Hutch

The following research is the result of an argument I had with my FIL. He insisted cars in Australia weren't as well spec'd and cost more than they do here. As you'll see, he was (as per usual) talking bollocks. UK prices sourced from Parker's Independent Used Car Guide, Australian prices sourced from The Red Book - both well respected car valuation sources. Where possible I matched models identically - I wanted to do a Holden Commodore comparison (it being so popular in Oz, but as I'm sure you'll appreciate there isn't really any comparable Vauxhall). Prices quoted are all from the upper band listed - Australian dollars have been converted into UK sterling for reasons of easy comparison.

We can make certain observations. Japanese cars are considerably cheaper in Australia, whilst most European brands are more expensive. Australian cars hold their second hand value far far better than the UK equivalent - even the European cars (VW, Volvo etc) achieve parity after a couple of years. Specifications are virtually identical but, for obvious reasons, AC is pretty much standard on all Australian bought cars.

You can find the data page here - I'd cut and paste but I did it in Excel and it removes the cell formating.

Vash the Stampede

Great stuff - a very well researched post, this one!

I am accustomed to having aircon as standard back home. By contrast, British cars usually have aircon as an optional extra and consequently I have found it very difficult to pick up a decent second-hand car with aircon, which is rather annoying.

I think one of the reasons why Aussie cars hold their value for longer is that they don't rust as quickly as UK cars. This is mainly an environmental factor of course, but also due to the fact that Aussie roads don't require regular salting during winter.

The flip side, of course, is that second-hand cars of any description are much cheaper in the UK!

Hutch

Yep - the problem is the rate of depreciation, which is far far higher in the UK than Oz. Bottom line - you lose money on all cars, but you lose it faster here.

YoSemite

after a bit of coaching and encouragement from JohnandNetta i went and bought a car today.......


new 1.8 holden astraCD (manual) with:
metallic paint
alloys
air con
cruise control
UV protection Tinted power windows Front and rear
rust protection
paint protection
sound proofing (thingamy)
interior protection (bit like scotch guarding everything i think! hehehe)
undercar rubber protection thingy (what is the tech term for those thingys??)
+ all on road costs for $25000


am sure i could have probably got maybe a little bit more money off.... but for a 1st time effort for a girl i'm dead chuffed with myself!

just pricing up an equivalent in the UK and it's way more than $25k!!!!

Dawn

Hi there, can I ask, were off to perth in June and I will just need a small run around as hubby got the Landrover...currently in the UK im driving a K reg Polo which is fine......Which cars would you say are the most reasonable, i dont mind what i drive its just to do school run etc on a limited budget ...thanks all
Dawn x

Quokka

Good work. I've disputed this before on here. I think you'll find that most Euro cars are also cheaper in Aus when new. Older cars, 5 yrs plus, are cheaper in the UK because of high depreciation. But high depreciation is not good for the average car buyer. If you're buying a newish car in Aus it will be cheaper and depreciate less. Win-Win

debbiemc

excellnt for posting this one, gonna get hubby to sit and read this one!

Vash the Stampede

Wow, great deal!

Congratulations!

ABCDiamond

What sort of Budget ? New or Used ?

In my local paper today:
New
Holden Barina 5 door $15,990 drive away.
Ford Fiesta 3 Door $17,888 drive away

Used
1996 Ford Festiva $4,500 138,000 kms (13,800kms per year)
1988 Ford Laser Ghia $3,200 172,000km (9,550 kms per year)
2001 Daewoo Nubira $11,000 60,000kms (12,000kms per year)

Koala Konnection

We always bought fifth-hand "classics" in the UK and took advantage of depreciation and good old fashioned mechanics to get us through. Air-con? That's what windows are for, aren't they? (LOL)

So when we came out here what's the first thing we did? Bought new of course - now air-con's always on and we could never do without it! How times change.

We bought a Subaru Outback 4wd jobby and it does everything it's supposed do. Pleased? Yes - because for a like for like model with a UK spec car we saved thousands, and being top Japanese stuff it'll last until it becomes a classic. :-)

My impressions (I've been here 18 months now) are that new cars in Australia are generally cheaper than they are in the UK and come with air-con and automatic gearboxes as standard in a lot of cases, and the metallic paint option is often cheaper too over here. However, rear fog lamps are, as I understand it, not compulsory fitment on new cars. Strange!?

Paul
www.koalakonnection.com.au

terrym

We bought a 2001 landrover discovery when we got here, same car with Climate, window tint, blah blah blah, would cost around £18/19k in the UK, we gave $22k Aus (after some haggling), the conversion speaks for itself.

The more unusual the car in Auz the more expensive by the look of things, same applies in the UK doesn't it?

Good thread by the way.

T

spottydog

Definitely a good comparison chart.

We bought Japanese when we got her having always had European in the UK as it seemed that European have a premium here whereas Japanese are cheaper.

We got a brand new top of the range Honda CR-V Manual car with parking sensors and mats for $37k. It has a 2.4 litre engine compared to the 2.0 engine that's sold in the UK. Seemed good value to me compared to the UK price.

We decided to buy new as it would then last us a number of years rather than buying a cheaper one and paying the duty to transfer it plus having then hassle of selling it once we had settled and were looking at a newer vehicle. Having said that after experiencing a friends high powered Subaru Forester we're very tempted..............

Vash the Stampede

Not really strange, as you'll probably need them about twice in thirty years.

Vash the Stampede

I hope Arkon is reading this thread.

Hutch

It's for good reason that the (very good) sit down pizza restaurant in Robertson in the Southern Highlands, NSW is called 'Pizzas in the mist' - they get fog more often there than we do in the Cotswolds. I think it's true of the entire region