How to protect yourself from a “good deal”

Spot a car that is too good a deal to be true? Skeptical about it because you have heard lots of horror stories from your friends? If you are afraid of being a victim, then read this article! A 2 minutes read on how to spot a potential scam! This will not protect you from everything but will serve as a good deterrence.

1. How to identify if it’s an Agent Car?

An agent refers to the authorized distributor for a particular car brand. The additional registration fee of an Agent car is generally higher than that of a PI car. Generally, the car plate bracket should hold the branding of the Make. You can also make a call to the Agent and enquire about the history of the car, if its an agent car, they should have the full servicing records in their database. Below are some of the car agents in Singapore.

• KAH Motor — Honda
• Komoco Motors Pte Ltd — Hyundai
• Performance Motor Limited — BMW
• Cycle and Carriage — Mercedes Benz
• Borneo Motors — Toyota
• Audi Center — Audi
• Auto Germany — Opel
• Auto France — Peugeot
• Eurokars — Mazda
• And many more!
• There are many cases where dealerships are charged for illegal odometer tuning
• https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/customer-sues-over-tampered-mileage (Credit to Straits Times)
• Mileage also means the amount of use, wear, and tear of the vehicle, hiding the actual mileage to the buyer also means omitting critical information to the buyer when he’s making a decision on the purchase.

3. Condition of the Car

• While everything may look like rainbows and unicorns when the exterior of the car awes you. It’s important for you to send the car for a workshop check
• Do not believe 100% of what you may have been told about the car, always see a neutral opinion on the condition of the car.

4. Loan interest rates

• Most bank loans charges between an interest rate of 2.78% to 3.98% depending on the type of car purchased (A parf car or a COE renewal car)
• An in house loan should be about 2.98%-4.98%
• You may want to check with another dealer if you are quoted anything higher.

5. Warranty Program

• When you buy a young used car (Less than 3 years old), you will be told that this car is still under warranty. This may be true, however, you have to do your due diligence by making sure that the warranty is transferable.

Why is buying a car from OTUA Auto a safer choice?

• We sell cars from the direct owners! This means that the chances of modification and tuning is minimal.
• We always encourage our buyers to send the car for a workshop check before the purchase is done, paperwork will be in place to safeguard both the buyer’s and seller’s interest
• We have a 1-year warranty program that you can choose to purchase for peace of mind. To even qualify for this warranty program, the car would have to go through a stringent check by the service provider! Another layer of checks!

In Otua Auto, we treat all customers like our own family. Our client advisers are all trained to perform basic visual inspections as well as advise you on your car purchase and car selling, simply drop a WhatsApp to our team and we will share with you about what we know with no holds barred!

Check out our inventory: http://bit.ly/otuacars

Otua Auto is a Singapore based car dealership. Sell your used car or resale motorcycle at the highest possible price.