A Newbie's Guide to Purchasing a Second-Hand Vehicle in Portugal.

It's never going to be perfect anyways.

When I decided to buy a second-hand vehicle, I sincerely thought it was going to be an easy job, like going shopping at the supermarket. As you can imagine, this turned out to be a very naive way of looking at it, because buying a second-hand vehicle is nothing like going shopping. It’s not like going to a car dealer and buying a factory-new vehicle, and relaxing in full trust that the dealer and the manufacturer have your back with guarantees and maintenance for the next couple of years. Purchasing a second-hand vehicle is not a simple process, especially if it’s your first time and if you're not really into cars or mechanics, then it is definitely even harder for you. You need to educate yourself about a few things regarding vehicles, engines, and people.

Here is what I learned from buying a second-hand vehicle. Take it as my personal experience, not as a general truth. Hopefully, it gives you a few insights and threads to follow if you are engaging in a similar adventure.

I will not cover the vehicle research phase, there’s already so much material about that on the internet. I start off assuming that you already have a few vehicles that you are interested in and ready to go check out.

Things to keep in mind when you go check out a second-hand vehicle.

• Take the vehicle to an experienced mechanic so that he/she can have a look at it, or bring the mechanic with you when you visit the vehicle if possible. I can’t force how important this is, because no matter how much personal research you do and how many articles you read, you will not be as ‘fluent’ as a mechanic. He/she will know what to look at, what to look for, what you need to worry or relax about, and how much you would need to invest in repairs. Their “no” or their “go” has a lot of weight. If you don’t know any mechanics, ask around, make a list of 5-10 friends who have a vehicle and ask them for their mechanic’s contact. If, like me, you are new to a region and don’t know many people, go to a public space such as a supermarket parking area and talk to 10 people with cars, ask them if they have a reliable mechanic and take the contact. People want to help more than we think. Call all the mechanics on your list, tell them you are about to purchase a second-hand vehicle and you are looking for someone experienced to take a look at it and potentially work on it. A good connection with your mechanic goes a long way, this point deserves its own article, but for now, I would say it is important to have a good feeling about him/her when you choose from your list.

• The transmission belt (or driving belt, or time belt).

  A crucial part of the engine, a belt made of rubber which is responsible for the transfer of power between elements such as shafts, pulleys, or sheaves, and the timing between their movement. I will not go into a scientific explanation of why, but if the transmission belt breaks while you are driving your vehicle, the whole engine is totally dead. The belt needs to be changed every 100,000-150,000 km so make sure you ask the owner of the vehicle when was the last time he changed it, and let your mechanic check what condition it’s in. Depending on the vehicle, changing the transmission belt can cost anywhere from 300 to 800 €, including labor.

• The tires.

  Inspect the tires and check for tire wear. Ask the owner when was the last time the tires got changed because if they are worn, a new set of tires might be a big investment or not, depending on the size.

• Rust.

  Like gossip in Rogil, rust spreads everywhere and eats everything beautiful about your vehicle. Some rusty situations can, unfortunately, render the body of a vehicle obsolete, so make sure you and/or your mechanic take a good look, especially below the vehicle. One sneaky way to deal with rust is to do a quick paint job to hide it, so don’t be afraid to ask the seller about the vehicle’s rust situation and confront them about bizarre-looking paint spots. If the rust situation is not so drastic, it should still be taken care of as soon as possible to prevent further spreading. A rust removal process can be costly depending on how much of it there is, so make sure to keep this in mind for your budget.

• Mileage.

  The reason to look at this number is because it reflects how much the engine has been used, which is quite subjective. The van I was interested in had 300,000 km on it. As this was my first used-vehicle purchase and a completely unknown territory for me, I was totally giving my responsibility away to people and had no idea what to think or how to feel about it. When one person would tell me that 300,000 is too much, I would feel scared and hesitant, and when another would say “It’s actually pretty low and okay for a van from the year 97” I would feel relieved and excited. It was emotionally challenging to have no personal experiential ground to stand on. One can only decide to trust others and learn through trial and error. Today, I still don’t know if 300,000 km is a lot or not, and I still wobble between fear and relief. To see the number 300,000 certainly carries a sense of antiquity with it, and makes me more careful and aware of the machine I am holding in my hands.
  The other reason to look at mileage is for reselling purposes. From a potential buyer’s perspective, the financial value of a vehicle decreases as the mileage increases. For example, if I decide to sell the van after it crosses the 400,000 km threshold, it would be financially valued at significantly less than 300,000 km, the same for 500,000 km, etc…

• Fuel consumption.

