Expert gives advice on choosing a Chinese car in 2025

It is much easier to choose a new car than a car with mileage, suggested Nikita Rodionov, technical director of the international franchise network of FIT SERVICE car service centers. He told Izvestia on November 28 what to pay attention to when looking at a Chinese car.

"On Chinese brands, which not so long ago massively came to our country, there is its own specificity. The Chinese car industry offers us a mass of brands, models, modifications. Their number is constantly growing. In our country are presented both popular and long-present in our market brands, and brand new, unfamiliar to the Russian consumer", - he said.

At the same time, the expert noted that there are no serious complaints about these brands from a technical point of view. Experts do not note any specific problems, all repairs are standard and rather correspond to the class of the car.

"But it is important to take into account that most of these new brands have not yet traveled on Russian roads and 150-200 thousand kilometers of mileage. Only after rolling out these mileages will it be possible to make a balanced assessment of their weak and strong points. And the newer the brand that has come to the Russian market, the less user experience will be accumulated, the less information about their operation will be available," Rodionov added.

In his opinion, when choosing a new car it is worth choosing a car from the more "popular" brands, for which there are more reviews from ordinary car owners, more technical information, and basic spare parts are available.

"The second point why it can be risky to chase after new-fangled Chinese brands is the possibility of a dealership closing or even the brand leaving the country. There were such examples in 2024, and for the new owner it may be an unpleasant surprise," the expert clarified.

At the same time, he added that one should be very cautious when buying a rare car on parallel import. If this brand is not available in the country at all, it is a piece piece "under the order", it is not clear how the owner will service this car in the future. Buying almost any spare part can turn into a quest with ordering through third parties in China, Rodionov explained.

"When choosing a new car, I recommend thinking and planning far ahead. If you want to drive a new car not the standard "warranty" three years, but longer, it will be very useful to assess the possibility of further maintenance of the car not at the dealer, but at an independent service station. Therefore, evaluate in advance the possibility of buying and the cost of the most popular spare parts for car repair", - he advised.

The expert specified that at each maintenance service it is necessary to change pads, spark plugs, air and oil filters. After three years of active operation, it may be necessary to replace various elements of the internal combustion engine, such as the timing belt and drive belts.

"Battery replacement is also quite likely. Quite often there are minor accidents, in which the bumper and lamp may need to be replaced. All these parts on your favorite car model will be useful to find and understand their cost. This way you will estimate the budget for the upcoming regular spending," said Rodionov.

The expert expressed the opinion that the Chinese car industry has a very free attitude to cataloging parts, to fixing changes in manuals. At the same time, only the most popular Chinese brands have slightly less problems with the selection of spare parts. The more rare the brand, the more difficulties with maintenance can be expected.

Earlier, on December 20, 2024, experts of the service "SberAuto" told "Izvestia" that not all modern systems in the car are equally useful on the roads around the world. Speaking about the options that can be abandoned by motorists in the Russian Federation, the experts noted the parking autopilot. According to them, this system does not always cope with narrow yards and non-standard parking spaces, which abound in small Russian cities. At the same time, they emphasized the value of such a function as automatic emergency braking. The system reacts independently to the danger of a collision if the driver is distracted.