November11

Hi

We are moving out to Melbourne in August 2007 and I am booking a hire car for when we arrive

Is it reasonable to assume I could buy a car within one week?

I could maybe buy an oldish second-hand outright but would prefer to buy a newish second hand on finance?

I am a woman of modest needs and a small car will suit me fine! ( I drive a Fiat Punto at the moment)

Any advice gratefully accepted

flip

Why don't you try buying a new one before you arrive and save the hire car money? Choose some cars that appeal while you're at home, then try www.drive.com.au and ask the garages to email you with their best on-road price (you have to know exactly what you want down to engine size, air con, auto/man, no. of doors, colour). They'll barter down and just like in the UK price will depend on sales targets for the period. If you can find time in the three weeks before you arrive you may get a better deal. When you've got the best price ask them for a little bit more or at least petrol and floor mats.
I know you say newish rather than new but there are very few nearly new small cars as, I'm told, they're mainly chosen by women who look after their cars better and don't trade them in unless they're falling apart. Also you're likely to get better finance deals with brand new and when you're comparing remember stamp duty is added on which is expensive.

I'm not sure what your budget is. I bought a 1.3 Yaris 5 door auto for $18,500 on the road, down by $2000 on first quote, the three door was cheaper again and their are cheaper new cars out there. If you look on drive.com.au or any of the other car sites out here you may find a guide to a used version of the same car just to give you a feasible comparison.

I have a magazine called money best of the bestwhich has details of the best car insurance (much cheaper than the UK). They recommended budget, others recommend AAMI and I used RACV because they were the cheapest for me. You can get quotes if you give a local address.
Hope this helps.

Flip

thebears

Bought a car within hours of arriving - used Toyota from city dealer with toyota finance. Only delay was having rear sensors and extra tinting fitted. This took a few days during which I had already booked a hire car from Avis. We booked it from a city location instead of from the airport. We took the view that the cost of a limo to our hotel was close enough to a taxi and in the first 3 days we spent in the CBD doing various bits and pieces. So weigh up having a hire car sitting in the car park versus using public transport. After a few days sure we needed a car to get around rentals etc but not for the first 2 or 3 days. (it also meant returning the car was an easy option).

Would recommend Toyota in Camberwell - Cannon Toyota.

Guest0424

the best advice i got from an aussie "buy anything japanese "he said we are good at most things but making cars we are not aussies love toyota's

nik04

we bought a new honda jazz 1.5 vti for $21,000 on the road with extra's was advertised as $18,000, but you gotta allow for all the bolt on costs here (dealer delivery,rego,window tinting + others). Anyway we are very pleased with the car it runs on a sniff of petrol, goes well and nice to drive.

Guest0424

mate at work is looking at a honda jazz "top car good value "

3littlefigs

Can anyone tell me what documentation I need to provide when buying a car when we first arrive? Is a UK driving license ok or does it need to be Australian? I have PR but no permanent address - will be staying with relatives when we first arrive etc etc. Thanks

Dorothy

UK driving license is fine. We bought 2 cars with our Canadian licenses no problems. You will have to use your relatives' address to register the car and then change it once you get your own place. No worries.

Amazulu

Avoid the American manufacturers like Holden and Ford, the Commodore is truely terrible. Go for Japanese. A newly new Toyota Yaris would be my choice.

ray2gill

Do you know what the regulations are with regard to window tinting in Oz, Queensland in particular?. We have 30% in Dubai which is great. It keeps the car cooler, stops me getting even more freckles as I drive into the sun in both directions to & from work. At 30% it doesn't limit night time vision either.

Centurion

As a Falcon owner even I would go along with that. The build quality in Toyotas and Hondas is very noticeable I reckon. Just dont buy Korean

Gethy

What other options is there for registering your address if you don’t have a relative or friend that lives in Qld? Could we use a PO Box? I like the idea of buying when we arrive but we will be staying in temp accommodation until we get a rental and a more permanent address.

Cheers

slipshot

A rental address will be fine. When I landed in Melbourne, my first choice was to go an order a car (I'd decided a WRX was my choice so off I went to the dealer and ordered it). This was before I even had a place to live. Then gave them the rental address that I had, on a UK license (and try and keep your UK license for as long as you can - I had mine for the 2.5 years I lived in Melb and it was fine), then it means speeding fines = fines but not points. I think PO Box's are fine as well.

I'd say buy after you have arrived - then you get a chance to understand what is available and the cost. It also depends where you intend to live - all very well people saying do not buy Korean or Australian, but if you live next to a Ford dealer, and the nearest Honda dealer is 10 k away in the other direction to work, it does make a difference.

It's all fairly easy and painless to be honest. But do be aware, as one person pointed out, you want on the road costs! Stamp duty is added to the purchase of cars (like when you buy a house in the UK) and this is over and above the list price - so when I bought my WRX it was about $45,000, then the invoice was more and it confused the heck out of me.

Stamp duty is one of the reasons why Australians hang onto cars a lot longer. I realised this again when I changed my WRX for a Porsche 911 and realised stamp duty and luxury car tax exist and nearly sh*t myself! Still it had to be done.

Do it while you are there - most places have sections of car dealers and car supermarkets so hunt these down and off you go...

Gethy

Cheers Andy,

I have just emailed the people at new car discount to see if they will pass my details (uk) onto the dealers that they use. Going to try and get a few quotes or estimates if possible, if not I will start to email the main dealers and see what their response is. We know the car we want just after the best price

The discount website says

> Plus on road costs - Click To View
> All our prices include GST and LCT (where applicable)

Are GST and Stamp duty different costs?

Buzzy--Bee

Yes.



Buzzy