Buying a secondhand car in Bangladesh is not as hard as you think. But when you are buying a secondhand car for the first time, you’ll be hearing lots of innocent but discouraging comments from your friends and relatives regarding the risks, maintenance cost associated with a secondhand car.
Practically, risk and maintenance cost are associated with every car, may it be a brand new car, or reconditioned car or a secondhand car. But with secondhand car, the risk and maintenance cost could be substantial, if you fail to buy a good one. And that’s where this article comes into your help. It will help you find and buy the best secondhand car within your budget in Bangladesh. Below is your Guide to Buy a Great Secondhand Car in Bangladesh:
The owner from whom you’re buying the used car
The owner of the car is of utmost importance when buying a secondhand car. For example, if he is a regular family guy with a good job, you can be sure, he used his car mostly for family purposes. I recommend buying a secondhand car directly from its owner. Don’t ever buy it from a broker or a secondhand car dealer.
Shop the car not the price
When buying a secondhand car in Bangladesh, we often limit our budget within 2.5 lac to 7 lac. But the recommended budget is somewhere in between. I would say, if your budget is about 4 to 5 lac, you can have a good secondhand car that features auto-gear, ac and most other options auto. For a secondhand car, investing more than 6 lac is not a wise decision, since you can have a new car of certain brands for as low as 8 lac. And buying a secondhand car at less than 3 lac, will often end you up in buying the Price not the Car. I hope you get my point. So, be patient when buying a secondhand car. Wait till you get the perfect one for your need and within your budget.
What features to look for in a secondhand car
There are something that you must keep in mind when buying a secondhand car in Bangladesh. These are very important, so pay attention:
Manual Vs. Auto Gear Car: Since this article is written for middle class, I assume you can’t afford to keep a driver for your car. In which case, I strongly forbid you to buy a manual gear car. Given the increasing jam in city, you’ll be disgusted to drive a manual gear car. However, if you are planning to have a driver, you can buy a manual gear car with better features. Still, I would recommend you to buy an auto gear car, since manual gear has become obsolete (remember, we are not talking about racing cars).
What is CC, and how does it affect a car: CC stands for cubic centimeters, and is a measure of how big your engine is. More CC means your car has more power that requires more gasoline. So basically, lower cc engines burn less, but also move less weight around, while bigger engines have higher cc numbers, burn more gasoline. If you are to reduce your cost associated with owning a Car, I would recommend you to stick to cars with CC ranging from 1000 to 1400 CC. It would save on Registration Fees, Change of ownership fees, fitness fees, yearly tax, and other fees associated with owning the car. For a detailed look at tax and other fees, click
Brand of Car: The best brand is undoubtedly Toyota, as long as Bangladesh is concerned. Because, the parts are available and affordable. Besides, the car mechanics in Bangladesh are more skilled in repairing cars of Toyota brand than other brands. So, if you want to reduce maintenance cost for the secondhand car that you’re going to buy – I highly recommend you to buy a Toyota. Specially, Starlet or Station Wagon or at least Toyota Duet – which would be within your budget.
Average Lifespan of a Car: Loosely speaking, in Bangladesh, a Car’s average lifespan is 20 years (as long as private cars are concerned). So, if the car you are going to buy is older than 15 years, I wouldn’t recommend it. Generally, a car may outlive its expected lifespan. Toyota regards a car as garbage after 25 years. But some cars last for 30 years or more. It totally depends on how regularly the owner uses it and maintains it.
Mileage, engine and overall fitness of the car: While most people think, mileage is very important, I believe, Engine is what you should be more concerned about. For example, if the owner changed the engine oil, air-filter and, mobile filter accordingly and timely and if he maintained other things properly than regardless of mileage a car, engine and other parts will remain in good health. Whereas, a lower mileage but ill-maintained car will give to a poor overall condition of the car.
Generally, purchasing a car with a very high mileage, for example, over 200,000 km and higher is not recommended. However, ‘low mileage’ does not necessarily mean it’s going to be a good car as mentioned above. Be aware of cars that may have undergone restoration after a serious accident, or cars that may have had their odometer rolled back – nowadays they can easily ‘fix’ even electronic or digital odometers. Checking a car history records will certainly help to avoid fixed odometer scams.
Recommended mileage count is 80,000 to 1,00,000 km or less. But again, it is not as important as the fact that it was well maintained and accident-free.
AC of the Car: Make sure the AC works properly. Don’t haste in buying a secondhand car. Test drive it with your AC on and at least try it for 15 minutes to an hour if possible. Check for irritable noises.
Car break, acceleration and other things: Go to a good car repair shop and find the best mechanic at hand. Offer him 500 taka (or more, up to 2000 taka) to help you out in buying the right car. He can give you an insight regarding the problems with the car you’re going to buy. He can even give you an estimation of repair cost if needed. Choose the mechanic carefully, make sure, he is not connected with the car owner. Pay him well so he gives you his best service. Even if it is 2000 taka of service, but his suggestions and review can save you from the the worst buy of your life.
Car Papers and Document: You should review all the papers from the buying and till now (if there had been more than two owners associated with the car, I wouldn’t recommend you to go for it). Ask for all the papers and documents, including the registration, fitness, tax token. Everything should be up to date till the current year. You should also check that the insurance is done first party or third party. The first party insurance is always good. However, a third party car insurance can be done at only 500 TK; which is legal and works just fine, specially in police checking. Some people does that.
Finally, if possible, try to visit BRTA and police station to check with the car’s registration number to find out if there is any serious case due with the car.
I hope this article helps you in buying a great secondhand car.
thank you. it was a great read.
Very fine article. I feel happy after reading this. I am going to buy a used car. It will be very useful to me.Thanks a lot.
May Allah Bless you.