I'm looking at trademe to try and choose our car in NZ, so we can grab one quickly once we're there.
I've seen a lot of imported cars from Japan and Singapore, what are peoples experiences and opinions on these overall?
I'm looking at trademe to try and choose our car in NZ, so we can grab one quickly once we're there.
I've seen a lot of imported cars from Japan and Singapore, what are peoples experiences and opinions on these overall?
You will find about 90% of used cars will be Japanese imports. The one thing you have to watch out for is the odometer being wound back, the NZ government tries to stop it I think, but I still think it is a common thing to happen - unlike Australia where since they made it illegal to do years ago, you don't even hear about it anymore.
Best to inspect cars thorough before you buy it...my OH got mechanic background and couldn't believe how many cars are in bad state at showrooms. He viewed so many cars before brought good ones for us.
If you see one you like, grab the rego and punch it into www.carjam.co.nz
You can get quite a bit of information for free - like how often it's been warranted. There's a few sites like this and if you pay $20 or $30 you can get a full report.
The vast bulk of the cars in NZ are imports from Japan and the government is starting to clamp down on the old ones to try and eliminate the number of real wrecks on the road.
Dougie
Thanks for the tips.
Unfortunately, I don't have much mechanical knowledge (other than the basics) and we'll need a car fairly quickly, so can't wait ages to have one inspected.
Does anyone know of any reputable car dealers in Auckland that I can trust?
The dealer we bought from has all his cars odometers verified by an independant 3rd party organisation. I got an older car (8 year-old Nissan) but with very low mileage (32,000 kilometers). The mileage seemed to tally with the state of the engine, exhaust etc., so I'm happy it is genuine. So from that point of view I got a good deal.
both our cars are jap imports and not had any problems with them.
dont be fooled by the low mileage/kilometereeremeterage.
Cars dont get to move very far in Singapore/Japan - most of the cars running time is spent sat in traffic jams. So the wear and tear is slightly different to what you might be used to.
A bit of advice given to me from a Brit mechanic over here.
What is your budget? many of the recent years made cars are already digital on the speedo, and I think it's quite hard to roll it back...
but again I maybe mistaken...
I had 2 imported cars and so far so good...one was really low and I am a bit skeptical about it at first, but then I just got the car and have no problem ever since.