silversurfer

Hi all,
Can anybody recommend a good website in Oz that sells cars for me to have a browse and see what I can get for my money? 'ala' Autotrader in the UK?

It would be nice to plan ahead and see what type of car I could afford to run, and the best motor to get for my money.

Has anyone got any recommendations car manufacturer wise with whats hot and what's not?
i.e. Holden, are they good or are they crap.

Anyone car horror stories, or car love stories most welcome indeed!

Guitarfish

I found this one when I was trying to get an idea of prices: http://search.carsguide.news.com.au/...-car/search.do

Not there yet, so don't know how good it is in practice...

Chris

tin

http://www.drive.com.au/

Vash the Stampede

Autotrader in Australia would be a good start.

www.autotrader.com.au

mad.chef

www.carsales.com.au

MisterTwo

All of the websites that are available are above, however I will share my car buying tale.

We originally were going to ship our cars over to Oz. We had a Toyota MR2 and a Honda Accord Coupe. Having looked into the shipping costs we found that we weren't able to get firm prices on the GST and Customs Duty payable as we did not know how much the cars would be valued at. Also the MR2 didn't have air con, and the Accord got written off about 6 months before we left. We sold the MR2 to the other half's brother as it held great sentimental value having owned the car for 10 years and we wanted to keep it in the family.

We then thought we would do some off roading at the weekends and I decided that we would get a Range Rover. That was knocked on the head when reality set in and we decided to get a "normal" car for around $15/20,000. Having looked at a Mitsubishi Lancer and found it to be cheap crap (we were spoiled having owned Hondas/Toyotas/Audis) we decided to save the money and get something for around $5000 as neither of us had jobs at the time.

We went to a car lot one day with a week left on our rental car and looked around at the offerings. This lot specialised in cars between $1000 and $10,000 so it was the cheap end of the market. Having seen umpteen Falcons and Commodores which looked really old before their time, and quite a few Toyota Camrys which did nothing for me, the other half spotted a 1988 Toyota Cressida in the corner. She called me over and said she wanted that car. Now considering she had an MR2 for 10 years this surprised me, as the Cressida is very much a square,old man's car. It was also metallic gold with a brown interior. I wasn't convinced but the condition of the car didn't lie. It was immaculate! With only 100,000kms (62,000 miles) on the clock. One owner from new with full service history. We took it for a test drive and we were smitten. Silky smooth 2.8 straight 6 with auto gearbox. Full electrics, air con that works perfectly, not a mark inside - there were one or two dents and scrapes on the body but it was 18 years old! The paint was perfect and shiny, polished every month. We bought it on the spot and I am amazed every time I drive it. The best thing is it goes like stink and people are amazed when I put my foot down!

Amazulu

Holden & Ford: Commodore & Falcon are yank crap & are best avoided, Astra & Focus are good.
Mazda, Honda, Toyota & Nissan are the makes to go for for quality & reliability.
Most European makes are more expensive than the UK apart from VW which are cheaper than UK.
I drive a VW & a Nissan & am happy with both.

wargod

www.discountnewcars.com.au

tin

I grew up in South Africa (my parents were the original British Expats ), the Cressida was always the top selling car in its class because of it's renowned reliability. The month before it was finally replaced by the Camry it broke sales records - the only car I've ever heard of that increased sales before it was replaced by a new model!!! Not the most exciting car to drive perhaps but I think you've got a car that if looked after will keep going forever

Martyn