The buying season / Field notes · 7 min
The Car Looks Good. Can You Actually See It?
Rain, dirt, a warm engine and fading light: arrange an autumn viewing that tells you something. With real FEWD inspection examples.
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Inspection · Risk · Buying
Used Cars
Used cars are where engineering history, sales language and somebody else’s decisions arrive in one object. These stories separate a persuasive advert from the car it is actually describing.
6 published pieces
Used cars / Buying & ownership · 9 min
What’s the Best Age to Buy a Used Car?
It’s five years old. How long are you staying?
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Inspection file / Range Rover · 9 min
The Range Rover That Was €20,000 Too Cheap
The body was perfect. The price was not. Then the people selling it declined to explain who had paid for it.
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Selling / Fraud · 8 min
The Doctor from Benin Is Buying Your Mercedes
He had not seen the car, read the advert or visited Austria. He did have €60,000, a transporter and one small request for €1,850.
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Used cars / Buying · 10 min
The Second Odometer
A car records distance on its dashboard. Time keeps its own mileage elsewhere.
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Used cars / Hidden costs · 9 min
The Headlight That Ate the Car
A perfectly sensible used car can carry a four-figure optical liability on each front corner.
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Make the advert answer back.
Learn the German-language phrases that change the risk and legal meaning of an Austrian used-car advert.
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