Question about car Re-registration

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miamiheatfan

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#97796 20-Feb-2012 22:24

Hi Guys,

I'm currently looking to buy my first car and been looking around on trademe etc etc.

My question is:
Quite a few of those cars listed there, the seller (mostly privates) did not renew the registration on this car.
This listing that i'm currently interested in , the registration expired in january.

Now i went to the VTNZ website and looked up re-registration and it says that to do that their agent needs to do an inspection on your vehicle to make sure it meets the NZ 'entry' requirements (something like that) .....

Now um...the thing is, the cars i'm looking at is cheap but still not THAT cheap, (max $2K)

If i buy the car and then went to register it ..and the VTNZ agent said it doesnt meet requirements...then have i just wasted alot of money ??
Or how does the reregistration process exactly go once it's expired for a month ? (never had own car, always drove people's car before this)

Also the car i'm looking at has new WOF. and still has the number plate on it.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/honda/prelude/auction-450581596.htm

Oh and one more: do u guys have any reviews or comment regarding the Prelude ? reliable, etc etc ?

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#584234 20-Feb-2012 22:35

You will not have to get your new vehicle recertified if the licence only expired in January (especially if wof is current). When you go to extend the registration they will back date the payment, so if you renew 3 months worth and licence expired on 1/1/12, your licence would be current until 1/4/12. I think (although I'm not sure) its 6 months after expiration that the vehicle is de-registered.

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#584241 20-Feb-2012 22:42

Disclaimer: I accept no responsibility if I am wrong. I have not check the relevant government websites to check what I said below is correct.

Anyway, if my memory serves me right, if the owner did not pay for the registration for 12 months, the car will be de-registered. In order to get it legally on the road again, you need to re-register it and it is not a cheap process (costs a few hundred dollars), and if the car is not in a good condition, it might cost you extra to fix it to a road-worthy standard.

Also, I strongly recommend you to use AA (http://www.aa.co.nz/motoring/buy-sell/vehicle-history-checks-and-reports/) or LemonCheck (http://www.lemoncheck.co.nz/) to make sure the car is not being reported as stolen and/or have money owed on it. If you bought a stolen car or one that is subject to finance, you can have your car towed away.

Also, have a look on NZTA about buying a car (http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicle/registration-licensing/buying-selling.html#tipsbuyers).

Moreover, it is the right of the buyer to insist the car you are buying have a WOF that is issued within 30 days.

Better still, I would recommend doing a pre-purchase inspection check with AA or VTNZ. It is not cheap (around $200). But it you buy a car with mechanical or electrical problem, it will costs you much more than $200 to fix.

Don't forget 3rd party insurance as well.

I hope this helps.

miamiheatfan

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#584244 20-Feb-2012 22:45

THank you for that ! Appreciate it

(abit sad i didnt see the "sold" text on that listing till now lol)

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#584255 20-Feb-2012 23:04

old hondas = high risk

old toyotas = low risk

old others = do more research

why i say that - hondas tend to be driven by boy racer gened persons. honda parts are expensive. so unless it's been driven by granny who religiously services then prepare to spend the 1 - 2x the amount you pay for your car ... or you can try the AA but they won't be able to tell you everything that's about to break

toyota - the opposite of the honda statements, driven by boring people. well put together and plenty of cheap parts. but that means you might look boring, but you'll have some money in the pocket.

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#584275 21-Feb-2012 00:00

Honestly, skip the risk and just buy a car that is currently registered and warranted. Failing that, see the wof sheet and find out why it failed. If it failed due to a tyre etc then it might be a bargain, anything else, not so much.

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#584277 21-Feb-2012 00:01

Yeah that's a bit generic. I somehow doubt a standard auto-magic Prelude has been a boy racer car. Where as a Levin GT-Apex manual for example could well have been thrashed.

I'm yet to find parts to be more expensive on my current Integra than they were on my previous MR2 or Sprinter.

Preludes with 4WS can have expensive issues if the controller or 4WS motor plays up, but other than that not a bad car.

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miamiheatfan

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#584292 21-Feb-2012 01:33

Alright guys, thanks for clearing up the re-rego rules. I get it now :)

Now on to the car itself.

