Backpacker cars in Australia
No offer for you in the ride board? Need a car? Here some advice for car buyers about cheap cars in Australia!
Older cars (10 years and more) in australia are quite cheap, and of course you are more flexible with a car than with planes, buses or public transport. If you buy a van, 4WD or a Stationwagon you can spend a night or two in your car without having to set up to set up a tent or pay money for a hostel or caravan park. Another advantage is that you can try to find more people for your trip and share petrolcosts and long distance driving. On the other hand, your car can be quite expensive sometimes, especially if you need a tow in the middle of nowhere, have repairs or need to extend your rego. Registration ("Rego") is the Australian state government tax allowing you to drive on the roads, each state having differing costs - in the region of $600-$800 annually. Check out the Australian government website about registration & licences for more detailed information. It is a good idea to buy a car only if you not travel alone, otherwise all associated costs may be to expensive for a single traveler.
Places to buy your car
Where you buy your can can make quite a difference. In general, it is much more expensive to get a car in Sydney than in Perth or Darwin. Sydney is a big city and has an international airport, and that means they have a lot of Backpackers arriving or passing thru all the time looking for a car. It is a much better idea to buy your car in Perth or Darwin where some Backpackers leave the country towards asia. If you are lucky you find someone who must leave the country in a few days, and that means for you you can get a much better deal.
Place to look for a used car are hostel boards, Internet cafe's in the city center, local classifieds or online (check out the used car forum at Holiday car club). Some cities have public car markets on weekends where private sellers offer their car, like the Fremantle car market in Fremantle, WA.
PRO-TIP:
Buy a good car in Perth for small money, then try to sell it in Sydney at the end of your journey. Eventually you can sell it for a few hundred dollars more. However don't use that idea as your business model, since there are more cost associated with each car purchase (Rego, Insurance, Transfer fees).
Find the right car for you
Here is a little list of popular choices for backpacker cars, with some (very) general ratings on Fuel economy, space and purchase price (more stars = better).
| Station Wagon | Van | 4WD | Sedan | Compact | |
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| Fuel Economy | |||||
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| Quite common, cheap, and lots of space. The Ford Falcon is a good choice for Australia because Mel Gibson had one in "Mad Max 1". Sleeps up to 2 people if you don't carry to much stuff. | If you need a lot of space for your surfboard or want to spent your nights in the privacy of your car and not in a hostel, then a Van is for you. | Gives you the freedom to explore and break down on dirt roads in the middle of nowhere where no Recovery Vehicle can reach you, but good if you want to see all the National parks. | Cheap, but less space than a stationwagoon. You will have a hard time if you try to sleep in it. | Cheap and good on gas. Great car for very small people, stock car races and modern junk presses. |
Extras for your car
Here are some good options you should consider when choosing your car:
- LPG - Petrol optional here, just fill it up on cheaper LPG! The downside is that you might have less space left in your trunk, or maybe no spare wheel because thats where they fitted the LPG bottles. LPG cars are generally a bit more expensive, but it is also bonus later if you have to sell the car. Make sure the car can run on LPG and regular petrol, since you won't get very far on just LPG alone.
- Immobilizer - keeps the car thefts at bay. Required in WA if you plan to sell your car there.
- Aircon - don't buy a car without it if you plan to visit Cairns, Broome, any Town in NT or the Outback. Just rolling down a window is not an option in North Australia and will not cool you down, but instead you will have red dust everywhere in your car after a while.
- Radio with CD/MP3 Player again this is one of the "nice to have" things untill you leave the east coast and find yourself on a 3 day road trip in Western Australia or Northern Territory. Sometimes you don't even get any decent station on AM except for the bible quotes channel and sport results & bingo numbers, so make sure you can connect your MP3 player or play CD's to keep you entertained.
- "Custom Paintjobs" - im talking about backpackers who hand-paint flowers, unicorns or patters onto their cars. That should be the dealbreaker for you. Not only does it look ugly in 9 out of 10, but the car is pretty much screaming "BACKPACKER CAR! BREAK INTO ME!" at all the car thefts, because its very likely to find iPods, Cameras or other gadgets inside. A plain white van or normal car blends in much better in cities, and it won't raise the red flag to anyone if you camp overnight in the city in the same spot for a few days.
- Spare Can - Good option if you go on long distance trips. Lets you stock up on petrol in big cities and skip some of the super-expensive petrol stations in the middle of nowhere.
- Tow bar - a substitude for bad or missing brakes. Prevents your car from taking to much damage if you accidentaly hit a kangaroo or another car. And it makes you look more badass!
Car thefts
More than 80.000 cars are stolen each year in Australia. It does not only happen to expensive cars, backpacker cars are also on top of the list; either to be sold to private buyers / other travellers who won't check the cars history or sold for spare parts. See also NRMA Car theft ratings for more information. Your basic car insurance will not cover theft or break ins, you have ask your insurance company and pay extra for that. Make sure you never leave any GPS, Phones, Ipods or other gadgets visible in your car whenever you park. Buy a steering wheel lock bar and ALWAYS use it if you don't have an immobilizer. Roadandtravel.com has more advice on how to secure your car.
Travellers Auto Barn
I meet 8 people who bought a car from Travellers Autobarn in while i was in Australia, but i couldn't find anyone who would buy a car again from this company. Problems varied from doors falling out of the frame, loosing the exhaust on the highway to brakes not working. But don't take my word for it, here are some quotes from different forums:- Within two days we broke down with a blown head gasket. (...) they had told us our warranty was only valid within a certain radius of Sydney
- our experience with Travellers Auto Barn was not very good
- (topic deleted)
Use your favorite search engine to find more customer comments, or just ask other backpackers in hostels who had been in Australia for a while. Be very carefull if some hostel staff or travel agency tries to push you towards Travellers Autobarn, it's very likely that they get a commission from each sale.
No matter where you buy your car at the end, its a good idea to pay an independent mechanic for a proper inspection before you close the deal.