Sydney Relocation: Buying a Second Hand Car Part I

After settling into our rented apartment, we started our research on getting a car! 

I prefer a new car but due to various reasons, we decided on a second hand car ultimately.

There are lots of websites selling brand new and second hand cars but we mainly focus on the popular websites including:
http://www.carsales.com.au/
http://www.carsguide.com.au/
http://www.carpoint.com.au/
http://www.drive.com.au/
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-automotive/sydney/c9299l3003435r20 is another option for second hand cars sold by private sellers.

After a few hours of hard work as the main 'researcher', I got really bored because cars bore me unlike shopping. I delegated the car research to Mr Taro after informing him that I have given up on brand new cars as it's over our budget AND we should focus on Japanese or Korean cars as European make cars are much more costly to maintain here.

Mr Taro ultimately decided that we would focus on either Toyota or Hyundai cars because we both dislike Nissan haha. It's just a personal preference!

*I have to say that after being in Sydney for a couple of months and being a first time owner of a car, a solid, reliable and low maintenance car is more important than the perceived branding of the car. I'm glad we didn't let our 'wants' of our dream car override the practical budget constraint that we have. (:

We were considering second hand cars including ex-demo or government auction cars. Cars can be bought from private sellers, official car dealers, car dealers which can be found at Five Dock, Parramatta Road and Blacktown in Sydney just to name a few.

Suttons City Rosebery was our final choice.
+ It is an official authorised car dealer. Though we are paying a higher price but this is probably the safest option. If you are a car expert, it probably won't matter!
+ It is the nearest to our apartment in Sydney. Otherwise, the usual steps would be to shortlist potential cars online, make an appointment with the dealer, and train/bus down.

I would be doing up a review of Suttons City car dealer in a separate post.

We purchased a second hand Hyundai Elantra Active model. These are the list of things that affect our decision:
+ Based on the available second hand cars on sale for Toyota and Hyundai, we considered the price, mileage, location and reputation of dealer.
+ Doing research on Whirlpool forum, Google and Productreview.com.au, features such as cruise control which is important for road trips, fuel efficiency, servicing of the car model, reliability of the engine and functions of the car make, the popularity of the car model which means it will be easier for us to sell it off, etc.
+ Understanding if the second hand car has reverse car sensors or cameras, tinting for windows, or any paint protection performed previously. We neglected these areas and only learnt about it after we purchased our car.