New Cars, Best Time to buy?

[Gee Cee]

A little bit away from the normal property thing but useful if you have the $$ to get a new Doo Dad Vehicle.

Any new car sales folks out there?

When is the BEST Time to buy a new car.

Personally I have only recently purchased a new Commodore. It was built in December 2003. Fully equipped with all the nice stuff. Plus extras like 17inch sports wheels, body kit, lowered sports suspension, etc.

It was reduced $12000. Although the most recent model it was built last year. In the end i changed over from my 2 yr old Commodore that had almost 40000klm on it to a new car for just over $6000. And I may get the GST payment of $3000 back???

I dropped into a dealer today for a free sausage sizzle. He said he could do me a good changeover price as they are having End of Financial Year Clearance Sale. Would I be interested? I commented the car I have only has 3000 klm on it. He still insisted he could do a good deal

What experiences have you had??

 

[Peter 14.7]

Car Fantasy

Hi Gee Cee

1. Don’t sell cars sorry, but what a job for the right brand (Porsche, homer like drool urllll...)

2. Good to see a Forumite not afraid to buy (and admit) nice things other than property.

3. Yes now is the best time to buy it always seems because of the recent high dollar for imports, end of fin year targets for salespeople and companies and the rare 2003 plate still waiting for a home.

Learn to love the depreciation.

Regards Peter 147


Disclaimer: A look at my avatar thingy shows my loyalty here. Ahh Alfa Romeo, weird little things fall off (sunviser and glovebox cover), it's brand new and uses oil (Alfa service guide says it ok?) it feels every pothole, coughs if driven cold and/or slow and literally has the turning circle of a truck.... but tomorrow is Saturday so I get to put the "doof" music in the std. 8 speaker Bose stereo, flip the selespeed into F1 paddle mode and fang it!

 

[Gee Cee]

CRISIS (Mid Life)

I had a Panel Van for about 20 yrs(OOOOOh The Memories)
With the occasional Turbo Commodore or XR8 from Govt Auctions as toys for 6 mths.

But have had waggons for last few yrs with twin prams & other bits to carry.

I had no intention of buying the sporty sedan that i now have . But it was such a good buy. When i arrived home my wife said what is that. i commented that it was a courtesy car. She said , No one would give you a new car as a loan car.

So i admitted it was a Mid Life Crisis Toy.

Next February i will trade it in for a Tarago


But it is sooo cool. Pulling up beside those 20 something year old Chikki Babes. Until they see the twin booster seats in the back

 

[Peter 14.7]

But it is sooo cool. Pulling up beside those 20 something year old Chikki Babes. Until they see the twin booster seats in the back

You got all wrong Gee Cee, put the cute kids in the seats and teach them to call you Uncle and you have got it made with the Chikki Babes!

But as for when the wife finds out, the tarago may be the least of your problems!

 

[forrestd]

how about this:

Average cost for a $50k car including finance, petrol, insurance & rego is $14k p.a. assuming lease or HP of course. and that $50k car is going to depreciate some 50% over 4 years, or about another $6k per year minimum (average). After 4 years we're talking $56k just to own and run it and another $25k depreciation....

(and people get excited about a few grand discount)

Dont get me wrong I love cars (I've purchased 2 new cars recently) but the whole notion of purchase timing is kind of moot. I used to sell new cars - most of negotiated discounts you get on runouts are available all the time if you're willing to push. Granted you might get an extra $1k or $2k factory bonus at times, but you'll probably find these are on the 'dreg' cars that didnt sell. Buy the car you love, with the colour/transmission/options you want, pay a few extra grand for it, and enjoy it. Initial purchase price isn't everything.

 

[Gee Cee]

I DO. I Certainly Do.!

I purchased my first investment property at 18. Annd stuck my $$$ into property but only drove a old car.

Now days I can afford a new car. But there is NO WAY I am going to buy something i do not want.

And I always get the best price. Or i just don't buy.

LIKE AFTER ALL. It is only a car. Annd they are only sales people.

$12000 discounts may not seem like much to some. But $12k in MY POCKET is a good feeling.

Gee Cee

Tight (Retired 44 yr Old Fart)

 

[crest133]

Took a plunge and leased an XR8 this week, can't take it with you can you ?, and I want to be sure I get some enjoyment along the way, seen a few people shuffle off lately , their dock rotted before their ship came in. I feel better now, loooovvve my car. enjoy yourselves
cheers
crest133

 

[Sunfish]

"Buy the car you love". and keep it a couple of years extra and save 12 big ones on depreciation. It can't look like a Ford Taurus but My lady kept her Honda Integra for 8yrs and they still look smart.

