I am about to buy a second hand Hyundai Santa Fe, 2009 Diesel engine. The mileage is only 33,000+ km!? Is the low odometer normal? What are the common issues and complaints about this car.
Your early response will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Too good to be true? A red flag?
I do not know your location. And therefore do not know the laws there. The general location could possibly be helpful.
I live in the U.S. and frequent 2 different states with 2 different sets of laws pertaining to vehicles badly damaged in a collision, flood, etcetera, being “repaired” and then resold. One state requires a “rebuilt title” issue which alerts buyers. The other state does not require any changed documentation and therefore no red flag warning.
Many/most “rebuilt” vehicles I see for sale are of the low mileage variety. I believe they are total losses (as labeled by insurance companies) and spend a lot of time sitting while be sold/auctioned and then “repaired,” which attributes to the low mileage (can’t be driven for a length of time).
Long story, even longer, I am always skeptical when seeing an unusually low miles vehicle for sale and check extra carefully for evidence that the car was “rebuilt” prior to coming to market. Be cautious unless you know the car’s history accurately.
CSA
The OP has to be located somewhere other than The US if he is looking at a 2009 Hyundai with a diesel engine.
Short kilometers in any car can be that the owner(s) only took short trips. For 10 years. That means the car has far more wear because it rarely got fully warmed up. It could be a salvage car, as common_sense said. It could also have been stored for several years.
This car is very short on kilometers and I, for one, would have it carefully inspected before purchase by MY mechanic and would NOT pay a premium for low miles.
The reason I discussed location was the km instead of mph. I guessed the vehicle could have other than U.S. status.
CSA
It would take a very strong crane (no, not one of those with wings) to pull me out of my chair to look at a diesel car with 33k km total on the clock in 10 years.
There are all chances that the car has done short city trips only and that is darned sure a killer for diesels.
So a red flag, YES.
Then there are all the other reasons mentioned.
I would not consider a diesel with less than 13k miles/20k km’s per year in regular use.