Buyer Advice

Buyer Advice | Motorama Blog

What's a Dealer Demonstrator Car?

When shopping for a new car, you might come across something called a "demonstrator vehicle" or "demo car." But what exactly does that mean? There are new cars (which are fresh out of a factory) a...

Genuine or Aftermarket: Choosing the Best Accessories for Your Vehicle

Upgrading your vehicle with the right accessories can take it to the next level, but do you go genuine or aftermarket? Each path offers something unique, and the choice isn’t always straightforward...

What to Consider When Buying Your First Electric Vehicle

Making the move into an electric vehicle can seem like a daunting venture, but by breaking down the decision-making process, you can narrow down your model options to suit your needs, lifestyle and...

Clearing Up Misconceptions About Dealership Financing

Dealership financing is riddled with common misconceptions that are easy to take at face value when being spouted by competing financial institutions. The truth of the matter is, there are loads of...

What is the Best Way to Finance your New Car?

Buying a car is a big decision, and there’s a lot of money at stake – which most people don’t have on hand. We took a look at some of the options to get into your car. Researching a car, finding th...

The ABCs of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Types and Differences Explained

It's easy to feel bombarded by all the automotive acronyms and seemingly pointless marketing lingo for basic car technology, especially in today's fast-changing landscape of electric and hybrid veh...

4 Ways to Know When It Is Time to Trade Your Car

There comes a time in the life of every car when you start to question whether the problems and costs to repair are starting to outweigh the benefits of keeping the vehicle. Maybe it's rust that's ...

Everything You Need to Know About Car Depreciation

As far as large purchases go, a car for most people, is typically second only to a house. But unlike a house, a car is a depreciating asset. Some say it starts losing value the moment you drive it...

Guaranteed Future Value Explained

It almost sounds too good to be true: a guarantee your car will have a certain value at the end of your lease period. Yet more and more manufacturers are offering this peace of mind. It's called G...

Steps to a New Car Purchase

So, you’re in the market for a new car? Fantastic! But do you actually know what you get into when you decide on your new wheels? Here’s a little rundown of everything that happens behind the scen...

Luxury Car Tax Explained

While Australia has always paid various taxes on new cars, they have generally been applied across entire brands or cars from a specific region with which Australia has had trade agreements. Introd...

What's Behind a Driveaway Price?

'Drive away, no more to pay’ prices make it easier for you to shop at a dealership; but what are you really getting when you sign up for a car with a set price? We took a look at what that sticker ...

Buying a Hail Damaged Car

After a big storm, with hail and debris, the clean up often means sales as businesses try to get back on their feet. Car yards are no different. After a particularly nasty storm, damaged cars are c...

Should You Change Your Car Insurance?

Insurance isn’t interesting (until you have an accident!) But you could be saving money, by doing these quick checks! If you’ve moved house, changed suburb or even if you’ve bought a jet-ski, put i...

Model Year, Build and Compliance Date: What is What

"Why is it so confusing?" is a question many customers ask when walking into one of our dealerships and get blasted with jargon. New car slang features in the majority of car advertisements, but wh...

Should I Buy A Repairable Write-Off?

A repairable write-off is a vehicle that’s been assessed as a total loss, however it doesn’t meet the criteria for a statutory write-off. Technically it can be repaired and re-registered again. B...

How the QLD Government is Making it Easier to Purchase an Electric Vehicle

The strong push towards the electrification of vehicles from climate advocacy groups and environmentally-conscious consumers is driving efforts by various levels of government to increase purchase ...

The differences between AWD and 4WD

The terms 4WD and AWD seem to have a lot in common, but even though they send power to all four wheels in a vehicle, that’s where the similarities end. In this article, we’re going to share the fun...

The Importance of Window Tint

What is it about window tint that you like? Some people believe that window tint is for the purpose of aesthetics only but this is simply not the case. The functionality of the window tint is what ...

Capped Price Servicing 101

Having your car regularly serviced is one of the easiest ways to maximise it's resale value down the track - not to mention keep it eligible for warranty. However, not all service programs are cr...

Stress less teaching a learner driver

Every year a new set of drivers enters the road. If your son or daughter is about to get behind the wheel, you’ve probably got a lot to stress over and inevitably, you might forget something while...

Gap Insurance Explained

Like most things that you absolutely need, there has been no attempt whatsoever to make insurance interesting. While we can’t promise to make insurance exciting, we can give you everything you need...

5 Things to Know About Dash Cams

You’ve seen them on Facebook with Russian drivers in near misses with petrol tankers or meteorites falling from the sky, but dash cams are becoming more and more popular. Here’s the top 5 frequentl...

How to Protect Your Car Inside and Out

Everybody wants to have a nice looking car. But life gets in the way and it isn’t always easy to keep your car clean, here are the most common problems and how to fix them. Children are often the m...

