Its Time to Buy a Car

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Its Time to Buy a Car

aaristotle

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Topic # 114220 12-Feb-2013 14:42

Its time to replace the current car, and its about 9 years since I last went car shopping. Back then it was car yards, Autotrader magazine or car fairs, and if you saw a particular make, model, year and milage you liked you had to make a decision fairly quickly, with limited comparisions.
Now with Trade Me there is a large selection of cars within a similar criteria and its fairly easy to get a rough idea of price based on the chosen range.
I am looking at replacing a 1999 Honda Civic with a Honda Jazz. I tend to keep a car until it has a major fault and so far the Civics I have had have done well, with the current one just having clocked 200k. I can't justify an updated Civic, as it is only for urban commuting, and the Jazz's are now much better spec'ed than my current Civic.
The range I am looking in is 2009 or newer and less then 75000k's, and these tend to fall between $15 - 20K+.
My first question is what sort of discounts has anyone obtained from car yards that use TradeMe? I seem to remember I managed to get from about $15K to just over 12K 9 years ago from a card yard, but I am guessing with the better visibility of pricing it has gotten sharper?
Are private sellers more likely to set there pricing similar to dealer pricing on TradeMe?
Any tales of recent car buying (or selling) experiences would be appreciated!

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Reply # 760121 12-Feb-2013 14:48

If getting a Jazz/Fit get a manual, the CVTs are know for failing IIRC.

mattwnz

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Reply # 760147 12-Feb-2013 15:03

Why not another civic, previous model. Just avoid the CVTs.
My brother got a 18 month old one second hand on trademe with only 30ks on the clock for 20k from a private seller. Still going well after 4 years. Any car should also have ESP built in when paying that sort of price.

Batman

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Reply # 760161 12-Feb-2013 15:13

recent model old hondas NZ new - very expensive.

consider a jap import or buy new?

Krishant007

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Reply # 760183 12-Feb-2013 15:24

i managed to get myself a Honda Jazz (NZ new) 2006 version 85k km for $8k about 8 months ago. It was from a private seller.

A good friend of mine is looking to get a honda civic right now and he is managing to get about 2k discount from the honda dealers.

lxsw20

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Reply # 760194 12-Feb-2013 15:33

Second hand I assume. Honda don't discount at all on their new stuff.

deadlyllama

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Reply # 760213 12-Feb-2013 15:42

Krishant007: i managed to get myself a Honda Jazz (NZ new) 2006 version 85k km for $8k about 8 months ago. It was from a private seller.

A good friend of mine is looking to get a honda civic right now and he is managing to get about 2k discount from the honda dealers.

Same here, got a 2007 (2006 model) Jazz, ~100k, $8k, er, september-ish as a replacement for our '98 corolla II which was written off after a friend drove it down our street and got hit at the first intersection. Private sale, bought it on a friend who was going on their OE.

scuwp

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Reply # 760229 12-Feb-2013 16:02

Sorry, couldn't resist a bit of selfless promotion, but how about this little beauty... Toyota's run forever!

Price is negotiable (slightly) includes full service plan for next 2 years. Truly worry free motoring

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=554311096

/shameless plug ends

To answer your question, sold a car on behalf of relative recently. It was listed in the low teens. Had 2 offers around the 8 - 10% off the list price, and sold to one of them, was only listed for about a week and it was gone.

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Klipspringer

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Reply # 760236 12-Feb-2013 16:11

What about buying from turners?

www.turners.co.nz

I have found pricing can be a bit better than whats on trademe. For peace of mind you can even buy a warranty.

mattwnz

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Reply # 760237 12-Feb-2013 16:14

Klipspringer: What about buying from turners?

www.turners.co.nz

I have found pricing can be a bit better than whats on trademe. For peace of mind you can even buy a warranty.

If you can buy a reasonably new one, say 18 months it should still have the manufacturers warranty on it, which will be better. Must have a good service history though.

