A few days ago one of the readers of this blog asked a question about car dealers in Sweden. He wanted to know whether they are as pushy and obnoxious as their American counterparts.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a very good question, but I am not sure whether I am the right person to answer it. Why? I\u2019m not a fan of car dealerships and I dislike them just on principle, be it in the US, Sweden or Brazil. It\u2019s all the same to me.<\/p>\n
My experience with car salesmen in Sweden is very limited. Though I tried to purchase a car from a dealer on four occasions, I always ended up buying from a private person. Why? The dealers seemed totally uninterested in selling me anything at all.<\/p>\n
On all occasions, the experience was the same. Anna entered the dealership and tried to locate someone who would answer her questions. Anna had a list of questions ready already and knew exactly what kind of car she wanted. But nobody looked even vaguely interested in selling her a car. Any car.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure why it was like that. Maybe I didn\u2019t look like a serious buyer. Maybe the dealers thought it wouldn\u2019t be worth their time and energy. Dunno.<\/p>\n
The one time (the fifth occasion) when a car salesman actually talked to me, he tried to sell me a lemon. What sounded great over the phone turned out to be a total wreck in person. But the guy didn\u2019t figure on me bringing along a friend who inspects cars for a living.<\/p>\n
Every time I bought a car, I found it through the word of mouth. Of course, those were all used cars, because I didn\u2019t really see a point of spending the money on a new one, if an older model would do the job just as well.<\/p>\n
Buying a car in Sweden is a really straightforward process. There\u2019s no need to change the tags, you (or the previous owner) just have to send in a change of ownership form and that\u2019s pretty much it. After a few days you\u2018ll get a document in the mail confirming that you are the vehicle\u2019s new legal owner. But don\u2019t forget to insure the car! Every vehicle with a valid registration sticker MUST be insured. Otherwise you may end up paying hefty fines.<\/p>\n
Happy driving!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few days ago one of the readers of this blog asked a question about car dealers in Sweden. He wanted to know whether they are as pushy and obnoxious as their American counterparts. That\u2019s a very good question, but I am not sure whether I am the right person to answer it. Why? I\u2019m…<\/p>\n