Noob questions regarding buying a used van

5 comments

1. Many of the inspection offices offer “kuntotarkastus” which they as a professionals can check cars condition. Inspection checks cars road legality and how good shape it generally is. It is very much suggested if you are not into cars or know about them.
   If you buy from private person, there will be most likely something seller didn’t tell or know about. Dealers on the other hand have to go by law and you have more of a leverage to handle stuff.
   Next stuff will be IMO.
   If your budget allows don’t buy cars over 300k of they are more than 5y old.
   Vans made by Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat and most likely others too, make vans to same frame and only change cosmetic side of things so they are pretty much the same.
   I suggest you to think what you need before buying like for a example, do you need manual gearbox?, How much will you haul with it? (Engine size), how much space do you need? ( Do you need to fit drywall sheet 1200x2400mm there?, Long stuff?).
   All of those things can make your decision to fall into a smaller set of choices. That helps narrow down what to look for. You can then check the “tyyppi vika” of certain types to narrow your search.
   Feel free to ask stuff.

2. Citroën Jumper, Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer = same van

   Nissan Interstar/NV400, Opel Movano, Renault Master = same van

   Nissan Primastar/NV300, Opel Vivaro, Renault Trafic = same van

3. Dont take Fiat or French car. If you can, get old hiace.

4. > Where do you get your car mechanic that will help you review the car in question? Do you contact a random dealership? Or do people just happen to know a mechanic through a friend of a friend, etc?

   There is no centralized places. Many companies offer such service, you can Google ones near you (“kuntotarkastus”).

   > I read in some other reddit post (8y old), that it’s best to sign the papers at the inspection center after you’ve done an inspection that you payed for yourself if you are serious about buying the car. Is this still a common practice?

   I mainly buy cars from dealerships but last time I bought from private, we just made two copies of sales deed and attached copies of driving licenses. I got then code/link to take the ownership of the car which I used when I was at home.

   > On traficom I’m able to look up the information via the number plate, and occasionally the ad says the car has been recently repaired, but then it shows faults in the latest inspection sheet. Should these faults be cleared after the repair automatically (as in should the owner have gone through inspection again after the repair)? Or do they sometimes just lie about being recently repaired?

   There are mainly two types of faults in inspection sheet: 1: Inspection does not pass and you need to fix faults and apply for a new inspection. 2: You get a request to fix the fault in 1-3 months and it will be verified on next inspection.

   > Is there any benefit from buying from a dealership, compared to a private person? In my home country, people prefer to buy from a private person. The dealerships often try to scam you into overpaying for something that “somehow” passed the inspection.

   Dealership takes more money but you are way more protected by the consumer law. Buying from private you are generally only protected from obvious fraud attempt. There is saying “perävalotakuu” which means you have a warranty as long as tail lights can be seen by the seller. In other words, when you drive away with your new car the warranty ends.

   > Is it a common practice to discuss the price, or are most cars reasonably priced? Does Finland have a “price calculator” which can give an indication if the price is somewhat fair for the make, age, and mileage for Finnish prices?

   Bargaining is strong here, both in dealership and private sellers.

   > How does a properly maintained and well documented logbook regarding car maintenance look like? Is there a specific format I’m looking for? Or does this depend on the make of the car?

   Each make and model has own maintenance program to follow defined by the manufacturer but generally speaking every 15k/1y oil change, every 30k/2y bigger inspection and filters. Then there might be more stuff at every 60k, 90k, 120k, 180k… Wear parts gets replaced by inspection or when their lifespan is ending.

5. Additional question:

   I’m going out on a limb here, as it’s really generalized, but based on the information provided, would something like [this](https://autot.tori.fi/vaihtoautot/ford/transit/100764118) be too expensive, good value, or so low its kind of sus?