# Need advise for buying a car in Mexico city



## Bishy (Feb 26, 2011)

Thank you all for helping me out so far. I am almost ready to leave to Mexico city and honestly I am quite excited about it. We rented out a home in Lomas de Chapultepec which looks like a nice zone. I need to buy a car now. I am an inexperienced new driver, I have recently learnt driving and have not bought my first car yet. I will be driving just around Lomas and later when I am comfortable with it I will be going to Polanco. What type of car should I buy? I am thinking of second hand small car but my husband says that its not safe on the road and we should buy an expensive big car. Can someone help me in making decision please. My husband doesnt drive and I am new so we are really not able to make up our minds. Any advise will be great help. Thanks!


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## Rodrigo84 (Mar 5, 2008)

Big cars are definitely not a plus in D.F.

I'd opt for something smaller, but I'd also look at a small SUV like the Toyota Rav4 or the Honda CRV to deal with the horrible roads here but not hurt on gas mileage. Those two vehicles are among the best in quality (learned a lot from my American cousins on the quality of vehicles, something that's not widely known firsthand in Mexico among locals). It's also going to depend on insurance and how much you are willing to spend. Keep in mind, these roads weren't designed for large SUVS or large trucks, but for small cars. Still, I found with a small SUV that it was easier to see everything around me yet still be maneuverable in traffic.

Subaru (Forester), Mazda (5) and Nissan (Xtrail) also have high quality.

This link may help sort out your new vehicle options,
Catálogo de Autos 0km ? Autocosmos.com

Again, a small SUV has the advantage of not hurting as much on gas mileage, but you get a stronger suspension than a car and you can see around you much better than you would be able to in a car. A lot of my cousin's female friends had small SUVs and found them much easier to drive than their previous cars. Plus, the small SUV is going to have a significant safety advantage over a car.


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## Bishy (Feb 26, 2011)

Thanks for all this useful info and great advise. I really appreciate that. Do you think its good to buy a used car since im new driver? Is there a reliable place to buy and anything i should be careful about? Thanks again


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

If you are a brand new driver, I advise you to heed this advice: "Buy a car which is already dented and scratched."


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## Rodrigo84 (Mar 5, 2008)

Bishy said:


> Thanks for all this useful info and great advise. I really appreciate that. Do you think its good to buy a used car since im new driver? Is there a reliable place to buy and anything i should be careful about? Thanks again


It all depends on how much money you want to spend and whether you want something new. Used Japanese vehicles as I mentioned are plentiful, including the small SUVs. I don't know a particular used car place that I can recommend off hand in the area and to be fair I would be a lot more careful here in Mexico than in Europe or U.S. in terms of buying a used car, but not that it is not possible. 

I leave this advice though. The more common the vehicle on the road (VW Beetle, Nissan Tsuru, Chevrolet Chevy), the more likely you are to find a mechanic on any corner that can fix it unlike the small SUVs I mentioned (that have really only shown up in the last 10 years or so in Mexico). However, the smaller vehicles can take serious wear and tear with suspensions and the environment (engines have to work harder at higher altitude). Dealers would be your best bet to get a used SUV (i.e., used Toyota Rav4 at a Toyota dealer) and the service history would be likely more complete as these cars not commonly fixed by your corner mechanic in Mexico.

The other thing I will mention is that if you can find a good, trusty mechanic, they usually can locate and inspect a vehicle of your choosing. This is quite a common practice in Mexico and they can help you through the car registration and emissions inspections (twice a year).


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