Buying a car

Start searching online. Corotos.com  join some facebook groups for your area. Check the classifieds here

Make sure you use carfax and a mechanic. Dont trust anyone's word!

Your best bet will be to find a car being sold by an expat who either bought new or brought their own vehicle to the DR. 
Face book for your area is a good start also many of the larger local stores (grocery for sure) have bulletin boards with ads posted.
Yes USE carfax.  Many if not all used cars brought in by dealers either have bad titles in the US (flood, junk) or have had the miles rolled back significantly. I looked at one that left Miami 3 weeks before I saw it with 100k more miles on it that what it showed here.
Expect to pay about 30% more then blue book value for new or used here.

Bob K

Had the same experience Bob with a company vehicle - written off in  USA and brought here, fixed, miles rolled back and then sold by a dealer!!!!

Buyer beware.

I had  a very positive experience dealing with someone who does all the legwork for you. He is independent from the car dealer and can recommend a vehicle to suit your needs are find anything you may want specifically. He will view and test the car prior to you having to go so it saves you a considerable amount of time. A pleasure to deal with and very reasonable cost. PM me and I will forward you his contact info

A valuable asset to have.  Does your budget matter?   What ifit is only 3 to 5K?

your budget does not matter.. the quality of the service is no different..

Another scam especially online, are used and new cars that have been in floods.  It is virtually impossible, to correct all the inherent problems caused by flooding.  It will be a lemon, but will never become lemonade.  lol.

Carfax is worth every penny.

Glad no budget limit, now I can recommend, thanks.

Try supercarros . com website and verify the cars you like with CARFAX.

well, as far as flooding goes, it depends on what type of flood, be it salt water or fresh water. salt water over the rocker panel about kills a car. the same applies to fresh water up to the botton of the crash pad. in either case, they render a car a total loss.

the problem with Carfax is that it only works with reported losses. if a guy has a fleet of cars for his business, and self insures the fleet, then any car involved in an accident which does not get reported to an insurance carrier, will not have an accident record. if you get into an accident on the street, and a cop does not show up at the scene, and the insurance companies are not notified, there is no record of that accident on Carfax.

CARFAX will not work if the car was imported here by a dealer
It serves NoAmerican cars only

My last 2 cars were properly dealer imported cars
IMO, this is the way to go... anExport model

Cruffman is the car guy... the go-to man

I have used him

And recommend him

exservdr, let me respectfully submit that buying a used car in the DR is way more than finding one on Supercarros , and checking it on Carfax. when the car you want to buy has a serious mechanical issue, Carfax cannot help. it cannot hear a spun bearing in the lower half of the engine. it cannot tell if your tranny is shifting right. it does not hear leaking vaccuum hoses, and worn valve springs. that is where human know how comes in to play..

here's a little blurb about CARFAX... from the Porsche owner website
===============================================================

I’d say this regarding buying a used vehicle. I bought a lightly used, CPO BMW M3 from a local dealer. Drove it, loved it, bought it, went to pick it up, and when I gave it a close look in the dealership ‘delivery bay’ prior to signing the paperwork, I cancelled the deal. The hood of the car was covered in tons of tiny nicks and the glass windshield was a wreck. Not sure if it was there when I test drove the car in the rain the previous week, but it looked as if someone found a salt spreader and decided to tailgate it in the M3. The car was a disaster, but the paint “damage” was limited to just the hood and the windshield. The front bumper was fine. So I told the sales guy I was not buying the car. He brought over the manager, and to salvage the deal, they said they would repaint the hood and replace the glass. I said I didn’t want to buy an expensive car in this condition and have that info on the CarFax. They laughed and said they would be sure the repairs wouldn’t be reported to anyone, anywhere, and would be between us. Since they were paying for everything themselves and doing it ‘in house’ it would never be reported. They took a few more $$s off the price, explained the backstory on the car (my sales guy sold the car to the original owner, who traded it for an M5 after 11 months), and I was comfortable, so I decided to buy the M3.

Long story short, I don’t believe much of what I read in a CarFax. Actually, that’s not true. I believe what I read, but I don’t rely on it because there is often info that is NOT included, so be aware. If you aren’t comfortable, and if the car isn’t CPO, I’d look further. But I’d definitely buy a GTS, because it’s fantastic. It’s fast enough that the ‘missing’ low end torque shouldn’t be an issue for you.

