Thursday 1 December 2005

Have wheels will travel

After 6 months in New Zealand and after 6 months of being driven around by Vera, I decided to get my self a set of wheels. I did not want to spend a lot of money on a car and neither did I want a car that will fall apart when I shut the door.

I went on a search for that car all over Wellington. Most were either beyond my reach or would not take my weight! Finally I stumbled upon this 1990 Ford Laser 1.6 Hatch. It looked reasonably tough (Ford Built Tough immediately came to mind) and was not going to burn a hole in my pocket. After test driving it and getting the green light from the local AA and the other half (more important than AA), I decided to get it.

And here is the $650 car!

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The whole process was amazingly simple. Since this is my first purchase from an individual, I wanted to be sure I was not taken for a ride. I called up the Land Transport Department (LTSA) and was given a detailed walk through with what to do.

I was told that the seller would have to inform the LTSA online about the intention to sell and I as buyer would also do the same online. I decided to do it in person just in case something went wrong. It took me all of 5 minutes for the change of ownership, and the cost? $9.20! And all I needed to show was my driver's licence, which by the way has yet to be converted!

That night, the seller drove my new car over to our place and I sent him back.

Next was insurance! For that price did not want to get a comprehensive. So went for the third party cover. All I needed was the details of the car for the cover, no need for proof of registration or anything else. I am now covered.

That was it!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, I've been following your blog silently for a few months now. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Congrats on buying your second car. I can't help but be very curious, did your new car costs only NZD650? Or was it a typo which should have read NZD6,500? Thanks :)

The Ganasons said...

No that's not a typo. It did cost me $650 in NZ Dollars of course.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for clarifying that Shagen. Wow, it's indeed a real good buy!

Best wishes from
Down Under