flumper

Thanks for all the replies - they've been very helpful. Should get us on the right track now.

Cheers

Paul and Chloe

Plus remember that stamp duty is calculated on the list price and not the "special deal" that you may negotiate with the dealership. This is true for new cars, not sure about 2nd hand..

Regards

Paul

surfdude

Got a very nice X-Trail Ti for sale - 11 months old 13,500km, excellent condition, non smoking lady driver - we've never used 4x4 ! All the extras, PM me if interested.

philian4

Hi,

if you are looking for a nearly new bargain in Sydney check out Pickles auctions (prior to leaving the UK look at their website, you can view what prices have been acheived in recent sales and what vehicles will be auctioned soon-best one is Monday evening) Friends have bought their cars there and saved between 8-15k on the prices on forecourts -you get more back up than with a UK car auction. Avoid Australian Fleets Sales like the plague, they have a c**p customer service and don't do all the things they promise .

Good luck,
Phil x

PIXAU

Be prepared for a culture shock on used car prices! The typical 'shelf-life' of a used car in Aus is longer than the UK hence the prices much higher.

I sold my 96 Audi A8 in the UK before I left and got 4500 Pounds for it - to buy the exact same thing over here (colour/mileage/spec etc) will set me back at least 10000 Pounds! Gutted

I bought an 1989 Nissan Patrol 4.2 for the wife when we first arrived (cause I'm all heart!) and paid the equivalent of 3600 Pounds - if I was back in the UK it would be worth about 500!

Well theres my 2 cents worth - have a good day!

DC

Paul and Chloe

Does that mean it would have been cheaper to ship the Audi to Australia? (assuming you wanted to keep the same car), what are the charges and taxes associated to shipping a car over?

Paul

walla

just a guess but you'd need a container and they aint cheap, then import taxes....

PIXAU

I did all the calculations (what a headache) and yes it would have been viable to ship the car over. But considering I am a bit of a car lover I was excited with the opportunity of buying (and being able to afford to run) a V8!!! I can quote 'worse scenario' figures for car shipping and plenty of advice if so required.

Mandy Bale

We are near Sydney NSW:

Stamp Duty - is payable on anything you buy that goes on a road and is registered whether its new or second hand. once you have bought the vehicle you pay the stamp duty when you go to the RTA to change over the rego into your name. We paid stamp duty on all our cars (all second hand), on our horse trailer, and on our bike trailer. (yes even trailers have to have a rego)

Rego - just like UK road tax, but before you can rego a car you have to purchase third party insurance (green slip). This isn't third party 'property' insurance, its just an insurance to cover you if you hit or injure a person not another car/fence or peice of property. The scary thing is that it is legal to drive with just this sort of insurance! So if someone hits your car with just green slip insurance then the damage isn't covered unless you have fully comp. insurance yourself.

Pink slip - just like the MOT in UK. for cars 4 years and over here (well my car is a 2000 model and I got asked for pink slip last year so assume 4 years), once a year. and also for horse trailers, bike trailers etc.

Fully comp insurance - I would call this a must, being as most of the young drivers here drive purely on the green slip insurance!! We have found it to be cheaper than the UK if you have an ordinary car but quite expensive on high powered performance cars (we have both).

The only problem we had when we first got here and bought our first car was not having an RTA number. because we didn't have Australian licenses, we had to go to the RTA to get an RTA number before we could buy a car. It was a bit difficult as we didn't have a fixed address as we were staying in a motel so had to ask the motel owner if we could use the motel address. It all worked out ok in the end though. Most towns have RTA offices and they are marked on the street maps so are easy to find. Its easy once you are in the system and have owned the car for a while as they automatically send you all the green slip and rego reminders and you can rego your car online once you sort out the green slip and pink slip!!

Good luck!!!

flumper

Hi

Might be interested - an X-Trail was high on our list! What colour is it and how much are you selling it for? We don't arrive for some time though as having a holiday in Singapore en route then spending time in Melbourne with friends - probably be about 6-7 weeks before we get up to Queensland. Whereabouts in Brisbane are you?

Cheers

surfdude

Sent you a PM.

Phil-UK

I hear it's common to offer well under the asking price, so make sure you knock off at least 50% of what price Surfdude tells you !

Phil

flumper

Sounds like a bargain then!