Cars For Sale

Where a Hyundai i10 sedan stops being enough:

usually at the third child or the first stretch of gravel road. Small sedans such as the i10, the Kia Soluto, the Hyundai Accent or the Nissan Versa are cheap to run and easy to park. A crossover like the Toyota Yaris Cross, the Hyundai Creta or the Geely Coolray sits higher over speed bumps and steep driveways, but it is still a car on raised springs, not an off-roader. Seven-seat SUVs, from the Toyota Prado down to the Jetour X70, only earn their running costs when the third row gets used. Double-cab pickups turn up alongside them, and the cars overview covers how to judge one; tyres or brake pads for whatever you settle on are in car parts and maintenance.

What a Chinese badge means on a used Geely or Jetour:

mostly a question about the network behind the car, not the car itself. Geely, Jetour and Changan have climbed into the top of Panama’s sales table on the strength of SUVs that carry more equipment for the money than a Toyota or a Honda. The badge also says less than it used to about where a car was made: the Kia Soluto sold here is built in China. On a car a few years old, what counts is whether a workshop near home will service it and whether its parts are in the country. Toyota, Hyundai and Kia are serviced in any town of size; some newer Chinese brands have one dealer and a thin parts list. Ask the seller whether it was serviced at the dealer: on a brand this young, the stamps are most of its history.

What keeps a used entry sedan close to its new price:

demand from two directions at once. New, a small sedan from the Korean brands starts at around $14,000, and one two or three years old with plenty of kilometres on it changes hands around $10,000 to $12,000. Families want them for the daily run and app drivers want them for work, and parts and mechanics for them are everywhere, so the price falls slowly. A Chinese SUV of the same age has far less resale history to go on, which makes its value harder to call, and that doubt belongs in your offer.

A ride-hailing life under the paintwork:

many young sedans work for the apps before a family gets them, and the wear shows where photos rarely look. A shiny steering wheel, a flattened driver’s seat bolster, and scuffed rear door handles on a two-year-old car describe that working life whatever the odometer says, and a car still on a rent-to-own deal may not be the seller’s to sell, so ask for the documents in their name. The small sedans mostly use a plain four-speed automatic, but the Yaris Cross runs a CVT and many Chinese crossovers a dual-clutch: pull away gently, then accelerate up a slope. A CVT that whines or revs without pulling, or a dual-clutch that shudders in traffic, needs an expensive repair soon. Entry trims carry anything from two airbags to six, so count them on the car in front of you. On a hybrid, have a workshop read the battery’s health before you agree a price.

Your sedan or SUV, priced against its own trim:

not against what you still owe on it. Compare with the same model, year, version and gearbox, and say plainly if a bank loan is still open, because the buyer will want to know how it gets settled before the transfer. If the car has worked for an app or as a company car, say so: the seats will tell them anyway. Photograph the trim badge and the first page of each service invoice, which counts double on a young Chinese-brand car. Someone coming in from Santiago or Aguadulce for a small sedan will want a proper drive, with a stretch at highway speed on the Interamericana and some stop-start where the gearbox shows itself, so set aside an hour rather than a loop round the block.