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new car buying in Medellin

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peterv123
  7/24/2019 17:41 EST

I've not seen this question answered (or maybe I'm too lazy to look)
When buying a new car at a dealership in Medellin do they deal on price, or is the listed price the price?
Also do they let one test drive cars?

EpaEpaEpa
  7/24/2019 21:38 EST

Don't know if it's the same in Medellin as in Cali but imagine so. Price is fixed. They may throw in some minor freebees like tinted windows, floor mats and riveting easily stolen fixtures to the car. Test driving is permitted and at some dealers encouraged.

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CAtoMDE
  7/24/2019 22:40 EST

I purchased my new KIA in centro Medellin last October, I knew exactly what I wanted and researched the cost at a few dealerships, yes the price is very much fixed but was able to get upgrades at no cost, these upgrades included full window tint (ie value 400 mil) and GPS sound/nav screen upgrade value at about 1.400 mil and SOAT value of about 600 mil.

I was and am very pleased with my experience but know that I had my brazen take no prisoners type of paisa buddy with me and he had my back.

Yes you can test drive at least that I what I found but they also knew that I was a serious buyer and not a tire kicker, jajajaja

Good luck!

BlueSeas
  7/24/2019 22:49 EST

The advice I got was price was non-negotiable, But I was looking at city cars, like the Chevy Spark or Nissan March. At 29,990,000 COP for a March, including over 6,000,000 COP in taxes, also including (maybe in the taxes mentioned) import duty since it came from Mexico. There isn't room for much negotiation.

The receipt showed the dealer only received like 23,500,000. Or about $7500 USD. And at that price, it came with nicely tinted windows, floor mats and the required safety kit. The base model has air conditioning and power windows with a manual transmission.

This is several thousand USD less than a manual transmission Versa in the US. Same engine and platform, but the Versa is a little bigger.

The idea that cars are more expensive here is incorrect, for a very basic car.

There may be room in more expensive cars for negotiation.

Don't know about test drives. We paid for this car while back in the states and picked up when we arrived back in Colombia.

guestuser
  7/24/2019 23:32 EST

For more expensive cars they’ll at best offer you 1% discount. One issue is that for anything in demand there will be availability issues, When we last bought we had several dealers offering us the same car as there were so few available. This isn’t like the US with lots of units chasing buyers. If they offer you blue or gray it means that there are two cars in region, one blue and one gray.

One thing to bear in mind is parts and repair costs. Nissan, Mazda And Toyota May not be as sexy as Audi, Land Rover or Mercedes but if you need parts it will cost you.

High end brands can be painful to deal with. Land Rover offered us 1% off a prior year vehicle with the following year having a significant update. I did point out that we were likely the only people interested in the unit, but they wouldn’t budge.

Car prices are also driven by exchange rate movements against the dollar. Timing a purchase when you have relative peso strength can save you a lot.

Bickerss
  7/25/2019 00:18 EST

We have purchased two new cars in Medellin, and yes of course they let you test drive, and secondly, the price is somewhat negotiable (paying cash for eg). Give it a go and see what you can get - there are often sales as well; we are going to look for our third vehicle soon, and will wait for a sale to come along.

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guestuser
  7/25/2019 03:11 EST

To be honest I’ve never found paying cash anywhere leads to significant discounts on a car. In the US it removes one of the main avenues for dealers to make money. In Colombia I’d guess that they see having the cash evidence that you don’t need a discount!

Some Marques have multiple distributors and then again other distributors carry multiple brands so attempting to play off one salesperson against another is tricky. For the higher end of the market the number of sales is pretty small and It’s obvious you get known in the market pretty early on.

On paying cash you may be asked for money significantly in advance as vehicle units may in different locations, often Bogota and need to be trucked in.

I’ve seen locals go to great lengths to try to get discounts and have a very protracted buying period. Again you need to watch the $ rate as shifts there can undo your strategy.

peterv123
  7/25/2019 08:11 EST

Thanks for the replies. I'm not after a high end car, but I suppose anything above basic is considered high end here to some extent. Also I am not in a big hurry to get one so I hope that will help. Some people have said that the price difference between new and used is not that great here. and if that's the case it seems not worth getting a used one. I used to get slightly used ones in the States and had good luck and good price with that.

canpandave
  7/25/2019 09:23 EST

New cars cost 19% more than used because IVA is charged on new cars but not on used cars.

guestuser
  7/25/2019 09:24 EST

In Colombia something like a Mazda CX-5 (starts around $30k) will be considered an upper middle class car, the sort of car a professionals family might have. Minis are considered upscale (with show rooms to match) starting at under $30k but running to $45k.
Price comparison with the US can be difficult. It’s not unusual here for cars to have older spec engines and less content (missing cameras, nav. systems etc.) The market here has been tough given the exchange rate. One strategy that manufacturers have taken is to import only the smaller engined versions of cars rather than the range you would see elsewhere. So say an Audi Q3 may look like a luxury car but with a 1.4 liter engine and 150 bhp it’s not going to be that quick on hilly roads.

