A Singaporean In Australia

Astonishingly, my hunch was right. On the way out, Joanna sent an email to Jen and got us to check it via text. The email filled us with Joanna's friend's (supposedly a car whiz) opinion about our shortlists. Not surprisingly, he said they were no good. I snorted. I knew well enough what I was getting with my AUD$3,000. You couldn't expect reliability, fuel efficiency, comfort and longevity with that budget. I was looking for the best value for the money that was all.

In my mind, I challenged him to offer a solution, not a theory. With more money, I too, knew how to get a good car. So would anybody else.

Then something did happened at 0945hrs. We received another email from Joanna. Her friend recommended 2 options he found. Newly posted in Gumtree.com.au. We wouldn't have been able to see that in time as we were already out of house by then. So this was a stroke of luck. 

The first option was a disappointing one. I was surprise he even suggested. No air conditioner. I didn't even bother to know which model. Anyway the price wasn't competitive. In short it was absolute rubbish. "Is that what you have got, Mr Car Expert?" I began to get frustrated because I just wanted to get to Maddington and get everything done and over with. Before this week of intensive hunting, I was already searching and understanding the car market here. It had been wearying doing these without a closure.

I was still keen on the Daihatsu Cuore. I had done my research and was confident I could get a very good resale price should I need to sell it in future. The condition was brilliant as well and the car was only 9 year old, compared to the 15 year olds Toyotas available for 1k more.

The second option was a much decent one. I wouldn't say it was better than the Corolla which was offer to me in Maddington. It was just a truce, to me. 

The thing about buying from private seller was that we could get really badly maintained ones in spite of how well the car may look exteriorly. Dealers on the other hand, tend to take in the better vehicles, do a little bit of cleaning and small repairs so buyers could generally expect a decent quality in the cars. Well, almost. We did see some thrash offered by dealers as well so that swayed me a little to give the private seller a look.

It was a hailstorm victim. The body was damaged by hail something back although the damage wasn't obvious. "That will hurt the resale value," I thought. The owner was an Irish. Jen and I had some difficulties understanding his accent though I caught on after a while.  He encouraged us to do a test drive and we did.

For a 15 year old car, I must say I was pretty impressed with the condition of the car. The first thing I focussed on was the clutch and gear shifts. It passed with flying colours. The brakes were fine and so was the engine. The air conditioning was decent too. The interior looked well kept which I expected it to, since it was supposedly 'lower mileaged'.  I was pleased with the smell of the vehicle. Not musky, not smoky and no fishy smell. (We experienced all kinds!)

After the drive, I was still skeptical about this car being the better choice. Like I said earlier, a manual car MUST be cheaper than the automatic one in the first place. I needed some incentive to feel better should I buy this.

We had some small talk with Irish guy, (I can't recall his name now). Casually talked about the maintenance of the car. He told me he did it himself. Hmm. I got interested and urged him to show me the access to the oil filter, air filter and fuel filter - the main components in a normal servicing session. He was enthusiastic and showed me everything. When he came to the draining of engine oil, he actually got down to the ground and under the car (all while the car was parked at the side of a busy road) and gave me the instructions.

I was impressed by his unique salesmanship and decided to buy the car. I will be collecting it in an hour's time. The price agreed is : AUD$3050.

Pleased.