greghal

i agree always worth an offer, im glad you've ditched the daihatsu's!!!

ABCDiamond

If you don't make an offer, and haggle them down, they will think you have just stepped of a plane from the UK, and smile all the way to the bank

I can't remember now what I paid for my last car, but it was a price I never expected to get away with, and the car dealer was almost in tears, but he wanted to sell, and my wife said what we would pay.. after about an hour of backwards and forwards, he gave up and sold to us at our price.

I just looked up what I paid... I think it was $16,000 asking price. I paid $10,900 + a trade in, that I would have been lucky to have got $2,000 at private sale.
So at least $3,000 off a $16,000 price.

Keith Moon

Cheers Mr Diamond. Think i am going to try and get a smallish car, no bigger than a 1.3 litre, two door hatch, no more than $4k, a Japanese car, haggle them down from $5k, what do you think?


Keith

spartacus

Maybe have a look at something a bit bigger? Small cars weren't that popular until fairly recently, so not that many about under $5k, not when compared to something like a Mitsubishi Magna or Toyota Camry. More choice so maybe more of a buyer's market?

paulry

What are you going to drive between the sale of your car and catching your flight to Aus?

greghal

to be fair I believe everyone needs some perspective on house prices, whe an asset increseshugely in price for 10 years, then depreciates for not even 2 don't think about what you are lodsing since the peak, thank about what you have still gained since you first bought it (unless you bought in the summer of 2007 that is)

Keith Moon

Any thoughts on a Toyota Starlet? There was one outside the chipper tonight, here in sunny Cheshire, looked alright?


Moons!

slipshot

Ok - for that money as others have said you'll not get a lot but as a runaround it will be OK. You'll be unlikely to get any warranty so best to buy privately and always make sure it has a roadworthy certificate so at least it passed a test. Ideally take a mechanic or ask one for cars to buy as you'll get a better deal that way...

slipshot

How are cars made to last longer in OZ? In what way are they changed. DO they have a witch doctor go over them?

So, say a Ford Focus. What happens to it when it arrives in Australia that is different to it arriving in Belgium, or the UK, or Germany (other than a quick change of the steering wheel).

And why would cars be made to last longer in any country versus another?

'Ok Bill, this one's for Thailand. Lets make it last 6 years I think!'

humpy

One reason is salt on the roads in the UK, from winter weather, Ive seen cars over here that are over 20 yrs old and have no rust what so ever

craig_m67

Haven't read the whole thread, however "Australian Made" as opposed to imported cars are designed, tested and built specifically for Australian conditions. Essentially this used to mean that suspension and drive train components/mounts were tougher to cope with increased demands from our crappier roads/dust. An imported car will be a compromise between conditions found in the largest market and requirements (small changes) for wherever they end up. For Aust. this usually means more refrig. in the aircon.

So yes, the witch doctor is an Australian design engineer and the test ground is just Australia (50degC, dusty, hard, big) as opposed to (just as excellent) EU Engineer in EU(+global) conditions (moderate, wet, freezing, excellent roads).

That said, I prefer Euro cars as they tend to be built of higher quality materials and assembled with more care/process

... and at the end of the day, it's just a car - you get what you pay for.

Wheeler-Jones

Hey

We bought a 1997 Toyota Starlet Lite 5 dr last year - about 150000kms for $5000 from a dealer. It's been awesome - haven't had any trouble with it and it costs between $30-40 to fill depending on petrol prices. Haven't even got around to servicing it yet, but I am more than impressed with Toyota.

We are looking to by a Hyundai Getz new next as it has good reviews and drive away brand new is from $12990.

eugene43

buy a new one problem solved

slipshot

Ah, but that is not to do with cars being made to last as the quotation was, but because of the conditions of the road. Two very different things. Same as buying a car that has lived it's life on the coast versus one that has never been near the coast - one will be far more susceptible to rust in the future because of the exposure to salt water...

slipshot

Sorry but tend to disagree. Modifications in general to cars are things like damper and spring rates, not the fundamental elements of the car which remains consistent throughout the world. No EU made cars are just tested in the EU - all are tested for world conditions and most are sold on world markets so they hot weather testing is done in Utah or Arizona or the Outback and cold weather testing in the artic. Regardless of the car.

My point is that while cars are set-up differently for different fuel and conditions, the fundamentals stay the same so Aus cars are not engineered to last longer - they may be more specific to the road conditions (although that is debatable over any other car since many European cars will be better engineered to begin with because the vast resources and quantities sold) - but that said, they are not made to last longer.

I also prefer Euro or Japanese cars because the global market tends to have a positive influence over the design - Aus cars sold only here tend to be acceptable to those who have not experienced others, but are good value for money for what you get, but built to a price. Acceptable to some but for many Europeans, good but not good enough.

As you say horses for courses though...