Looking for a car for my student son (studious type, not boy racer!Budget to about $5000). Neither of us know anything about cars and we have no mechanic friends. People say to avoid imports.Why! People say to avoid dealers.If we know nothing isn't this safer than TradeMe!
snj11,
Jan 3, 10:09pm
To be honest sounds like you need to stop listening to "people"
A dealer can be a safer option but in your price range you will get alot more for your money in a private sale. Giving that you have little knowledge it is best to get a car checked before buying but do not use the AA or VTNZ etc, most of the time their inspections arent woth the paper they are written on, better off ad often cheaper to pay your local mechanic an hours labour to give it a good going over for you.
As for avoiding imports, in you price range I dont see an issue with imports. Some people just have very misguided opinions on imports.
vtecnet,
Jan 3, 10:56pm
Something like listing 429065802 would be a good choice for a Student. My Uni mates had one of these for years, never had an issue.
rallec,
Jan 3, 11:12pm
What are his/your requirements in a car!With that kind of budget you can get a really good deal if you do a bit of searching.I'm at uni too and I recently picked up an 01 civic hatchback for $5000 which has been great for me - not one of the old 3 door ones, but the newer 5 door with dual airbags etc. so it has a far higher safety rating too. Do you want auto/manual, how much is he willing to spend on petrol a week/month etc. and how much driving will he do!Any other preferences!
curlcrown,
Jan 3, 11:13pm
They are very good cars but that is a lot of money for one of those.
vtecintegra,
Jan 3, 11:23pm
Depends on where he is going to be living too.
If its somewhere with really tight parking smaller is definitely better, and even then expect the car to get trashed.
1cocochanel,
Jan 3, 11:33pm
Hi Jay, how about this listing - Listing #: 436224965. Its little, cheap to run, auto, estate sale, great for a student to manouvre around. And the price leaves you with enough money to do cambelt & waterpump if need be. Honda Motors in St Asaph st could do a pre-purchase inspection to put you mind at ease. Good luck.
edangus,
Jan 3, 11:38pm
People Lie. Hunt around. Get a proper inspection (not an AA one). If you don't feel right about who you are dealing with. walk away.
tigra,
Jan 3, 11:57pm
+1 Very apt.
franc123,
Jan 4, 12:34am
Avoiding imports and dealers generally is just restricting your choice really, neither opinion is justified.You may find that you can get a better deal through dealers, there is is often a few trade ins lurking about that are good buys that they don't want to try and retail for various reasons that can be had fairly cheap.You are more likely to come across dodgy behaviour, misleading advice and silly asking prices in the private market IMO.
kazbanz,
Jan 4, 1:31am
Hiya jmhb - I must start by saying I AM a car dealer so my reply may be a tadd biased. 1) Regarding Jap imports-ALL cars nowadays are imports. There simply are no vehicle manufacturing plants in NZ. This means that the difference between an import and"nz new" is a matter of specification. Frankly in order to get new cars in NZ to a reasonable pricehas meant we tend to get lower specified cars than imports. Also In all honesty any car you are concidering(ie in your price bracket) will have had at least one owner in NZ already I would add that Jap imports will have had a complete compliance inspection (4 hour WOF) but again in your budget its going to have been in NZ for a few years. Not buying from a dealer.--I do in fact get the point they are making. By avoiding dealers you in theory will get a less expensive car or a better car for your money. Its a reasonable assumption BUT from what I have noticed private sale cars are often at the same price as a car at a dealership and you don't have the protections you have by buying from a reputable dealer. I really would simply say don't limit yourself -I'm not going to try selling the advantage of buying from a dealer. I WILL advise that given your lack of knowledgeable freinds to run any car you are concidering past the guys on here.You'll get heated debate on some makes/models or in some cases just NO NO NO from all of us.
jmhb51,
Jan 4, 1:58am
Thanks for advice so far.He needs to get from ChCh to Dunedin several times a year.Happy with manual, but would consider automatic.
jmhb51,
Jan 4, 3:20am
What about this!437247806 Is it suitable for a student!
fordcrzy,
Jan 4, 3:28am
oh god NO! RUN forest RUN!
what you need is a nice nissan pulsar/lucino/sentra hatch anything from about 1995 to 1999 is a good choice.reliable as and dont cost a fortune to fix if they break down.
oh and don't buy ANY mitsubishi that falls in the price range either.
kazbanz,
Jan 4, 5:07am
In my opinion NO its not. My reasoning - 1) 2.2l is going to be pretty thirsty 2) its actually an OPAL with a holden badge. at best you can describe them at ok reliability wise 3) maintainence wise things are noit cheap
fordcrzy,
Jan 4, 5:48am
The second car I linked looks a better car than the first but you get the idea. Common things to look for non there are worn cv joints and torn cv boots.electric window faults and central locking faults. They also have pretty soft rear shocks from the factory so may get picked up on a wof. Seems like a long list but its just a heads up on what to look out for
richynuts,
Jan 4, 6:18am
This would be what a student would probably go for 437190242
jmhb51,
Jan 5, 1:31am
Great.So for reliability and low maintenance costs we should stick with Nissan, Toyota and Honda.Preferably manual.
foxdonut,
Jan 5, 4:55am
You can't avoid "imports" - all cars in NZ are imported. Cars haven't been made in this country in years. Holdens are imports, Mazdas are imports, Ferrari's are imports etc etc.
The retard quota of society seem to be under the impression that you can clearly and concisely categorise all cars into the world into two categories: "V8s" (Holden Commodores or Ford Falcons) and "Imports" (Old japanese soft sports cars like Skylines, Rx7's and Honda Integras).
When someone tells you to avoid "imports" they're talking about Japanese cars. Which is stupid for the above reasons, and also because if you don't know much about cars, chances are this means you don't know much about servicing and maintenance schedules (which this board will welcome your questions btw) - so in that case, get a Honda Accord, which will give your kid everything he needs car wise and provide a very 'relaxed' interpretation of how regularly oil should be changed or clutches replaced (for the Accord its 'once' and 'never' in that order).
franc123,
Jan 5, 5:46am
Cars have never been "made" here, they were only assembled here from imported parts with a percentage of locally made components in many cases, like glass, tyres and wiring for instance.Even the Trekka from the 60's wasn't a totally locally manufactured vehicle.I can't believe that people still don't know the difference between NZ new cars that used to be assembled locally last century, NZ new fully imported cars made to NZ specification made then and since then, and used imports.Mind you the average muppet who just wants wheels probably doesn't care.
kazbanz,
Jan 5, 7:41am
A CTUALLY franc -on a side note there is one small factory in NZ knocking out Jaguars. They are as close to a full build as anything
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