mad scots

We will be in Adelaide in just over 2 weeks now, we have been looking at the price of cars over there, and looking for advice/recommendations on whether to rent to start with, or just bite the bullett and buy? How expensive are cars? We have 2 kids so we need something that will be a decent size. What about rego, insurance etc? Any help would be much appreciated.

Gillian

flip60

Hi
I've been here 4 months now and the first thing we needed was to buy a car, looked at new against second hand, i found the new cars to be cheaper than ours by approx 10-20% but second hand approx30-50% dearer. for some reason second hand cars really hold there money and a lot of them have really high mileages,first week i rented a toyota camry which i thought was a good all round car but wife wanted to buy a 4x4(guess who won)hope this helps.

Gems

I agree with the above post. We originally planned on getting a used car, but found they were more expensive than the UK. (Been dragged around car yards and auctions by my dad for years so got an idea of condition and price of used cars).

But new cars seamed cheaper and good deal in Oz.

Anyway our plans for used car went out the window, as we also thought the cars often had high milage for the price. Yes, Oz has vast distances hence higher milage.

So we have bought a new vehicle and got a 4WD. But part of our decision was we live hundreds of miles from the city so we needed something reliable.

A used car is possible, but be aware prices are higher and often milage. Id recommend getting the car inspected before buying by RAC or garage, if your not confident.

GEMS

Gems

PS, these two places advertise new and used cars to give you an idea.

www.tradingpost.com.au
www.autotrader.com.au

GEMS

mad scots

Thanks guys, guess I'll just have to get a new 4x4!! Sure hubby will be pleased, but then he will be away working a lot, and I'll be driving more than him, so my choice wins!!!

geordie downunder

Buy a second hand Falcon,Commodore or Magna.Preferably on gas (LPG).Any of them will last for 10 yrs with maintenance.

You're not buying a car that will last for 2 yrs and then fail an MOT,a small UK buzz box that revs highly.Probably the cars mentioned have never been above 2000 RPM,which is cruising speed on long journeys (110 kph).

A mileage of 500,000 k's from a 6 cylinder is normal.You should be able to pick up a good second hand car for 10K (4200 quid).They are not expensive when they last for 10 yrs.

On the other hand if you want to buy a new car and see 20-30% depreciation after the wheels have turned around once,go for it.

geordie downunder

Forgot, a Falcon is a Ford Granada,a Commodore would probably be a Vauxhall Senator.Don't know if they have Magnas in the UK.Commodore is 3.8 litre V6 and Falcon is 4 litre in line 6.Those big lazy engines go forever.

augigi

Can also look for cars on gumtree.com.au (private sales, often cheaper) or carsales.com.au

Definitely buy and don't rent!