Car talk

So today Matt and I went shopping for a car.  And let me tell you, it wasn't fun.  First of all, before I go any further, you should know two things:  1) used cars from Japan are cheap.  2)  Gas is $8+ per gallon.

Unfortunately, we didn't end up buying a car today.  Why?  We spent literally 4 hours round trip on buses getting from Murray's Bay down to East Tamaki (where the dealership called 2 Cheap Cars is located) and back.  So right there, the majority of the day was pissed away sitting on buses (which were also not cheap - $20 per person round trip!)   We only got to test drive two cheap cars at 2 Cheap Cars - hah. (Just a heads up for anyone reading this who happens to be in the market for a car in New Zealand: be wary of 2 Cheap Cars in East Tamaki.  They claimed they did their AA inspection on the Honda Fit we were test driving, but even before we drove it out of the lot, we discovered the turn signals were completely shot - either fried or disengaged.  So right there that's a big problem that they should have caught, but they didn't. We probably won't buy from there even though the cars are priced lower.)

New Zealand enjoys a steady stream of Japanese cars imported directly to dealerships, which means they are much less expensive than in America and there are a vast array of models from which to choose, from Mazdas to Toyotas to Hondas. A car that is less than 10 years old with extremely low mileage will run us NZ$7,500, or less.

But any money you save on buying the car will be quickly burned up in petrol.  Gas here is insanely high: approximately NZ$2.15 per liter.  There are 3.785 liters in a gallon.  $2.15 x 3.785 = $8.14 per gallon.  Though the cars are very fuel efficient - around 38 miles per gallon mixed highway/city - it's still not enough to completely offset the cost.

While gas is crazy expensive, it is balanced out a little bit by the fact that other things are cheaper. For instance, car insurance only covers the damage to the car (the other party's car, and maybe your car if you pay more).  Car insurance policies are cheaper here because they don't have to cover bodily harm to the drivers or passengers - that is covered by the Accident Coverage Corporation and covers all people in New Zealand, including tourists.  Also, our cell phone bills are way cheaper. We only pay $19/month each for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 500 MB of data.  And that's without a contract.  In the States, we collectively paid $85 per month for our cell phone service with Verizon.

"I hate Verizon."

In the end, we're just going to have to drive less, walk/bike more, and be smarter consumers.  But one thing is for sure - from here on out, I better not hear any Americans complaining about how expensive gas is in the states!!!