Sorry, soon to be another incident on our highways.  When 'fast' is the criteria, so is thw 'end' of the ride.

this is from the Porsche owner website... not RD

I have been lucky here. In my tears here I have bought 3 motorcycles, 2 cars & 2 SUVs. Living here & making friends, contacts & never being shy has the way to go for me. Knowing a bit about mechanics & such was able not to get screwed.  Except for the Bonco & Blazer, were bougt privately.  The dealer in La Vega had sold a few before to my friend, so bought as investments.   Clean them up, detail them, take care o minor problems etc. Sold at good profits. Bikes & sedans at at least %100 above cost.  I drove thes bikes & cars for months & with the V-Star a couple of years. I never paid more than $3500 for any of them.  Patience & not having to possess the latest models can garner you a very good deal.  I was living here so had the time to develope the contacts.  They still exist.  Go with the recommended guys.

OK, understood, thanks

I have a question, i want to buy this used car, the owner left the country  and his traffic license in his name in the drawer of his former apartment, so it`s gone butthere  is  a photo of it. Any advice? Thanks.

Okay so what you want is the Matricula.  You will need the original in order to transfer title but you can do the sales contract etc without it. 

and welcome to the forums.

Thanks for the answer  and welcoming me, that`s the thing, the original Matricula is lost and the owner  is not coming back to DR.

OK.  I will ask my lawyer what you need to do!

My guess is that you'll need the owner's signature

I just went thru this...after selling my car
the new owner totaled it and lost the matricula

I had to sign the new /replacement

Yes but signatures can be done via courier.  I am not sure on the original matricula, waiting on an answer...

Certainly.... back/forth

Buying within the next month, probably around Santiago, La Vega, and Moca.

What are the usual categories of charges in addition to the vehicle price that a person pays on new and used cars?  Taxes, dealer prep, registration, . . .  anything else? 

What percentage of the vehicle price will be added on for these items? 

What are the common ploys for trying to charge the buyer more than the unadulterated price?

it depends upon who the buyer is. if you  appear to be unsure of the process, you will get skinned...check your pm..

I can recommend. Cruffman! He knows what he is talking about!

Using a service is certainly an option.  But, we have purchased numerous vehicles over the years, both new and used and in several countries -- just never on this island.  I realize that there are traps for an unwary buyer. I have certainly bought good and bad ones myself.  I always negotiate, sometimes well, other times indifferently. Thus, in advance of this proposed purchase, I am seeking information on how things may be different here.  If anyone has some useful pointers, I imagine others might be interested too.  Due to the vagaries of the used market and the common, sensible recommendation to have an experienced mechanic assess a potential purchase, how about just the breakdown of usual costs when buying new?

I am in Moca and will be buying soon - I hope. Here, I have gone around to various dealers, looked at their vehicles, new and used, talked with sales (generally find one person that speaks English), and through FAMILY contacts have narrowed down the purchase locations to two locations where family knows the salesperson. I also wander around looking at the mechanics working and seeing how they are doing things. That part of my research is a bit shaky but again, I have family to help find a reliable mechanic. Prices are, as advertised within these threads, 30 to 33 % higher than in the US. You may be able to negotiate the price lower if you are paying cash. If you have cash, can find a good mechanic, you might be better off buying private vice going thru a dealer. Not really a lot of info.....but there's my two cents worth...

Buying here is a crap shoot.  Understand that there is little oversight on the industry.  Dealers bring in write offs from American Insurance industry. They roll back odometer. They lie about everything.  And there is almost no consumer protection, it's buyer beware.

A good Mechanic is a whole other issue!  You cannot completely rely on a mechanic either assuming you find an honest one.

I have seen a lot of horror stories and I have heard a lot more.

Stick to common vehicles!  Don't buy the uncommon as later parts will be an issue.  In some cases you will be importing parts and that's expensive.

Juan....
being in Cabrera you should meet Pablo... mecanico in Nagua
Very very good work , reliable and nearby.
He will also help with buying.
Cruffman is the same..... but I know you don't like to stray far

Let me know if you're interested in buying or need repairs.
The RSJ - Cabrera area has some mechanics for smaller jobs.
Pablo/Nagua is bigger work mainly

I too can recommend Cruffman. He streamlined the entire process, minimized the endless searching for a suitable vehicle and was a pleasure to deal with.

He is the man.... Cruffman

Like Paladin - Have Gun , Will Travel....

you  guys are entirely too kind....

No we definitely are not too kind......  LOL

Based on the recommendations above,  Mike Cruffman is assisting us.  Love this forum!

Good to hear!

You’ll be happy

Hello Mr. Cruffman. My name is Allan. I live in Cabarete part of the year, and would like to purchase a used vehicle. My background is in automotive engineering, so I understand cars. However, I am Canadian - and judging by the excellent comments about you on this forum, I suspect it would take me a lot longer to find what I'm looking for, than it would for you to do the same thing. As a result, I would like to talk with you about engaging your services. How can I do that?

Allan