd hand civic - although Ive been warned to stay away from them due to the way they would have been driven
Any ideas?
Hyundai. I’d rather not! I worked for a dealership that dumped them after a few months as we made no money simply because 90% of our work was warranty work.
These guys are talking about a 30k budget though…
Redwagon had a very good point earlier that nobody seemed to catch…That is that most locals, with a car of that low value, would most likely Bao fei it before selling something they consider to no longer have any value. Point out that you have an interest in such a vehicle, and exercise some patience, and you’ll be amazed what kind of vehicles you can find. My neighbor last year dumped off his loaded 1994 Toyota Camry (I even put it on here as it was such a great deal) single owner vehicle for 20k. In another instance (And I was too slow on this one myself) an E34 520 BMW ended up going on the blocks for 20k.
what other cars can you snag for 30k?
Ford Telstar, Ford Festiva, Nissan March, Honda Civic, Toyota Zace, VW Vento, etc…
You can buy a pretty reliable car in Taiwan now for 60k if you know what you are doing. I know a forumosan who picked up a 3.0liter Cefiro with all the trimmings for around 55k.
The used car market in Taiwan today is fuller and offers better values now than ever before.
Enjoy the search…