Hi Guys,
Thought i would share a recent experience i had last weekend when purchasing a new car in Perth.
If you sign a contract for a car in perth, ensure that if you are after a particular colour that it is written specifically on contract, do not be fooled into adding preferences unless you wish. We were foolishly manipulated in to signing a contact that had every colour available in the brochure in our order of preference. We did explain that we were prepared to wait the full term of 90 days to ensure that we got our first preference of colour, which they told us would not be a problem.
The other thing is dont let them use a date range on delivery date for vehicle, be specific ie: 06/11/06 not <Oct/Nov> like we had signed.
We recieved a phone call 2 days before the delivery clause (90 days) had expired, telling us that our car was ready to be collected with all the accessories fitted as contract had shown. We had not recieved a single phone call from anyone from the dealership from the time we paid our deposit and signed the contract informing us of how the progress of the delivery was going.
When we got there they had a grey honda civic, the last preference on our list and we had to wait the full term to get our least prefered colour. They claimed that they had contacted us and all parties had agreed that it was always going to be grey.
We were at the dealership for 2 hours arguing with them, that they had not delivered what we were after, it eventually ended up that they reduced the price and added some additinal services for the deal to go through. We had considered walking out and not signing for the car, and see if the dealership would take us to court over the contract. If it wasnt for the fact that we drove 400 km’s to pick the vehicle up and it was stressing the wife out, we would of probally walked out.
I know this, next time i buy a new vehicle, i will certaintly read the whole contract, and i wont be buying off that dealership again.
Regards
wayne10539
why don’t you mention the dealership here and really give them some bad publicity.
That is the last thing they would want. Dropping a few grand on a car won’t hurt them – car dealerships do it all the time to get a sale, but being seen as dodgy is never nice.
You should ring the biggest newspaper in W.A as well for fun. You might end up with a free car!
And finally, never buy a new car anyway – it is not a good financial move. The car is worth 30% less as soon as you drive it off the lot. If you don’t believe me, look up the re-sale price of your car on redbook.com.au.
A one year old traded-in version of the same thing is $$$$$$$$ less and still relatively brand new. (read “millionaire next door”).Cheers,
Marc.
[email protected]Hi Marc,
I was not sure if i could mention the car dealer, i certaintly would like to have done so.
I totally agree with you in regards to buying a new car, it is not certaintly the best financial move, the not deductible debt scenario. My wife had her heart set on it, and i would of been playing with fire should i suggest anything less.
I figured that after putting the hard yards in over the last ten years, i am a point where i want to reap the rewards of my efforts, part of that is time with my wife and kids, ( work 2 days a week), new cars and a second hand boat. I would of loved to bought a new boat, but cant see the value in it, compared with the amount you use it.
I am heading your way in 2007, taking the kids to disneyland. I take your advice on board though, if and when i replace my car, i would be happy to settle for something 3-4 years old for financial reasons.
Have a good xmas
Wayne
Boats are in the same boat (pardon the pun) as cars – only buy a late model second hand one.
I did a bit of quick research on them before leaving for L.A and I found that most sec/hand ones I saw were about a year old and were owned by people who
a) didn’t use them as much as they expected,
b) were not big enough in the first place.As for Disneyland – we took our son this year in march. He was 4.5 years old and 42″ tall, which is the cut-off for all the rides. A number of the rides he was ineligible to go on because of his height. Several of them you had to be 46″ tall.
If the kids are shorter than 42″ don’t bother going.
Also, you will need at least 2 full days to see the whole place if you are going to the one near L.A in Anaheim. It was absolutely packed and we went ‘off-season’.
We went for 2 days and stayed in a motel across the road even though we live 40 mins away – the traffic will KILL you.
Don’t even consider going there over the USA summer (june/july/august) as it will be;
a) too crowded
b) too hot
The average waiting time for a ride when we went was 40 mins.
Be prepared to take out a small mortgage to pay for it if you have 2 or more kids and your wife. Everything is expensive in there, and the parking was $10 per day if you park at the Disneyland carpark (we walked from the motel – 10 mins).
Having said all that, we still enjoyed it and the evening fireworks display and parade was fantastic.
I wouldn’t go again though.Cheers,
Marc.
[email protected]Funny you should say that about boats, yes my boat doesn’t get used as much as i thought it would, and yes, i have found that it is smaller than i should have bought.
As for Disneyland, i think we are staying at the Circus Circus hotel, which i believe is not that far from Disneyland, plan to do the Vegas and Grand Canyon thing also. I will probally only do it the once also, but am looking forward to it, as i think the kids will have a ball.
Any other suggestions of what is worth seeing in the area? People have suggested that San Fransisco is worth the visit, what do you think?
Thanks
Wayne
San francisco is worth the trip. It is about a 5-6 hour drive, straight up the 405 freeway, or you can fly. We elected to fly, as we had some f/f points, and free accom through a friend.
By the time we left our apartment in L.A, and arrived at the front door of the condo in San Fran (we hired a car at the San Fran airport) it was 6 hours!
If you go there, do Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf, Muirwoods Redwood Forest, Napa Valley.
Just south of San Fran is Monterey and Carmel – lots of seals, elephant seals, sea otters, you can go whale watching if the season is right. The Aquarium at Monterey is great. If you can drive back to L.A with some time to kill, go via Big Sur on the ocean – the views are breathtaking up on the cliffs, but it adds an hour or so to the drive.
Vegas is a good trip – not really kid friendly I don’t think, but there are lots of child-care services. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower to the Obsevation Deck and go to the New York, New York casino.
I stayed at the Caesar’s Palace – awesome, and the shopping mall there is amazing (not cheap). The Bellagio is just across the road where they filmed Ocean’s Eleven – it is spectacular as well.
I haven’t been to the Grand Canyon yet – it is on the ‘to do’ list, as well as The Joshua Tree National Park near Palm Springs.
I can go on all night as there is so much to see here.
If we are still in L.A when you come (we should be here until June) it would be nice to meet you guys and have a beer!Cheers,
Marc.
[email protected]Hi Wayne,
Have you left for L.A yet?
You might want to think about going to Universal studios or Magic mountain (six flags) in L.A especially if the kids are old enough to enjoy roller coasters.
If you want to see some nice properties do one of the day tours through the private estates of the rich and filthy rich or a relaxing stroll along Venice Beach day time only.C2
i’ve never heard of colour preferences.
if you’re buying a new car the contract has the colour. in 90 days they can make you one in japan and put it on a boat in the colour you like.
that sounds crazy. you shouldn’t have taken the car.
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