5 Pro Tips for a Dirt-Free Car

Time and time again as you’re polishing your dashboard, you see the dust in the A/C vent and think “how can I clean that?" We’ve got 5 tips and tricks that you can use to ensure you reach all those...

How Safe is Your Car at Home?

With Queensland the number one state in Australia for car theft, are you doing all you can to keep your car safe? Thieves these days are moving away from stealing cars from a dark street or empty c...

The "Cooling Off Period" Explained

Generally, the two largest purchases in life will be your house and a car. And with any big purchase, you should be allowed to change your mind if isn’t exactly as described. In Queensland, the coo...

Extending Your Fleet Lifecycle

If your business is under pressure to reduce operating costs, it’s easy to look for short-term savings. If you have one or more business use vehicles, one of the perceived ways to do this is to ext...

The Best Everyday Driving Apps

Ever found yourself wondering “why isn’t there an app for that?” Even though we can’t give answers for all those no-app-yet related frustrations (I’m still holding out for an app that lets me read ...

When is the Right Time to Change Your Car?

One of the biggest questions many car owners have is when the best time to transition to their next car is. You might be unclear as to what’s an appropriate value for your car, when your next major...

How to Protect Yourself in a Car Crash

Getting into a car crash can be stressful, never mind if it is serious enough to cause injuries. In order to give yourself and your passengers the best chance of survival, here’s a rundown of thing...

What is Clear Title?

When you buy anything, especially a large purchase such as a car, you expect it to be yours entirely. But how do you know, especially if you’re buying second-hand from a private buyer, that the c...

Holiday Road Trip on a Budget

When you start planning a long drive with the family, most people will look at it as getting from A to B in as quickly, safely and hassle-free as possible. But by taking a few steps to plan the f...

6 Easy Ways to Make Your Car Look Better

Your car may not be the latest and greatest any more, but it’d be crazy to go out and buy a new car every time your old car showed a little wear and tear. But if you want to make it look like new a...

Scrapping Your Car

If your car has gotten to the point where it’s no longer practical to repair, you might think about sending it to the scrapyard to get some money out of it. But how do you get the most money from y...

The Ultimate Car Buyers Guide

There aren’t usually too many surprises when it comes to car surveys, with the same brands moving around the top positions between themselves. But what should you look for in a car survey that will...

Guide to Spare Tyres

Spare tyres are an important part of your car, and in days gone by, a fifth tyre was included in the price of your car. But today, new cars are increasingly sold without a spare tyre to save weight...

Best Buy: Manual or Auto?

Whether you want your car to be sporty or practical, something to show off or just to get you from A to B – your car is a personal choice. So when it comes to what you’ll be doing in traffic, how d...

The easiest way to renew your rego

If you own your own car, you have to shell out several hundreds of dollars to keep your car on the road. Save time when renewing, and get back on the roads quickly and easy. The Department of Trans...

Four hidden costs of a 'free' warranty

If you buy a vehicle from a motor dealer in Queensland, it doesn’t matter if it’s new or used – you’ll receive a warranty as part of your contract. Some dealerships will offer you an extended warra...

Three most underrated features in a new car

When you go to buy a car, it’s always spruiked on the biggest and best features. The most underrated features aren’t always on the front page of the brochure, but are well worth looking for. We fou...

Beginners Guide to Off-Road Vehicles

If you’re planning on heading off road, you want a vehicle that’s capable of handling anything that crops up. With the number of ‘soft roader’ vehicles – SUV’s that look the part but aren’t really ...

How to Carry Your Bike Safely and Legally

If you’ve bought a bike and want to cycle to work, or just outside of the usual neighbourhood streets, you can hitch your pushie to your car and find a bike path. But what are the rules around carr...

The 5 Best New Car Technologies

In-car technology has come a long way from the humble radio and manual window winders. We took a look at some upcoming options that are currently in a few cars, and may make their way across the ra...

Top 3 Common Car Myths

Some drivers swear that they have the secret to make your car faster, more fuel efficient or to avoid certain mistakes. But is it all just a myth? Everyone has a friend of a friend, who will tell y...

Tips for Buying a Used 4WD

When you’re buying a second-hand 4WD, do you know what you’re looking for? Our buyers are always trading in 4WD’s – so we took it to them for some advice on the top 4 things to look out for to make...

What Does a Diff Lock Do?

You might not know what everything on your car does, but we're here to help. We took a look underneath the floor to understand what a differential does for you, on road and off. When a car turns a ...

Is Your Car Rideshare Ready?

Now that it is legal in nearly all the states and territories, you might be thinking about setting up your vehicle for ridesharing. We took a look at the basics to help you out. Uber has become the...

