Top tips for car buying during a pandemic

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    Many of us are stuck at home, doing our bit to flatten the curve of the coronavirus. While the impact of the virus has sent shockwaves around the economy, it doesn’t have to derail your car buying plans.
    Here’s our top tips for car buying during the crisis:

    Use your down time to shop around

    Hate negotiating with dealers? You’re not alone, in fact that’s one of the key reasons why we created Driva.

    Luckily these days there’s no need to go door-to-door looking for the best price on your car. In fact, our friends at PriceMyCar have developed a resource that allows you to compare actual prices across a range of cars, for free.

    You can leverage their technology to see what other buyers paid for the car you're looking at, and determine if you’re getting a good deal.

    Get your car delivered

    There’s more reason than ever not to visit the dealership with social distancing measures in full effect.

    While many dealerships are still open for business, Driva also partners with providers that allow you to get your next vehicle delivered to you without even leaving your house.

    Companies like Fleet Avenue leverage their car buying power to get you discounted deals. They’ll handle all the paperwork, and are now offering a concierge service where they’ll deliver the car straight to your door.

    Drop us an email and we’ll put you in touch.

    If you’re dealing with the seller directly, negotiate!

    While we understand the importance of dealerships in providing Australian’s access to cars, it’s important to understand how to get the most out of your dealer when talking price.

    Car dealers usually have a bit of room to move from their retail price, so it pays to haggle.

    Dealers also value closing sales quickly, so coming pre-approved with finance to the dealership is also a great way to show your serious about the purchase and able to move quickly.

    Do your financing homework

    Just like the rest of the car buying process, it’s critical you find your best financing rate. With so many lenders in the market, it’s pretty difficult to make comparisons. What’s worse is that the rate advertised by most brokers and lenders are just the starting rates, and the actual rate you’ll receive varies depending on your personal circumstances and credit score.

    Let Driva do the work for you, and use our free loan matching tool to get your best eligible and personalised car loan quotes in minutes.

    In closing

    Make the most of your down time to shop around and do your research for both cars and financing. When it comes to talking numbers, use free resources like PriceMyCar or Fleet Avenue to get the best new car prices, and if you’re going direct to the seller remember that now is a great time to negotiate.

    William Brown

    William Brown is the co-founder of start-up Driva, an online car loan marketplace helping customers fight back against the car financing process - providing options and transparency to empower customer choice.

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    Driva is a broker with an Australian Credit Licence. The actual loan terms, including interest rates, fees, and loan amounts available to you will depend on the lender's assessment of your application, including credit score and individual circumstances. All loans are subject to the lending partner's credit criteria and responsible lending requirements.

    Driva's best rate promise is available if you find a better rate for the same loan elsewhere, we'll match the competing offer and give you a $300 fuel voucher. If we can't, you'II walk away with the voucher, obligation free! To be eligible for the promotion, you must meet the following criteria within the T&Cs.

    Pre-approval means your application for finance has been approved subject to conditions, which may include the provision of additional information required to provide final approval. Final approval remains subject to satisfying all conditions imposed by the credit provider in relation to the application, the credit providers credit criteria and confirmation of your capacity to service the loan. Pre-approval is not an offer of credit.

    *Only starting rates are provided on this page. Your actual interest rate will be based on a number of factors, including the type and age of the asset you are seeking to purchase; the information you provide during your application and the term of the loan. You can use Driva's smart loan match tool to determine your tailored rate.

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