Welcome to New Zealand and staying at Newton Lodge Auckland.
Travelling with a car is an ideal option to discover amazing NZ. It would help you to get rid of the city and reach most beautiful nature spots. Here’s some information for travellers who want to buy their own car and get ready to go.
Where to buy: We highly recommend you buy car in Auckland/Christchurch before you go travel.
In Auckland, you will have much more options and easy to find a budge car than other cities. In Christchurch, you could find a lower price imported Japanese second-hand car.
A: Local market: Auckland City Car Fair and Car market (Sunday).
B: Online market: Trademe; Facebook market place (They are the two major places to buy and sell cars privately online, If you are selling your car, please go ahead there.)
C: Dealer: Turners Car; There are thousands of dealer in NZ, Please check on Google Map.
Buy with a Local Dealer: If you’re not well-versed in cars, this is the easiest way to purchase one. Dealers will help you check the car’s condition and handle most of the paperwork.
The Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) will be applied to your purchase when buying a car from a dealer in New Zealand. For more information please see: Buying-Car-from-Dealer
Buy with a Private Seller: If you’re on a limited budget, buying from a private seller can be a good option. However, you’ll need some technical knowledge of cars and will have to verify the legality yourself.
General process of purchasing car in NZ
(1) Do research and looking for the right car.
(2) Contact seller and do background checks.
(3) Drive test and discuss purchase process.
(4) Do Pre-purchase inspection and then negotiate price.
(5) Purchase and change ownership.
Background Checks: Doing a background check is important to buying cars from private seller. Before purchasing, ensure you check the Warrant of Fitness (WOF), registration, theft, accident, and financial history of the car. You could easier to check vehicle history online with car plate number on Carjam, Trade Me, AA and others.
Pre-purchase Inspection Services: Before purchasing a car, you can ask for doing pre-purchase inspections by AA, VTNZ, Trademe Myautoshop or other three-party car checking services. They will help you to check its conditions.
Useful NZTA website: Buying-and-Selling-A-Vehicle
Insurance & Legality: To drive a car in New Zealand, you must have a valid driving license and must be at least 16 years old. Your car must have a current warrant of fitness (WoF) and registration (Rego). Never buy a car with expired WOF and Rego, they will only leave you tons of headache afterward.
There are several insurance companies in New Zealand, and you can choose the one that suits your requirements. Although it is not mandatory to have car insurance, having at least Third-party car insurance to afford the expensive costs of being in a road accident is recommended.
**Recommend** If you will park car outdoor unattended a lot, it would be ideal to have windscreen cover in your insurance.
The information on this page is intended to be for reference and general information purposes only. It does not purport to be comprehensive nor to other professional advice.
Newton Lodge
30th Dec 2024
