Paul & June

Not being familiar with the cars over in Australia, can anyone recommend a popular, reliable, economical make/type of car for a family of four. Space in the back for say camping equipment etc? For the time being I only want to spend between $8K to $16K.

Are the Jap and Korean cars more popular than the Ford/Holdens etc?

And most important of all can anyone recommend good reliable garages in Perth, if there is such a thing. I have heard there are plenty of cowboy's out there too, so, any to avoid at all cost.

After finding property to buy or rent this must be the second most stressful thing you have to do when you first arrive in Australia, as well as finding a job. So I hope an update on this subject will save time and maybe money for new arrivals.

Paul

GinaUK

We bought our car through a car broker: www.carbroker.com.au
It's an excellent way of buying a car and I wish I'd known about this years ago.

You can also buy second hand cars through the car broker.

Gina

spartacus

Hi Paul

We had a Mitsubishi Magna wagon (2004). Pick them up for about $14k, maybe even less through a dealer. Plenty of space, very reliable. Only slight downside is economy; bit juicy for hte daily commute, 12l/100k in traffic, but on the open road about 8.5.

Something like this:

http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars/dealer/MITSUBISHI/MAGNA/details.aspx?Cr=3&R=5282569&postcode=4070&PriceMin =10000&__N=4294964597+889+391+4294964374+1216+834+ 285+258+287&distance=25&__Ns=pCar_StatusSort_Int32 |1||pCar_Price_Decimal|0&Make=MITSUBISHI&trecs=11& seot=0&silo=1000&__sid=116A2233AAE7&Model=MAGNA&__ Nf=p_GeoLocation_String%7CGCLT+-27.55885,152.8725+27.6&__Qpb=true&__Nne=20

Jackier

Check out www.drive.com.au for prices, or google autotrader.

4x4's are very popular, especially Landcruisers, Prados & Pajeros. Alternatively (and cheaper) have a look at Holden commodore Station wagons and the Ford Falcon version (cheaper still). I got a 2002 Falcon Station Wagon on our first day here (Oct 07) for $8,500 with a 3 month warranty.

We were pleasantly surprised by most of the dealers out here, 2 of them actually told us NOT to buy the car we were looking at on their forecourt, and most of them have really good warranty terms (I think there's a legal requirement for this when the cars over a certain value/under a certain age).

One thing we found out the hard way - dealers in WA are only open until 1pm Saturday and are closed on Sunday!

Don't know whereabouts in Perth you're headed, but we did our car shopping in Wangara and there are loads of places to choose from, from main dealers to breakers and everything in between! Enjoy

Jackier

Almost forgot..........

Watch out for the stamp duty

philnorris

Thats some thing I keep meaning to ask about, I have spotted a pickup I want in Wanneroo, it is brand new and advertised at $38,500, do I have to put stamp duty on top of this. I emailed the garage and they told me this was the "drive away" price so I am not really sure.

rrhysevans

are you able to buy a car on finance having just arrived in the country, will probably have around $5000 for a deposit

steve`o

drive away the total inc of any duty
but if its advertised at 38.5 i`d be offering say 33 to start and see where you end up

Paul & June

Some great advise there, thanks.

Does anyone have any more vehicles or garages to choose from.

Could consider a cheap, new Kia, any good ?

The_Wookie

I'm also looking for a car, and have been warned off Commodores and Falcons by quite a few people. Their build quality is apparently pretty poor and they tend to get thrashed a bit by their drivers.

I'm looking at the Magna, or possibly a Subaru.

spartacus

Kia have had a pretty poor reputation, but there new models, including the Rio, have had good reviews. At the moment they've got the Rio on at $15k on the road price, and it comes with a five year unlimited mileage warranty. It may not be worth a great deal at the end of the five years though, if you were considering keeping it that long. Depreciation although not generally as steep as in the UK, is still the biggest cost involved in the running of a car.


For some fairly unbiased owner reviews have a look at www.carsurvey.org

camacazi

can you do that? i mean haggle a price, i thought they wouldn't of budged?

spartacus

Haggle for everything here. Its like a turkish bazaar. Ask for best price, say thank you very much I'll think about it; go to the next garage, ask for best price (obviously works best if its the same thing; apples and pears and all that!), say "Oh , such and such said they'd do it for X. Will you do it for X?". Say thank you very much, go to next garage. Repeat steps 1-3. If you can be bothered.

camacazi

thanks

i probably would've just paid the price ! duh!!

spartacus

Not the british way, I know, but you do get used to it eventually. Just practice the phrase ". . . and is that you're best price?" or ". . . and for cash?"

Doesn't just apply to cars. Try the same for all electricals, furniture etc. Any major items you can buy at multiple outlets. Also better discounts for multiple purchases at one store at the same time. Group all your electrical purchases together at once, if you can.