Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ippy]

Hi guys, just passed my korean driving test (automatic though) and now am in the happy and confusing world of buying a car. Its all a little bewildering though. I know nothing about cars, have no conception of their relative worth, and wouldnt know if i was buying a bargain or a lemon.

I also have no idea about insurance and how to go about scoring a nice deal. Basically the vultures would be circling if they could only sniff my wallet out and as a proud scotsman i cant be having that.

On acocunt of only being here 2 more years at best (but likely 8 or so months), i dont really want something hideously expensive, but i wouldnt mind something that gets me to the slopes and back. So where do i start? I looked at sk-encar and they seem to have nice cheap (more importantly, inspected) cars. Craigslist looks a bit dodgy. Also knowing full well that gaijinz leaving for back home will see you as a dollar sign and will lie and sell you anything they can, id be equally unsure to trust anyone on daves in truth trying to sell their heap of scrap No offence.

Just looking for starting advice and places that seem reputable to get a nice cheap and stable runaround, and nice places that can offer decent cheap insurance to start me off on my search. thanks.

[ippy]

hey scamp, sorry dude, still cant do PMs (1 year and about 300 posts later), no idea why not, but there you go!

So lets see. I went to a driving school near naju. You MUST attend 12 lessons for the course test (and five hours education - though that involved me clocking in, going home, coming back 5 hours later and clocking out).

The course test was a doddle. Drive in low gear, dont use accelerator (except in 1 part) and succeed at the following things: hillstart, narrow z bend, traffic light, emergency stop (anywhere on the course), an s-bend, traffic light, 3 point turn, following the road round, signalling and turning left at a junction, driving above 20kmh (but below 30), then finally a parallel park before a right signal and Baek Chom!

Then onto the road lessons! They were ten lessons of driving course A and course B. All driving schools have their own variants of the course. Obviously little countryside ones liek mine have MUCH easier courses than city centres i assume. I think the only standard is you drive for 5km. Course a (for my school) was one direction, and course b was the same course only coming back. Again, the lessons are compulsory. Anyone with a brain in their head and doesnt panic could pass the test at my school within 2 lessons id say. I think for other schools they may have three or four courses, but it doesnt look like they actually apply the stuff you learned in the saefty of teh school (theres no real hillstart, no parallel park, no emergency stop, no 3 point turn etc).

The road test was ridiculously easy, (though saying that i did lose 13 points before hitting the accelerator! (i r stupid). The girl before me had her hazard warning lights on at the end of her test and my brain decided that was the indicator on so forgot to switch it on =-10, and -3 for not turning off the hazards at the start). Doh! finished with 87 points (i think 80 is the pass mark).

Anyway, that consisted of (COURSE B), I kid thee not, driving down a standard countryside road at 40kmh, watching for potential hazards (you drive through a small tiny cluster of houses with a few obstructed exits and speed bumps). This is about 2km.

Then you manage a traffic light for a left turn onto a 4 lane highway (dual carriageway) and hit that for 3km. Basically drive 60, turn off it and come back into the school. All you have to do is check your mirrors at appropriate places, signal at the right times, dont weave, and maintain the correct speed. Thats it. literally thats it.

The course test varies in price from school to school. My school charged me 60,000 for each test and about 575,000 for the lessons.
In gwangju, most places charged 650,000 plus 40,000 for each test.

The system on automatic/manual is that once you pass your automatic, you need never do the road test again. You only have to do the course test. But again, im pretty sure you have to pay for all the lessons for the course test :/ Its pretty much a case of you must complete minimal requirements regardless of whether or not you could complete the test in your sleep.

As for people worried about doing it, you can do it without any korean at all! I had no translator, cant speak korean (though i was lucky in that the boss guy - who doesnt actually do lessons - spoke just enough english to sign me up). You just have to be able to convince THEM of that Its very easy to just watch and copy your instructor and theyre more than happy to grab the wheel off you and show you how its done.

Words to live by:

Cheul ban haseyo: Please Start
IPPY DOPARO!!!: Ippy SLOW DOWN
Dol BAN!: STOP (emergency stop).

Oh and always start with your left indicator on. There you go. Its really very easy stuff and frankly a bargain if youre a brit like me I can now transfer that license (for about 350 quid) for a UK one when i go home

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As for me and my budget: somewhere around 1mill. Year isnt a big deal, just something nice and spacious that can handle 5 or 6 hour runs up to high1 from gwangju every other weekend

[tigershark]

Ippy = Fail

Unfortunately I can not be of assistance but would like to hear what other
Posters have to say. Except I dont want to hear all the deuche bags chime in with "just take the bus you are just wasting your money buying a car". We are on Daves though so what can ya do??

[thrylos]

Find someone with basic reading knowledge of Korean and pick up those free classified newspapers (Kyojaro/Sarabang/etc). You can easily find a decent car for about 1 million or less, preferably from the actual owner and none of the slimy second hand dealers. Test drive a few different cars. Also, take a quick look at http://auto.icross.co.kr/, and see what's for offer there.

If the car registry office hasn't moved (last lived in Gwangju in '04), you will have to go next to Chonnam University's front entrance to transfer the car and paperwork and they'll be insurance ajummas fighting for your business right there. The older the car, the cheaper the insurance. (anywhere from 3-400,000 and up per year). That's it, 15-20 minutes and you'll be off stuck in 1st/2nd gear traffic with your 'new' wheels. Just look out for the alcohol checkpoints in the evenings, but as a scot, you would never drink and drive, right?

[Louis VI]

Buy something 5-8 years old and the price will be low, as used isn't liked much here. That means the value will be in 2002-2005 models. Anything older will have too many repairs and anything newer won't be such a deal.