Jobs & Money Detail
Making your dollars go further
Mike Cole, a British emigrant, provides a few tips on saving money when getting about in New Zealand
Ec-car-nomics
In general terms, setting up your life in NZ is expensive with just so many things to do and in general terms it therefore makes a degree of sense to perhaps look at second hand cars initially!
Some people feel 'uncomfortable' with what might seem a step back but in truth it is better to have, say, a second-hand car but more 'free' money to get out and about and explore this amazing country.
Unless you are either a mechanic or someone who knows cars really well (and this is a time to be honest, guys, not macho about your knowledge – remember, you will be a foreigner in a foreign country!) we tend to recommend that people opt to buy their first car from a car yard so that if there are any problems they can stand in front of the person who sold the vehicle and demand it is put right. This will have a small premium on it but is probably well worth it initially.
You should also see if you can find other migrants (either before or on arrival) who you can ask where they went for their car(s) – a recommendation is so much better than a pin in the yellow pages!
For the more adventurous or knowledgeable, then cars are also available through car auctions (www.turners.co.nz), the local papers and via the web on Trade Me (www.trademe.co.nz) – but in each of those cases it is very much buyer beware!
Car choice
The choice of makes is pretty much as you'd find in Europe, albeit that some cars have different names here than in the UK – so it's a case of same car, different name (for example, Mazda Lantis in New Zealand is a Mazda 323 in the UK).
Furthermore, you may well see models here that are not the same given that there is a roaring trade in second-hand cars imported directly from Japan.
Naturally, you can get most makes of European cars here in NZ but choosing one might be more a case of where are you going to live and what service centres are available. For example, there is no Volvo or Renault dealer in New Plymouth (where I am based) and, in general terms, European cars will be a bit more expensive to service and for parts!
Japanese imports tend to be low mileage and in good nick and are checked both in Japan before shipment to NZ and once arrived in NZ to check that there has been no 'clocking' of the kilometres driven and that it is a roadworthy vehicle. Most dealers will actually import directly through a Japan-based agent so many can actually let you sit and look at what is going to be available and 'choose' your car, but you must be prepared to wait for delivery – perhaps 12 weeks!
Green or mean?
For those looking for eco-friendly cars, Honda and Toyota tend to be the key makes. However, a good number of Fords, Holdens (what we call Vauxhalls down here) and others where possible have conversions done to liquid propane gas, which is both environmental good and cheaper.
To be fair, this is still a country of 4x4s and big-engined cars – V6s and V8s. The distances we need to cover lend themselves to large-engined cars – for instance, it's a five-hour drive from New Plymouth on the west coast of the North Island to Tauranga on the East Coast, but there is little by way of places and people in between!
Whilst the price of fuel has gone up here, it is still very markedly cheap compared to the UK – we are paying around NZ$2.12 a litre for regular, (approximately 81 pence a litre).
Insurance
At this time, car insurance is not compulsory. All Brits are coming from a culture where buying car insurance is an everyday event and I would urge all new migrants to take cover – it is cheap by any standard! My wife has a Chrysler Grand Voyager, and for fully comprehensive cover we pay about NZ$650 per annum (approximately £250) and my 17-year-old son (who has been driving – wait for it – since he was 15-and-a-half) is driving a V6 two-litre Mazda Lantis and is paying NZ$795 (approximately £305) for fully comprehensive cover. As you can see, insurance is cheap and something I think you should absolutely do.
Here in NZ most insurers want to package things together – so you may get a better rate if you take car, house and contents insurance with the same provider. As the number of pure car insurers are few and far between, it will pay to shop around with companies like AMI (www.ami.co.nz),State (www.state.co.nz) or even the good old AA(www.aainsurance.co.nz).
Public transport
Unless you live in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch then public transport is a little limited. Those cities will run extensive bus and train routes for commuters but most others will only run a bus system and, in some cases, even that is limited in its reach and passenger trains outside those three cities is extremely limited.
The main way of getting from city to city is either by coach, plane or car. Again, apart from the main cities Kiwis don't really do commuting – they tend to live quite close to where they work. Sure, they may drive across the city to work, but I always joke that if someone walked into a pub and said he lived 40 minutes drive away from work everyone would know he was a Pom – a bit extreme, but you get the picture!
A personal example was when we initially arrived in New Plymouth. We lived on one side of the city and the kids went to school on the other side of the city – a journey of about 15 kilometres. We did not find one Kiwi here in town who did not suggest that perhaps we should move the kids to a closer school as it was too far to go, especially first thing in the morning. We did not do this and, to a degree, still do not see it the Kiwi way, but commuting is something that is not often done here in NZ. So, for those coming for a lifestyle change, not having to commute – and not being stuck in traffic if you do – is a big help along the way to achieving this goal!
On yer bike
Biking is very popular in NZ, but biking to work less so when compared to the numbers of recreational riders on the roads at evenings and weekends. The same must be said about motorbikes – I notice, especially in Auckland, that the number of bikers riding to work is very, very low and yet come a Saturday the garage door goes up and out come the bike for a blast around.
The same seems to hold true in the provincial towns – bikes are for fun, not for riding to or from work. Indeed, I believe I am correct in saying that in Auckland there are no motorcycle couriers – they either drive vans or push bikes!
Scooter solution?
I suppose, to a degree like the UK, you either look for a smaller engined car, drive a diesel car (not too common, albeit diesel is common in 4x4s) or go for a 50cc scooter. Certainly, initially all the school kids get scooters as soon as they have passed their tests at the age of 15 and, increasingly, as I am aware in the UK more adults are using them to commute to work.
Mike and Alex Cole run a one-stop shop for financial matters in the emigration process. To contact Mike and Alex, email: britsnz@inspire.net.nz or visit: www.britsnz.co.nz
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