[vixxann]

I am really not big into cars and things mechanical but have spent an astonishing amount of time browsing on here ....
http://www.autotrader.co.nz/used-cars/

Its great :o

If you don't know what particular car you are looking for (many of the names and models are unfamiliar to me) you can narrow down your search using different criterias and / or locations.

I went on to try and see if the price and availability of cars is much different between Auckland and elsewhere in NZ. Haven't yet figured this out - anyone an opinion??

[jubjub]

There is an opinion that its a bit cheaper to get them in Auckland as its a shorter shipping distance.

Have a look at this... http://dogandlemon.com/ might help too, or may just confuse you even more!

[vixxann]

Am I correct thinking that Holden is equivalent to Vauxhall in UK?

any others?

[jubjub]

Yup, Holden is vauxhall, and the Barina here is what you would call a corsa, and to make it even more confusing there is a corsa here, but its made by Toyota (I think)

The cars here do look very similar, its just a case of getting to recognise whats what, and the jap models seem to be in the majority..

[speckythecky]

Used autotrader to sell both the car and camper before we left UK and would recommend, £18 to advertise on the web and got a lot of interest.

Have not looked yet at buying in NZ, was going to go to the auction yesterday but need to get bank account sorted first

[vixxann]

Just out of interest... anyone in NZ got a car they've never seen in UK before, or just generally pleased with ???

[Familyofmonkeys]

We decided to get large family car as lots of kids and pushchairs etc. Got a Mitsubishi Grandis...i'm sure there are plenty in UK, but we had only really looked at Renault Scenic or Espace in UK. We mainly got it as it had fab interest free finance deal and was also alot cheaper than most other MPV we looked at and test drove. They also had one available very quickly and were willing to throw in more free upgrades than several other car companies....you just have to be willing to negotiate a bit.
We were not even planning to get new car when we got here, but by keeping our money in bank earning interest for longer actually worked out cheaper overall than getting 2 year old car and paying it all upfront.
Realised later that it is also alot better on fuel than the other car we quite liked...Kia Carnival, which has 3.8 litre engine (unnecessarily large IMO).

[nippa&pippa]

Just out of interest... anyone in NZ got a car they've never seen in UK before, or just generally pleased with ???

My OH normally staed clear from jap cars in UK, well cos he is Landrover mad :roll
After finding Landrover is very expensive here and very hard to get hold of defender 90 at cheaper price compare with UK..(hint hint to Landrover fans :uhoh ) My OH brought Toyota Surf instead! He is pleased with it but not same as Beloved Landrover :roll
For me, I got Toyota Estima for same reasons as family of monkeys, three kids and relatives who will be staying soon....very good car.

[Familyofmonkeys]

My OH normally staed clear from jap cars in UK, well cos he is Landrover mad :roll
After finding Landrover is very expensive here and very hard to get hold of defender 90 at cheaper price compare with UK..(hint hint to Landrover fans :uhoh ) My OH brought Toyota Surf instead! He is pleased with it but not same as Beloved Landrover :roll
For me, I got Toyota Estima for same reasons as family of monkeys, three kids and relatives who will be staying soon....very good car.

Have you just got a tractor too?....just showed your Avatar to daughter, and she says it looks like Little Red Tractor....she's now gone off to find the DVD:)

[nippa&pippa]

Have you just got a tractor too?....just showed your Avatar to daughter, and she says it looks like Little Red Tractor....she's now gone off to find the DVD:)

Little red tractor is also my son's favourite too!
We brought tractor just before we moved to our house to cope with the land we got and now need quad bike instead as tractor is too heavy for our land during winter as we have found :roll

[vixxann]

[QUOTE=Familyofmonkeys;149441]We decided to get large family car as lots of kids and pushchairs etc. Got a Mitsubishi Grandis...i'm sure there are plenty in UK, but we had only really looked at Renault Scenic or Espace in UK. QUOTE]

We have a Renault Megane RX4 here so will be looking for similar thing - have looked at Mitsubishi Grandis online yesterday actually and put it on my potential car list! do you like yours?

and... re toyota surf - Sam is probably looking at similar - he has a ford ranger pickup here.

Also think I might get an automatic, never driven one before until we rented car in christchurch and I loved it :)

[Familyofmonkeys]

[QUOTE=Familyofmonkeys;149441]We decided to get large family car as lots of kids and pushchairs etc. Got a Mitsubishi Grandis...i'm sure there are plenty in UK, but we had only really looked at Renault Scenic or Espace in UK. QUOTE]

We have a Renault Megane RX4 here so will be looking for similar thing - have looked at Mitsubishi Grandis online yesterday actually and put it on my potential car list! do you like yours?

and... re toyota surf - Sam is probably looking at similar - he has a ford ranger pickup here.

Also think I might get an automatic, never driven one before until we rented car in christchurch and I loved it :)

Our Mitsubishi Grandis does the job nicely for us, and even will all 7 seats in use, we can still get double buggy etc in the back. Most of the time we have back 2 seats flat, and have huge boot...great for nappy changes in middle of nowhere! Almost all cars we have seen here are automatic, and therefore not as good on fuel as a manual car. Mind you, with the hills etc in NZ, even in Auckland, this makes driving alot easier. We have also found Mitsubishi really easy to deal with, and they have good warranty etc We get 3 years free servicing, and some parts have 5 year warranty and other bits have 10 year warranty. Also, when free servicing runs out, parts and service costs are lower than several other manufacturers we looked at, which is obviously a consideration if you plan on keeping car for a long while.

[Nick88]

We have two Hondas. My wife has the Odyssey and loves it. I like the 5 star safety rating, and the interior design. Hondas don't depreciate as fast as many other cars here cos they don't discount for the fleet market. I found it was actually cheaper to lease the car than to buy it, when you take into account the return on a Fastsaver account on one side and the depreciation on the other.

[HelenandPhil]

Hi Nick,

Have you got any recommendations for lease companies please?

[Nick88]

Honda only lease directly. They don't discount the cars to the big lease companies so don't get the sales. If you go to honda.co.nz you can have a look at the prices. I found them to be alot cheaper than the other lease companies (excepting model run out deals).