Buying in NZ late 2016, HELP NEEDED

[Ian_Fearn]

YO!

 

I want to go on an an extended holiday this year to New Zealand. Probably starting in November (ish) and staying for upto 2 months.

 

This same trip was planned 5 years ago with a rented campervan but the price of this seems to have doubled, now about £5000 for 2 months (this aint gonna happen) so i'm thinking about buying either a car and camping or basic van (maybe with an airbed).

 

Can anybody offer any advice or maybe even buying assistance? 

 

I've looked at TradeMe NZ but i've no idea what the hidden costs/issues are.

[HillmanImp]

Speak to Jon as he is over there and can probably sort you some shite out. I think its in abundance over there from looking at his posts.

 

Obvs will depend on location etc but worth a chat. Hes a really sound chap.

 

http://autoshite.com/user/3790-jon/

[Jon]

Hello. Any idea of a budget? I'm sure I could offer some advice nearer the time, as could STUNO, another NZ resident member and Petrolize, who's visiting a while and has done a similar thing to your plans and currently drives around in a mid-90's Toyota wagon. 

 

Anyway, send us a PM at some point and I'm sure we'll see you right. Just to put your mind at rest, I'd say potential costs/issues would probably be on a par with someone from NZ buying a car to do the same round Britain, if not a little easier your way round. Current exchange rate is 45p/$1, which is better for you than it has been recently.

[STUNO]

Buying a vehicle here and insuring it is easy. Assuming you are over 25 all should be ok, insurance is not compulsory here, but only the stupid don't bother !  MOT ( Warrant of Fitness, WOF ) is required as is Tax (registration). All the usual things apply re buying something, The dreaded rust is not usually a worry, but does happen and seller may forget about little details like blown head gaskets when selling. Keep in touch with Jon re what's about and watch trade me to see what you might like.

Sorted !

[Ian_Fearn]

The purchase price isn't really the issue, its what i could hopefully sell it for at the end of the holiday. Ideally i'd like to loose less than £1000 in the whole transaction. Reckon thats do-able?

[Jon]

If it's a van, I reckon so. £1k is over $2k here and I don't think you'd lose that much, unless you went mega modern big bucks, of course. Buying something for say $4000 and selling for $3000 should be eminently do-able I reckon, so long as it was worth $4k in the beginning. Just don't go comparing prices of stuff in NZ to its brethren in the UK, as it's almost always significantly more expensive over here (for newer stuff, anyway) but the beauty of that is that it keeps its price well. 

 

Kiwis also seem to favour Japanese stuff over everything else, to the point that I've had a bit of scepticism from quite a few people over the idea of driving a 2006 Mondeo petrol as a daily, despite there being tonnes of the buggers about!  

[Petrolize]

Can only echo the above...Jon and STUNO are the font of all knowledge here for New Zealand...

Jon found a really nice Mitsubishi for me last year then STUNO even delivered it!