  The main consideration is how many liters of fuel the vehicle consumes per 100 km. It is important because it gives you an estimate of your fuel budget. If you have a choice between two vehicles that are quite similar except that one of them consumes 15 L/100 km and the other only 10 L/100 km, it is a HUGE difference.

• Take it for a test drive.

  Don’t underestimate the importance of how it feels to drive it. It can be the best-looking vehicle and have the most powerful engine, but if you don’t like how you feel when you drive it, you’ll suffer in the long term. Sit in the driver's seat, hold the steering wheel, and see how it feels. Is it comfortable? Take it for a test drive and ask yourself: is this a sensation I would gladly experience again? I think the body has its own intelligence and it’s valuable to include it in the decision-making process.

• Ask the owner to point out problems they are aware of.

  You deserve transparency and are allowed to ask the owner what problems they usually experience with the vehicle. Ask them if there are any recurrent maintenance issues you should be aware of and if some parts had to be changed recently. You can also ask them why they are selling the vehicle, it might be for practical reasons like the need for a bigger vehicle, or it could be because of a problem they are tired of dealing with. Not everyone would be so direct and honest about it, but some people would, so it’s worth trying.

• Vehicle registration.

  What is the vehicle registered as? I found out the harsh way that my vehicle is registered as a van, not a campervan, which means that I cannot legally turn it into a “home” and build things in it. It was quite depressing because I had already purchased it and had amazing plans for it. To register it as a campervan is apparently quite a challenging process - a Hero’s journey through the Hell of Portuguese bureaucracy - very costly in terms of money, time, energy, and mental sanity. According to most people I talked to, it is a real battle to fight, and I am not sure if it is one I want to engage in. So, if you are buying a vehicle for a specific purpose like a van that you wish to turn into your home on wheels, or a truck that you want to carry heavy loads with, make sure to get informed about what is allowed and what is not, because the answer might change all of your plans.

• Mandatory yearly costs.

  There are four costs that you are legally obliged to pay every year if you own a vehicle. Third-party insurance, vehicle inspection, vehicle taxes, and road taxes. Depending on the make, model, size, registration of the vehicle, and how long you’ve been driving, these costs can vary greatly, so make sure to know in advance what amount of yearly investments you are engaging in to avoid surprises. You can have an estimation by asking the owner how much he is paying for the vehicle.

Things to keep in mind when meeting with the seller.

What was important for me is to observe how they related to the vehicle. Do they show a certain degree of love for it, or is it just a piece of metal for them? None is better than the other, but someone who has a heart connection with their vehicle will have a higher level of affection towards it and will more likely be taking good care of it.

During the visit, you need to be alert because they might focus on things that are not necessarily a priority for you as a buyer. For example, on one of my visits to a van, the first thing that the owner showed me was the - very impressive - solar system he built. He was super passionate and proud of his creation, which was inspiring and cool to see, but we spent too much time on it until I remembered that there are other things I need to prioritize. To put it in practical terms, it doesn’t matter how much power the solar panel generates if the engine is not really functional. You need to go into the meeting knowing in advance what you want out of it, to avoid distractions.

How honest and transparent are they being? Do they make it seem like the vehicle is perfect and has absolutely no problems, or are they actually taking you on a real tour and pointing out the things that will need to be taken care of?
For example, when I went to see a vehicle I was interested in, it was quite dirty and messy. The water tank had spilled orange water under the hood and it was orange everywhere from the rusty sediments, the cockpit was full of dog hair, and the cargo was full of dust. They weren’t technical problems, but it was a big mess. My first impression was a bit judgemental, thinking that the owner did not care about the vehicle or do any effort to make it look nice or attractive. It made me also worried about the overall state of the vehicle, but as the visit went along and I later reflected upon this point, I changed my mind. I think there is a dark way to do business, which is to make everything look nice and shiny on a superficial level as a way to manipulate perspectives and potentially hide big problems. This guy was not doing that, he didn’t bother hiding stuff because his intention was clear and he was in his integrity. The vehicle was actually really taken care of. So you need to feel it with the sellers.

Here is a list of things not to do.

• Don’t be in a hurry.

  It can be a hectic process at some times and you might want to rush into quick decisions to make life easier and more comfortable in the short term. Try to avoid doing that. Do your research, visit different vehicles, contact different people, and don’t be afraid to take your time while checking vehicles you are interested in, ask all the questions you need, especially if the seller seems to be in a hurry. Don’t be afraid means practice being patient, assertive, and confident.

