paulry

Been feeling like Doctor Foster all day today trampling around in rainy Canberra. Have looked at a crummy house and been shocked and awed by the extortionate prices of second hand cars here. So far there's only one car which stands out from the rest: A year 2000 Ford Falcon, 130 000km on the clock, looking in near pristine condition going for $7995. The dealer says he can knock off $500 and throw in a year's warranty. How does that sound?

Sherlock Holmes

I'd love to help but I just don't know the answer to this.

I seem to have missed your arrival in Oz, for which, apologies. So, welcome and GOOD LUCK!

paulry

Thanks Alistair. Sorry, I've not posted here much lately. Had very sporadic internet access in South Africa and have been pretty busy since arriving in Australia on Saturday. It feels like we achieved very little yesterday (did anyone else get that feeling during some of the early days here?) so I'm feeling a bit anxious to experience a "tick, done" moment tomorrow.

irishbloo

I have no idea either .It will all fall in to place.The first few weeks can be hard.I remember them well and it makes me sad thinking about it sometimes.Alls good now .Welcome to Australia.

Sherlock Holmes

It will all happen; no worries there. I think I have seen a lot of advice on here about buying Japanese when it comes to second hand cars. Toyotas seem good. The older Camrys give good mpg or litres/klms.

paulry

I'm sure it all will - Indeed it must. We're just taking one of the last few of the slightly more painful steps in this otherwise exciting and privileged adventure. On the brighter side: everyone I've chatted with has made positive comments on our job prospects. ...And the music on the radio seems more chilled out than in the UK

quoll

Check it out in the red book http://www.redbook.com.au/

We did tell you about the second hand car prices!!! Have you tried Fyshwick yet? Sometimes the Pickles Auctions can be a good place to go, if you can wait until Thursday you may get a bargain http://www.pickles.com.au/cars/auction/bstid-47 but you dont get the dealer warranties. Lots of ex govvie cars usually.

Not sure if they still do it but if you join NRMA they certainly used to do used vehicle checks for you. But if the dealer is prepared to chuck in a year's warranty that takes a load off your mind I would think.

spalen

Look on carsales.com.au for the same car in 40km radius and see what its going for private vs trade, trade like uk is always higher they have to give you a 3mth warranty I think as law (which covers anything not obvious to a layman from an inspection at sale time)

used car prices are higher - but then they are higher when you sell it on as well. They dont have the same chronic depreciation as UK its slower, but also they dont have MOT's etc - so buyer beware.

Wendy

Sounds about right to me, I paid just under $10k for a 2000 Ford Laser last year (and a bit).

The way I do the math though is go on a couple of insurance company websites and get an insurance quote, most will give you their 'market value' price as a comparison

Here's two: http://www.aami.com.au/ http://www.bingle.com.au/car_insurance/

moonsurfer

Cars are rottenly expensive in Canberra. That's a pretty good deal with a year's warranty. Falcons are reliable and parts are always available. If it looks good as well, I'd say go for it.

spartacus

I've done a quick search on carsales and there's not many cars to be had in Canberra it seems, these two commodore wagons look half decent, through private sellers, haven't checked exactly where thay are (searched within 100km of postcode 2600)


commodore wagon

another commodore wagon

paulry

I took a preview at Pickles on Wednesday but the problem is there may have been additional hassles with sorting out new plates, etc for the ex government cars. A tad beyond our price range too. We decided to devote that day to sorting out a car and found a 2001 Falcon in near pristine condition, 153K on the clock, asking price $6999 at a used car sales in Belconnen. Dealt with a very good and surprisingly honest salesman who pointed out all of each car's faults as well as their plus points. Managed to bargain them down to $6000 so we've bought it. ...Tick, done moment

There was a kind of roadworthy that the car had to go through - it may have been to do with transferring the car from NSW to ACT plates. It failed on two tyres and a faulty hooter. which the dealer has sorted that out at no cost to us. We've accepted the standard 3 month warranty. I reckon if nothing goes wrong in that period it'll be fine.

I found that all of the smaller cars in the price range that we had in mind looked battered and likely to cause us problems. Thanks for the links. Especially useful since I now have to sort the insurance before we take possion of the car on Saturday.

The one I ended up buying was if anything in slighter better condition so it looks like we got a decent deal. From the perspective of a new arrival from the UK these Falcons have awesome 4 litre engines. But the size possibly has a lot to do with why these cars are known to be reliable.

I looked at a couple of Commodores but they appear so much bigger than the Falcon which itself is a pretty big car. Wifey is happy to drive the Falcon - just, but I don't see her ever being able to pluck up the courage to drive a Commodore.

I especially like the sturdiness of the Falcon - They seem to be built like tanks ...Which might just be needed

...Now for the joys of driving on uncongested Canberra roads

paulry

Just a thought... Will my car insurance be more expensive if I haven't yet converted my UK licence to an Aussie one?

Thanks

Wendy

Shouldn't be.

If you don't mind dealing with the insurance company online, and going to their preferred repairer, then bingle.com.au are the cheapest by a mile.

I saved over $200 on my insurance with them as opposed to AAMI - who they are underwritten by!

paulry

Thanks for that Wendy. A great tip.

Relieved that I don't have to derail my other plans for today to go and convert the licence