15 July 2021

Car search services in Canberra?

| notsurprised
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Has anyone used a car search service to buy a car ? By car search services, I am referring to the companys that will go and and search for a car (new or used) that meet your criteria, such as this one http://www.carsearchbrokers.com.au/ (but I expect there are other similar services available) .

I don’t know much about cars, and it seems a lot easier than trawling through car yards each weekend looking for the best deal, then organising NRMA inspections etc, I would still want to test drive, and apparently this can be done.

READ ALSO The best used car dealerships in Canberra: your ultimate guide to buying a used car

I would be interested to know if anyone has used this type of service and whether they were satisfied?

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We helped buy 215 cars and saved people in July $645000 – that’s a lot of savings!

Just visit http://carquote.net.au/.

And if you are thinking of trading…. you should get a look at tradevaluation.com.au

Cheers!

The SMH last weekend or so did an article on 10 ways to avoid mistakes in purchasing a car – it should still be up on their website. Pretty basic but accurate.

If you really want to get involved in the process, check out a book called “Car Hunting” by Ross Anderson, who was a 2nd hand car dealer and wrote about all the tricks. There is one for sale on ebay for $9 delivered (not for sale by me or anyone I know).

You could try setting up a favourite search on ebay with the criteria you want, then itll email you for the next 12 months anytime anything is listed that matches what youve selected.

you could be dreamin…

The corollas are usually a bit more than that – we got a VR Lancer with airbags, cruise 20 000k’s etc for a bit less than 16k.

Corollas are a really good car. They’re also very popular. Instead of a corolla, think about other, similar cars that would meet your needs that are less popular, as they will likely be much cheaper. ou will be paying a premium for a second hand corolla because of the popularity factor.

What about a Hyundai Elantra, Mazda 3, Mitsubishi Lancer, etc? All good vehicles, but some you might get quite a bit cheaper.

Of course, if a corolla is what you really want, you have to decide whether saving a few bucks is worth it. It may not be.

Just some thoughts.

notsurprised7:47 am 20 Jul 11

Budget around $16,000…am I dreamin?

notsurprised7:34 am 20 Jul 11

Gosh, thanks so much everyone, for your help, I really do appreciate it. I guess i should have been more specific initially. I am after a used car, one just a few years old (2008 onwards). Hatchback, I have been looking at Toyota Corolla’s along that line. Have been having a browse on carsales, and thanks to Will definitely be looking at carsales,com, and thanks to kschoey’s suggestion, I can find out who the dealers are without having to provide my contact details at this stage.
Thanks Fastlane, for offering to help and providing your contact number, i may be in touch, if needs be.

Would be interested in hearing other’s suggestions for cars along the lines of the Toyota Corolla hatchback. Sedans are not suitable, and dont want a wagon either.

Like mortgage brokers, car brokers should be avoided. There is simply no way of knowing that the “deal” they are getting for you is the best deal available.

What sort of car are you after? (ie small hatchback, sedan, compact 4WD, etc)? Maybe we here can help you with suggestions. Once you have decided on what car or cars you are interested in, Carsales.com.au is probably your best tool. It is like allhomes for cars.

If you are interested in a new car, search for the car on carsales, selecting only “New Cars” and order your search by price, cheapest to dearest. As you are comparing apples with apples (ie all new cars in the same condition and same kilometres), you are comparing on price only and so this should automatically find you the best deal.

Holden Caulfield6:55 pm 19 Jul 11

shirty_bear said :

Holden Caulfield said :

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.

Yes, be aware that if you’re buying used from NSW, then stamp duty on the rego transfer to ACT will be 3% of purchase price – takes some of the gloss off that bargain. Also less value on trade-in interstate, for the same reason. Less hassle with a new/unregistered car.

Huh, you have to pay stamp duty in the ACT if you buy the car here too, haha. Doesn’t matter if it’s new or used. If used you’ll pay it when you transfer the rego over.

I bought a new car in Sydney and had to get it inspected for rego etc. I didn’t pay any rego/stamp duty in NSW, drove it down on a 7-day RTA permit and then paid my rego/stamp duty in exactly the same way as I would have done via a local dealer if I bought the car here. No extra costs involved other than my time to drive back from Sydney (car already had a full tank of fuel from dealer).

Prior to that same purchase I traded in my ACT reg car to NSW dealer and suffered no affect on its price/value.

Not sure if you’ve been had or if I’ve misunderstood your point, but it just doesn’t stack up against my experiences.

Holden Caulfield said :

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.

Yes, be aware that if you’re buying used from NSW, then stamp duty on the rego transfer to ACT will be 3% of purchase price – takes some of the gloss off that bargain. Also less value on trade-in interstate, for the same reason. Less hassle with a new/unregistered car.

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.

notsurprised3:18 pm 19 Jul 11

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

Holden Caulfield2:52 pm 19 Jul 11

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).

notsurprised2:26 pm 19 Jul 11

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!

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