Second post: Buying my first car

So I haven't updated my blog in forever, and thought now would be a good time to do so...

Let me start with something many people have to do when they come here to US: how to buy a car.
There may be variations and iterations, but the general procedure goes something like this:

• Look for a car: There are various media for looking for a car. There are bound to ads in the classified sections of your local newspaper. Here, in the Columbus Dispatch the car ads used to come on Wednesday. There are also websites where people can post ads. I referred Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.com).
  
• Shortlist cars: Do a price range search for all cars. I find that 3500 - 5500 works out best. You get decent quality cars without getting a model too expensive. Most people prefer Japanese models (Nissan, Toyota & Honda); I ultimately bought a Chevy and it seems to be doing OK.

• Compare price: A website like Kelly's Blue Book (http://kbb.com) lists out reasonable asking prices of all models of all cars. Ideally the asking price in the classified ad should be about ~$500 within what is mentioned in KBB. However there are a few caveats you should be aware of: 1) When an ad poster says "Excellent condition" it means "good condition". "good condition" means "fair condition" and so on. 2) An asking price may be higher than KBB because the car has more accessories. Beware: you may be getting an absolute lemon with an absolutely state of the art stereo. This actually happened to a friend of mine. 3) If an ad is asking too low a price, ask yourself "why?". Better still, ask that guy. Some may have legitimate reason for selling too low. Most don't.
• Get the car history: This is the point where you have to shell out some money. For about 18$ you can get an account at www.carfax.com which will allow you to get the complete accident history of any car; their database is updated by police and insurance agents. This account only lasts a month, however. To get the history of a car, you need the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). If the ad post has the VIN number, well and good. If it doesn't call up the number given in the ad (if the ad has no telephone number, forget it). The seller will give you the VIN of his car. If he doesn't be rightly suspicious and end the transaction right there.
• Look at the car: If the car has a clean enough history, ask to meet with the seller. Sometimes a look at the car will reveal what the photo in the ad didn't; scrathes on the other side, paint peeling off, etc. Ask for a test drive, so that you can decide if the car handles OK. If at any point the seller declines, he has something to hide.
• Have the car checked up: To those of you who are car experts, good for you; but let's face it. Most of us aren't. That's why you need to get the car checked by an expert. Most car sellers will be OK with this; they will only quibble if you try to foot the bill of the checkup on them. Some smart sellers can actually get the car checked themselves by a reputed garage, and show the report to potential buyers. This saves time and money of both parties.
• Haggle: Provided the car checks out OK till now, haggle the price with the seller. At this point it helps if you have an experienced bargainer at your side. Points to haggle over are sunroof (moonroof?), tires, stereos (can they play mp3s?) and such like. Of course if there's an obvious shortcoming in the car (maybe it shakes from side to side) and you are still buying it, that would be a good point to start. But since you are anyway buying despite that, sellers won't give on such a point.
• Cash or cheque? Cash. Nobody accepts cheques from strangers. Try your best to convince the seller that your cheque is good, but be prepared to pay cash in the end.
• Tax: If the seller writes 'gift' on the title deed, you get the car tax free; this is probably illegal. I would have done it anyway, but I had to pay my tax in full. Try to see if the seller is ready to share the tax (I wouldn't if I was selling).

An important step while buying is to make sure that the VIN of the vehicle matches the VIN the seller had given you initially (and the VIN on the title deed). This can avoid a potentially embarrassing situation where the cops stop you for driving a stolen car.

This seems like a straightforward step by step process. But in reality it is a loop, with multiple exit points. I've had the following happen to me:

• Seller was selling the car because he didn't need the car. He suddenly decides he needs the car again. Coincidentally, this is right after I tell him I want to get the car checked at Firestone.
• Seller lets me check the car out for 20 $ at firestone. He then sells the car to his friend with my report, and doesn't give me my 20 bucks back. I hope that faulty tie rod broke on that Nissan Altima and you crashed, you bastard.
• Seller refuses to give phone number.
• Seller refuses to give VIN.
• Seller refuses to have the car checked.
• Seller is very cooperative and friendly. His car has 195000 miles on it.
• Seller refuses to give VIN. This was a different seller.
• Seller manages to sell me a Chevrolet with a passenger door that doesn't open without force. He poses as a private seller; turns out his "brother" is a car dealer.
  

I bought that last car. I was actually in a desperate vehicle situation at that point. Otherwise I'm sure I could come up with more examples of enterprising car sellers.

It could also happen that when you get posted onsite, someone from onsite is leaving back to the home country. You get their car, and since you are the new guy, they help you throughout the process (maybe they even get the car checked by some other sucker). Sure it's convenient, but who would want to do things in such a boring fashion?