Basic Towing Guide & Definitions

Getting your vehicle set up for towing can help you out whether you need to move house, get out on the water in a boat or a jet ski or set up a holiday adventure on the road in a caravan. Learn abo...

5 Used Car Buying Tips

Buying a used car, there are more checks to perform before you drive off. Here are the top five things that you need to look out for. Used cars can be in any condition from practically new, careful...

Tech Tips for the Around View Camera

Do you ever have trouble making it into a park easily? The around view camera gives you a 360-degree look around the outside of the car, including any obstacles that you might be headed for. Krish ...

What does a snorkel do?

If you are going off road, you’ve no doubt had dreams of decking out your 4WD with the best accessories for the tracks and trails. Snorkels are a great accessory to fit, but how do they work; and d...

Planning your Ultimate Caravan Holiday

Heading out in the caravan or camper trailer these holidays? We've got the three most important things to make planning your ultimate caravan holiday a breeze! It’s important to pay close atten...

How to Choose the Right Car For Your Business

Travelling for work – whether that’s to one site or across Queensland – will help to grow your business. But how do you know which vehicle is the right fit for your business? Big ideas when your st...

Ute Vs Van: Which Work Vehicle is the Best?

Going to work and need a new car? We looked at whether utes or vans are the best vehicle for the job. Utes are the go to vehicle for many Queenslanders, and double cab 4WD utes are the biggest sell...

What to look for in 'End of Financial Year' offers

With tax time rolling around, June is often the best time to get into a new car Manufacturers are keen to offer discounts on stock before the end of financial year, and buyers’ benefit from added b...

Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) Explained

Modern diesel engines are a lot cleaner now than when they were first used, but there are still particulates – or small fragments of harmful matter that doesn’t get burned off by the engine. That’s...

Tips to Unlock your Car with a Smart Key

Your car is so smart, you don't even need to press a button to get into it anymore (and putting a key in and turning is so 90s!) But as Darrell explains, you have to keep your key safe to keep it w...

How to Jump Start Your Car

Have you ever come back to the car to find it won’t start? In our Top Tech Tip, we take you through how to jump start your car – so you can get back on the road!

Hidden Freebies in Your New Car

All new cars have hidden benefits behind the sticker price. So what are you really buying? The price of a car is a big factor in how you shop. But if you look behind the sticker price, there are ma...

Ford's 5 Year Unlimited Kilometre Warranty

Ford has moved to one of the best unlimited kilometre warranties for new cars, now set at five years – with no exclusions for commercial vehicles. While other manufacturers put limits on the amount...

Guide to Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)

Driving is conflated with going fast, but being able to stop as fast is just as important. We took a look at autonomous emergency braking. If you’ve ever had to jump on the brakes suddenly, or been...

How to Calculate the Trade-in Value of Your Vehicle

The time has come to upgrade your car, and you’ve got your eye on a few options. But how can you work out how much your current car is worth? Unless you’re buying your first, or adding a second veh...

Holden Introduces 5 Year Warranty

he new 5-year warranty comes with unlimited kilometres for private buyers and includes cover for approved and Genuine Holden Accessories & Parts as well. “To offer 5-year warranty with unlimite...

7 Things New Car Buyers Should Check

Buying a new car is always exciting, and in all the rush you can overlook some important things. Of course the professional sales team at Motorama is there to guide you along the way, yet it doesn’...

Hybrid v PHEV v EV: How To Go Electric

There are a lot of abbreviations in the car industry and manufacturers like to use new terminology to make innovations look more interesting. The problem is that the customer loses sight of what th...

How to Sell Your Car Privately

If we haven’t been able to help you sell your car to us, we’ve got some tips to help you sell it yourself! So, before you even think about taking photos of your car or creating an ad, it’s a good i...

How to Maximise the Resale Price of Your Car

Having your car listed online or in the classifieds is just one small part in advertising your car. There are hundreds, if not thousands of vehicles just like yours. To get a good price for your ca...

Top 3 Reasons to Buy a Used Hybrid Vehicle

Hybrid vehicles are the more efficient way to drive. They offer tiny fuel figures and a cleaner footprint than a regular fuel powered car, and many are now hitting the used car market at reasonable...

4 Things Hurting the Resale Value of Your Car

We all want to take the best care of our cars. But did you know that there are hidden risks that could be damaging your car without you even knowing? We’re not talking about big palm fronds taking ...

How Payday Loans Can Affect Your Credit Score

It almost sounds too good to be true: thousands cash in hand without hardly asking questions. It’s what payday lenders do, aiming for a quick turnaround. But you have to beware to not get in over y...

Buying a Car: Private Vs Dealer

Private sellers look like they have low prices compared to similar cars at a dealership. But are you getting the full story? You’ve narrowed it down to two or three cars, and now you’re shopping ar...