BTW Commodore lovers, I recently did 360k on poor country roads (not dirt, but not a lot of black stuff either) in two & three qr hours in my V6 Honda. I have a new found respect for it. The suspension worked a treat.

Back to the original Q; There is never a good time to buy from our local Holden dealer. He is as tight as a fish's bum and I think the Suburu dealer is the same so the Honda lives another year.

Thommo

 

[Jacque]

Oooh I love Hondas

Has anyone looked at or bought the little new Mazda Neo?
For a new car, the price (@around $16K) looked pretty good, I thought. I have been thinking about downgrading my tank of a Ford Falcon station wagon for something smaller and more economical on the fuel.....\

BTW, anyone interested in a '96 wagon? Lady owner, always garaged with 113,000 on the clock. Make me an offer. Will consider vendor finance and all creative offers.
HEHehe

 

[Sunfish]

Oooh I love Hondas

Has anyone looked at or bought the little new Mazda Neo?
For a new car, the price (@around $16K) looked pretty good, I thought. I have been thinking about downgrading my tank of a Ford Falcon station wagon for something smaller and more economical on the fuel.....\

BTW, anyone interested in a '96 wagon? Lady owner, always garaged with 113,000 on the clock. Make me an offer. Will consider vendor finance and all creative offers.
HEHehe

If you love Hondas, check out the Civic Hybrid. It looks like a standard Civic (that's not small) but you loose a little boot space to the electricals and battery. Economy is fantastic and the electric motor gives great torque so it takes off at the lights like a rabbit.

Why do I sound like the oldest hoon in town? Thommo

 

[MF35]

Hi,

I can get a Nissan X-Trail (35 - 37k value) on a 3 year lease fully maintained operating lease (means you include petrol and all vehicle related maintenance costs in the lease) and after sale at the end of the lease it will have cost me on average 7 - 8k per year for the three years. Looks good to me considering it costs me 10 - 11k to run a Holden Astra (25k - 28k purchase on the road) on a personal loan over 5 years.

Leaves me with the option of a new car at the end of the lease.

MF

 

[Sunfish]

Hi,

I can get a Nissan X-Trail (35 - 37k value) on a 3 year lease fully maintained operating lease (means you include petrol and all vehicle related maintenance costs in the lease) and after sale at the end of the lease it will have cost me on average 7 - 8k per year for the three years. Looks good to me considering it costs me 10 - 11k to run a Holden Astra (25k - 28k purchase on the road) on a personal loan over 5 years.

Leaves me with the option of a new car at the end of the lease.

MF

Check out the penalties if the vehicle is handed back in less than perfect condition and more k's than are allowed. I'm told they can be severe.

 

[forrestd]

Hi,

I can get a Nissan X-Trail (35 - 37k value) on a 3 year lease fully maintained operating lease (means you include petrol and all vehicle related maintenance costs in the lease) and after sale at the end of the lease it will have cost me on average 7 - 8k per year for the three years. Looks good to me considering it costs me 10 - 11k to run a Holden Astra (25k - 28k purchase on the road) on a personal loan over 5 years.

Leaves me with the option of a new car at the end of the lease.

MF

Hi MF,

that sounds like an ok deal, do you have an FBT/km constraint? who is the deal with I might look into that too...

 

[MF35]

I'm a government employee and have access to Salary Sacrificing. Mcmillan and Shakespeare are the Salary Packaging firm that have the government contract. Salary packaging can be done in private enterprise as well though. Some private agreements are better than the public ones.

Yes, I do have to pay FBT on the deal but that's been accounted for in the figures. That is, it's included in the cost of the lease.

Keep in mind that my figures rely on the sale of the car at the end of the lease. Like this;
- Car lease $230 a week, = $11960 p.a. on the lease for the X-Trail.
- I pay 10 - 11k to run a Holden Astra p.a. currently. So although the $230 odd a week sounds a lot I think you'll find if you average out your p.a. costs on the same car if you just bought it it turns out about the same.
- Then at the end of the lease I only have to pay 45% (about 15k) of the leased value (which is less than normal purchase price due to GST exemptions etc) to buy the car out. Car valuing souces estimate the value of an X-Trail at about 70% after 3 years. Even if you allow 60 - 65% (22 - 23k) once you sell it you end up 7 - 8k in front on the sale. Take that 7 or 8k away from your running costs over the three years (2.5k a year) and your p.a. expenses on the car are about 8.5k. That's about 2.5 - 3.5k cheaper than what it would cost me if I purchased the car on a loan and ran it myself.
- The leases are fully maintained (include all petrol and maintenance).
- This also reduces my taxable income by the 11 - 12k a year so any penalties, overtime, or extra money I earn in the year ends up getting taxed at a lower rate. (This will be affected by budget changes to tax rates and may not be as beneficial as before I'm not sure without doing the numbers on the tax brackets in relation to a specific income).

