HI,
What's the situation with buying a used car over there? Are there Car Fairs and Auctions - what is the general feeling about them?
Are cars reasonably priced?
Any pointers greatly appreciated!
Jane :D

Yes there's auctions, and plenty of 2nd hand car yards about, specially on Main North and North East Roads. Lots down south too - I work in one! Try www.carpoint.com.au to get an idea of the prices.

Buying a car here is a bit different, firstly you have to do your homework, ie prices, prices prices. You must be tough and haggle hard, if buying from a yard, there will be normally registration and stamp duty on top of the price, for a $20 k car about $2k on top. Also depends on what you want it for, 75% are V6's 3.8 or 4.0 litre engines, the rest small family cars. you'll be amazed how many yards there are.

Steve and Lynsie :rolleyes:

Hiya
You can research prices at http://www.redbook.com.au/
and find out about stamp duty and rego at http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/index.asp

(rego is like road tax only includes 3rd party insurance, then you insure extra beyond that if you wish)

Elaine

It's a good idea to join the RAA too. Most reputable 2nd hand car yards will allow you to have any car RAA inspected before you buy (at your cost of around $100), and they will give you a full report on any faults, whether they are urgent or can be left longer to fix etc. Where I work they let potential buyers have their own mechanics inspect the vehicle if they wish.


www.raa.net (I think!)

Hmm... surely it's http://www.raa.com.au/ I thought... just tried and they both work!!

Oh and another tip on used cars - if you see one you like - leave it a couple of days and watch the price board on the windscreen. They go up and down every few days - catch the yard on a down price day and then haggle, haggle , haggle.

There will be a notice on the front passenger side window of the car - a Section 18 I think it's called. It will have the details of the last registered owner on it. It is common practice for a potential buyer to call the previous owner and get all the nitty gritty details that a car yard won't tell you about the cars mechanical history etc.