Hi savvy OzBargainers!
I am looking to buy a car with budget of 2-2.5K. Disclaimer: I know it is a tough task. I would have happily spent a lot more money but I do not have it at the moment. Saving up more is not an option as my current car is almost dead (again, bought it very cheap but it has served me well). Need the car to commute to/from work, 150-200km/week. The car should be economical and realiable enough to move around my 6 y.o. safely.
I have some buying experience (bought 3 used cars before, both manual and auto), but any tips on how to get the most of my ridiculously limited budget will be highly appreciated.
OzB forum search yielded a couple of similar threads, but they are dated 2015 as this https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/224961 one, so I thought a fresh update will be useful.
I am in SA
TIA all.
Buy a Car with 2K Budget. Any Tips?
Comments
get a toyota corolla, just keep going back in years until the price matches your criteria.
+1 Corolla if you can find one for that price.
Mazda would be 2nd choice.
Nissan as a 3rd.All 3 are pretty generic and plenty on the roads which reduces the resale value a little, makes parts cheap and easy to get and servicing costs are reasonable.
If you can find one with some panel damage (scratches, hail) but mechanically in good condition, it could be a way to get the cost down. Just careful with insurance.
Make sure you pay to have it checked mechanically.
Revs/ppsr
Mechanical friend to give it a look over, check for smoke etcIf possible, see if a family member is a car salesperson to get you a car at trade price.
Choose a common model from a Japanese or Korean company.. Look in your price range to see what is available and see how many are on the roads. If you don’t see many out there, don’t buy it.
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2000-Toyota-Corolla…
2000 Corolla listed for $2800 in SA with decent kilometres. Could potentially haggle the price down with a phone call or inspection.
Good luck op
economical and realiable enough to move around my 6 y.o. safely.
economical and safety don't often come together IMO. Depends how economical it has to be I guess, ie. Would you be OK with an suv ?
I think you will find most older cars that are very economical, would also be very light weight small cars (not exactly the best for safety of a small child).
I picked up an 2003 Hyundai santa fe for about $1,100 on gumtree (with traction control, antilock brakes, lots of airbags, 4 star safety rating ) .
It had air con issue, only works with fan on full, which is fine.
It had paint issue, again fine. It had power steering needs topping up every 6 months, which is a non-issue. Redbook had it at about double, seller was asking $1700 but had add up for 1 week and not sold, all just time wasters.
Seller had brand new vehicle, good new job, just wanted old car gone ASAP before rego ran out. I had money ready and asked if he would accept $1300 of I took it away today. He said yes. I said I would buy of passed pink slip inspection, passed pink slip, but mechanic told us about a leaking shock absorber (about $400 to replace/fix), so seller dropped price after we found new problem needing repair.
My Hyundai suv uses about 12.5 litres per 100km , but I do not drive it gently or for fuel economy, and lots of short trips.I would suggest use redbook as a guide, but go by redbook 'trade in' price. That is the lower price, then I look at the lower end of that ie. If it says car trade in price averages $1200-$1900 I would be looking at something $1200 or less as being a good deal . And you can find such good/great deals, just researching a number of cars might need to be done.
Safety should be an issue, for small child especially, so check safety ratings of car (shown on redbook as ANCAP rating) , and make sure it has ABS (antilock braking).
With your budget, remember (and account intp price when looking and negotiating with seller) remember each and every cosmetic issue, reduces the cars value. So say for example my car had paint issues all over, to redo the clearcoat, and make it look pretty again, would probably cost couple of thousand dollars, not worth it on oldish car, but this cosmetic issue does mean you can significantly reduce the price when you are a seller and need it gone, and everybody that sees it is just noticing the bad paintwork.
Even something with a small dint could be OK, as long as its not been major impact that would effect safety, and sometimes even very smallish cosmetic dints can cost alot to have made look perfect again, so this reduces cost/value significantly while still having a car that runs great, reliable, cheap, just doesn't look as pretty as a new car.So I would suggest looking for vehicles with cosmetic flaws, where the seller has reduced price alot because of how it looks.
Make sure is in great shape mechanically, and nothing expensive to fix mechanically, or with price reduced enough to pay for the repair, and still come up under redbooks lowest value.
do not be firm with exactly which car you must have
My old car had sunroof, and was an suv. I just went searching gumtree for another suv, with sunroof.
