Offroad-Express

G'day, new, JAFA and looking to get off the beaten track a bit. My job keeps me tied to Auckland (I'm a PICU nurse at Starship) but I've been wanting to get out exploring so looking for some wheels to help make that happen. Therefore don't have any gear pics to post... YET.

My budget limits me to 90's trucks with a fair few kms. Here's my question: how reliable are AA's valuation reports? Some of the Trademe pricing seems a bit unrealistic given the age of the vehicles. Check this one out:



And yet I've seen SWB Safari's advertised well in excess of 10k. Granted some of them have been modded a fair bit, but still... be good to hear what people think is reasonable.

You get what you pay for... how much work are you prepared to do to it? Do you want one with the basics done (mild lift, tyres etc)?

Put any 4wd with Nissan or Toyota written on it on trademe and someone in NZ will pay more than it's worth. Back in the good old days of buy sell swap mags etc, when people had to meet face to face, you actually had to see what you were buying and pay accordingly. I sold a corolla 2 years ago, should have been worth $1k max. Put it on tm at $1 reserve, and some turkey bid $3150 sight unseen, never phoned, never asked questions. I've had 3 cars sell like this over the years. Trademe has been great for sellers but I find it very difficult to buy well these days. I have most success with classifieds and dealing direct with the seller face to face.
Of course it's all market forces. I wouldn't rate the AA values. Find a suitable truck, inspect it or have it inspected, offer what you think is a fair price and move on if the vendor is unrealistic. Good luck!

fair con standard 10k modded used off road 8k

I would find a friend or club member that knows 4wds in general to check it out with you. Eyes on the goods first before purchase recommended - especially on tardme. Aa reports might be one side of the coin, but getting 2nd pair of 4wd eyes on it would be better. You could take it to your local 4wd shop to get them to look at it. It may cost you and it pays to make a booking first.

I personally would not buy on aa report alone.

We sold out 1994 turbo lwb standard gq safari for 18k 6 months ago on trade me so that was 10k over market value in accordance to that thingy

18k really? Wow. Would you have paid that much if you were buying instead of selling.

Thanks for the responses. Definitely not buying anything without seeing/driving it. Probably won't look to modify straight away as it's got to get some use around town, and cash flow will be an issue

Buying is hard. I just sold my 2003 vanette that I have had for two years. Bought it privately ( not tm ) for 6k. Sold within 20 hours on tm for 6k. I was planning to bid on a vitara that was, judging by others was worth about $6k, that ended up going for $8900. I have found that as soon as a car is listed you need to ring or be prepared to pay a lot more. I bought my sj413 for a run around while I looked but it will do for a bit. Being a panel beater I have bought and sold a lot of cars and made a lot of snap decisions but knowing what it's worth before hand makes it easy. Do your home work so when something is listed you know what it's worth as soon as you see it. As the saying goes, you snooze you lose.

What's all this talk about Nissan's?

Buy a Toyota

Shrapa wrote:What's all this talk about Nissan's?

Buy a Toyota

Add another $3k to the price tag for a Toyota badge, have you seen the prices people want for old high km hiluxs Im hanging onto mine, must be gold in the chassis rails somewhere