Car Information

Hi, I was thinking of buying a car pretty much as soon as I arrive, when I get the ok to go to NZ :0)

Can anyone give me an idea on how bad my insurance will be having just arrived and driving on my UK licence for a bit.

Can anyone tell me about how it works with MOTs and Road Tax etc.

thanks

Katie

my insurance fully comp in the uk for a rover 400 2.0 diesiel was about 400 quid.

here i have a 2 litre v6 suzuki vitara, fully comp, with roadside assistance and all the legal stuff that was too expensive in the uk for $300 and something.. Its a whole lot cheaper than the UK.. but.. at the end of the days 300 dollars is 300 dollars..

note to all..
try to remember you are earning and spending dollars.
dont do the the whole 'bugger me that's only 80 quid I'll have that...'
because that 80 quid is about 300 dollars and at the end of the day 300 of your chosen country's currency is 300 which is probably a fair whack of your weekly income.


Warrant of Fitness (MOT) is every 6 months.. havent' had to do one yet so not sure how much it will be.. but I seem to think its about 30 or 40 dollars..

the registration is the nearest thing they have to road tax..
i think that is yearly and is relatively expensive.. (its probably not many pounds but its a few hundred dollars..)

WOF - $25-$50, depending on where you go.....and if they have a special

Rego - $183.20 is the cost for most cars on the road (petrol/passenger car). http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/vehicle-owne...istration.html

Transfer of ownership - $9.20

Bring your proof of no claims bonus. Most NZ companies will accept it!

Natty is completely correct, converting costs leads to expensive mistakes! Just think that whatever you spend in NZ dollars is the equivalent to your native currency. 1 for 1!

Cost wise though, when it comes to cars, things are more expensive than the UK, with the possible exception of getting your car serviced professionally and AA membership - which is a bargain!

We took proof of no claims and on a mk 3 golf, 2lt, both of us insured fully comp with aa was $600 (we're 26) but Aa does say they are not the most competitive.

We got our car insurance through Westpac Bank and it cost us $314 for the both of us fully comp for a Mitsubishi Gallant 2.0lt.

It's worth shopping around though. I'v only been driving two years. When they set it up there were hardly any questions to be answered it was pretty straight forward.

We got a photocopy of the insurance there and then and are just waiting on the original docs to arrive.

Not sure how much everything else cost. Our friends Dad is in the car business and gave us good deals with the servicing etc.

Urrr, car insurance isn't compulsory, which is great cos I'm 23 and I drive a 2l twin turbo Scoobydoo [smiley=icon_mrgreen.gif]

However, I plan to insure asap but it's great to have one less thing to worry about on arrival.

Can I just say, I disagree a little on the whole currency thing. Yes it would definitely be a BAAD habit to get into once your earning, but whilst your spending the currency you essentially transferred, (i.e the amount you calculated in your own currency you would put towards living expenses here), i don't see the problem.

For example before I came out I knew I had 10k of my own currency to spend, calculated on cost of living anf cost of stuff in the UK and what little info you can gather about NZ stuff before I arrived. It would have been impossible to budget 10k NZD cos a) I didn't know how much stuff was going to cost exactly although I knew most things would be cheaper and b) It just straight up wouldn't be enough cos a dollar doesn't go as far as a pound fact. When you're earning tho, it has to go as far as you need it and thats when the comparisons get misleading.

Several folk have posted back upona rrival about certain things being more expensive than back in the UK but I just don't see it. I can only assume they're doing the whole 1 for 1 thing Taffy mentions cos I can't think of one thing that like for like has been more expensive than the UK unless it's a UK imported thing from Cool Brittania, like the Bisto Granules I brought which had a $7 sticker over a 99p sticker grrr [smiley=icon_evil.gif] hehe.

Sorry to hijack the original post a tad, I'll split it to another thread if needs be.