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Guaranteed Buy-backs
Instead of renting a
car or campervan, buy one without
any of the risks - breakdowns, insurance, and the problem of reselling
it.
Rental Cars
If you want to rent a
car or campervan in New Zealand I can arrange that for you. After 27 years in this
business I know where to look to get you the best rental car deal to
fit your New Zealand holiday plans. Let me find it for you.
Sleepervans
Low cost
campervan cruisin' in a simple sleeper van.
FamilyCampingVans*
The perfect answer to
cost-controlled family holidays. A luxury van with a high quality
camping pack
on board.
Mini-coaches
Multi-seat coaches
and people movers.
Important
Information
FAQs on insurance,
delivery, breakdown policy, etc.
NZ Visitors' Guide
What to see and what to do in New Zealand - written by
someone who has been seeing it and doing it for 40 years.
Links
Make A Booking
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Buying
A Car In New Zealand
The best way to travel New Zealand is by car.
With your own set of wheels you travel when you want, go where you want,
and stop when you want. Coach-based options don’t allow that.
If you're travelling New Zealand for two months or more, buying a car
can be an economical option. Cars are relatively cheap here because we
import tens of thousands of used Japanese cars every year. You can buy a
reasonable runner from about $NZ1500 upwards.
The problem is selling it again when you are about to leave. If you
don't get a sale by departure date you can end up nearly - or actually -
giving it away. Be especially careful if your plans involve departing
around late March or later. By then there are hordes of backpacker
hopefuls trying to sell off their old cars, station wagons and vans.
It's a murderous buyers market from then on.
Auckland airport’s car park regularly clears away vehicles abandoned
by departing travellers because they were unable to sell them in time.
If I were a rich man (if only!) I would buy cars at that time of year and
sell them again as the summer heats up and the visitors arrive.
One way to avoid the problem is to buy with a guaranteed buy-back.
Strictly speaking it should be called buy and sell-back. Under this
arrangement you buy a car from an operator who gives you a guaranteed
price at which they will buy the vehicle back when you've finished with
it.
Other options are to buy the car either privately (directly from the
owner) from a car dealer or through the auction system. While you can
pay under $1000 for car - easily - don't expect such a vehicle to
perform well or be reliable. They are, almost without exception,
rubbish.
Private purchase
Best hunting ground is the Ellerslie car fair which is held on Sunday
mornings. Other
options are
TradeMe,
and Sella, online auction sites.
The car fair is, however, the stalking ground of the unlicensed and
illegal dealers. They are there in droves looking to snare the unwary
traveller. As soon as you have driven the car out the gate they are gone
and there's no way of ever tracking them down.
One safeguard when buying is to ask how long they have owned the car.
Ask to see the registration papers. Ask if they are the current
registered owner. If they aren't then be suspicious. Be Very Suspicious.
In many cases they are dodgy old bombs that have been given a quick-fix
on any obvious problems. You'll be lucky to make it half way down the
island in them.
In my considerable experience, privately owned cars - especially older
ones - are often in poor repair and readiness. Remember, you are going
to ask this vehicle to run steadily for several hours at a time on a
round trip of 6000-8000kms. Most older privately-owned cars haven't had proper
tuning and maintenance for years. Expect to spend money - $150 to $300 -
on them before starting out.
You’ll also find lots of vehicles offered for sale on the notice-boards
of backpacker hostels. Again, I urge caution. These vehicles have
already done one long, hard run around NZ – and often more than one.
The current owners (and probably earlier owners too) have no incentive
to spend any more on the vehicle than absolutely necessary. They often
fail to even do that. If they do have to pay for repairs they usually
get the cheapest, dirtiest quick-fix possible. So you will buy their
leavings and once they’ve sold the vehicle they’re usually on the
next plane outa here – you’ll have absolutely no come-back against
them.
If you know nothing about cars, either get it checked by a qualified
mechanic or give it a miss. There are vehicle inspectors at
the car fair. If you are in Auckland and you want a vehicle checked call Glen
Stewart of South Pacific Automotive, who styles himself as "The Mad Mechanic" -
not entirely without reason. He can be a bit crazy at times, but he is
honest as the day is long and he'll give you a straight-up report on a car
without being silly about minor details. On Sundays he works at the Ellerslie Car Fair as an inspector but at other times contact him on
(09)636-3364. (See below under Car Dealers for more information about
him)
Alternatively, if you want a full-on inspection the AA does that at a
cost of $165. Be aware, however, that any car under $5000 (and a lot of
cars over that) is going to have faults. Don’t let a list of minor
problems put you off.
Auctions.
Auction is a wholesale market. You'll buy cheaper here than anywhere.
But it is also totally a "buyer-beware" market. There are some
hideous things lurking inside cars at auction. Trust me - I've been
caught with 'em from time to time. For cars over $3000 best option is
Turners
Car Auction.. For cheaper cars in Aucklland go to
Budget Car Auction or
Manheim
Auctions, both in Manukau. Manheim also has Wellington and
Christchurch locations.
Sale And
Guaranteed Buy-Back Operators.
Downtown Rentals offers a sale and buyback programme tailored to the
needs of tourists. We will sell you a vehicle and you have a written
contract to buy- it back from you at the end of your trip. You are
free to sell it to anyone else if you can get a better price, but at
least you have a safety net if you can't sell it before you are due to
depart.
Cars from $1490. Station-wagons from $1590. Fully equipped SleeperVans
from $2990. They are licensed motor vehicle traders.
