constablechuck
13th June 2009, 06:15 PM
Just a bit of advice about buying a used car. In NZ private sellers such as those on Trademe aren't bound by the same laws as dealers, nor is there any sort of lemon law here so even a dealer can sell you a car with serious mechanical problems without disclosing it.
The biggest risk is buying a car that has finance owing on it, you could end up having your car repoed before you even know there's a problem and it would be very difficult to recover anything from the seller. The other risks are inaccurate odometer and the seller not owning the car i.e. someone sells flatmates car without permission to recoup money owed and car gets reported stolen, there's no certificate of title in NZ to document ownership transfer.
My advice is to use www.carjam.co.nz to run a check on a car before buying it and ask the seller to show ID and provide a written receipt. Also, just like anywhere else you'll find honest and dishonest people in NZ, so check out a car mechanically before buying it.
I've bought a number of cars here and the biggest lemon was sold to me by a very friendly seemingly honest person.
The biggest risk is buying a car that has finance owing on it, you could end up having your car repoed before you even know there's a problem and it would be very difficult to recover anything from the seller. The other risks are inaccurate odometer and the seller not owning the car i.e. someone sells flatmates car without permission to recoup money owed and car gets reported stolen, there's no certificate of title in NZ to document ownership transfer.
My advice is to use www.carjam.co.nz to run a check on a car before buying it and ask the seller to show ID and provide a written receipt. Also, just like anywhere else you'll find honest and dishonest people in NZ, so check out a car mechanically before buying it.
I've bought a number of cars here and the biggest lemon was sold to me by a very friendly seemingly honest person.