It’s always great to read news from down under. You’ll usually end up with a few new words to add to your vocabulary.

The advice given to first time car buyers in Australia is basically the same advice that would be given in the US.

Up here we look for pick-up trucks and down there they go about looking for “utes”. Here we look for crooks and they warn folks to avoid “shonky” owners.

“Unless you are fortunate enough to know someone in the car dealer business, private sales will yield the lowest prices. However, there are problems with location, shonky owners, no guarantees, etc.

You could end up with a bomb that still owes thousands to a hire purchase company or could even be stolen.”

They offer the same advice on warranties, advising a young couple that a new car might be the way to go simply because they often include “considerable warranties”.

They do handle their used car warranties a bit differently and whereas in the states we’d be concerned about a deal going sour, in Australia they try to avoid a deal going “pear-shaped.”

“Some car dealers now even offer warranties on used vehicles, plus they are strictly controlled by fair trading laws, there are cooling-off periods and you have the ability to complain to the Office of Fair Trading if it all goes pear-shaped.

Be aware that some used car warranties will cost extra and that there is already a free statutory warranty on all used cars.

It guarantees free repair of certain defects by the dealer or their nominated repairer, if the defects are found after you’ve bought the vehicle.

For cars less than 10 years old and an odometer reading under 160,000km, the warranty is three months or 5000km, otherwise, it’s one month or 1000km.

Brokers licensed under the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act can get good prices and will do the legwork for you, but they also charge a commission.”
(Source)

So if you are down Australia way, you have been warned! Do not buy an ute from a shonky seller or your whole deal will go pear-shaped!