We are going to take this in English for obvious reasons. In 7 points I’ll try to explain what we learned when we bought a used car in NZ. Here we go…

1. Don’t buy a car in a backpacker market. That’s to expensive. Wait till you are settled in somewhere and then look for a car auction such as HammerAuctions. Ask the local people for car auctions, they are everywhere. (Yeah car auctions as well as local people)

2. Check the auction programme before buying or even looking. Often the auction have different price classes for each day. Maybe Wednesdays are for cars under 5.000 NZD and Thursdays they sell cars under 3.000 NZD. Choose a day that suits your budget.

3. Look at the cars and look for the registration date; it’s on a sticker in the windshield. The registration of a car runs out in New Zealand. You may have to re-register the car. That’s pretty cheap – about 200 NZD for a year – but it may influence your budget. (When you need to renew the registration take the sticker in the windshield to a post office. You can renew in 3, 6 or 12 months.)

4. W.O.F. is a kind of check as far as I understand. If the car has W.O.F. it’s a good thing. If not you might want to get it checked if you can afford it. Someone in the auction staff can probably tell you how and where. Sometimes the auction even has a place to do it. We didn’t get a W.O.F. but got a mechanic to give it a routine check it.

5. If you buy a really old wreck you’ll probably want to contact AA (pronounced A-A not double A) and get a service agreement. They’ll come and pick up you and your car if the car breaks down. Ask the auction or some locals for the nearest AA center.

6. You’ll need insurance. AA can offer this as well but might not be the cheapest place. We used a place called National Auto Club. We paid 214 NZD for a year. The insurance can be sorted out over the phone in 5 min.

7. When you bought the car the auction will charge a fee about 150-200 NZD. Ask them. That way you know how much you need to add to the price of the car. (Don’t forget to add registration fee from point 3 if the cars registration runs out in a few months)

I can also mention that the public transportation in New Zealand is not as bad as everyone says. It works in the cities but I can’t see a way to explore the country without a car. It’ll save you time and probably money in the long run. Speaking off – we usually fill up the tank for about 50 NZD.

New Zealand summertime is from December-February although March is good for the beach as well. Now get out of here and start enjoying! If you’ve spotted anything wrong here please let me know.