Buying or renting a vehicle in New Zealand

[[file:Buying or renting a vehicle in New Zealand benner - Cars parked in Wellington}} Driving in New Zealand is a great activity which, not surprisingly, requires a vehicle. Halal Travel Guide discusses some ideas for acquiring a vehicle in New Zealand if you don't already have one.

Buy, rent or buy back?

1964 Rambler 660 (17009294919) - Classic vehicle for sale in Auckland

Car rental in NZ is not too expensive, but the general rule is that if your trip is longer than about 8 weeks, it is worth buying instead. Remember that you probably need about a week at either end of your trip for buying and selling. You may also need to pay for insurance (not compulsory but a very good idea), roadside assistance (ditto), vehicle licensing, renewing the vehicle's warrant of fitness and any necessary repairs. So it can be a gamble to buy.

New Zealand's population is only 4.7 million and the comings and goings of travellers do affect the market. Good vehicles are pricier and scarcer in October/November and affordableer and more available in March/April, matching when most travellers arrive and leave. Many overseas travellers arrive at Auckland airport and depart from Christchurch#By_plane|Christchurch in the south. This "direction of flow" means that you can sometimes make a profit if you buy in the buyer's market of Christchurch or Nelson (New Zealand) | Nelson and sell in Auckland.

Another option is to buy a vehicle with a buy back guarantee. This basically means that you buy and own the vehicle but when you have finished your trip you will get a guaranteed price back from the dealer that you bought it from. The percentages vary between companies but it is between 40 and 60 per cent depending on the length of time you have the vehicle for. These can work particularly well for people who don't have enough time to sell or don't want to waste their time selling on their holiday.

Tips for renting

You can hire a vehicle in New Zealand if:

You're over 21 years old and the holder of a valid foreign licence (with either an English translation or an international drivers' licence) or, of course a current NZ licence. Foreign licence holders may drive for up to 12 months in NZ (after which they are required to take a local driving test).
Some vehicle hire companies require the driver to be over the age of 25. Other companies have lower minimum age requirements, such as 18 and may require a extra charge.
You understand and agree to uphold the road rules of New Zealand. Many companies will advise you take a short tourist Road Code test It's especially easy for visitors from the UK, Australia or South Africa to drive in New Zealand, as traffic drives on the left, but remember the local rules and that conditions are different.

Requirements for cars; many backpackers go for a van type vehicle such as the Toyota Previa or Hiace or a station wagon as they are planning to sleep in it to save money on lodging. Before you do this, remember: New Zealand has an excellent network of affordable hostels and campsites and also one major crime problem: theft from cars. A 'sedan' (saloon) with a secure boot which hides all your possessions will be much safer for your kit. Hostel owners don't generally like you sleeping in the vehicle outside and expecting to use the hostel showers, etc., as this will overload the place.

Rental companies

Due to natural disaster many of the Central Christchurch motor vehicle dealers and backpacker dealers have left the downtown and are now selling vehicles in the Addington and Hornby areas, which is a short bus ride from backpackers around the town.

Buying

The New Zealand vehicle market

All Your Traffic Lane Belong To Us - Car dealerships in Auckland

Until the mid-1990s, hefty trade restrictions made it costly to import whole cars into New Zealand. Most vehicle manufacturers therefore imported cars into the nation as complete knock-down kits (like flat-pack furniture) and assembled them locally, with just enough New Zealand-made parts (paint, glass, upholstery, stereos) to keep the Government happy. The 1983 Australia-New Zealand free-trade agreement meant some assembly plants closed in favour of importing pre-assembled cars from Australian assembly lines. In the 1990s and the trade restrictions were relaxed for other countries and all the remaining assembly plants closed.

In the late-1990s, a large number of used cars from Japan began to be imported and sold. At the beginning of 2008, New Zealand extended exhaust emission standards to all used vehicles entering New Zealand, which almost killed the used import market. However and the used import market has since recovered, but only for petrol-powered vehicles.

The three dominant vehicle makes in the New Zealand market, as of 2022, are Toyota, Ford and Holden (General Motors).

Tips for buying

The best tip is to check the vehicle before you buy, for legal and mechanical problems. A website like carjam can help you checks the legal history of the vehicle including ownership history, mileage recorded at each warrant of fitness test (to help detect "wound-back" odometers), police interest and security interests registered against the car. The mechanical check can be carried out by the Automobile Association (AA) for a cheaper price if you are a member and is called a pre-purchase inspection. Most reputable mechanics will also perform such checks for you and they normally cost between $100 and 160 depending on the company and the quality of the check; they should take around 2 hours.

Many of these tips are true regardless of where you are looking to buy a car, but there are a few concerns specific to cars in New Zealand:

