pseethar

People, I just moved from USA, Any suggestion on how to explore the used car market in Australia.

In USA there is a website: kbb.com, which more or less is taken as the bench mark to determine the price of the car based on its details. Any trustable equivalent of KBB in Australia?

Kiwipaul

This site is the best http://www.carsales.com.au/ in my opinion.
I've bought and sold from them and I suspect they are the biggest. As for prices check out BlueBook although I don't have a link to them.

danec

For a bench mark site, you can try redbook.com.au, they used to be very useful reference point for used car price but recently carsales is now much better and close to reality. Also worth looking at gumtree.

Mav

just because a book says its worth 20k dont be fooled, my wifes mini books at 21k, they wanted 19k on car sales originally , 5 months later i paid 14k,this is true of loads of cars on there, a lot of the cars i looked at 6 months ago are still for sale at a fraction of there original price
haggle hard

neil248

Be very very careful, there is no rhyme or reason to the prices asked here for secondhand cars, dealers or private.

feed_cantona

Agree with all of the above really. Needed to buy a car soon after first pay packet. Unfortunately, didn't have the luxury of waiting as my 4 month old had special needs.

Carsales is good.

What i considered when buying was whether it was sold with a Roadworthy Certificate or not. The mileage on the car you need to factor in how many miles on average cars travel over here per year, and then factor that into the car's age.

I bought a Ford Falcon as they are so common, therefore easy for parts etc.

Not done this but apparently you can pay a fee to have an RACV person come with you to inspect a car you're considering.

Hope this helps pal!

The Bloke

If you are buying privately, you should get a PPSR (Personal Property Securities Register) check http://www.ppsrcheck.com.au/ to check on the vehicles' history, specifically to see if the vehicle still has money owing. Dealers usually do this for you.

Alfresco

Yep, you must shop around and don't be taken by high asking prices and never pay the asking price. You can most probably always get the same car cheaper.

BadgeIsBack

There can be some rhyme and reason - cars that have low k and in good nick will come with a higher price.

I binned the RACV process when I tried it out - they will pick up every last drop of oil and wear and tear and leave you perhaps none the wiser. Caution: wobble here, weep there....it's a second hand car - I can see there is a slight leak from the rocker cover...etc a new gasket or Loctite might sort it...

(They may pick up an oil leak you can't see - I give them that - but then you pay extra for the hoist).

wayneleecarson

Hi there

I have decided to move to australia with my Ozzie wife.

Whilst on my last visit i purchased a 4x4.

In general i found the prices of used cars higher than in the UK. I deduced the following. As i am near Melbourne the weather is fairly dry and the vehicles tend to preserve themselves quite well. Most vehicles have high milage. I purchased a used 4x4 mitsubishi Pajero, duel fuel, auto with 250k on the clock for $6000!

Note that they have "Rego" (car tax) which is also dearer than the UK but i am led to believe that this incorporates a third party insurance, however i believe there is a requirement for extra insurance? Mine is sat in the inlaws garden so mothballed until i get over there.

Before purchase it is best to get the car examined by a friendly mechanic this may cost around $50 - $100. But as part of the process the vehicle has to undergo a presale inspection or MOT (in the UK). The seller should pay for this and hopefully as in my case pay for any faults found.

NOTE there is also a transfer tax for the Rego, i ended up paying $250 to the tax man. I found this strange as the tax disc wasn't taken out of the vehicle so the previous owner couldn't have resubmitted it for a rebate?

Fuel is cheaper than the UK (no surprise there) LPG is incredibly cheap, it costs around £30 to fill my tank and i get around 500km out of it.

I agree haggle, haggle , haggle i got a $1000 off the window price. Mine was advertised online but i happened to see it first.

Most popular cars are Yutes and 4x4 outside of the cities. Ford are everywhere, then Japanese makes with european makes the most expensive.

Good Luck