At the simplest level a car engine is a machine that converts one form of energy (e.g. fuel or electricity) into mechanical energy.  That mechanical energy propels your car. All car engines are complex machines and we don’t want to get into too much of the complexity here – but the following is an explanation of basic information about the key elements of car engines.  Most cars sold in New Zealand are petrol or diesel powered – and this post is focused on those engines, but if you’re interested in an electric vehicle check out our earlier post Thinking of buying ..read more

Here at The Car Brokers we want to give you as much information as possible to help you with your next car purchase.  This post gives some basic information is about the different car body styles.  The main types of car body styles are :   Hatchback:  A hatchback has a rear door that opens upwards and is hinged at the roof level.  This is a similar description to a station wagon – the difference is a station wagon has more luggage space as the rear door is hinged further back than a hatchback.  A common example of a hatchback is a Suzuki Swift. Sedan: A seda ..read more

There were 377 road deaths from 331 fatal car crashes in New Zealand in 2018.  Many more people were injured in car accidents.  It’s not surprising then that safety features are often a high priority for The Car Brokers clients.    The best car safety is a function of structural safety (passive safety systems) built into a vehicle and the safety features (activity safety systems) fitted to it. Collectively, car manufacturers spend billions of dollars investing in car safety technology and therefore as a general rule, the newer the car the bette ..read more

Buying from a dealer vs a private seller We get asked a lot of questions here at The Car Brokers – but one we get asked frequently is – should I buy a car from a car dealer or private seller? If you want to buy a new car, you’re almost certainly going to buy it from a dealer – the following information is therefore most useful for those looking to buy a used car.  Here’s how we summarise the reasons for buying a used car from a dealer or privately.  The benefits of buying from a dealer It can be easier You can buy through a dealer online, from a physical car yard or at ..read more

Thinking of buying an electric vehicle? When looking at electric vehicles, it’s important that people understand the facts, so they can make informed decisions. There is hype, but there is also reality and we want to see what a brand new electric car available now is like compared to a similar petrol version, to help us figure out, is the hype worth it? Cost As an example, a brand new Hyundai Kona full-electric vehicle costs $74,000, whereas a similar, high-spec brand new Mazda CX-3 with more features, such as leather seats, costs about $40,000. Range Hyundai says the Kona can travel more than ..read more

Damian contacted us as they were about to buy an used Audi Q7 from a dealer, but wanted to check to see what they were buying was a good deal and if they were covering all their bases. As they buy a car once every 5 years or so, they wanted the opinion of an independent car expert to check to see they were doing the right thing. After a good chat we found out they had planned on paying for the car with some cash, a car to trade and needed finance to cover the rest. The Audi was definitely the car they wanted to fill their growing family needs. They needed to sell their car at the same time as ..read more

Mihali had a budget of $20k in mind and also a car, a VW Golf. He had already seeked out finance and was given a finance rate of 13% from the bank. We want to show value in all that we do and through the use of our finance broker found him a finance rate of 10.99% this 2% savings in interest  would equate to over $800 in savings over the term We searched out and found a car for Mihali, organised a test drive and negotiated a deal for him. The car was already reduced to the point where the dealer was losing money, so we didn’t manage to get a discount off the sale price but we managed to g ..read more

Armand was immigrating from Australia to New Zealand and was looking at sorting the vehicle out before he arrived. As immigrating is a massive undertaking with many things to manage, having the car sorted before you arrive means there is one less thing to do and if you can get someone else to do it for you then even better. Armand was after a new SUV and after a little discussion we decided on a Kia Sportage. As a new car is a new car anywhere, we looked all over the country and thankfully the best deal we found came from Christchurch where Armand was flying into. We managed to negotiate $5000 ..read more

Last week we said that electric cars are the future, it’s our opinion that at some point, not too far away, new car buyers will be purchasing mostly electric or hybrid-electric vehicles.  The electric vehicles we were talking about are battery powered electric cars. There is another alternative, fuel cell electric vehicles powered by hydrogen.  Both Toyota and Hyundai are producing hydrogen vehicles though they aren’t selling any in New Zealand as yet.  In terms of volume, the production numbers are still tiny.  To give you some idea of the scale, Toyota, the car ..read more

It’s hard to predict the future, but it’s our opinion that at some point, not too far away, new car buyers will be purchasing mostly electric or hybrid-electric vehicles.  Here’s why: · Electric cars are the future.  Investors know this.  Tesla (who will sell around 300,000 cars this year and is not yet profitable) is worth more than Ford (who will sell around 6,000,000 vehicles this year).  · There is significant consumer demand.  This may not be the most scientifically rigorous survey ever, but figures from a recent Trade Me survey show ..read more