Advice

There are plenty of reasons for buying brand-new cars. Fiscal acumen is not always one of them, as a second-hand car which has already done the bulk of its depreciating will often be a wiser financial option, but many people aspire to a new car anyway. That’s because there’s that peace of mind that comes with a car that has a factory warranty for several years, not to mention that a second-hand ca

The popularity of 4X4s/4x4s/4WDs/4wds/off-roaders/whatever you want to call them has grown tremendously in the past 10 to 15 years and these vehicles regularly top national sales charts and they’re everywhere on our roads and bush tracks.

How do you draw a car? Well, if you’re one of those annoying people with inherited and effortless artistic talent, you simply snap your fingers, grab a pencil and hey presto, a Lamborghini Countach.

Public charging and electric vehicles go together like the chicken and the egg - you can’t have one without the other.

It’s one of the reasons your car insurance premium keeps going up, and it’s also a post-Covid reality that the cost of repainting a car has never been higher. But how high are we talking?Well, it’s complicated and one of those how-long-is-a-piece-of-string deals. That’s because there are so many variables that the otherwise simple question of 'how much to repaint a car' these days takes on a very complex answer. Actually, it’s a series of answers. Not to mention a broad range of price estimates.Like how broad? Well, if you seek out a small, independent car painter that works from their backyard shed and operates with very few overheads, you could be repainted and away for as little as $1500. However, this is the very skinny end of things.Ramp it up to a show-car quality paint job and you can be looking at $40,000 or even $50,000 just for the paint, and that doesn’t include any panel beating repairs. Of course, that’s a preposterous number for most of us, but even so, a 'normal' repaint on a normal car at a normal workshop is going to rush you somewhere between $5000 and $10,000.So what are the big variables that determine how much to spray paint a car?The first would be the cost of the labour. Preparing a car for paint and then applying that paint requires skill. Good spray painters who know how to repaint a car properly, will have spent many years learning how to do so.As well as the actual work you’re having done, you’re also paying something for that experience and knowledge. That’s how trades work, and it’s the same with plumbers, bricklayers and carpenters.Some cities just seem more expensive, too, and the rule of thumb is that Melbourne is a pricey place to have a car painted. So is Sydney, but that’s just car painting costs following the Sydney trend. But because of sheer volumes, you might find the average car respray cost Brisbane way, as well as Perth and Adelaide can be lower if you shop around. That’s because these cities have the harshest climate for car paint, so a higher percentage of the car population needs repainting every year.The next variable is the existing condition of your car. If it’s not rusty and has no dents that need fixing, you’re looking good. But if there’s old paint that has to be removed back to bare metal or lots of repairs before the preparation can even begin, then that panel beating is going to be added to the price of the repaint.Want to go for an all-out show-stopper, then factor in many more thousands to get the panels gapped properly and the final paint finish cut and buffed.Then there’s the level of finish you want and the type of paint. A solid colour is the cheapest, but even a metallic paint can cost more than $200 a litre (and you’ll need several litres).Looking for a high-end pearlescent paint job? Then the paint itself could cost up to a couple of grand per litre. And it’s not just the final car paint price, there’s also the primers, undercoats and other consumables to consider.Oh, and if you want a black car, be prepared to be charged for extra bodywork and preparation as black is a very unforgiving colour to apply and needs a laser-straight car to pull it off.Even the size of the car in question has a bearing on price. The repaint car cost on a small hatchback can be up to half the cost of a large SUV. That reflects the extra materials and the sheer surface area involved.And don’t forget logistics. A shop to which you can drive your car and walk home means Googling car repaint near me is sometimes a good option if you’re not looking for a particular business’ signature work. Convenience often costs, but sometimes it’s the cheaper option.Of course, if you want a one-off finish or stripes or other details added, these all add up pretty quick. Professional car painters will be able to handle these requests, but the hours will certainly add up. Keeping it simple will definitely help keep costs under control.Speaking of workshops, there are different types of paint shops around that offer different levels of finishes. A high-volume shop that looks after mainly crash damage will be able to help you, but may not offer the detailed finish work that a specialist or high-end paint shop does.And if all you’re concerned about is how much does it cost to paint a car, versus what quality you’ll get, then the high-volume independents that often advertise online might be for you.When it comes to the question of how much does it cost to repaint a car Australia is very much a first world place with first world prices. Our labour rates are high globally and material costs post-Covid have ratcheted up too.Unlike, say, house painting where there’s a reasonably standard range of industry prices, car painting is different. Do an internet search along the lines of 'painting cost calculator Australia' and you’ll get a range of sites to help you work out a reasonably accurate cost for repainting your loungeroom. But the car painting industry? No such generalisations apply.But the variables don’t stop there. That’s because a paintjob is not a paintjob. See, you might imagine that a repaint would cover the whole car. Well, it often does, but it may not if you’re repainting a car to its original colour.That’s when you’ll probably be offered the option of what’s called a closed-door paintjob and refers to the fact that the inner door jambs and under the bonnet and bootlid won’t be touched. The closed door respray cost will be a lot less than the cost of painting those areas as well, but if you’re doing a colour change on the car, then the full respray is the only real option.At which point the question of how much does it cost to change the colour of your car is the one you need to be asking, because a closed door, colour change paintjob just doesn’t work visually.In fact, if the colour change is your only agenda here, you might be better off selling the car you have and buying one in the colour you want, if that’s a practical proposition.And what if you just want individual areas repainted? A damaged bonnet or front bumper, for instance, might be the only area that needs repainting. At that point, the bonnet respray cost, bumper respray cost or a car roof respray cost will be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to maybe a couple of thousand (again, speaking very, very broadly).Finally, how do car buyers value nice new paint? Provided the paint is still in good nick, a car with its original, virgin paintjob is likely to be worth more than a car with new paint. That’s because buyers know that new paint can hide all sorts of flaws under that shiny new skin.This only ramps up more the older a car gets, but it remains the fixed up, respray car cost or value can often be down on the original finish example of the same make and model. It’s something to think about before taking the plunge and committing to thousands of dollars’ worth of work.

