We finally bought a second-hand car in Melbourne after searching for months.
2015 Toyota Corolla
We bought her via Carsales, the most popular online marketplace for cars in Australia.
We had viewed about 5 or 6 cars before buying her. At first, our budget was $10k but then we realised it would not get us the right car so we increased our budget to $15k. Our friends told us that we should negotiate for the lowest price, but we were both terrible in bargaining and only managed to slash $180 off the original selling price… though we got some freebies such as free first car service and extended Rego.
We chose Toyota for its reputation of ‘cockroach’. We do not need too many functions or fancy appearances, as we only want a reliable model and hoping we can drive for at least 5-7 years without giving any trouble. We also specifically looked for a Sedan with a reversing camera.
Interestingly, just a couple of days before we bought the car, we viewed the exact same type of car from the other car dealer. It had 13k lower mileage than this car at a slightly higher price. We did not buy that car just because we did not trust or like the salesman.
Flinders Street Station is always crowded
We are glad that we have finally bought a car as it is very inconvenient to get around Melbourne without it. It takes more than an hour (one-way) to commute to my office through public transport while it only takes 20 minutes to drive when the traffic is low. Also, it can be unbearable to take public transport in Melbourne when the weather is extreme such as over 40 degrees.
It is not easy to buy a car in Melbourne without having a car first, because most of the car dealers are quite far away from the city. That limits our chances of inspecting the cars that we are interested in. Furthermore, the car market is very competitive. There was once we inspected a car and then it was bought by another couple just 5 minutes before us. It was a tiring process and it was finally over.
Hopefully, the car will bring us joys and more memories in Melbourne. 🙂
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