The reason i'm leaning towards the prelude is because it's one of the very few cars under $2k that doesn't look silly. and have a decent brand name reliability.

I know ..i know...toyotas are far more reliable...and hondas are driven by guys....but...i dunno...dilemma.

Do you guys want to suggest anything? Budget is under 2k ...more around 1400 to 1700
and car has to be above 1990. Mileage..i will accept that those kind of cars will have a high mileage so that's ok.
oh and it must be automatic (license was attained with auto).

how's this? http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/honda/prelude/auction-449521572.htm

and there are these cheapppp Toyota on trademe ..Toyota Cavalier ...1998, low ks , auto, 2.4 , all the bells n whistles etc.....but the reviews online are sooooo disappointing.........(water pump breaks and window jam a common issue)........

so idk, probably 1600 is too cheap to get a "decent" car ?

xpd

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#584300 21-Feb-2012 07:22

I drive my mothers 97 Prelude quite often (I steal it for weeks at a time) and its a damn nice car to drive, even with 230k on the clock but it has been fully serviced at least once a year since it rolled off the production line (NZ new). It hasnt been without its issues however, the radiator has been replaced, the ABS computer fried itself and required replacing, and a couple of other things... however it was all the support systems around the engine and never the engine itself :)

One thing to watch for on any automatic car, is the transmission - make sure it shifts smoothly between gears - if its rough, Id walk away - workmates Honda Civic auto transmission was starting to get rough etc and was quoted by 2 places around $2.5-3k to resolve the issue (not sure if was replace or recondition).

Check all the electrics work (unless theyve stated some dont) - make sure windows go all the way up and down etc. Aircon runs hot/cold. Check for water in the spare wheel well - if theres water, theres a leak somewhere. If you take the car for a test drive, see if you can do it early in the morning before the car has been started for the day - some cars have issues that are present when the engine is cold, and if someone else has already warmed it up, you wont be aware of the problem.

My process would be this.... inspect the car before it has been started - then kick it over and let it idle while you give the car another going over - after 5mins or so give the car some revs - if any smoke is present, it could indicate some issues coming up (depending on color of smoke could be variety of things)

To be honest I could go on forever with the things Ive learnt when car buying...... I did use Hometune (pretty sure it was them) once for a car inspection, the giuy was great, picked up a lot of things I had missed, was worth the $100 odd.

Id probably try to save another $1000 if possible, will get you into a whole different range of vehicle.

One car I had that I wouldnt say no to buying again, was a Toyota Cynos (AKA Paseo) - theyre viewed a bit of a "girls" car, but great little cars - if you can get a Juno with the 1500cc engine, its got a lot of pep for its size and run on the smell of an oily rag.

Good luck :)

XPD / Gavin

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#584361 21-Feb-2012 09:59

joker97: old hondas = high risk

old toyotas = low risk

old others = do more research

why i say that - hondas tend to be driven by boy racer gened persons. honda parts are expensive. so unless it's been driven by granny who religiously services then prepare to spend the 1 - 2x the amount you pay for your car ... or you can try the AA but they won't be able to tell you everything that's about to break

toyota - the opposite of the honda statements, driven by boring people. well put together and plenty of cheap parts. but that means you might look boring, but you'll have some money in the pocket.

Um, The Toyota Celica, Supra, Curren, MR-S are all pretty popular with boy racers.

Preludes seem to be pretty bulletproof as long as they've looked after. They were pretty much Honda's flagship car when they came out. If it looks like it has lowered suspension, then don't touch it.

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#584429 21-Feb-2012 11:53

It is a real dilemma to get a decent looking and reliable car for < $2K. If you want a reliable car, I would suggest a Toyota Corolla. It is very boring but it lasts (my dad's corolla is 20 years old (auto), and it still goes well).

xpd is right regarding the auto transmission. My previous car's (Misubishi Galant) auto transmission gone bad even when it's only 8 years old (but I looked after the car religiously), and cost me almost $3K to fix it.

I am more incline to get a more reliable car even it looks bored. A boring car tends to be more reliable and easier to get insurance.

