Hello there. Moving from the US to Europe and I just want to get an idea of how much you guys are paying for the yearly maintenance/inspection.

I am specifically asking for the yearly maintenance/inspection cost that you have to get done at a service, like checking and topping off fluids (oil, coolant, brake, power steering), inspecting brakes (pads, rotors, lines), examining tires (pressure, tread, rotation), verifying the condition of belts and hoses, testing lights and signals, checking the battery, and inspecting the engine, suspension, and exhaust system. 

Thanks

EDIT: Moving to Spain. I am looking at Skoda Octavia, VW Passat or Arteon, or a Seat Leon.

Hi everyone, looking for a Touran style car in the Baltic states for ~6k. Maybe someone can suggest something.
My main points are - well equiped (leather salon, color screen and so on), good fuelage, logical design, preferably not outdated design and of course decent cost on maitenance. Mechanical gearbox is preferred.

For a long time I was looking at Tourans as they are my favorites due to the outer/inner volume ratio, but because 6k can only buy ~2012 Touran, the interiors look almost the same as my 2003, and my dumb mind doesn't want to spend 6k on a new car and to sit in the same/worse interior. That's why I was trying to find things like alcantra, sunroof and so on, but I see that due to my budget it's almost impossible, at least in the Baltics. I know mobile.de and other marketplaces exist, but not sure how that should work with checking out the car and so on.

Then I checked out Opel Zafira Tourers and I like them but I am reading mixed views on them.
SMax are decent but the panel is bit outdated. CMax bit too small. My dad has C4 Piccasso (not grand) 2014, bit meh, seats are very flat, laggy bluetooth, and boot is smallish. I am guessing the grand has the same bluetooth problem (it really triggers me), not sure is there any other problems.

Wagons like passat also can work, but not sure from what to choose as there is many of them and MPVs are still preferred.

I hope someone can bring some insight as I am bit lost and maybe my standards are too high for my budget..

For those of you that drive yaris hybrid latest gen in city more than 80% of the time, what is your consumption?

I am currently living in Spain and have a car with a Spanish car plate. In two months I will leave Spain with the car and drive to Italy. As I will leave my job and rental house in Spain, I will also loose my NIE. The car will then be in Italy for approximately 8 months, parked on private property. It will not be used at all during this time as I will be travelling. I will then move to Germany, and I will have to drive from Italy to Germany. Therefore I am wondering, do I need to change the car plate twice? Obviously after the move to Germany I will change car plates to a German one, but can I keep the Spanish car plate for 8 months while in Italy, even though I won't be resident in Spain. Will I be able to renew my car insurance and be legal on my drive from Italy to Germany?

Hello, as the title says I am looking to buy a new car and since i will spend quite some money on it (for my country) I want something long-lasting.

The thing I am interested in:

-Reliable & low maintenance cost -Good for long road trips (low fuel consumption, a bit of comfort) -Bonus points if it can pull a caravan/trailer(I am planning to buy one, under 1 ton) -I hike a lot so a little bit of off-road capabilities are a plus

I am from Romania so I'm strongly considering the Dacia Duster 1.5 DCI because of its good reputation but I want to take into consideration all the options. The only thing I don't like about the Duster is the ugly interior but its reliability makes up for it. Thank you in advance for the help!

Moving from the USA to Europe and I'm thinking about buying a VW Arteon. I drove a VW CC for the past 10 years in the United States and absolutely loved it so this purchase would make sense.

I found a couple of these cars for sale with around 50,000 km in the price range of €23-€25,000.

What do you guys think? Would this be a good buy? Have you owned this car?

Hello everyone,

I'm looking to buy my first car in Germany and would appreciate some advice. A bit about my situation: I currently work from home, so I don’t need a daily commute. My weekly drives are mainly short trips to the supermarket (~1 km), and on weekends I occasionally drive to nearby cities with my family. My work situation might change in a few months, so I want to keep options open.

I'm interested in a station wagon that is reliable, ideally fuel-efficient, and holds its value reasonably well over the next 2 years. Reliability is my main concern, I don’t want to spend money on maintenance or repairs aside from regular oil/gas.

So far, I've been looking mainly at Toyota Auris Touring Sport and Hyundai i30/i40.

Toyota Auris options (dealer, 1-year warranty):

1. 2016, 1.33 L, manual, petrol, 100k km – looks solid; main concern is engine might be underpowered. Price: ~9k €
2. 2015, 1.6 L, manual, petrol, 130k km – first-hand, solid; stretches budget to ~10k €, not sure if overpriced.

