Singapore Expats

Finally decided to get us a some wheels and have seen some we like at sgmart.com...

Now - how much bargaining leverage do we have? Didn't find any previous discussion on this topic.

Also - is there any edmunds/kelley blue book like site to get an estimate of TMV here?

look for the buying a second hand car threads here, this has been discussed ad nauseum. To be honest, if you are white, you won't get a good deal, if you are asian, you have more chance...

no blue book, but you get an idea of the "value" for popular cars by searching that specific make/model/year.

i've written a short post in the car sub-forum on how to make sure you don't get shafted. don't laugh.

bargaining is not possible unless you know what is wrong with the vehicle. most used car dealers have a few minions whose full time jobs are to conceal everything (as much as possible) that is wrong with the car. so you probably won't know what is wrong with the car until you drive it off the lot when you've finished signing the purchase papers.

parts for japanese cars are usually cheaper and easier to get. lots of spares. cars that are not popular are the opposite (eg, LADA SAMARA, TOYOTA BB, anything from the MERCEDES BENZ AMG BLACK series).

yes, you'll be paying through your nose. yes, it's possible to get a 5-year old fixer-upper at near scrap value.

GOOD LUCK!

We bought our car using sgcarmart.com as the guideline for price estimation. For any car we found there and subsequently contacted the dealer we got ~5% less just at the stage of saying hello so not really any sweat. If I remember correctly what we typically managed to get down ranged from 5-15%.

as with all things sold in singapore by singaporeans, they are marked up to include room for negotiations. 15% is the norm.

unless you use tradeassist... ouch.

cars sold by owners tend to be priced a little lower but there's no going back for remedies i think.

They have a lemon law here now, so, you have 6 months to return to them if you have issues, watch the contract wording though, I imagine they've changed it.