Chen Hao comes to look at a car he found online. He asks his questions in order, and the test drive comes before the price.
Chen Hao
您好，车我是在网上看到的。开了几年了？
Nínhǎo, chē wǒ shì zài wǎngshàng kàndào de. Kāi le jǐ nián le ?
Hello, I saw the car online. How many years has it been on the road?
The owner
四年，跑了六万公里。
Sì nián, pǎo le liù wàn gōnglǐ.
Four years, sixty thousand kilometres.
Chen Hao
跑得不算多。出过事故吗？
Pǎo de bù suàn duō. Chū guò shìgù ma ?
That is not a lot. Has it been in any accidents?
The owner
没有。只被刮过一次，在停车场。
Méiyǒu. Zhǐ bèi guā guò yī cì, zài tíngchēchǎng.
It has not. It was only scraped once, in a car park.
Chen Hao
被刮过的地方修好了吗？保养的记录能看吗？
Bèi guā guò de dìfang xiū hǎo le ma ? Bǎoyǎng de jìlù néng kàn ma ?
Has the scrape been repaired? May I see the service record?
The owner
修好了，看不出来。保养每次都在同一家店做的。
Xiū hǎo le, kàn bù chūlái. Bǎoyǎng měi cì dōu zài tóng yī jiā diàn zuò de.
It was repaired, you cannot tell. And it has always been serviced at the same garage.
Chen Hao
那我想把车开出去试一下。
Nà wǒ xiǎng bǎ chē kāi chūqù shì yīxià.
Then I would like to take it out for a test drive.
The owner
可以。不过请把身份证留在我这儿。
Kěyǐ. Bùguò qǐng bǎ shēnfènzhèng liú zài wǒ zhèr.
You may. But please leave your identity card with me.
Chen Hao
没问题。过户的手续谁去办？
Méi wèntí. Guò hù de shǒuxù shéi qù bàn ?
No problem. Who handles the transfer of ownership?
The owner
一起去办。费用你出，大概五百。
Yīqǐ qù bàn. Fèi yòng nǐ chū, dàgài wǔbǎi.
We go together. The fee is yours, about five hundred.
Chen Hao
五百我出。价格上还能不能再商量一下？
Wǔbǎi wǒ chū. Jiàgé shàng hái néng bùnéng zài shāngliang yīxià ?
The five hundred is mine. Is there any room left on the price?
The owner
网上写的是八万。你今天定，七万八。
Wǎngshàng xiě de shì bā wàn. Nǐ jīntiān dìng, qī wàn bā.
The advert says eighty thousand. If you decide today, seventy-eight.
Chen Hao
那我先试车，试完了我们再说。
Nà wǒ xiān shì chē, shì wán le wǒmen zài shuō.
Let me test it first, and we will talk afterwards.
The two 了 of 开了几年了 are not redundant. The first follows the verb and counts the time elapsed; the second closes the sentence and says it is still going on. Without the second, 开了几年 would mean it was driven for a few years and that is over. The same pair gives 我学了三年了, I have been learning for three years and still am.
过户 is used of transferring a registered asset, a car or a flat, from the seller's name to the buyer's. It is done together, at the relevant office, and no sale is valid without it. The word therefore covers the vehicle registration document as much as the title deed, and it comes back in conversations about property.
试完了我们再说: we will talk after the test drive. 再说 at the end of a sentence does not mean "say again" but "we will see later", and it lets you avoid answering without refusing. It is one of the handiest phrases in spoken Chinese, and one of the hardest for a learner to hear, since it sounds like a commitment.
