Well, my son has gone to live and work in OZ - went on the 18th and now is set up with an IT job starting on tuesday. One problem - he needs a car
for work, and I can't believe the prices! - they make ours look cheap. For example, a bog-standard 1995 1.6l golf is $4995 ! (that's
£3100).
Leasing and hiring are equally expensive.
I'm still jealous, though.
try sticking with a holden
http://www.tradingpost.com.au/Automotive/Used-Cars/Search?Sections=X1C&MakeModel1_Make=HOLDEN&Dynamic_type=&MakeModel1_Model=&ItemsCon
dition=&QueryTerm=&PriceMin=&PriceMax=3000&OmnSearchType=DepartmentFinder&intref=marcon183&AdvancedSearchLocation=&State=
Imports are expensive. Buy Australian.
Spares from breakers are also expensive.
On the plus side every fifth car to rumble past you in the street has a V8 in it.
But I still dont get the V8 Holden/Ford posh ute thing.
quote:
Originally posted by gdp66
try sticking with a holden
http://www.tradingpost.com.au/Automotive/Used-Cars/Search?Sections=X1C&MakeModel1_Make=HOLDEN&Dynamic_type=&MakeModel1_Model=&ItemsCon dition=&QueryTerm=&PriceMin=&PriceMax=3000&OmnSearchType=DepartmentFinder&intref=marcon183&AdvancedSearchLocation=&State=
sorry, no V8 for him - just had an email back from him and he's bought this
:Focus
needs to be both practical, economical and reliable...... !
Check out car prices in Denmark (tax adjusted)... that'll soon put things into perspective!
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Check out car prices in Denmark (tax adjusted)... that'll soon put things into perspective!
I suspect it's also invalid to try direct comparisons of amounts since income and cost of living are probably quite different here. Average
Australian income is quoted at about AU$56k (~£35k) and people working in skilled/technical trades are probably looking at more like $70k-$80k
(£44k-£50k) as a starting point. Fuel is about $1.60/litre (£1) at present which I suspect is considerably lower than the UK. Also, with our
climate, a 15 year old car is not a salt eaten rust bucket Second hand cars retain their value a lot longer here.
Where in Oz is your son working?
Dominic
Hi, Dominic - yes, you are right about the relative cost of living comparison. One of the main reasons he's gone is the earnings potential - his
starting package is pretty good, and the best bit is they are going to sponsor him to stay - which is a big plus. You are catching us up with fuel
prices, ours are about £1.37 a litre.
He starts on tuesday with an IT firm in Melbourne. We are already planning to come for a month in feb/mar (it'll be our fourth time!). How did
you get on with the floods last year - Brisbane was badly hit, wasn't it?
[Edited on 7/10/11 by stevegough]
Steve,
If you get up to Brisbane when you're here next year, drop me a line (dominic AT diysportscar DOT org) and we'll see if we can hook up with
the local boys for a run up into the mountains. For that matter, register on OzClubbies.com.au and hook up with the Melbourne crew.
Re the floods - mid January was the really big one in Brisbane. We were fine at home (about 70m above sea level) but work was chaos as our data
centre is in the CBD which lost power as the electricty authority shut down great chunks of the city to prevent even more damge. We had a little
warning but restarting a big bunch of rapidly shut down legacy Unix systems consumed a lot of IT people's nights and weekends for a while there.
Overtime pay was nice when it was all over though
If your son's working in IT in Melbourne AND they thought he's worth sponsoring his residency then I can't imagine his basic salary has
less than six digits in it Hope it goes well for him - Melbourne's a fun town (although I couldn't live in it myself ).
Best regards.
Dominic
quote:
Originally posted by stevegough
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Check out car prices in Denmark (tax adjusted)... that'll soon put things into perspective!
er...he doesn't need one in Denmark, Scootz!
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
quote:
Originally posted by stevegough
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Check out car prices in Denmark (tax adjusted)... that'll soon put things into perspective!
er...he doesn't need one in Denmark, Scootz!
er... he doesn't need one in Britain either, Steve
quote:
Originally posted by stevegough
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
quote:
Originally posted by stevegough
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Check out car prices in Denmark (tax adjusted)... that'll soon put things into perspective!
er...he doesn't need one in Denmark, Scootz!
er... he doesn't need one in Britain either, Steve
er... you don't need a bruggered up 350z engine, Scootz - but it didn't stop you buying one
(sorry, scootz, couldn't resist...!)