• Don’t let laziness eat the process.

  The closest options - geographically - aren’t necessarily the smartest or best ones. Also, if you need to visit the same vehicle and owner more than once to get clarity, do it.

• Don’t be scarce.

  Don’t be afraid to invest money in the research phase, such as for the mechanic to do a basic inspection on the vehicle before you purchase it. It might seem like throwing away money but it really isn’t. In extreme cases, you might discover a big issue with the vehicle and avoid a big surprise paycheck later, like a 1000$ front-axis operation, or an 800$ wheel bearing change. Scary? For sure, if you need some fear to make a more thoughtful decision, yalla! In other cases, even if there are no big issues, old vehicles always need maintenance so you would anyways need to bring it to a mechanic at some point to have it inspected. Don’t be scarce means to understand the following financial distinction: these costs are naturally part of the budget, they are not extra or avoidable. If you limit yourself to thinking that your costs should only be the price of the vehicle, you will create for yourself feelings of frustration, especially if you are one of those people who tend to have the scarcity mindset of “I wanna spend the least possible". Yes, youuuu, come on, you can’t transform if you are in denial. When you realize that these other costs are as important, you can relax and happily account for them in your budget.

• Be Excited, but not TOO excited.

  Don’t turn a deaf ear to people’s advice, even if it ‘hurts’ your excitement. Excitement can truly be a force of courage, one that moves us forward and helps us do things we are normally afraid of, but in my experience, it isn’t the wisest force for decision-making, as it can be rather juvenile, hasty, and ungrounded. Other people made many mistakes before you, perhaps through their own excitement about things in life, and it can be a real gift to receive their learnings without having to go through the pain of making the mistake yourself. Sometimes we get very excited about something, and when a person comes with grounded advice, it can feel like they are being party-poopers and shattering our excitement. In a way, they are, but it’s not bad or evil, it’s just some ground being shoved under our feet and that’s just how it feels.
  Here is an example: you go visit a car that you are interested to buy. When you get there, you discover that it has racing stripes. You really love racing stripes so you think the car looks totally awesome! So awesome that you want it so much you don’t even feel the necessity to check under the hood anymore. Later, you get home and tell your father all about the cool car with the cool racing stripes.

  - “Did you take it for a test drive?” he asks you.

  - “No.”

  - “Did you check the engine?”

  - “Nope.”

  - “So you don’t even know if it works.”

  - “Who cares?! It has racing stripes!”

  That is the potential limitation of juvenile excitement. Check with your energy if excitement is blurring your decision-making, stay humble and curious to hear other people’s perspectives.

• Don’t get hooked by people’s stories.

  Learn to distinguish between someone consciously sharing a painful lesson to warn you about something and someone sharing their traumas to destroy your dreams. One night, I shared my intention of buying a second-hand van with two men I had just met. One of them told us about the first time he bought an old vehicle and how it was the worst decision he ever made. He had no idea what to look for and it broke down after a couple of weeks, which cost him a fortune to repair. He was definitely pissed off, but he didn’t tell me not to do it, he advised me on things to keep in mind during the process and he ended his sharing with “Don’t think about it too much though, make a move and you will definitely learn a few things." The second man went on telling us how he bought an old van from a friend of his and that the engine broke down after a few days, that it couldn’t be repaired, that his friend disappeared, that the whole deal was fucked up, that he got betrayed, that his friend is an asshole, that I shouldn’t trust anyone, that I should never buy a used vehicle, that I should kill myself, that I should blablablabla… I think I made my point.

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That’s it! Now it’s time to get off your screen and go do the work.

If you are about to embark on a similar journey of purchasing a second-hand vehicle, it can be an intimidating step, especially for someone who has never bought a vehicle before. Reading this article and gaining awareness of all the things you need to consider can be helpful on one hand, but it can also be a lot to take in, and I understand it can be even more intimidating and discouraging. My invitation for you is to try to find a way to turn it into an adventure and find joy in the steps. I believe there is a saying that goes like “The way you get there is the training you need to be able to stay there.”

Again, take this information as learning lessons from my own trials and errors, not as a general truth. I know some people who did it the Aljezurian way and just went with the ‘flow.’ They saw a picture of a second-hand car on the internet, they liked it, and they bought it on the same day without thinking about it too much, and they aren’t complaining. But they're Joe Dispenza addicts, so unless you're a level 13 spiritual manifestor who can deeply relax and trust that the universe provides abundantly and all of that, I wouldn't recommend doing this. At least now you can make a more educated choice. Good luck, and enjoy!