Hyundai i30 options:

1. 2017, 1.6 L, diesel, automatic, 140k km, dealer, 1-year warranty – price ~8k €
2. 2015, 1.6 L, diesel, manual, 120k km, private sale, no guarantee/return - price ~6k €

Hyundai i40 options:

1. 2013, 1.7 L, diesel, automatic, 140k km, dealer, 1-year warranty – price ~8k €
2. 2013, 1.6 L, petrol, manual, 100k km, dealer, 1-year warranty – might feel underpowered, potentially higher fuel consumption. Price: ~8k €

Questions I have:

• Any experiences with these models regarding reliability, maintenance costs, and resale value?
• Opinions on whether the smaller engines (Auris 1.33 L, i40 1.6 L petrol) would feel underpowered.
• Does it make sense to go for diesel in my situation?
• General advice on what to prioritize for a first car in Germany.

1. P.S.: I haven’t seen or driven any of these cars yet (except one i30, which isn’t listed here due to some background check issues), so I don’t have a first-hand opinion.
2. P.S.: Where I live is mainly flat, but I’d like to keep the flexibility to drive longer distances or hilly areas if needed.

The idea is to minimize the cost of car ownership in the next 20 years.

Other conditions:

- Take car to mechanic as rarely as possible

- Car similar to Citroen C3 2008 that i currently own : shorter than 400cm, trunk size around 300L, low consumption (5L or less), has a great AC, has a folding arm so i can rest my right arm when driving, relatively cheap spares, and the car looks nice.

- Resale value not important – i will drive car until it dies

EV not an option as charging is too inconvenient.

85% city driving, 15% highway.

12.000km/year. I live in Croatia.

What is the best way to achieve low cost of car ownership while respecting all the mentioned conditions?

In my price range of 13k euro I m mainly considering these options.

Could anyone help give me some aspects I might not be considering?

From what I see, the skoda scala seems to be the best deal of balance between reliability and comfort (its interior is superb imo).

Hello everyone,

I want to buy a car under 13k euro, the main attribute would be reliability and the second one would be comfort.

I m looking for a mix of both.

I think I would like the car to have under 100k kilometers.

Doesn t matter the form factor, my choices for now would be mazda 2, renault megane 4, honds civic or suzuki vitara

Any suggestions please?

Hi,
looking to get a car. 95% to get me from city to the outdoor place where i'll climb or hike.

- I'm in a V4 country, big city, but it won't be used in the city
- definitely used, 10-12k €, manual.
- no need for latest fancy tech. Good AC, good seat, etc.
- don't need a fast one. Just enough to haul 1-3 people and stuff properly on a highway. So I guess a 1.8 liter and up?
- reliability is key, also easily accessible components

Most important req is that I want to be able to sleep in it. Back seats collapsed, add some mattress and I want to sleep comfortable, properly stretched out. I'm 185 cm. So I assume a combi.

I guess that's mostly it.
Thank you,

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are expecting a baby, which means it’s time to say goodbye to my lovely Citroën C2 VTR. We need something bigger now, since we also have a large dog.

We’re based in a big European city. I currently drive about 95% in the city, but once we get a bigger car, I plan to travel more — mountain trips here and there, and maybe some road trips to nearby countries.

So I’m basically looking for a reliable car that’s big enough for family life but still practical for mostly city driving.

Budget: Around €10,000 (can stretch to €15,000, but I’d prefer not to).

I’m currently considering the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, but I’m open to other suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi all,

I often need accurate used car valuations in Europe (VIN-based preferred). I know Schwacke is one of the best sources for this, but their pricing seems geared toward big businesses.

I was wondering:

• Do any of you here use Schwacke regularly?
• Is there a way for smaller users (independent buyers, importers, private users) to get access?
• Or are there individuals/companies that offer lookup services per VIN?

Any tips, experiences, or directions are much appreciated

Hello there. I am moving from the US to Europe and I am shocked at how expensive second hand cars are. I'd like to know if you can give me any advice on what to avoid and what are the best cars that will last a long time (with proper maintenance of course). Just to give you an idea, I have a budget of about 25k euros and I'd like something that is AWD with less than 30k km.

I've been looking at Audi A4 quattro but I can't find anything for that price under 50k km.

My friends and family in Europe all say it's perfectly normal and safe to buy a car with 60-70k km but I just find it risky due to wear and tear and imminent repairs.

Also, I'm using AutoScout24 and Mobile.de for car search. What other websites are you guys using?

Looking forward for your advice!

Hi!

I would like to ask for some help in buying a new vehicle for work. My Director decided to replace my old VW Caddy from 2008. Great little car, really. The 2.0 NA diesel engine proved to be very reliable even after 500.000 kms (that I know of).

So I got the task to look for a new small utility van. Details: - Company is based in Hungary - Fuel type doesn't matter as long as it isn't fully electric, hovewer mild hybrid is a bonus. - It should be able to fit one pallet of 850-900 kg top. - Back door should open to the sides and not up like the old Caddy as it really makes loading a pain in the... - It can be new or a few years old used if it's a good deal.

