Car search services in Canberra?

notsurprised said :

thanks again people for your advice. No matter how well informed I am, I still seem to look clueless, lol.
But I will follow your advice and do heaps of research before looking. I guess there is no easy way out

Call me on 0414467252 I have over 10 years experience in the motor industry and am not affiliated with any one particular company or brand but have many contacts, so I am unbiased, I could be able to assist you.

thanks again people for your advice. No matter how well informed I am, I still seem to look clueless, lol.
But I will follow your advice and do heaps of research before looking. I guess there is no easy way out

December 2009 I used the servcies of David Burgess at the Newcar actory.com.au to buy a mazda 3 – very happy with the price and service – only cost about $200 for their servcies (it varies) and they brought the car down and I met them at the vehicle registry – I’d definitely use them again:

David Burgess
New Car Consultant
The New Car Factory

M: 0402 104 101
D: (02) 8850 4457
F: (02) 8850 4452

http://www.thenewcarfactory.com.au

I tried a broker once and it was exactly the kind of experience I was trying to avoid (ie. high-pressure and trying to flog a woeful one-sided deal) and I’m actually okay with handling car dealers etc. So I can imagine your trepidation.

In the end the broker was trying to sell me a car with 9000km on it and none of the options I wanted for $4K over what I was able to negotiate myself at the local car dealer for a car that was brand new and built to my spec.

I won’t be rushing to engage the services of a broker again, that’s for sure.

Not sure what sort of car you are looking for but kschoey’s advice at looking outside of Canberra is not too bad. I’ve heard good things from Goulburn, Cooma and Wollongong dealerships of varying marques. If you go that way, though, you might need to stuff around after purchase to sort out ACT rego.

Only other tips I would advise are, if the deal is not to your liking just walk away. Don’t succumb to any pressure of sales techniques that might be applied. There will always be another car and another ‘deal’.

If you’re not getting far dropping the price try and ask for some options or extras to be thrown in, a sunroof, free servicing, leather seats, whatever. But, under no circumstances should you get sucked in for the paint protection, seat fabric protection or any of that crap offered by the spotty after sales con merchant. It’s all total BS, haha.

Good luck!

There is an easy way to deal with car salesperson. Be honest and up front with them about exactly what you want. Ask them to show you what suitable stock they have, and if they are being pushy simply tell them you’re looking at a range of dealers before making a decision. If they continue to harrass you then politely tell them that your money will not be spent with them and walk away.

Before you put foot to pavement the best thing you can do is be well informed about the cars you are interested in. If you walk onto a car lot looking clueless then salespeople will capitalise on your lack of preparedness.

notsurprised said :

kschoey
Thank you for your response and sharing your experiences

No worries. I’d highly recommend carsales though. If it’s a second hand car you’re looking for, I bought my other car through there too. Being female, I too hate dealing with car dealers but printed off the details of a lot of cars I liked and went to the dealers and found the car I’d seen. You don’t even have to contact the dealers through carsales. They all have to list their licence number (starts with DL in the ad). You just google the number ie Dealer Licence 12345 and you’ll find an ad from the dealer and away you go! I bought my second hand car from Sydney, was a bit of a pain to change the rego over at Dickson (would recommend going to a mechanic for a check instead) but I saved a heap off the Canberra dealers!

Don’t let them treat you like a moron, do your research beforehand and you’ll blow them away when you start throwing facts at them. Redbook is a good source of info on the price you should be paying for a car and the NRMA website has reviews on most new (and used) cars.

Happy hunting!

PS the dealer I bought the second hand car off already did the NRMA inspection. Most places do now (or an equivalent).

kschoey
Thank you for your response and sharing your experiences, ,I figured there must have been a catch, as my Dad used to say “if it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is”. I guess i will have to go about buying a car the old fashioned way…not looking forward to that : (
Past experience in car yards has been woeful, especially as a female, you can almost see the dealers rubbing their hands together with glee as a naive female car buyer approaches their yard

One of the things I love about Riotact is getting to hear about others experiences and hopefully avoiding expensive mistakes.

When buying my car in 2009 I tried using the carbroker service through the NRMA and also the one through Community CPS – I would not recommend either. I’d done quite a bit of research myself on the price of the car I wanted through carsales.com.au and also through visiting the dealer in Canberra.

When I first approached the brokers they were all gung ho – yes we can get you a good deal – I gave them my specifications and also my price range. In the meantime I approached a couple of dealers through carsales. The Community CPS broker came back with a price which was about 2K above what I’d been able to negotiate through the dealers on carsales. He wouldn’t give me anything in writing unless I committed to the sale which I wasn’t prepared to do – to them written documentation constitutes an offer and acceptance to buy. The NRMA broker was even worse. They called me and said they were going out in a job lot with a heap of other buyers and could I give them my credit card details to secure a deal. I told them I was not comfortable doing that as I’d like to know the price first and did not want to commit until I knew the price. He assured me it was ok, my credit card was only for a holding deposit and would be refunded if I didn’t go ahead.

Well I told my husband and he was not happy. The broker came back with a price (in writing) and which was more than I’d negotiated through the carsales dealer so I told him I wasn’t interested unless he could better the price. The documents he provided me looked a lot like a contract for sale. I queried this, and he replied that I’d entered into a verbal contract to purchase the car, he would pull the phone records to prove it and there was nothing I could do. Anyway, my husband sorted it all out in the end and we got something in writing stating there was no contract etc.

What annoyed me even more is the car I wanted wasn’t even available in the colour that both brokers had said they’d found for me. God knows what I would’ve ended up with (it was a special edition).

In the end, we went with the dealer on carsales who are located in Moss Vale. We ended up saving about 4K on the best price the Canberra dealer quoted and they delivered it to Canberra. We met them at Dickson Motor Registry with a cheque, they walked us through with the paperwork and handed over the keys. They even put the plates on for us. We still take it to the dealer to get it serviced.

Sorry for the ramble but I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else!