I emigrated to Australia at the end of 2014, and this came with a big price tag – emotionally and financially. I left my friends and family, sold my things in England and paid for a visa and flight to come and live my dream in Australia.
So when I got here, it was then a case of replacing everything that I did have back in England but it all seemed to cost so much more. I wanted to purchase a car so I could do the things I liked such as going to the gym or needed to do like food shopping!
Like I said I had a lot of expenses coming over here so the last thing I wanted to do was pay out a massive lump sum on a car. I did plenty of research on the internet and I knew I wanted a fuel efficient small run around car such as a Suzuki Swift or a Ford Fiesta. I looked on Gumtree, Car sales, EBay and would even look in the car yards as I was walking around. But nothing seemed to be right and they’d probably only last me a couple of years before things would start going wrong with them which is then going to cost me more money.
I looked at my budget again, re-evaluated the situation and I remember my partner saying to me once “Sometimes you have to spend money to make money”. This thought stuck in my mind and this is when I realised that maybe spending the extra and using my savings to purchase a newer car would actually in the long run cost me less.
So I started researching again with a different approach and within 24hours I was going to test drive a brand new (well it had 80kms on the clock) Ford Fiesta. It was great, perfect actually, a lot more than I first budgeted but this car could last me a good 10 years. It came with full warranty and the only costs I should encounter in the beginning are the rego and the service. But when you go to a car yard you never expect to pay the full asking price, this sales rep would not even budge $5. I stood my ground walked out and decided to go to another car yard, I thought this would then entice him to reduce the price – but it didn’t.
Later that evening he actually called me trying to see if I had changed my mind, however I broke the news to him that I had actually purchased one from another dealer. That’s right I went to another dealer bargained my way down to purchase a 3 year old Ford Fiesta that was visually better looking, had RAA cover and warranty. I managed to knock nearly $4000 off the asking price through hard negotiation.
So what I am trying to say is, even though I thought the first car I test drove was perfect, maybe getting a brand new car was not quite the best idea. A brand new car loses 10% of its value driving it off the forecourt. I have now gone for slightly older car however it should last me a long time. Its fuel efficient and does the job great, perfect for what I want it to do. Sometimes spending that extra and using hard negotiation can end up saving you money in the long run.