Mrs Kiwi

Hi guys

just wanted some advice if poss please about how you pay for a car when you arrive in Oz.

We will be buying a car for approx $5000-$7000 hopefully within a couple of days of arriving and the only card I will have will be an English Visa Debit card.

I don't have credit cards as I've worked in finance for too many years and see the damage they do!!

Will I able to purchase a car using English Visa debit?

I'm asking cos I spoke to Westpac Migrant Banking in London today to set up my Ozzie account and they won't send me my bank account cards to an English address, they have to be sent to an Ozzie branch of Westpac even though I am going in person to Westpac in London to complete validation. Is this normal? I thought as long as I completed the 100 point ID validation they would send debit cards to any address, UK or Oz.

He said I wouldn't be able to pay for a car on a debit card anyway, I would have to get a bankers cheque from a bank.

So is it possible to arrive in Oz, go to Westpac, pick up my awaiting debit cards and get a bankers cheque all in one day?

Thanks,
Kelly

JCSUPERMOTO

Me personally would draw out cash....Cos cash is king

What about drawing the money over here and hiding it in ya rucksack and sleep with it on,and your have it on you!!!

Mrs Kiwi

Thanks - I like the plan but I'm not sure I want to travel with that much cash on me - also I can't draw that much cash out of the hole in the wall so I guess bankers cheque or drawing out cash over the counter is the only way of obtaining a large amount of cash in Oz. Is that right?

aussiedreamz

Probably a bit late now, but if you had a Nationwide flexi account debit card this would have solved your problem, when we went to buy our car with UK card the car company (main dealer) said they will not accept british cards for such a large ammount, so we had to get cash transfered from UK to OZ that day, we went to a local Westpac round the corner and handed over our nationwide card and westpac card to the cashier, they made a phone call to a processing center and the transfer was approved there and then money put on westpac card drove home in car hour later, with Nationwide you are not charged for overseas transfers and you get a good exchange rate to boot....

MillsyandtheTroop

In theory, yes. We set up our NAB account in the UK and did a bank transfer of funds into the account before we left. On arrival in Oz, we went to the nominated branch where we completed the registration process, picked up our cards, set up phone and internet banking etc. At this point there was no reason why we couldn't have got them to give us a bank cheque for a car there and then. As we had no idea what to buy, we drove round in a hire car for 2 weeks so didn't need a bank cheque 'till later. The dealer we bought a car off would only accept a bank cheque, bank funds transfer, or payment from a Oz issued bank card. Personally I'd pay the fee and get the cheque - carrying a wad of cash round with me is asking for trouble as it's too tempting to spend on other things!!

abertawe

We bought our car on a UK Visa Debit card. We just rung the bank informing them that we were in Aus and we were buying a car using our Visa Debit card, they ensured us that when the transaction went thru they passed it instantly.

MarkMC

I used my Barclays debit card - put $3000 down as a deposit, then paid them in 2 more installments over the next 2 days. Picked the car up on the last day.

They made some excuse about not taking more than $4000 in 1 day due to there being extra fees.

Mrs Kiwi

Great, thanks guys.
I'm encouraged by the replies that said Ozzie car dealers let you buy a car with a UK debit card! Whenever I've tried to use my UK debit card abroad (and it has the Maestro symbol) I've not been able to - I tried to use it to pay a hotel bill in Barcelona and was not allowed.
But thats great if they recognise it in Oz.

MillsyandtheTroop

...just a word of note from what I've experienced (I have both a UK Visa debit card and a Maestro one and have tried to use both over here) - some places will only accept foreign cards if they have a Visa or Mastercard logo. Also for buying a car, it will depend on the amount of money you are spending. The dealer we used had a ceiling for cards which the car exceeded, hence we had to pay by cheque. My advice is to cover all your options and then you can't loose!

TakenThePlunge

I travel to Oz quite a lot, and nobody has ever accepted my Maestro there. Visa or Mastercard, occasionally American Express is OK, but not Maestro. It won't even work in many of the cash machines.

gjs

When I first arrived, I bought my car for $15k on a UK credit card. The car company were happy to accept it although it did cause some problems. The transaction limit for the dealership was $5k, so they had to put it through in three $5k transactions.

When they tried the second transaction the credit card company's fraud detection system blocked the transaction as it looked dodgy having two $5k transactions coming through from Australia within 2 mins of each other.

The upshhot was that I phoned the card company and explained the situaion, they removed the block on the card and the transactions went through no problem.

Although I must say that the salesman looked shocked when I presented my Visa card to pay for the car.

One final thing. If it has a Visa or Mastercard symbol (even if it's a debit card), they should accept it. Australian retailers don't generally realise the difference due to that fact that are very few Visa or Mastercard debit cards in circulation over here.

Mrs Kiwi

Thats what I thought, which is why I asked Westpac for a Visa Debit card when I opened my account. They said they don't do it but that they do Debit Mastercard so I can apply for one of those but only when I've got an Ozzie address. So that doesn't help much when I come to buy my car in the first couple of days.
Its sounding most likely that Ozzie bankers cheque will be the best way to pay for a car, unless I can find those rare Ozzie dealers that take UK debit card.

Its my own fault. I refuse point blank to have a credit card. Peace of mind in the long run but bloody nightmare in the short term when trying to buy a car!

hantsfamily1

I opended my oz bank account with Westpac in the UK before I left as you are planning to do. Once you have shown your passport in your bank when you arrive and your account is fully open everything happens quickly. I have bought 2 cars in oz and paid for them both with a bank cheque, walked up to the counter and gave them the details of the payee, they write the cheque, hand that to the car dealer and drive away. Very simple.

I have found Westpac to be very helpful and a good bank, I am sure some will have bad stories but my experiences are all good with them. I got a credit card with them but had to apply for it when I arrived in oz and used my uk cards until I had my new cards through.

Good luck with everything, Mick