Could you help me with some recommendations? Thank you!

Hey everyone, need a bit of advice as I am looking at some used cars. We have a bit of a tight budget and know very little about cars in general.

Some context: - The car is primarily going to be used by 1-2 people; we are going to have cages for 2 dogs in the back. We also think we’ll probably add a single bed and some storage for dog equipment (we do search and rescue volunteer work with dogs).

• We drive about 10K km per year.

• we live in Norway, so cold winter and lots of snow.

The cars: We are looking at these two used cars in our price range

1) Ford Transit connect L2 2021, 1,5L diesel, 100 horsepower, 130k km mileage, a bit smaller. Pros I see: - Is newer - Has a new car warranty for one more year Cons: - has a pretty bad bump that has been patched and painted over - the timing belt hasn’t been changed - I have heard that Ford cars break down a lot but idk 🤷

2) Mercedes Vito 2017, 1,6L diesel, 114 horsepower, 146k km, a bit bigger (including higher clearance), seems to be in overall better shape cosmetically. Pros: - has a timing chain instead of a timing belt - has a remote activated heating thingy (which is good when winter temps are in then -20 range and below) Cons: - is older - a bit suspicious why it’s so cheap but don’t have more than a hunch

Any advice would be appreciated

Hi everyone,

I need to buy a family car, but I am confused a bit because I am not sure if the price difference justifies the experience.

I need a big vehicle, for EU standards. Options are limited. I was leaning towards Toyota Highlander, but it's just too expensive (€65k) while a Fiat Doblo Maxi is half the price or even less (€27-30k). Is it really that different? Skoda Kodiaq is somewhere in between (€50k). They're not manufacturing anymore most of MPVs that I could consider (Ford Galaxy, etc).

I had rented a Doblo last summer for 10 days and it was.. great. Space and technology was on par with all cars out there, power was plenty, and consumption was low. The only negative things I can find are the image, and harder ride for the passengers (my two toddlers) in the back. These are not really a problem for me.

Is there any other major drawback of these cars (Doblo, VW Caddy, Ford Tourney etc) vs Let's say Skoda Kodiaq? Are we paying for the image or is it really worth it?

Hello all,

I would like to purchase a used car (BMW i3s fully electric if that matters) from a dealership near Toulouse, France. I am a private individual from Hungary (EU and Schengen member state). I would like to buy and drive it home to my home country in Hungary. I contacted the dealership that has the car I want to purchase but they claimed they cannot sell the car to me if I do not have a permanent address in France.

Is this possible? I have a hotel booking that has an address I can give if necessary for local administration but otherwise I can only give official ID/Proof of my permanent address in Hungary.

According to my research there is no legal obstacle of buying a French car for export if I don't want to register the car in France. In theory they just cross out the 'Carte grise', write the sale date on it.
I read something like that the seller has 30 days to deregister the plates and during this period I, the new owner can drive the car with temporary third-party liability insurance.

According to this EU official document they can sell me the car and I can drive it home if I have insurance even after the seller deregisters the license plate with the prefecture. I only need to arrange temporary insurance to drive in the EU.

https://www.europe-consommateurs.eu/fileadmin/Media/PDF/PDF_EN/Cross_border_car_purchase_2016/PDF_EN/Country_fact_sheets___purchase/Country_fact_sheets_purchase_FINAL-FR.pdf

Please help me how I can arrange the purchase of this vehicle or just point me in the right direction how I can manage this purchase.

Thank you for any and all help!

Best regards,
Mark Drossler

I have a BMW 3 Series Touring (G21) with a trailer hitch. I recently bought a Thule bike rack for 4 bicycles and used it for the first time. Unfortunately, the car didn’t handle the load well — it felt far too wobbly, and it’s clear that the rear springs and shocks weren’t prepared for that kind of weight hanging off the hitch.

Am I right in thinking that, to safely carry 4 bikes on a hitch, I’d need a car with rear air suspension? I’m hoping that load-leveling would help the suspension manage the additional weight more effectively.

Also, would a car with a shorter rear overhang be inherently more stable when carrying bikes this way?

If anyone has experience with this setup, I’d love to hear:

• Do air springs actually eliminate the wobble I experienced?
• If so, what would be the most compact and affordable car with rear air suspension that I could buy? I’m open to cars from 2019 and newer.

Thanks for any advice!

I was planning a long journey, like EXTREMELY long. I’m departing from Italy aiming to reach Japan, and I need EVERYTHING. I have about 3 months before departure and I need: -1 very reliable car, I need suggestions cuz I thought about a Toyota, but idk. (~5k-8k max) -an affordable sleeping bag - suggestions on what to bring to eat, like thermos or not, should I bring a mini fridge, a small gas can etc. Any other recommendations or ideas you might have, I was thinking about as small solar panel to charge my electronics but idk.