The cars are tuned and serviced before
delivery. They are road-ready to run with a recent Warrant of Fitness -
a legally required safety check that must be done every six months. They
also offer a warranty against major breakdowns.
The buyback price varies. On the cheaper vehicles the buy-back is
typically half the purchase price, with a minimum deduction of $900.
Thus, for instance, a $1500 car will have a buyback price of $600. It is
not compulsory to sell it back to them . . . if you can get a better
price, take it, but at least you have the certainty of a minimum
cash-back on the day you leave. (They’ll even give you a free lift to
the airport). T
Car Dealers
Car dealers in this country must be licensed. You'll see them display
the letters LMVT - Licensed Motor Vehicle Trader. If you are buying from
a dealer of some sort check that they are licensed. In general, dealers
don't sell cars less than $3-4000 or so - it's just not worth their
while. But if you are looking for a better class of car then they are a
safe and reliable bet. They will also usually re-purchase the car when
you've finished with it.
For cheaper cars try a mate of mine, Glen Stewart of South Pacific
Automotive. He's a mechanic (does a lot of work on my cars) and a car
dealer. He won't put you crook. (That's a Kiwism for “won't cheat
you”). He's wanted by the authorities in 25 countries (according to
the tales he tells) - but he's as honest as the day is long. His phone
number in Auckland is 636-3364.
Again, look on
TradeMe
or Sella for screeds of offerings from dealers.
Transfer of
ownership
Our system of registering ownership is so simple it often causes a look
of disbelief in the eyes of a traveller when I explain it to them.
The first thing to realise is that the "ownership papers" are
not proof of ownership. They are merely a record of the persons who are
registered as owners - or put another way, a register of people who
claim to be owners.
You can, literally, walk into any Post Shop in the country and on proof
of your identity, register yourself as the owner of any vehicle in the
country. But the fact that you have registered yourself as the owner
doesn't make you the owner. To be the true owner you have to have
legally bought
it off the previous owner.
Thus, whether the "registered owner" is, in fact, the legal
owner is a matter of contract law not of mere registration.
If you buy a car from someone who is not the legal owner then you have
no legal title to the car. The true owner can reclaim it.
If you are buying from a private person you must therefore be careful -
ask them for their address and phone number. Check out whether they are
listed in the phone book at that address. Don't accept just a mobile
number - get a landline number. Mobile numbers can be changed with the
flick of a SIM card.
If the vehicle has only recently been put into their name be
particularly wary. Ask why. To be honest, in that situation I'd give the
vehicle a miss unless you have a good and certain address for them -
like, you've been to their house and met them.
I had a van stolen from me a while back - a little toe-rag working for
me as a mechanic "sold" it to someone who walked in off the
street. Said toe-rag just failed to either check with me first, or to hand over
the money. Within 24 hours it was on-sold to a well-known (unlicensed) dealer who is
always at car fairs selling vans to tourists. Two innocent visitors
bought it off him and had absolutely no idea that the vehicle they
bought was nicked. Later, when they were stopped they ended up $2400 down the drain. “Not my problem,” says I
when I re-possessed the vehicle. I felt sorry for them – but it was
either them or me that took the hit. I preferred it to be them. In
fairness to the well-known dealer, I think he gave them some of their
money back.
To transfer a car into your name is easy: Go to a Post Shop and fill out
a form. It'll cost you $9.25 and take about five minutes. You'll need
proof of identity - a passport or driver's license - and a local address.
Safety checks,
registration and Road User Charges
For a car to be legally on the road it must have a Warrant of Fitness
(usually called a WoF), must be registered (i.e. the tax must be paid)
and if it is a diesel-powered vehicle the Road User Charges must be paid
up to date.
The WoF sticker should be at the top right corner of the windscreen as
seen from the driver's seat. It
will have the expiry date printed on it.
If a car does not have a current WoF don’t buy it. Under any
circumstances. The risks are just too great. Make sure that the warrant
will be valid for at least the length of your stay here. When you come
to sell it again you may have to get a new warrant check . . . at that
time you may well discover a lot of unexpected costs in order to have
the vehicle brought up to standard. WoF checks can only be carried out
by Government licensed testers.
In the lower left corner of the windscreen, is a label with a date on
it. The tax on the vehicle has been paid up to that date. It costs about
$25 a month to register. In order to register any vehicle it must first
have a current WoF.
Road User Charges are levied on diesel vehicles at a rate of 5.5c per km
for cars and vans. They must be paid in advance and you must have a
sticker on the windscreen giving details of the mileage purchased. If
you are not up to date the penalty is three times the amount of RUC
owing. Thus if you are in breach it can be very, very expensive. Before
buying a diesel car make sure the RUCs are up to date. If not, demand
that the owner purchase enough RUC to make it legal because you, as the
new owner, become liable for any unpaid charges.
Insurance
Insurance is not compulsory in this country – and the sad fact is that
the drivers most likely to hit you are the least likely to be insured.
You don’t have to worry about personal accident insurance – that’s
included as part of the registration cost of the car and is provided by
the government operated Accident Compensation Commission.
You can get short term third party vehicle insurance from the
National
Auto Club. Many of the backpacker hostels also offer car insurance
packages.
Downtown Rentals
148 Hillsborough
Rd, Hillsborough, Auckland*.
Phone (Country code 64, area code 9) 625-6469
Email: rentals@New-Zealand-rental-cars.com
* Please
phone before coming out to our site - we're not always
there.
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A
New Zealand
Travel
Guide
What to see and what to do in New Zealand -
written by someone who has been seeing it and doing it
for 40 years.
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writer who has spent much of his life travelling the length and
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