Advice on buying a 2nd hand car from a dealer?

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cddt

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#3490444 13-May-2026 11:15

Be careful with "refundable" deposits. The documentation may say "non-refundable" even if they verbally confirm it's refundable. And then they can be nasty if you try get your "refundable" deposit back.

LostBoyNZ

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#3490581 13-May-2026 14:14

sen8or:

You could contact a few of the volume importers in Christchurch (Wheeler Motors, Turners, Paul Kelly, Armstrongs) and let them know the details of what you are after. They may not have the car now, but they bring in lots ex Japan and they also trade-in frequently. You may be able to snag something before it hits the market. Note, you won't necessarily pay less, but you may get a headstart on something that comes in before it even gets listed.

Warranties on a $10k car are likely to be cost prohibitive, with something like a Toyota aqua, the odds on incurring significant repairs are low (not nil, but theres a reason theres few specialist Toyota repairers outside the dealer network).

Contrary to popular opinion, dealers like when you trade in a vehicle and finance your next one through them, they don't offer these things just for love.....

Thanks, that's a good idea yes. And we're also narrowing down what we want in the key, for example a push-start instead of key-start. Apparently they're much less likely to be stolen due to the built-in immobilizer, when compared to key-start.

cddt:

Be careful with "refundable" deposits. The documentation may say "non-refundable" even if they verbally confirm it's refundable. And then they can be nasty if you try get your "refundable" deposit back.

Good tip there too, checking the documentation.

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Eva888

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#3490620 13-May-2026 16:56

Factor in $700 for an immobiliser should you find an Aqua without it. Insurance will be a lot cheaper with one, ours almost halved so was worth installing. Toyota have their own insurance that includes Roadside which is a bonus. They came out cheaper than most others. It’s a great little car very economical worry free.

insane

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#3490666 13-May-2026 21:11

Split the transaction so the dealership doesn't get to squeeze you multiple ways.

E.g Don't trade-in and buy, or buy and finance, or worst of all trade-in, buy, and finance.

Sell your old car privately or through another company to get the best price.

If required, oganise your own finance, will typically be cheaper

And when buying cash, haggle and agree on the price first and shake on it. Don't let them know you're not financing it with them or they'll try to hike the price or be less willing to negotiate to cover the lossed margin of not getting you signed up to their finance terms.

LostBoyNZ

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#3490667 13-May-2026 21:15

Thanks, yes we'll certainly have an immobiliser fitted if there isn't already one, but we'll try for one with it if possible. That's very useful to know about the insurance discount!

Ah this is a 2nd car so we won't have one to sell. But our intention is to buy cash, not finance. I'm going to keep my trusty 2009 Prius, it's done over 280,000km and still going great :)

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dpf81nz

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#3492109 17-May-2026 20:13

As others have said, CGA would cover you for reasonable defects if bought via a dealer. I bought a 2013 Toyota last year and 2 months later started making weird noises. Ended up getting the transmission replaced at dealers cost

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gzt

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#3492123 17-May-2026 21:22

Looks like the only way you'll get a low kms Aqua is from a dealer. It's the best vendor choice on that basis. Prius used to be better feature value in comparison because Aqua trendy. Fuel price/crisis may have changed that.

LostBoyNZ

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#3493438 18-May-2026 15:19

dpf81nz:

As others have said, CGA would cover you for reasonable defects if bought via a dealer. I bought a 2013 Toyota last year and 2 months later started making weird noises. Ended up getting the transmission replaced at dealers cost

I'm glad to hear it got fixed at their cost! 2 months after buying it is not long at all.

gzt: Looks like the only way you'll get a low kms Aqua is from a dealer. It's the best vendor choice on that basis. Prius used to be better feature value in comparison because Aqua trendy. Fuel price/crisis may have changed that.

Yeah they sell quickly at the moment, which surely only drives the price higher. We're currently re-assessing if we can get by without a 2nd car for a bit.

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