# Buying a car in ACT - is it must?



## suchig

I am looking forward to migrate to AU and the city will be Canberra. Is it a must or highly recommended to buy a car as soon as one lands in Canberra?


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## Volcanicash

Not a must, but public transport is not conveniant and taxis are expensive, it will pay you I think to allow format car in your budget...Geoff


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## suchig

Volcanicash said:


> Not a must, but public transport is not conveniant and taxis are expensive, it will pay you I think to allow format car in your budget...Geoff


Thanks for the input Geoff. I am hoping I will be able to survive safely without a car for at least couple of months till I would find a job and a decent house in a nearby area probably. 
One of my friends who lives in SYD suggested that car is a must as one can get mugged by mischievous people. I got no idea so far about mugging being common in Canberra?


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## Volcanicash

I cannot help you there, I am from Melbourne, but generally muggins and that sort of stuff is not prevelant in Australia.


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## tulauras

Muggins, muggings and muggles are not common in Australia, though obviously it depends on where you live. 

A car is more convenient, but you can definitely get by on bike, foot, bus and taxi. If you live far from where you work, get a bike.


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## suchig

Thank you Tulauras and Geoff. Can you suggest how should one begin the search for a second-hand car - through some website or dealers? In AUD 3000 - 4000, what makes of car can be bought and approximately how old the card would be?


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## tulauras

You can have a look on carsguide.com.au or carsales.com.au to find a car to buy. This will allow you to search within your price range. Remember that registration ($800 per year) and insurance ($1300 per year) are on top of this. 

Hondas, toyotas, fords and mazdas are very reliable cars. When I was buying I was told that Toyota corollas are the best combination of long lasting and cheap upkeep (though they're not very pretty)


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## suchig

Thank you so much Tulauras for sharing your knowledge-based information with me. The websites you have mentioned are helpful.


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## suchig

I looked through carsguide.com.au for cars. Is there room for negotiation in the advertized price of a car? I am not aware but seems to me that it must be a cash down payment in order to buy car from a dealer. Is it so? After one decides to buy a particular car at the used cars dealer's store, how long does it take to get papers etc? In fact what all shoud I keep in mind while making the deal?


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## tulauras

suchig said:


> I looked through carsguide.com.au for cars. Is there room for negotiation in the advertized price of a car? I am not aware but seems to me that it must be a cash down payment in order to buy car from a dealer. Is it so? After one decides to buy a particular car at the used cars dealer's store, how long does it take to get papers etc? In fact what all shoud I keep in mind while making the deal?


Yes, there is definitely room to negotiate. Probably by $500-$1000 or so off the internet price, double that off the price in a car yard.

You do need a down payment with a dealer, I'm pretty sure though that you can do it all on the same day, paperwork and all, though you have a three day cooling off period.

You should have a look at car-buying guides from organisations like the Racv.com.au (or the equivalent ACT/NSW body), ACCC.gov.au, moneysmart.gov.au and the ACT consumer affairs body. These are consumer-friendly groups that tell you a) what you need to look at to ensure a car is good quality and b) what your legal rights as a purchaser are. As a general rule of thumb, just don't let yourself get pushed into anything that you're not comfortable with!


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## suchig

Hi Tulauras,

I am glad to have signed up on this forum as a helpful and knowledgeable member like you is there to help. I am surely gonna search through the websites you suggest. I have plenty of time at hand to prepare myself in all aspects so that once I land in CBR, I am comfortable with arranging essentials for myself.

I somehow find gumtree.com.au very interesting website. In UK, I relied on it for my room search all the time and strongly feel it is good for same purpose in AU as well. Would you suggest me to consider buying a used car from gumtree?

Thanks & best regards
Suchi



tulauras said:


> Yes, there is definitely room to negotiate. Probably by $500-$1000 or so off the internet price, double that off the price in a car yard.
> 
> You should have a look at car-buying guides from organisations like the Racv.com.au (or the equivalent ACT/NSW body), ACCC.gov.au, moneysmart.gov.au and the ACT consumer affairs body. These are consumer-friendly groups that tell you a) what you need to look at to ensure a car is good quality and b) what your legal rights as a purchaser are. As a general rule of thumb, just don't let yourself get pushed into anything that you're not comfortable with!


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## tulauras

Hey Suchi

Thanks for the nice message! Pleasure to help. 

I really like gumtree too. One thing to note is that with buying a car, it's generally cheaper to go through a private seller, but with a dealer you get better protections - eg if they've lied to you or the car doesn't do what it said it would, you can return it and get it repaired or refunded. 

Unfortunately sometimes people can be a little dodgy when selling cars (such as winding back from the odometer, saying the car has had work when it hasn't), so you do really need to be careful when buying from a private seller. Most automobile associations (again, I can't remember the name of the ACT one I'm sorry) will do a pre-purchase check for you. This might cost $100-$200 but is absolutely worth it for peace of mind and not being up for major repair costs later. 

When I bought a car earlier this year, I went through a dealer, negotiated hard and was very happy. When I bought my first car, I had less money, so went through a private seller, but is wish I'd had a check as the guy who sold it to me was very dodgy. 

Also, I note that there are private sellers on the car websites as well. 

Good luck!


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