If I was set on an exact model etc, would be searching/waiting forever for good deal to come up.If you are comfortable and competent driving a manual, IMO cars in your price range that are manual, are particularly hard to sell. Many cars around that price are for 1st car buyers, p-platers etc, who cannot drive manual cars well. So remember this when looking and negotiating, they are probably going have alot of trouble selling a cheap manual car, when all the p-platers and first car buyers will want auto.
What I do on gumtree, is start with search of closeby, (maybe 25km radius, for large purchase) , then if I cannot find what I need/want in that area, I will extend search out to further (maybe 50km radius) and so on, until I find a great deal. For a car, I would have gumtree app, and redbook.com.au , both open on my phone, and be constantly checking.
Also, once Im a little interested in a car, I will search "used car reviews" for that particular model and year. This can tell you how they hold up as a used vehicle and also often lets you know what issues to look out for in this used vehicle. If there is a common issue, google how to check for that issue, sometimes it is fairly simple to check some of these things.Also, could try posting your own add on gumtree/facebook (anywhere else) explaining your situation, and that you are looking for a car under xxxx amount, to get you to work and to transport your 6 year old.
It is the new year coming, people are thinking of change, and someone might have a car they are thinking of getting rid of and upgrading. Or someome might know someone. The very best deals on gumtree (if posted at great price to start with) those very best deals will usually be snapped up straight away, so if you can catch a great deal before it is advertised, this could work out well for you. So post your own add and FB post etc, asking if anyone kmows someone with a car to sell that would suit.And don't be afraid to offer much less than asking price, but do this before you travel there, as this is the nicer more polite way of doing things IMO. And be nice about how you offer rather than rude and pushy. I would just say something like "would you be happy to accept xxxx, I can come buy and take it away today (or whenever you are available soonest). Last car I bought was up for sale for 1 week, several people had arranged inspection then never showed up. Seller was sick of time wasters, and appreciated someone an honest and genuine buyer who shows up and does is a person of their word.
Unless there is something new wrong that I wasn't told about, I will pay the price negotiated prior to inspection. If the car is really close, I guess I would just drive over there and inspect and negotiate at same time (but then, maybe not, because I dont want to waste their time or mine, if the price is flexible to make it a great deal).Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for the effort of writing.
Hyundai Getz. Very reliable, probably not high on safety, but nothing will be for $2k.
Old taxi?
6 y.o. safely.
Don't go for a small Getz or similar. A medium to large suv, ute, 4wd or a large sedan like a falcodore with 4 or 5 ancap may fair better in a collision with smaller vehicles.
Thank you. Safety is a priority for me (not much I can choose from under given circumstances though)
Avoid a 4wd or suv, they are not economical. More fuel, bigger tyres, more for insurance and probably rego. Sure, they are bigger and therefore more crumple zone but they also don’t handle as well and take more to stop.
A larger sedan will also use a bit more fuel than a hatchback, but you get more space and better perceived safety.
Unrepaired minor damage kills resale value on older cars. Look for a vehicle with panel damage that is otherwise mechanically sound.
Given your requirements i would buy a commodore or falcon.
They do not hold their value well, but are quite reliable, and safer than something small.
Here is an example is SA, this is on LPG so will be cheaper to drive:
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/goolwa/cars-vans-utes/2006-h…
Thank y'all. I was also wondering if saving another 1K and putting it towards the purchase would make more difference in getting a slightly better car. I don't have a mechanic friend unfortunately but I am planning to get RAA to inspect the car. In this case, is buying through a private sale safer or should I still try to get a dealer advertised vehicle (and pay dealer's margin)?
Check out what is available, either yourself or preferably a friend who knows something about cars to make sure there is nothing majorly wrong with it before you fork out the money for a RAA inspection (or another trustworthy and competent mechanic if you can find one).
The RAA inspections are great as they give you piece of mind because you will know what you are really buying - they will tell you the many minor things (inevitably) wrong with the car and give you a negotiating position on price, although you still won't be able to knock that much off a $2-3k car.
Have you got money put aside for insurance?
I reccomend a Subaru Outback Limited for $2000-$2500. They've got a Dual sunroof and they're good with fuel. This is a good buy at $1990. Lots of kgs though.
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/mile-end-south/cars-vans-ute…
Manual and auto, Fangio :p