Advice for Purchasing Corolla

Ljssr13 on 19/04/2021 - 17:23
Last edited 19/04/2021 - 20:32 by 1 other user

Hi all,

Looking at buying a new car to drive for the next 10-12 years. With the way the current car market is with stock shortages and upward pressure on prices, I am willing to postpone the purchase until things settle down to pre COVID-19, if that ever does happen.

Budget is around $30,000. Car I’m looking at primarily is Corolla ZR hatch, but I’m open to others. Since everything is being pushed back, I could wait until the facelift now and buy the current model at a discounted price. Based on some reading, car dealers are generally more willing to get rid of the old stock.

Does this generally lead to pretty big discounts, or is it usually rather incremental? Would I be right in presuming that the biggest discount would come from buying the outgoing model when the new one is released, instead of buying in Christmas, EOFY etc.?

Also, pre-COVID-19, what did people usually offer when negotiating, without lowballing, or appearing not genuine? Is 10-15% usually the go-to?

Is the general consensus to stay away from demo vehicles? Based on reading a few threads, demo vehicles are usually trashed by either potential buyers or the employees themselves. Though not sure whether this would actually be detrimental to a modern car?

My understanding is you find a bunch of dealerships with the specific car you want already in the yard (instead of ordering and getting it built), and try negotiate to your desired price, walk away if unsuccessful, until you reach the lowest possible price somewhere else, or one of the dealerships calls you back. Is this essentially how most people do it?

Any other advice and suggestions would be helpful as well. Apologies for the essay.

Thanks

Automotive Car Toyota

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2021 - 17:26
    +2

    Find the cheapest one on carsales and buy from there. They will ship. They are generally happy to sell a new car for the "demo" price listed. I have not bought a car from Sydney dealers for some time now. Cheaper (after freight) from up/down the coast.

    Won't get much luck with Corolla as there weren't much of a discount on them pre-COVID.

    Welcome to OzCarAdvice.

  • whitelie on 19/04/2021 - 17:33
    +1

    I don't think you'll see a discount on anything Toyota at EOFY or facelifted model. I don't think there would be much stock sitting around when a face lifted model comes out to justify 'run out pricing' with those, rarely is even pre-covid.

    The ZR Hybrid is a nice car but you may have to stretch the budget a little

  • dsar on 19/04/2021 - 17:51

    I have nothing to add except to ask if you've considered a hybrid/EV in your decision for something you'll be driving for 10-12 years. If you have and decided its not suitable, maybe check out the Green Vehicle Guide https://www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au/

    • jssr13 on 19/04/2021 - 17:58

      Not buying an EV but I could consider a hybrid potentially. Can’t say for sure though.

      • Orico on 19/04/2021 - 18:33
        +1

        Just buy a corolla hybrid. Everything else in the models is irrelevant.

        • jssr13 on 19/04/2021 - 18:43

          It does cost $2k more and I don’t really care about saving on fuel costs, but I’ll have a look

          • Orico on 19/04/2021 - 18:43
            +1

            @jssr13: It's fun to drive the hybrid. It's like driving on ice when it takes off. The take off makes $2k worth it

  • spackbace on 19/04/2021 - 19:52

    No stock now = little discounts

    Any newer model will likely mean price rise = less discounting of the older model.

    Don't try to make a car fit your budget. If you want a Corolla ZR you're going to have to save more money

    • jssr13 on 19/04/2021 - 20:02

      Yeah haha. Been looking at dealership websites and there’s hardly any stock.

      Do you expect this shortage trend to go into next year and onwards as well?

      Probably need to save more or buy a used one instead of new.

      • whitelie on 19/04/2021 - 20:09

        The stock shortage doesn't help the "ex demo" or 1 year old case so much anymore as most new cars are holding their value if they're hard to get hold of

      • spackbace on 19/04/2021 - 20:26
        +1

        As above, demo/1yo ones are asking the price of new ones.

        Shortage will likely go into next year, yes

        • Kangal on 19/04/2021 - 21:47

          Nah, I'd say its = the rest of this year + all of next year + maybe some of 2023.
          So the wait is real, for things to go back to "2019 Normal". There's a long knock-on effect with the parts, supply, etc etc. And unfortunately, Australia doesn't rank too high on list of priorities for car companies.

          I think first is USA, then Canada and Mexico by association, then probably Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Spain), then Russia, then Brazil, then Asia (Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam). China is the wildcard as they can come before USA for market importance for the brand or it might come after Brasil as negligible, again depending on the brand.

          After that 6-7 locales, next we have the RH-Steering countries UK, Ireland, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand, Sth Africa. So we are ranked roughly about 12th in importance out of roughly 14 locales. After this, the other markets like the Wider European nations, Middle-East nations, African nations, South American nations rank about 18th/last place, unless you include Antarctica lol.
          …so yeah, we're pretty low on that rank.

    • jssr13 on 01/06/2021 - 18:00

      Spackbace now that I’ve discovered that you work for Toyota, have you got any idea when a facelift for the current Corolla hatch may be on the horizon?

      • spackbace on 01/06/2021 - 18:06
        +1

        Minor change in July production (September arrival), but just a colour change and deleting manual models

        No idea when a full face-lift will come

        • jssr13 on 01/06/2021 - 18:22

          Thanks. Interesting that they’re doing another minor change as I know they did a minor change in 2019 when they added front sensors to the ZR and added the grey colour a few months back.

  • Euphemistic on 19/04/2021 - 20:12
    +1

    Member since 2hrs ago. :eye roll:

    This question, or variations of this has been asked a hundred times of late. Go read some of the other similar threads.

    • TheMindsetTraveller on 19/04/2021 - 20:16

      I would guess the OP walks into a dealership and walks away with keys to a Yaris and thinks they got good value out of $30k :D

      • jssr13 on 19/04/2021 - 20:20
        -5

        Well there’s no better automotive value proposition out there other than the current Toyota Yaris.

    • jssr13 on 19/04/2021 - 20:19

      Yeah I’ve read all of them. Couldn’t help myself making my own.

  • Geekomatic on 21/04/2021 - 22:58

    I owned the Corolla Hatch 2005 before it was creamed in an MVA. After that, I went to Camry. I know it's a totally different vehicle, but it's smooth to drive, lots of space, comfortable. Imho. I hope you find your wished-for-car! xx

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