Buying A Second Hand Car

[Shellz]

Hey guys, I'm 18 and looking to buy a second hand car for no more than $5000. I've been looking on carsales.com.au but what I am interested to know if anyone has had any experience buying dealer used cars? What's the go with them?

And does anyone know much about Daewoos?

 

[RooBuoy]

I haven't heard good things about he build quality of Daewoos.

 

[LIONS then DAYLIGHT]

If your going to buy second hand, be prepared for the obvious dollars that will be expended down the track for services, new parts, ect, this type of thing comes with the territory.

My best tip is when you test drive the car, put the windows down and see if you can hear a clicking sound coming from any of the wheels, try it at different speeds, and try it turning as well. An RACQ mechanical check won't pick up if the bearings in the wheel are ****ed or not, generally these last about 100 000 Km's so obviously if the car is second hand then there is a chance the wheel bearings could be ****ed or on there last legs, if a bearing is ****ed then when you are driving the wheel could seize or fall off i think, not sure, but i know that you don't want to find out going on what i have been told.

 

[Lensen]

Hey guys, I'm 18 and looking to buy a second hand car for no more than $5000. I've been looking on carsales.com.au but what I am interested to know if anyone has had any experience buying dealer used cars? What's the go with them?

And does anyone know much about Daewoos?

I've got one. How many km's? Is it the original engine? If it's more than 120,000km be prepared for the engine to die, and a roughly $6k replacement one.

 

[Shellz]

I've got one. How many km's? Is it the original engine? If it's more than 120,000km be prepared for the engine to die, and a roughly $6k replacement one.

It's about 133,000. My cousins a mechanic so I am going to ask him and get him to test it out for me.

 

[Lensen]

The Daewoo engines tend to die around then (as I found out, helpfully, about three months after I bought it) so I'd be careful.

 

[Optimax]

Hey guys, I'm 18 and looking to buy a second hand car for no more than $5000. I've been looking on carsales.com.au but what I am interested to know if anyone has had any experience buying dealer used cars? What's the go with them?

And does anyone know much about Daewoos?

I wouldnt get a deawoo personally, dont really like their build quality as was mentioned earlier i find them cheap and nasty.

A good cheap car are the nissan pulsar (i drive one now no trouble at all and are cheap to fix) and ford lasers older style.

You may have to pay slightly extra for the pulsar i got mine for got my 97 model last august for $6000.

My brother (also my mechanic) gave me those as my options last year.

But if you like the daewoo then get them really a personal preference thing

 

[Blind Blink]

Try the Government Auctions, mate. You get some great cars pretty cheap there. Sister got a '99 Toyota Seca Auto for 10k, and it's awesome, well worth it.

 

[maccas_no1]

Hey guys, I'm 18 and looking to buy a second hand car for no more than $5000. I've been looking on carsales.com.au but what I am interested to know if anyone has had any experience buying dealer used cars? What's the go with them?

And does anyone know much about Daewoos?

Cheap nasty rubbish stay clear add Hyundai, Suzuki, Kia and Proton into that aswell all nasty Asian rubbish. They build Protons in Malaysia and when I was over there last year I asked the taxi driver what he thought of his Proton taxi and he said the only good thing was the air conditioner the rest of the car was rubbish.

 

[maccas_no1]

I wouldnt get a deawoo personally, dont really like their build quality as was mentioned earlier i find them cheap and nasty.

A good cheap car are the nissan pulsar (i drive one now no trouble at all and are cheap to fix) and ford lasers older style.

You may have to pay slightly extra for the pulsar i got mine for got my 97 model last august for $6000.

My brother (also my mechanic) gave me those as my options last year.

But if you like the daewoo then get them really a personal preference thing

Agree with you, look for Lancers, Lasers, Pulars and Mazda 323

 

[Kram]

Corollas are good cars, I have had a 1990 one for 9 years and rarely had to fix much at all.

 

[SouthSwans]

Our Mazda 626 has served me and my family well since 1996 until I rammed it into a tree a few months ago, not too expensive either. I'd just look for reliability and thats Lancers, Camrys, 626s, even the old Barina is pretty reliable. Not Commodores/Falcons cause they're gas guzzlers.

 

[And_ROOS]

For that price id recommend a ford or holden, they are cheap, tons and tons of replacement and performance parts available, engines last a very long time, cheap to insure etc etc.

 

[RoosterLad]

Get it checked out by whatever you have over there, in SA we have the RAA and every car I've bought they have looked over. They will pick up all the faults so you will know what's wrong with it and how serious they are. Plus if you are buying from a caryard and the faults deem the car to be unroadworthy, then the caryard will have to fix them before you drive away.

 

[Shellz]

But they're all so ugly... :|

Does the car being manual help at all?

 

[Optimax]

But they're all so ugly... :|

Does the car being manual help at all?

better with fuel economy, but otherwise not much differnce in place of a stuffed auto, you get dodgy clutches and filings in the gear box.

Also you should get manuals chepaer

 

[Shellz]

and the ugly bit?

 

[Optimax]

and the ugly bit?

well no i dont think manual or auto will change that really.

Although most cars around the 5000 to 7000 price bracket arnt the greatest looking cars really.

But looks are a personal choice i think deawoos look like rubbisha nd pulsars looks good but thats me

 

[johnnyhoward]

I find it quite funny you're bemoaning the ugliness of some cars when the Daewoo styling is just as, if not more, tacky. If you're prepared to scrape enough money to spend 7 or even 8K on a car, you'll have a lot more options. I had a mate who picked up a very nice '97 BMW for 10K in good condition, with low KM's.

 

[flamethrower]

You can't go wrong with a Toyota Corolla / Holden Nova from 1991 -1994. They will set you back between $4k and $5k, and are bulletproof. If you can find a Corolla Seca from this era, grab it...they give you a bit more boot space but are very popular and the good ones don't last long.

 

[Shellz]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Asgardian]

Don't use Motor Finance Wizard if you want to believe the TV reports about them

 

[apollo_creed]

Try the Government Auctions, mate. You get some great cars pretty cheap there. Sister got a '99 Toyota Seca Auto for 10k, and it's awesome, well worth it.

Didn't know they sold cars that old there?

Either way, I know here (SA) the Government Auctions are good value.
However, they don't sell cars for $5000.

As for Pickles (another auction place) I've found them far overpriced in comparison to the Government Auctions but they do have a broader and more affordable selection of cars.

 

[BomberFletch31]

You can't go wrong with a Toyota Corolla / Holden Nova from 1991 -1994. They will set you back between $4k and $5k, and are bulletproof. If you can find a Corolla Seca from this era, grab it...they give you a bit more boot space but are very popular and the good ones don't last long.

I have to agree with that. If you're looking for a small car that's reliable and cheap to run, go for one of these Corolla/Novas. Pick of the bunch would probably be a later model '93 or '94 RV or Ultima Corolla Seca. The base CSi would probably have been previously a fleet car, but if that's of no concern to you go ahead and get it. Dare I say it, but for its age it's a fairly decent looking car. Just don't expect decent rear headroom with that sloping rear end. It's quite tight in the rear legroom department too (my dad had one, and I've driven it on quite a few occasions).

You can't really go wrong with a Ford Laser from that era, either.