Help wanted please, buying a car!

[Mannix20vt]

Ill be arriving in Australia on February the first and will need a car a few weeks from then. I'd love to get a diesel mk2 or something similar but would be unfamiliar with the market over there

Where's the best place to buy cars from?

How much would I be looking at for something driving? Don't mind if it needs small work.

What's the situation with Rego/test? And the cost of these?

I'm going to be on a budget of $2500-$3000, what would ye recommend to buy?

I've noticed that cars are very expensive compared to here, I want something reliable and something easy to work on ie; an older car.

All help, comment, criticism more than welcome!!

Thanks,

Mannix.

[walshydub]

First of all good luck with your move to Australia!

Unfortunately you won't find a Diesel MK2. You'd be looking at either an Aussie MK2 GTI which are all 1990+ and 5 doors or an imported GTI usually from either South Africa or the UK again it will be a 5 door GTI.
If you were hoping for a 3 door car, you'd need to double/triple your budget.
You'd be looking at a half decent car but not a minter for $3000. Availability also depends on where you are going to live. There will be plenty of choice in Sydney/Melbourne but the pickings are slim in Queensland/WA.

Have a look at the classifieds section on here also eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home decor or Used Cars - New Cars - Search New & Used Cars For Sale - carsales.com.au

Have you thought about importing your car, it would be a very unique car on these shores and would easily be worth $15k+ once its here.
Other alternatives are a MK1 or MK3.

Hope this helps...

[Mannix20vt]

First of all good luck with your move to Australia!

Unfortunately you won't find a Diesel MK2. You'd be looking at either an Aussie MK2 GTI which are all 1990+ and 5 doors or an imported GTI usually from either South Africa or the UK again it will be a 5 door GTI.
If you were hoping for a 3 door car, you'd need to double/triple your budget.
You'd be looking at a half decent car but not a minter for $3000. Availability also depends on where you are going to live. There will be plenty of choice in Sydney/Melbourne but the pickings are slim in Queensland/WA.

Have a look at the classifieds section on here also eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home decor or Used Cars - New Cars - Search New & Used Cars For Sale - carsales.com.au

Have you thought about importing your car, it would be a very unique car on these shores and would easily be worth $15k+ once its here.
Other alternatives are a MK1 or MK3.

Hope this helps...

Thanks for the well wishes, I've wanted to return and couldn't resist the opportunity.

I'm heading to Brisbane and staying forty minutes or so out so will need transport almost straight away, thanks for the info and links. Might go for a mk3 if it's more suited for my budget, would like to stay with something I'm familiar with.

I have thought about it but not sure if I could, would it be worth that much? Here as it stands I might get $8000 or so if I was lucky, it owes me over $12000. I'll look into shipping for the sake of it, might be a reasonable option.

[ryana89]

What do you currently drive Mannix20vt?
Walshy is pretty much spot on with what he said.

In my opinion (open to criticism)
MK3 = Good Daily, a manual GL/CL would be perfect.
MK2 = Ok daily, if you spend $4000 - $5000 (and are prepared to work on it)
MK1 = Project car, unless you lash out the cash ($3000 - $5000) when you buy it

The other thing you could do is just pick up a 90's Corolla for $2000 and use it as a little run around, whilst searching for a VW/project.



EDIT: Stupid me, just realised you own that turbo 1.8 MK2.

[ozvino]

If you have owned your car in Europe for greater than 12 months from memory your car will be GST and Import Tax/Duty free so all you will pay is the freight and roadworthy costs.

As you probably already know a Pre-89 spec car is easier to bring in and get on the road HOWEVER if your car is modified (assuming it's the one in the pics) you may struggle to get it on the road given it has never been registered here.....I'm no expert on importing cars so someone more knowledgeable may want to comment...

Agree with Ryans comments, buy a cheap and cheerful runaround and then find something else once your feet are on the ground. Euro cars are often neglected in this country and almost all are expensive on parts etc....

Dave

[Mannix20vt]

Thanks for the replies. A corolla would be an option if they can be picked up at good money! Reliable and I can fix anything that goes wrong myself!

I fear that my car may be a pain in the neck to get in and on the road out here and I'd be half afraid of shipping it over but would love to have it! I'll start thrawling through the links for something suitable and post it up for opinions!

[ryana89]

Reliable and I can fix anything that goes wrong myself!

Not to mention that parts for Toyota's, Nissan's, Holdens and Fords pretty much grow off the trees, you have no trouble finding parts.
And like Ozvino said, parts for Euro boxes are expensive, thats if you can even find them!

But you sound like you know what your doing (from reading your MK2 thread) so the choice is yours really.

[walshydub]

Not to mention that parts for Toyota's, Nissan's, Holdens and Fords pretty much grow off the trees, you have no trouble finding parts.
And like Ozvino said, parts for Euro boxes are expensive, thats if you can even find them!

But you sound like you know what your doing (from reading your MK2 thread) so the choice is yours really.

That's all part of the fun though isn't it.

You could even find yourself a slice of classic aussie V8 action if you're brave enough...

[Mannix20vt]

I'd be handy with the older stuff but hat any of the new stuff, stripping parts for 2 hours to get at what you need to change!!

I'd gladly get a holden but the keeping petrol in it may be the problem!!!

I'd like a ke70 Corolla, I like my old toyotas too. Had a few ae86's and the like.

[Mannix20vt]

What sort of dollars does it cost for a rego/rwc??

[walshydub]

6 month Rego for my car was $360 for 6 months. A RWC costs around $100 but only needs to be done once as long as the car is registered.

Registering vehicles (Department of Transport and Main Roads)