Best Place to Look for 2nd Hand Cars

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  ExpressCoffee on 26/02/2017 - 23:07

  Stay off Scumtree when making $10k purchases

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  AmpeD on 26/02/2017 - 23:48

  +1

  The car you have now is probably as reliable as you can get.

  People go on about fuel economy too much I feel and opt for a car which requires expensive servicing. Changing vehicle is a big purchase just to save $10-20 a week in petrol.

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    2ndeffort on 27/02/2017 - 10:21

    +1

    Particularly when you factor in the transaction costs of getting a roadworthy and paying stamp duty and/or registration fees.

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  2ndeffort on 27/02/2017 - 00:29

  So much Carsales vs gumtree. Last car I sold was listed on both + carpoint + several Facebook groups. I wasnt planning on ripping people off if they got to me via Facebook or Gumtree but being totally honest if they got to me via Carsales. The same people list on all, you can see the same cars listed on them all. If you're buying from a private seller do your homework because you have no recourse. If you are buying from a dealer they will have factored in any warranty into the price along with their profit and any work they've had to do to the car. The only way to get a bargain is to know what you are buying and shop around.

  Private sellers or Graysonline were the places I looked for my last cheap car (helping my uni student son). Ended up getting a 2009 Lancer with 145K on the odo for $4500.00 at Graysonline. Beware though that many of the private seller or auction cars are unregistered or you will need to get a roadworthy cert to transfer the car. When you buy the car have some idea about what items are going to be found out on a roadworthy check.

  From recent experience the 'pick-a-part' wreckers are the cheapest places for stuff like lights or trim etc if needed for roadworthy. Use youtube on your phone to show you how to remove/install whatever part it is you need for roadworthy.

  The Commoodore I sold last year I got a couple of quotes for a new windscreen for roadworthy to give to the new owner on sale. Windscreens o' brien etc wanted $500 ish for a windscreen, some local guy I found off gumtree did it for $200 with a warranty. Scratchbusters were great for a couple of hundred $$ to get rid of some ugly chips and scratches that made my car look heaps better. I bought new brake discs and pads off ebay (supercheap auto) with one of the 20% off codes and had a mechanic in a van fit them for me on an hourly rate. If you are not careful with 2nd hand cars you can spend more on a roadworthy after you've bought it than you do buying the car.

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  Black Brown Blue on 27/02/2017 - 02:10

  Holden is good and bad but good overall
  Got a Holden Cruze for 13k about 5 years ago from gumtree. Got it checked by a mechanic before buying.

  Good-
  1.4l turbo engine - really fuel efficient (most models out there are 1.8l)
  Quiet engine
  Spacious
  Cheap charge at mechanics as parts readily available
  Powerful 4 cylinder engine
  Nowadays only for 10k

  Bad
  There have been only 2 times we had to take it to mechanic other than servicing, it was to fix noisy brake and coolant leaking. Other than that solid engine that works very well.

  Overall very happy with the performance so far.

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  Bnjam3 on 27/02/2017 - 03:34

  +1

  If you know how to bargain then you can get a Suzuki swift 2014-2016 for $10-$12k from any private seller on Gumtree. Just give them a reminder that Suzuki revealed the new swift for 2017 model. You can easily get a brand new one for $14-$15k if you dont mind driving manual. Good stuff about the swift:

  *Excellent resale value
  *Made in Japan
  *Extremely cheap on fuel less than 7 litre per 100km(If you drive them right!)
  *Looks good :) (At least to me)
  *Very reliable
  *Easy to park
  *You can buy a car mount and use Google maps in any car!!

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  browncar on 27/02/2017 - 08:28

  If you're spending in the realm of 10k from a dealer, getting a RAC (or similar) vehicle check is worth considering. It'll highlight any minor issues or maintenance that the car has (allowing you to negotiate price/repairs with the dealer), as well as making it clear whether there are major issues with the car that justify walking away from it.

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  [Deactivated] on 27/02/2017 - 12:24

  facebook car buy/sell groups if you're quick enough.

  fb has filters now so you can sort out just cars which makes things a lot easier. can search across all groups. it's not perfect but I have got a few bargain cars that way before. gumtree is eh and so is carsales. Carsales everyone wants 20-50% more than market/real world value, the gumtree app consistently crashes for me as of late so can't comment on that!

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  narcoleptic-haze on 27/02/2017 - 12:44

  They might be more than a regular 2nd hand price, but last time I bought a "2nd hand car" I actually found an ex-company car from a Ford dealership. It was the top model, only 6 months old with just 4000kms on the clock and got it for about $8000 off the regular retail price (about $24,000 down to $15,000). Great way to grab a bargain on a practically new car. And it was practically new, still had that new smell and everything was immaculate.

  The car was a Ford Fiesta Sport with the tiny 1L 3 cylinder Ecoboost turbo engine. Super fun little car. The tiny turbo engine was really zippy.

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  eleon00 on 27/02/2017 - 13:36

  It looks unconventional but I bought 2 cars off of Ebay now. I only go to one seller:

  http://www.ebay.com.au/usr/carsalesbay?_trksid=p2047675.l255…

  His cars are mostly european but you would find it relatively cheaper than anywhere else. They are based in Bayswater VIC but will deliver anywhere in Australia (for additional fee)

  Since its on ebay, there is still some auction. But, if you fancy a car and would want to buy it outright, you can go to his shop and he will offer you a price.

  His ebay listing vary from week to week (he said they move around 60 cars a week) so if its not too urgent, maybe keeping tabs on whats available would be good.

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  JimB on 27/02/2017 - 14:38

  +1

  How many KMs do you travel per year?

  And how many Litres do you use per 100km?

  How old is the Camry?

  Unless something is wrong with it I seriously don't think it's guzzling that much fuel, well enough to justify getting a new secondhand to replace it.

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  Alex10 on 28/02/2017 - 11:50

  What are your opinions on Subaru Forester 2009-2010 models regarding reliability and cost to service/parts? Any helpful tips?

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