Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

I quite like my Hyundai...
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_hj8k2cqkmsQ/TK...i-granduer.jpg
Just checked the costs, from a post in 2005:
Current redbook values:
Private Price Guide $6,200 - $7,800
Average Km 140,000 - 230,000

About a 50% drop in value over 5 years.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

When comparing Australian s/h prices with UK ones, you have to remember that there is no need in Oz to spread salt on the roads every year so older cars here are far less likely to have serious rust problems. We sold a 20yo BMW 318i for $5000 last year and the body was perfect - it was just starting to cost too much in mechanical repairs.

If you need spares though, be prepared to buy them overseas. I have a Jeep and when I needed a new clutch recently it was cheaper (and quicker!) for me to buy it from a dealer in Hull and have it flown out than to buy it from the local Jeep dealer.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

I don't know a lot about cars but I'm never convinced by this argument.

Firstly, do cars actually rust these days? A member of my family drives a 15 year old Toyota in the UK - no rust at all.

Secondly, I live 10kms from the sea here. In the UK I lived about 130kms from the sea. Surely there'd be more salt in the air for most of the population in Australia then there would in the UK?

I wonder sometimes whether some things are more expensive in Australia just because the population is accustomed to it and new entrants to the market see the abnormal profits to be made and refuse to lower prices.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

A lot of modern cars are very well protected against rust and if they are cleaned properly won't have a problem.

I think salt air is only a problem if you live right next to the sea - I'm not sure of the distance but pobably only a few kms at most.

Agree with your last statement. A lot of things (but not all) are more expensive here because people accept this and don't complain or bargain - Aussies have been conditioned to being ripped off. I'm hoping that the new WA retail laws are going to put a lot of Australia's beloved, yet often crap, small retailers out of business. I will piss myself when the first IGA goes under.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

Me too.
My current hang-up is the "Local Heroes" ad campaign for money-grabbing, hypocritical rip-off merchants that are IGA owners.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

Who make out that they are small independent retailers yet are actually owned by a billion $ South African mob.

Wankers.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

Rust does seem to effect older cars. Depends how people care for them too. But there is no doubt in my mind that salt f**cks cars and salt on the road can't help. Take a 4x4 rental into the surf and drive along and you will lose your deposit - and they claim to know on inspection as soon as you get back. I'd prefer to take my chances with sea-air on the coast.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

Doesn't that make the land rover around the same price?

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

£30k is currently about $48k, even at an exchange rate of 2:1, (which it hasn't been for a while) its only $60k.

There are some big variations even in Japanese cars, I was thinking of an MX5 as a 2nd car for Mrs Freebo

Aus MX5 Roadster = $51,000 or $31,000 ($25.5 at 2:1)
UK -------"------- = £20.750 or $34,000 ($41.5 at 2:1)

So a the Aus bought one is $17,000 or 50% :scaredhair: more expensive - or have I got this wrong? The prices don't match until the exchange rate hits about 2.5:1

You have to wonder if the current strong dollar would make the dealers more prone to discount, especially for European and American cars.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

You have to try to stop comparing the prices of similar models between UK and Oz, first the spec can be quite different, second, the body will be in much better condition due to a better climate.
To get a better idea, compere the price against your annual salary, if you earn £30000 and buy a £10000 car its a third, so in Oz you earn say $80000, a third would be about $26500 if you spent a similar proportion of your money on a car.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

But the exchange rate isn't the right way to compare is it? It fluctuates all the time and so does not reflect the true cost to someone earning local salary.

I thought you divided the cost into the average salary to get the true comparison.

I think the experts on here said that "currently" meant multiplying the cost in the UK by 2.2 to get the Australian cost?

I do think luxury cars are dear here due to the luxury import tax.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

What better climate? If it's not faded and burnt to a crisp by the sun then the hail stones will get it. Older cars apear to be better here becuase they have been bodged up to get a better price, in the UK they are just scrapped.

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

Who scraps cars in the UK? They get parked on the roads or in parking lots or driveways or anywhere and just left there.

Too expensive to scrap them! DVLA won't collect them and destroy them unless it's owing road tax. It's like 3D graffiti. :thumbdown:

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

I've been saying this for years...of course, if your income is highly variable this makes it harder to analyse - but on a car loan or repayments you can work out the hardship..

Re: Yes, 2nd hand cars are more expensive here but.......
 

I'm sceptical of that argument as well.

I live fairly close to the sea. What I have noticed here is that if you leave things out they rust quickly but if you keep them under cover they don't (less so than if they were under cover in UK).