The High Cost of Playing with Used Cars

Recently, the used car market has been quite lively. For those who are new to used cars, they can simply go to used car dealerships or car refurbishment stores where they will be introduced and advised attentively. Online stores also advertise a wide range of used cars at various prices.

Active transactions

With an amount of money equivalent to a motorcycle, users can own a car that was manufactured over 20 years ago but has only traveled 200,000 km.

For example, a 1996 Daewoo Cielo is priced at about 30 million VND, a 1995 Kia Pride is about 29 million VND. The Daewoo Matiz Frog car, produced in 2007, is being sold for 80 million VND, while the 2002 Kia Pride is just over 40 million VND, and the 1985 Camry is equipped with power-adjustable mirrors, power steering, electronic fuel injection… for just over 80 million VND.

Older cars such as La Dalat, produced since 1969, are being offered at 80 million VND. The Jeep brand is also being widely sold, with prices ranging from 50 million VND to over 100 million VND.

In the luxury car segment, a diesel engine Landrover produced since the 1990s is being offered at 2.5 billion VND. The owner of this car said that previously, the car was registered in Can Tho City, and most of the details and machinery are still original.

Similarly, a Mercedes G63 with a diesel engine, manufactured in 1990, is also priced at around 2 billion VND. According to the seller, this price is not high because the new 2019 model is being sold for over 10 billion VND.

A car manufactured in the early 1990s is being offered for over 2 billion VND in Ho Chi Minh City

At the vintage car show in Hoi An (Quang Nam), many “unique” and “rare” car models drew attention from car enthusiasts. Among them, a 1967 Ford Mustang and a Citroen Traction Avant before 1980 are priced at around 1 billion VND, a 1980 “beetle” Volkswagen Beetle is priced at only 300 million VND, a pre-1980 Jeep A2 is priced at only 215 million VND, and a 1980 Citroen Ladalat, which was once popular, is being offered at 104 million VND.

Representatives of the “Chợ Tốt Xe” car trading website said that the used car market has its own appeal. The number of used cars listed for sale and the number of successful transactions have increased by 10.78% and 9.52% respectively compared to the same period in 2018.

Since the beginning of September until now, the most popular used car is the 1990 Toyota Corolla priced at 50 million VND, followed by the 1987 Toyota Camry priced at 79 million VND, and the 1999 Kia Pride priced at 25 million VND. However, sedans are the best-selling type of cars, accounting for 55.20% of the total cars sold from the beginning of 2019 until now. The 1995 Kia Pride, 1992 Honda Accord, and 1988 Toyota Camry are always among the top 5 best-selling used cars on “Chợ Tốt” website for two consecutive years (2018-2019).

From the beginning of the year until now, the most consumed used car models are the 1988 Toyota Camry (87 million VND), the 1992 Honda Accord (110 million VND), the 1998 Daewoo Nubira (60 million VND), the 1995 Kia Pride (29 million VND), and the 1996 Daewoo Cielo (30 million VND).

Troubles make it more enjoyable!

Most car enthusiasts are willing to spend money and time on repairing and upgrading their cars because they love the uniqueness and non-mainstream nature of these cars. With more than 10 years of experience in playing with used cars, Mr. Le Minh Tung, who lives in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, said that it is very difficult to find a satisfactory car because it is very rare to buy a car with all original parts intact. However, if you mistakenly buy a “worn-out” car, it will cost a fortune to repair it and “selling the old house won’t be enough to pay for the repairs”.

Mr. Tran Van Tuan, who lives in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, concluded that to play with used cars, one must have two things: billionaire-level free time and millionaire-level money; in other words, one must have a lot of money and unlimited time to play with this type of car.

“Used car enthusiasts spend all day tinkering with their cars; every time they need to repair or replace parts, they have to order them from overseas at prices ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong, depending on the part. For example, a fuel tank alone costs 20 million VND, and a headlight costs over 20 million VND,” Mr. Tuan explained, adding that buying a car for 500 million VND but spending an additional 500 million VND, or even 1 billion VND, on repairs is normal. For example, the Ladalat car was purchased for only 30 million VND but it cost 100 million VND to repair.

Mr. Huynh Minh Lam, who lives in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, claims that his favorite car is the Citroen DS19 from the 1960s. When he bought it, it was less than 200 million VND, but he spent 500 million VND refurbishing it. This model is considered to have a smooth and comfortable ride thanks to its hydraulic suspension, steering, and braking system, which are currently used on Mercedes and Rolls Royce models. However, the repair process is very difficult because there are no replacement parts available locally; they have to be imported from abroad, and finding a skilled mechanic to repair it is a challenge.

“Sometimes, the joy of playing with used cars comes from experiencing their breakdowns and troubles. It’s normal for the car to stall and require a push-start! If driving an old car feels like driving a new car, then it’s no longer interesting,” Mr. Lam said.