AKLWestie

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#584432 21-Feb-2012 11:55

xpd is right regarding the auto transmission. My previous car's (Misubishi Galant) auto transmission gone bad even when it's only 8 years old (but I looked after the car religiously), and cost me almost $3K to fix it.

by the way, the "fix" was to re-build the transmission, not a brand new one. I got a quote for a brand new one at that time and it is over $5K

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#584440 21-Feb-2012 12:05

sorry i didn't think about 'those' toyota cars haha i only had in mind toyota corolla ... my bad ... if you want to save money get a toyota corolla. my dad's 20 year old corolla has never missed a beat.

but any (most) other car you buy be prepared to fork out money for anything else that could go wrong ... not to say don't, but just don't get surprised if say the auto gear box stops working for example :)

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#584446 21-Feb-2012 12:11

Don't get involved in buying a car with a lapsed WOF/Rego.

The Corolla is pretty no frills, but they refuse to die. Ford Laser's seem to go forever as well.

Take the car around some tight corners, preferably up-hill and get the steering as close to full lock as you can, if it makes clicking noises, then the CV joints are on the way out.

Pop the oil cap off the engine, if it looks like someone has poured cream into it, don't touch it, possible leaking head gasket. If you check the dipstick and it's jet black or again, looks white, then it's either a) poorly maintained and hasn't had the oil changed in forever or b) dodgy gasket(s).

That's the most obvious things I can think of to check.

I got a "cheap" 86 Mitsi Mirage ($1500 from memory) a couple of years back. Alarm bells should've rung when I saw it had a hugely oversized battery in it. Turns out it's because the alternator had an intermittant fault, and it decided to die when I was at pretty much the furthest point of the Takarau Gorge road (on the way to Makara beach in Wellington). I managed to get it to limp home and it finally packed up about 500m away. Borrowed another battery to get it home. Needed the alternator repaired which was $250ish (should've just got it replaced for another $80ish, but meh). I would've done it myself (not difficult) but it needed some wierd tool to remove one of the bolts which I didn't have.

Other than that, it was a good reliable little car, I think the only WOF issue I had with it was getting some new brake lines which weren't particularly expensive.

Oh yeah, the radiator was dodgy (lots of missing cooling fins), I think I got a "new" one from Pick-A-Part for about $30 complete with fan, super easy job to replace. It didn't _need_ one, but for the sake of $30 I'd rather have the car running a bit cooler.

So - it pays to take someone who knows what they're looking at, at least more than you do.

I've only started driving fairly recently, I've always been a motorcyclist and never saw much use for a car. Unfortunately, her indoors isn't as open-minded. She had a Peugeot 206 auto which was a load of fun, but it had a LOT of problems so got virtually given away. NEVER touch old Peugeot's, Renault's or Citroen's.

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xpd

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#584464 21-Feb-2012 12:31

Unfortunately Euros have the reputation of being great cars, but only if you keep up the expensive maintenance - same could be said of Subarus tho... thankfully never had to service my Subie, didnt have it long enough ;) (And no, wasnt wrapped around a tree or anything... it was taken off me.... by the wife. And bought a house. :-| )

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#584476 21-Feb-2012 12:44

xpd: Unfortunately Euros have the reputation of being great cars, but only if you keep up the expensive maintenance - same could be said of Subarus tho... thankfully never had to service my Subie, didnt have it long enough ;) (And no, wasnt wrapped around a tree or anything... it was taken off me.... by the wife. And bought a house. :-| )

They are good, if, as you say, they are maintained, due to the cost people often are a bit lax. They're certainly not good for someone wanting a cheap runabout as the first time the car needs anything beyond a basic oil change, it starts getting very expensive.

Some of the prices I were quoted for basic parts on the Peugeot were mind boggling - admittedly, I could source them for a tiny fraction of the price from overseas so it may be more the fault of some intermediary's markup than the items themselves. New OEM parts for any vehicle rarely tend to be "cheap" unless it's something that isn't likely to be a "special order" - parts for most motorbikes are equally horrendous but the demand would be miniscule by comparison.

Certainly if you want something cheap, it remains to stick with something "boring" and "common". The more common it is, the cheaper parts are likely to be if they're needed.

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