Gilco2

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Reply # 760242 12-Feb-2013 16:19

Just be careful with Honda Jazz as others have said the cvt is known to fail.
Toyota Ractis or Toyota Yaris would be better option. Ractis and Yaris models with cvt are okay. couple known to have doen 300K without trouble. With Toyota CVT would highly recommend stay with Toyota CVT oil when time comes to change cvt oil. Toyota recommend 90000kms. oil is approx $300 for 4 litres so a bit expensive. Biggest killer of any cvt is wrong oil. Ractis may not look the pretties but very practical

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floydbloke

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Reply # 760259 12-Feb-2013 16:36

I bought a 2008 Civic of a crowd on Trademe (Wellington). They've got some sort of set-up with Honda that allows them to get their hands on ex-fleet lease cars and sell them on. They are registered as a dealer but don't have a car-yard as such. Saved a couple of grand from a traditional dealer but minus the protection/warranty you get with that (if there is actually such a thing).
I would happily use this mob again, PM me if you want their details, or you'll probably come across them if you search for 3-4 year old Hondas in the Wellington area.

Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. (T.S. Eliot)

Paulthagerous

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Reply # 760265 12-Feb-2013 16:44

Generally I have found that prices are a lot sharper than they used to be. It is a lot easier to work out the real market price so dealers can't afford too high a mark up. Or you will simply buy elsewhere.

When I bought my car 18 months ago they were asking 18k for it. I sent them an email with links to similar ones elsewhere and said I would pay 15.5k as that was what it was worth. They accepted this price without any issue, as obviously I had done the research. And they knew I was prepared to walk away. So there are still deals to be made, but they will be more reluctant. That's where knowledge is power.

As for the jazz, a great car. An elderly relative has one, though she bought it new. 2006 model. For $15 to 20k you will have a fair bit of choice, so decide if you want to get the best one you can for your budget OR the cheapest one that is good enough. Either approach is fine, but it will change your search quite a bit.

Paulthagerous

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Reply # 760270 12-Feb-2013 16:47

floydbloke: I bought a 2008 Civic of a crowd on Trademe (Wellington). They've got some sort of set-up with Honda that allows them to get their hands on ex-fleet lease cars and sell them on. They are registered as a dealer but don't have a car-yard as such. Saved a couple of grand from a traditional dealer but minus the protection/warranty you get with that (if there is actually such a thing).
I would happily use this mob again, PM me if you want their details, or you'll probably come across them if you search for 3-4 year old Hondas in the Wellington area.

If they are a registered motor vehicle dealer then you get the full protection available - having a car yard or not is irrelevant.

TwoSeven

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Reply # 760275 12-Feb-2013 16:58

I was recently going through a new car phase (decided to stay with the current one). Was looking at the Ford Focus and its sibling the Fiesta. I also took a good look at the Suzuki Swift.

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rayonline

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Reply # 760292 12-Feb-2013 17:24

Haven't bought new cars as the OP .. my 2c.

We got a Ford Telstar in the early mid 90s, had ignition issues which they just started up the car rather than fix it and then some months later they just said b/c we didn't take the car in for their service checks, not sure if it was paid or we had to pay for them, they charged us for the repair work. Since then we just got cars from Turners as Japanese import second hand, haven't had any issues. Bought both a 8yr old Camry and a similar age Audi / VW, no issues at all. It was some what cheaper than the dealers hard to say how much. We just find that less hassle thru a auction, we save some money and we can then repair it thru own own avenues and pay it than going back to a dealer which can be expensive too.

Our auction cars are from 2008 and 2009 I think and one was in 1995 that we sold in 2009, no issues at all other than normal stuff like belts, brakes, tyres when due. Mind you we only changed the oil and filter, never changed the trans oil, never flushed the fluids, did the brakes when our mechanic spotted them at the WOF, a CV joint or two, repaired a muffler didn't need a new one, some rust did get to the boot in the mid 2000s but hey for a 1992 car that was bought in 1995. Was a NZ car I think that was. Not import. Wasn't brave enough to do Trademe. At least Turners have a lightweight AA report on all cars (not the v cheap ones). Just make sure you check all the other stuff yourself thou, cos we got one car and the aircon didn't work, aircon isn't required under the checks so ...

Turners can time and time get access to warranty cars with the dealer if you want though ... I've seen that Japanese cars may have a bit more demand and even compared to say a Volkswagen, the Volkswagen may be cheaper :D Not talking about your trendy one, something like v normal Bora.

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