Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73125
Buying (and selling) a car in Aus questions.
We are looking to do a second trip to Aus, a 6 months trip to see all there is to see within reason. Sorry Australia!!
We’ve been trawling through the car rental companies and for the 6 months its looking at ~A$10,000 for hire costs of a small 2WD car, plus top up insurance, for what we’re trying to do but coming up with lots of restrictions. These are typically can’t take the car into or our of WA & NT and can’t go on unsealed roads unless in a 4WD (not allowed in AWD) and 4WDs are way above our budget. Some have restrictions on where you can go, like “banning” sealed parts of Rte1, ok we know there are lots of specified hard core roads that we’d be couldn’t do and don’t have a problem with that.
So we got to thinking. What about buying a car, running it for 6 months then selling it at the end of the trip. We go where we want, when we want and no hassle dealing with rental companies. If we set a budget of $15,000 and sell the car for anything over £6,000 we’d be dollars in. We don’t think we’d have a problem buying the car, however what about selling it, that’s my concern.
Are there any “easy” routes to selling a car, a bit like WeBuyAnyCar in the UK? If we bought a new car are dealers “happy” buying a 6 month old car with prob 23,000kms on the clock? We can buy a new Jazz for $17,500 which would tick all our boxes nicely. We could even buy one in a couple of weeks to save on rentals for the rest of this trip but we’d have to park it up for a few months before we come out in September.
Alternatively buy something for $5,000 and then it doesn’t matter if we can’t sell it, however we’re into old car territory which worries me as my techie super powers are not so super.
The nightmare scenario would be having a flight booked back home and the car still unsold. Are we mad and should be keeping the rental co in the manner etc or is this a flash of geniousness from SWMBO.
Thought oh wise peeps Down Under?
27th Jan 2020 7:32 am
robpenrose
Member Since: 12 Jan 2016
Location: Surrey / SW London
Posts: 2138
Sorry, no real input apart from max the budget out and get a Landcruiser 79 Series
Click image to enlarge
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27th Jan 2020 7:51 am
stew 46
Member Since: 01 Dec 2011
Location: cornwall
Posts: 10148
I would of thought defo buy a car , you are in control of your trip then -------------------------------------------------
if you cant hold on dont let go , it ill come in handy for something even if you never use it.
D3 SE 05,
110 s wagon 300 tdi SOLD
h top transit
crew cab transit
transit connect
ausa dumper, muck truck .
peljob 2.5 digger
06 L 200 crew cab
27th Jan 2020 7:54 am
Someone-Gone
Member Since: 21 Dec 2015
Location: Gone
Posts: 5117
I’d buy a banger, then if it goes up, it’s easier to swallow the loss. Likewise if you can’t flog it at the end of the trip, you could leave it in the airport car park with the keys in the ignition. Anything else is a risk.
You could try people like these https://www.sellmycar.com.au/
I sold my cars (when I lived in AUS) via Carsales.com.au
Cars in Aus do tend to hold up their prices much better than in the UK.
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73125
Cheers Ivan, just what I’m looking for. Resisting the urge to see how much my hire car is worth.
TD, SWMBO’s all for buying a really cheap old Jazz, maybe a couple of thousand A$, but I’m a bit risk adverse. I’m thinking of a car at least in manufacturer’s warranty so if it breaks we can get it fixed for free. Hopefully.
27th Jan 2020 8:30 am
garrycol
Member Since: 06 Dec 2010
Location: Canberra
Posts: 1130
I hope you appreciate that mainland Australia is a Federation of 6 independent states and two Territories and all have their own registration and it can be hard to sell a car in one state that is registered in another state as the buyer has to go through all the hassle of changing registration.
So the first thing related to buying a car is try to enter and leave the country in the same state or alternatively intend to buy and sell in the same state.
Our terrorists in Australia are European backpackers and their crap vehicles - they often buy at special spots and try and sell in special spots - so research the backpacker culture and find out where these spots are.
In just about all jurisdictions a MOT is required to change the registration and you can guarantee a backpacker selling will not have one though a private Aussie seller may have. When you go to sell it will be easier to sell with a valid MOT and in some states it is illegal to sell a registered vehicle without a MOT so if there (QLD comes to mind) you will need to remove the registration if you have no MOT. Also some states require MOTs once per year and others do not - it can be problematic if you are in WA but have a NSW rego vehicle as NSW requires an MOT and it is almost impossible to get this done in another state.
My recommendation would buy from a Aussie private seller in the same state you are going to sell in. Beware of the issues associated with NSW rego vehicles and getting a MOT when rego is reviewed, maybe when halfway through your trip - as you may (not will) have to go back to NSW.
Garry
27th Jan 2020 8:39 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73125
Cheers Garry, that’s all food for thought. Why are these things not simple?
We’d be going in and out via Perth so that should make changing state registration a non problem, plus from what we’ve read it’s easier to sell out of WA as it’s all done on-line. We’d make sure we got a car with an MOT.
And we haven’t even started to figure out where we could register the car. Hopefully the dealer/garage would let us register it there, not an option for a private sale.
27th Jan 2020 8:49 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73125
robpenrose wrote:
Sorry, no real input apart from max the budget out and get a Landcruiser 79 Series
Click image to enlarge
Lots and lots and lots of similar around here, though that one looks especially nice. Anyone want a kidney?
27th Jan 2020 8:50 am
Someone-Gone
Member Since: 21 Dec 2015
Location: Gone
Posts: 5117
There’s easier ways to make money Del. I was going to give you a Deliverance quote, but have better taste.
27th Jan 2020 9:19 am
robpenrose
Member Since: 12 Jan 2016
Location: Surrey / SW London
Posts: 2138
DSL wrote:
robpenrose wrote:
Sorry, no real input apart from max the budget out and get a Landcruiser 79 Series
Click image to enlarge
Lots and lots and lots of similar around here, though that one looks especially nice. Anyone want a kidney?
Current: D4 HSE
Previous: BMW Z4M Coupe
Previous: Land Rover Defender 90 CSW Td5
Previous: Land Rover Discovery Td5 ES
27th Jan 2020 9:28 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73125
27th Jan 2020 9:35 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73125
PS Just thought re the issue of tickets. If I’ve got the car registered at, say, a hotel, I’d never know if I’d received a ticket. I can’t see any way, certainly in WA, of checking on line.
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up, it’s easier to swallow the loss. Likewise if you can’t flog it at the end of the trip, you could leave it in the airport car park with the keys in the ignition. Anything else is a risk. 