Second hand cars hold their value well. Again there can be distortions. A falling peso makes new imported cars even more expensive and therefore keep second hand cars prices high.

peterv123
  7/26/2019 09:16 EST

Well, with the dollar/peso at these levels it seems like it would be a good time to make any large purchase here.
A requirement of mine for a vehicle is to have adequate ground clearance. I rented a Kia Sportage to visit the mother in law's at her farm in the mountains. The country roads tore loose a plastic guard underneath. Fortunately I was able to put it back.
The daughter's boyfriend drove his sedan up there and did some kind of damage underneath the car. To me clearance would be more important than all wheel drive.

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BeerLover74
  7/26/2019 09:25 EST

We just paid a deposit yesterday and the Renault dealership said the max they could accept legally in cash was 10 million pesos. The rest we have to credit their banco Colombia account.
Renault game us a deal where we could pay half now, and half in 12 months no interest. So we are taking the other half and investing it and then in a year we will pay off the rest.

guestuser
  7/26/2019 12:15 EST

Finding cars, at least reasonable priced cars, with higher ground clearance isn’t easy. So many cars these days are designed with the low teardrop shape to get better mileage. The ground clearance of the big Toyota’s probably explains their popularity but they are very expensive. Ground clearance is also useful in that flash floods can occur quickly even in the city. Many properties helpfully dump any excess water onto the road and it can be a real issue.

You clearly needed ground clearance to get up to that farm. I’m not sure about skipping on the four wheel drive though. If you use unmade roads when the rain comes traction, in particular if there are gradients, can be in short supply. Also you won’t need to spend long in Colombia to find small cars and those without AWD sitting on their roofs after coming to grief on a tight downhill bend in the rain. The road from JMC to the city is famous for that.

Unless you intend to keep the car forever bearing in mind what Colombians buy is worthwhile. Other than base entry cars people like automatics and four wheel or AWD is pretty common. What you save when you purchase may be an issue if you ever want to sell.

WhoaNellie
  7/26/2019 13:18 EST

PL wrote:
"So many cars these days are designed with the low teardrop shape to get better mileage."

This is certainly true - but kind of useless in Colombia where most speed limits are set in kilometers per hour, to about the same as they would be in the US in miles per hour - a city street in the US might be 30mph but in Colombia it's 30kph...a highway in the US might be 60mph but in Colombia it's 60kph...wind resistance is minimal at the low speeds one can drive in most of Colombia.

On many highways you are lucky if you can get up to even 50-60kph most of the time - and then you'd better be on the lookout for potholes, animals, horse-drawn carts, bicycles, pedestrians, and all the other ever-present road hazards.

guestuser
  7/26/2019 15:42 EST

Agreed @whoanellie most modern cars aren’t really an ideal fit for Colombia. The same is true of them selling electric cars here. The infrastructure (charging points outside the home) just isn’t here and other than a few ‘image’ locations you’d be hard pressed to find chargers.
Are new builds including charging points in the garage spaces?

EpaEpaEpa
  7/26/2019 18:08 EST

Renault made Colombians mobile when it opened it's Sofasa assembly plant in Envigado back in 1970 and began assembling the very cheap Renault 4. Those little cars, many still on the road got through the pretty bad roads of the epoch despite the low clearance of the front end with engine and transaxle located there. The rear was pretty high so if the front end made it through it was clear sailing. Today Renault touts the fact that their 2wd cars like Sendero, Logan and new Kwid have higher ground clearance than other cars, specifically to deal with Colombian driving conditions. Those driving conditions are no longer an issue for most Colombian drivers if they stay on main roads or drive in the cities, 4wd can still be a requirement in the mountain villages where you see lots of US made Willys Jeeps from the nineteen fifties doing regular service or 70s Aro Carpatis in some parts. For the most part "Colombian roads" are a far cry from what they were even twenty years ago. I frequently take the Via Panamericana from Cali to Riofrio and can hold at 100 kph when there are no tractamulas in the way.

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