Because fixing cars is affordable in NZ and it receives lots of Japanese imports, many cars that would be completely uneconomic in Europe are still on the road, sometimes going round and round the nation with a succession of backpacker owners. Ideally you want a vehicle that has just come into the backpacker circuit after a long time with one lady owner and a full service history. They do exist but they take some searching.
Don't buy a vehicle you have not test driven yourself for at least around the block. If you are too scared to drive it, ask the seller to take you on a short ride and tell him what you would like him to do: brake sharp, accelerate fast, etc. New Zealand's unique state-organised er-motorists/index Accident Compensation Corporation system means you are covered for personal injury in any vehicle (very handy for test drives) but that is all, so don't hit anything.
Don't buy a vehicle (either from a garage or private person) if you do not have at least some basic knowledge of cars and know what to look for.
Don't buy a vehicle from a dealer unless he (or she) is specialized in providing for backpackers and has a good reputation (ask them for feedback from his clients and check the Internet).
Don't buy a vehicle that is leaking any fluid (black engine oil/brake fluid, brown engine oil/brake fluid, red gearbox, green radiator or other), has an oily looking engine head or rust on important parts of the chassis such as the door areas, or near the suspension mounts.
Don't buy a vehicle that has problems with the gearbox (automatic or manual) - this type of repair can be expensive. Don't buy the argument that you will have to use overdrive or use neutral position when parking.
Don't buy a vehicle that doesn't stop (sharp!) when you want it to stop. Check all the vehicle lights with the help of a friend.
New Zealand cars first registered on or after 1 January 2000 need a Warrant of Fitness (WoF) inspection at three years and then every year after that. Cars first registered on or before 31 December 1999 need a WoF inspection every six months. By law, a vehicle cannot be sold with a WoF over 30 days old, unless sold "as is, where is". A Wof can cost as little as $30 (although $40-50 is the usual price) and, like the MoT in Britain, is not a guarantee of mechanical condition. The only factors that are looked at on a Warrant of Fitness inspection are for the safety of the car, not the engine, gearbox or cooling system (apart from the fact they work and they aren't leaking oil/fluid), so if you are told "the vehicle has been mechanically inspected, it has a new WoF" these are not the same. Ask to see the WoF inspection sheet, which can reveal issues that require attention but aren't severe enough to fail the vehicle (e.g. tyres getting low on tread).
Do buy a vehicle that can easily and affordablely be fixed; this means a Japanese make and model (Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Honda, etc.) or alternatively a Ford or Holden. There is an abundance of Japanese vehicles, Fords and Holdens in New Zealand and this means they are the cheapest cars to fix and you can often find second hand replacement parts.
Due to NZ's small population, cars are much easier to buy and sell in the main city's. This means Auckland or Christchurch and the two gateways and to a lesser extent Wellington, Nelson and Dunedin. Many travellers buy in Auckland and sell in Christchurch, so you could try arranging your travels the reverse direction. Remember that Auckland has five times as many Muslim as Christchurch.

Car markets

Road to Mount Cook.NZ (13046770814) - Road to Mt Cook

You should do legal and mechanical checks before you buy. When it comes to selling, don't give away your flight date; if it is tomorrow they will smell the desperation and you'll be lucky to get $100 for the car. A good answer to 'when are you flying?' is 'when I sell the car'. Check for reviews of the place you want to buy or sell. Know the value of cars in New Zealand - do your research first - and don't be persuaded to go above what you know is the market price by the market proprietor - they may not be acting in your best interest.

Auckland has several car markets the main one is on Sunday at Ellerslie Racecourse. Sellers $20, free to buyers. Turn up before 09:00 if you can, it will all be finished by 12:00. On site registration transfer and mechanical inspections. Christchurch's similar operation is at Christchurch's Addington Raceway on Sunday from 09:00.

The Backpackers Car Market is centrally located in Auckland and Christchurch and open daily 09:30–17:00. It's the only dedicated backpackers' or travellers' vehicle market in Auckland.

Used vehicle sales websites

Bedmobils - Budget backpacker campervans hire, sale and buybacks. Excellent value.
TradeMe - Thit is a New Zealand auction site, like ebay. Its motor section covers all regions of NZ and you can arrange for pre-bidding inspection in all cases.
Turners Car Auctions - Another NZ auction site, specializing in used vehicles. A tool is available to look up how much past vehicles have sold for.

Other expenses

Transferring the vehicle into your name: take proof of ID to a New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) agent (PostShop, AA, Vehicle Testing NZ, Vehicle Inspection NZ) and fill in a Notice of Acquisition of Motor Vehicle (MR13B). Alternatively, if you hold a New Zealand driver licence, you can transfer ownership online at the NZTA website ( nzta.govt.nz) and pay by credit card. As of April 2014 and the fee to transfer a vehicle was $9.00. When you sell, you need to fill in a Notice of Sale/Disposal of Motor Vehicle (MR13A) online or at an NZTA agent - this will limit your liability for any parking offences or traffic violations if the new owner doesn't transfer the vehicle into their name. You will need a New Zealand address; it is ok to use your hostel or a service like Private Box.
Vehicle license: commonly called "rego". This can be purchased in 3-, 6- or 12-month chunks, online or at an NZTA agent. You'll get a renewal notice from NZTA a few weeks before your licence is due to expire; have it beside you when you renew online or take this notice to an NZTA agent with payment. If you don't get a renewal notice, you'll need renew online with a New Zealand driving licence or to fill in a Application to license motor vehicle (MR1B) at a NZTA agent. A petrol vehicle costs $75-80 for three months; a diesel vehicle costs $110-115 for three months.
Road user charges: unlike petrol, diesel is not taxed at the pump; instead, a diesel vehicle pays road user charges based on its weight, its number of axles and how many kilometers it does. You can renew RUC online, or by filling in a Road user charges distance licence application (RUCLA) at an NZTA agent. The cost is around $53 for 1000 km for a standard car.
Insurance: the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) gives everyone in New Zealand (including visitors) universal no-fault personal injury insurance; they take a percentage of the price of petrol and the vehicle licence cost to cover injuries caused by motor vehicles. However this will not cover damage to other vehicles and to property, so it is highly recommended that you get at least third party vehicle insurance as well. AA Insurance, AMI, State and Tower are the main private vehicle insurers. If you need short-term insurance then there are companies that specialise in this such as Traveller's Car Insurance.
Roadside assistance: again not crucial, but a good idea. AA and Vehicle Testing NZ offer roadside assistance, while AMI, State and Tower offer roadside assistance as an extra on their vehicle insurance.