Buying a Car

One thing that I really wasn't excited about when looking to move to Johannesburg, was getting a car. In Johannesburg it is necessary to have a car. Walking around on your own in certain places, or anywhere at night is just not safe so your only option is to drive. Uber is very cheap and safe, but its not convenient to Uber everywhere. Leasing or renting a car for the year is pretty expensive and a total sunken cost. So, I decided I would buy.

Luckily, one of my colleagues here was selling off his family's second car. Its a nice small city car, never had any issues and very fuel efficient; a silver 2013 Honda Brio, hatchback. I like how it drives and it has a usb so I can play the music from my itunes - all I need to get around the city. I should hopefully be able to sell off and not lose tooooo much when I leave - we'll see!

The process of buying a car in South Africa isn't a simple task though. I've become all too familiar with the Marlboro Driving and Licensing Centre.

Because I am a foreigner, I needed to first get a traffic registry number. If you are not a South African citizen, you need to have this certificate in order to be eligible to buy a car. Getting this certificate took me three trips. I first went in and dropped off all my documents, filled out the required form and it seemed like everything was in order. I was told to, "Come back in..ahh..a week." So I came back a week later and was told that actually I was missing one document. Although it was not listed anywhere as a requirement, I needed to have a copy of my landlord's ID. So I drove back to the office, got a copy of my landlord (luckily currently a Partner in my office)'s ID and then headed back to the Licensing Centre. This time I just had to wait in a random chair for about an hour and then someone came out and gave me the certificate I needed! The house number for my address was typed up incorrectly, but no one cross checks these things so I didn't mention anything. I was just happy to have the certificate in hand!

FYI - the forms I needed were:

• certified copy of my passport
• certified copy of my visa
• proof of address (utility bill, letter from landlord)
• copy of landlord's ID (South African's all have ID #s, foreigners can just use their passport)
• employment contract

The next step was for the previous owner and I to complete the change of ownership and car registration forms (which I picked up at the licensing centre while I was there) and bring them in to officially make the car mine. This process also took three trips. The first time we went there was another experience of being told we didn't have all the correct forms. The previous owner needed the ownership forms from his bank showing he had paid off the financing of the car. Once he had those, we tried to go back again, but found the location was closed. One issue is that the licensing centre doesn't post its operating hours anywhere online and they don't answer their phone so it was a bit of a guessing game and retailers here operate under pretty confined trading hours; annoying! So, we went back a few days later for the final time. We had all the right documents this time but the only quick snag was that we had to complete a registration form for the previous owner (since he now officially owned the car and not the bank) so it was registered in his name and then we could do the change of ownership and register it in my name. We gave in all our documents and three completed forms and then waited in the side waiting room til our number was called. We paid the fees, waited between one very boozy patron and an employee who bought and started eating hard boiled eggs at her booth and then after a few minutes we were given our forms and sent on our way.

FYI - the forms I needed copies of this time were:

• buyer passport
• seller passport
• buyer traffic registry number
• seller traffic registry number
• vehicle registration document
• vehicle ownership document

 Now I am the owner of this lovely little car...