3 Reasons to Sell Your Car to a Dealership

It might seem like you can get more cash for your car when selling it privately, but everything comes at a price. We give you three goods reasons to sell your car to a dealership instead of private...

What To Do If Your Car Is Recalled?

Car manufacturers will send a recall notice to you if your cars Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) or build date model has been affected. If you’re afraid that your car has been affected by a reca...

The Latest Car Safety Technology

Technology in cars has become drastically cheaper and more reliable over the years. What was once only available in the most luxurious cars is now standard in your everyday driver. We took a look a...

5 + 1 Reasons to Buy a New Toyota Camry

The new Toyota Camry is a game-changing new vehicle – with new V6 options, as well as the economical hybrid versions. We looked at the top five reasons to get into the new sedan. Plus one extra aft...

Toyota Introduces Warranty Advantage

The Toyota Warranty Advantage - a standard five year manufacturer warranty for all new Toyota vehicles sold from January 1, 2019 – includes unlimited kilometres for private buyers and 160,000km for...

Holden Guaranteed Value

Holden Guaranteed Value is a flexible finance solution that ‘Future Proofs’ the value of your Holden from the moment you drive away from the dealership in your brand-new car. Wherever you see the ‘...

Nissan Future Value

Nissan Future Value is a tailored finance solution that lets you keep your options open at the end of your loan term. The key difference with Nissan Future Value is that you can take comfort in kno...

Tips for Buying Second Hand Tyres

We often get the question;if we sell second hand tyres to save on the price of new ones. Though it isn’t illegal to sell part-worn tyres and plenty of tyre shops do, we refrain from it. Let us expl...

5 Hybrid Myths Busted

Mention hybrid at a birthday party and you can be sure there will be an 'expert' that has got something to say. Unfortunately most things people know about hybrid technology is based on hear-say a...

5 Things to look for in a car history

From the outside, a vehicle might seem to be in top condition, however behind its shiny exterior or underneath the hood, it might be hiding something from its past. When buying privately, it's ther...

Auto v Manual for Open Roads or City Driving

The number of people living in urban areas has significantly increased in the last fifty years, together with the number of cars in large cities. As cars are getting more advanced, they come with d...

Instant Asset Write-Off

Buying a car for your business this tax year? The instant asset write-off threshold increase will end on 30 June 2023. Get in before the end of this financial year to not miss out! With the thresh...

5 Simple Steps To Buying Your Car Online From Motorama Pre-Owned

Ever thought of buying your next pre-owned car online, from the comfort of your own home, without the hassle or haggle? And with full peace of mind! Well now you can. Our Motorama Pre-Owned team ha...

Best Buy: Petrol v Diesel v Hybrid

If you’re thinking of buying a car, some standard questions you’ll find yourself wondering are “should I go for a new or pre-owned car?” and “do I have a preference of a make and model?”. But anoth...

Mitsubishi Introduces 10 Year Warranty & Capped Price Servicing

Mitsubishi has introduced Australia's first 10 year new car warranty and capped price servicing program to ensure more confidence than ever before. "It’s our commitment to ensuring you enjoy comple...

What Happens During Your Finance Application

When you apply for a car loan, there is a lot that has to be done on both sides. Paperwork, checks, calculations you name it. Many ask why it's taking so long and what actually happens during thei...

Why There Are Limited Cars Available At The Moment?

Want a new car this year? Then you should order now! If you have driven past one of our Motorama stores lately, you will have noticed a few empty spaces on the yard! Across all the Motorama dealers...

3 Easy Steps To Financing A Pre-Owned Car

Pre-Owned cars are in high demand at the moment. With stock shortages for new cars not likely to ease any time soon, you've got to outsmart the competition. That's why we've set up 3 steps to fina...

What To Consider When Buying An Electric Vehicle

There a quite a few things to consider before buying an electric vehicle. We've put together the 4 most important points so you know exactly what to think about! Let's be honest, if you often drive...

5 Reasons To Buy A 4x4

Most people don't need any convincing that owning a 4x4 is absolutely awesome, but if you're still on the fence why you would need a 4x4 in your life, here are our top 5 Reasons To Buy A 4x4. Proba...

Best P Plater Cars

Just got your license and ready to hit the road? You better get yourself some reliable wheels that look the part. We've selected the Best P Plater Cars for you to make the choice a bit easier! Yo...

Should You Buy A Flood Damaged Car?

Buying a flood damaged car could be a financial disaster waiting to happen. We spoke with our experienced Motorama technicians and valuers to put together a couple of pointers on what to look for. ...

Do You Know What The Dates On Your Car Mean?

Did you know there is difference between you vehicle's model year, build year and compliance date? This is an important but often forgotten detail that can affect your vehicle's registration, insur...

Vehicle Warning Signs You Shouldn't Ignore