Anyway, just my thoughts on something I've been looking at doing. Usual disclaimer: I don't work for them or have any financial interest in such an organisation. I'm not offering financial advice, just discussing the idea and benefits as I see them.

You'll find salary sacrificing companies on the net. They usually have calculators and explain how it works.

MF

 

[Sunfish]

Paying out a lease and then selling the car triggers a CGT event.
And there is no way you could expect 70% of new car cost after 3yrs. Been to an auction lately?

Thommo

On NSM site, X-trails seem to be holding value well. T

 

[MF35]

Thomo,

Average resale prices for 2001 X-Trails (manual 3 years old) with 55 - 75 000kms on the clock as quoted by Redbook via Carsales.com is $27 150 - $29 900. The lease purchase price for the X-Trail I was quoted is 34k. 70% of 34 = $23 800.

Drive.com valuations give a valuation range of $22 500 - $27 500. Similar to that above. I have also found Private sale prices in advertisements via the Trading Post and other advertising mediums also tend to reflect prices which are similar to those quoted above.

If the vehicle is in good condition I can't see why this is not achievable. Given I did also say that to be safe you could work off 60 - 65% and still be in front as I have shown. Surely you're not suggesting you couldn't get better than 45 - 50% after three years (which is the residual value). If know people doing this let me know and I might take some of their cars of their hands for them!

If all these different mediums are wrong please draw my attention to the authority you rely on?

On the CGT issue I was advised that it wasn't an issue. But I'm not an authority on this so I'll double check this. Perhaps the accountants in the forum could clear this issue up for me?

In relation to penalties if the vehicle is handed back in "less than perfect condition". What happens is simply that they take the car to auction and sell it. If they get less than the residual amount you have to meet the difference. If you want to end up further in front on the deal I'd just pay it out and sell it privately. In which case the condition relates to the price you get of course. If you trashed it then of course you'll get less.

MF

 

[Sunfish]

I edited my post to say that these cars are getting a good price in the used market. Maybe I should have pulled it. The other bit about k's and condition was because it sounded like a set period contract that Ford were writing.

I said it triggers a CGT event. I didn't say you couldn't avoid it, but you cant without thought.

 

[ani]

Try and buy towards the end of the month.

Prices are very open to negotiation then if the sales quota hasn't been met

cheers
ani

 

[Bear1964]

Oooh I love Hondas

Has anyone looked at or bought the little new Mazda Neo?
For a new car, the price (@around $16K) looked pretty good, I thought. I have been thinking about downgrading my tank of a Ford Falcon station wagon for something smaller and more economical on the fuel.....\

BTW, anyone interested in a '96 wagon? Lady owner, always garaged with 113,000 on the clock. Make me an offer. Will consider vendor finance and all creative offers.
HEHehe

My mum recently bought a Mazda 2 (not sure it its a neo) but she loves it. I have drivin it on many occasions and find it a bit gutless but a great car to drive.

Regards Bear

 

[Peter 14.7]

Honda

Oooh I love Hondas

Has anyone looked at or bought the little new Mazda Neo?
For a new car, the price (@around $16K) looked pretty good, I thought. I have been thinking about downgrading my tank of a Ford Falcon station wagon for something smaller and more economical on the fuel.....\

BTW, anyone interested in a '96 wagon? Lady owner, always garaged with 113,000 on the clock. Make me an offer. Will consider vendor finance and all creative offers.
HEHehe

Hi Jacque

In addition to the Neo consider the Honda Jazz.

PROS Outstanding fuel economy. Honda perfection, innovative styling and some fun with flip gear paddle and such. Range $16 to $22k ish.

CONS probably gutless. Haven't driven but very impressed with style.

FOR FUN and CHEAP Buy a early model Mazda MX5 for $10k

PROS
Enjoy go cart handling, wind in your hair and very high resale value tied to Japanese quality. Had one for 3 years and loved it.

CONS
Learn to pack small and only 2 seats but what a bargain. My first choice if I ever come out of denial and realise much the Alfa costs to own.

One test drive and you will be hooked!

A BIT OF TRIVA RE MX5
I never let my wife forget her comment when we saddled up for test drive. She literally said “ No way, just so you can wa*k your sports car fantasies”

One test drive later she said “lets get this one, NOW”

In fact, had to drag her into the Alfa 147 test drive as well. Used the “look it’s a practical hatchbatch, honey” line. Practical and Alfa Romeo HAH!....so not true!

Since we are talking cars, any other guys or girls out there with similar spouse issues?

Having Fun, Peter 147