mabozaritchie

Hi there,
Have been looking at a few car dealerships in Oz & used cars seem really expensive. Are they really that dear? Here in the UK you can get a 4 door mid range saloon with air con & toys 3 years old 10,000 miles £6000.
It seems for the same 12,000 Au$ the car is roughly 4 to 6 years old with bags of miles on it, is this true or are we looking at crap dealerships?
Cheers.

Nikki.P

hi there, no unfortunately used cars here are more expensive. We bought a 2 door toyota starlet that is 11 years old and in the UK we probably could have picked this up for about a 1000 pound or less, here it was double that and more. Used cars hold their prices better here, probably because they don;t have the same harsh weather elements to contend with so they don;t deteriorate to the same degree, i.e. there is not one bit of rust on the car. Still felt it was so wrong though handing over that kind of money for an 11 year old car though!!!!!

Cant rain all the time2

As said, used cars are a lot more expensive here. Probably because there is no M.O.T or equivalent to get the older 'death traps' of the road

Vim Fuego

No yearly equivalent but you still need a safety certificate to flog 'em on (in QLD anyway).

You'd think that with more older cars on the road (less rust, no regular test, etc) then this would mean cheaper prices.

I guess it comes down to supply and demand. If people pay $x then that is the price. Dunno if there has been a shift in prices over the years, sure someone will be along to put me straight.

BlondieBonce.

Have a look at new car prices, they are cheaper than in the UK, some times the difference between nearly new and new is minimal.

Vim Fuego

Yeh, my old motto used to be 'buy 3 years old' (still in warranty and most of the depreciation has been worn by someone else) but I keep being told that you don't make the relative savings that you would in the UK.

donovandenese

european brand cars eg BMW etc are more expensive in Oz than the UK, but Asian cars eg Hyundai, Toyota etc are generally cheaper in Oz than the UK.

Catch

not that many can afford bmw here

kips

I drive a 1993 4-litre Ford Fairmount inherited from my husband and I am looking for a smaller, secondhand economical car because my car keeps costing a fortune in repairs. The repairs cost more than the value of the car. But I am frustrated by the high price of used smaller cars compared to the UK. The higher price is partly because of demand as petrol prices continue to soar and people want smaller cars instead of gas guzzlers

kips

Centurion

Not just more expensive in terms of purchase price. Parts prices are higher and of course availability may be an issue.

I would steer clear of anything European and go Japanese in preference and any of the other asian manufacturers second. Ford and Holden are really not worth looking at in comparison imo when you look at the overall picture of quality, price, long term costs and service from dealerships.

A viewpoint shared by the greater proportion of Australians it seems also and for good reason.

rockpeblar

2004 LPG Magna with 60k and service history available for around $11k from auction (ex-government vehicle). Plenty of others to choose from.
The one I wanted to buy was a 05 Outback Safety Pack Manual with 59k and FSH. Sold for $23.3k.

h2oskineil

www.autotrader.com.au
www.redbookasiapacific.com/au/
www.johnhughes.com.au/
www.dvg.com.au/

Try these site for a comparison, but you are correct, 2nd hand are a lot dearer when compared to the UK.

mabozar

Can't believe you have the same name as us.

My husbands nick name is mabozar and our surname is ritchie.

Carol

MUST LEAVE UK

A little question for my wife. Are most cars in Oz manual or auto transmission, unfortunately I have one of those wifes who says she cant drive an auto (or any cars unless she wears a particular pair of shoes !).

oliver1982

Lots of autos here. People love them...Bit of a generalisation, but probably because they can't drive very well (you'll see).