There are few more frustrating feelings than coming out in the morning to find the battery in your car has gone flat.

Is it illegal to park on the nature strip in Australia?Yes, it is illegal to park on the nature strip in Australia. A driver is only legally permitted to park on a nature strip if they stop “at a place on a length of road, or in an area, to which a parking control sign applies and the driver is permitted to stop at that place under the Australian Road Rules; or the driver is permitted to stop under another law of this jurisdiction”, as stated by the Australian Road Rules.And that law applies no matter whether you’re in Qld, NSW, Vic or any other state or territory.Nature strip parking is generally frowned upon, no matter where you reside.A nature strip, also sometimes referred to as a road verge, is the public area of land between a property boundary and the road, and this area is usually covered in grass.In Australia, the local council of the area in which you reside owns the nature strips, but the owner or resident of each property adjoining each nature strip is ultimately responsible for the nature strip and that includes the maintenance of it, such as weeding, nature strip mowing and keeping edges neat where the grass meets the kerb and driveway.No. According to Australian Road Rules (Reg 197):“Stopping on a path, dividing strip, nature strip, painted island or traffic island(1) A driver must not stop on a bicycle path, footpath, shared path or dividing strip, or a nature strip adjacent to a length of road in a built-up area, unless—(a) the driver stops at a place on a length of road, or in an area, to which a parking control sign applies and the driver is permitted to stop at that place under the Australian Road Rules ; or(b) the driver is permitted to stop under another law of this jurisdiction.”As above: you may not park on a nature strip unless there is clear signage permitting you to do so for the period you are parked there, or “the driver is permitted to stop under another law of this jurisdiction” – check with your local council to make sure you have up-to-date information applicable to your specific situation.No, Australian Road Rules (Reg 197) apply throughout the country and if you do park on a nature strip, you may be fined by police or a council ranger. You may be lucky enough to be a rare example of an individual case of leniency, but it’s not worth the risk.Yes, there are penalties for illegally parking on a nature strip in Australia. The severity of those may differ between states, territories and local council areas but, as we all know, it’s not fun to cop a fine.Penrith City Council states that “the penalty for parking on the footpath or nature strip in a built-up area exceeds $257”, and that “the penalty for parking on a footpath or nature strip in a built-up area within a school zone exceeds $330 and 2 demerit points”.The fine for parking on a nature strip in Victoria varies from councils to council, but expect to pay between $110 and $580 for the offence.If you are fined for parking on a nature strip in Noosa Shire Council area, you may cop 20 penalty units. A penalty unit value in Queensland, as of 1 July 2024, is $161.30. That works out to be a total fine of $3226. Ouch.No. Parking on a nature strip is illegal. Having said that, some councils are known to take a more, shall we say, relaxed approach in that they’ll permit you to park on a nature strip without penalty as long as you have written permission from the adjoining property’s landowner to park there. But don’t tell them I said that…This is a tricky subject because you don’t want to cause friction with your neighbours but you also don’t want them parking on your nature strip. Contact your local council and let them know your concerns as soon as you’re aware of the issue. Then hopefully there’ll be a peaceful resolution to the problem.Contact your local council for up-to-date details on this and any other parking-related issues and you’ll, hopefully, stay on the correct side of the law.However, if you’re still asking at this point, “Are you allowed to park on the nature strip?”, or “Is it legal to park on the nature strip?”, then return to the top of this article and re-read it all.

Inflation is the economic effect of prices increasing over time, this impacts every item across society. But as I’m a motoring journalist and don’t have a PhD in economics (like my father did), so I’m going to stick to cars.

So you want to import an American car from the USA to Australia? Well, why wouldn’t you? American cars have long loomed large in our Aussie imaginations, to the baffling point where many, many people used to replace the Holden badges on their Commodores with Chevrolet ones, so they could pretend they had one.

If you’ve never driven through the Melbourne CBD before, the first time you do will possibly be a startling experience. It’s not the one-way system (Sydney’s is vastly more complex than Melbourne’s) nor the speed of city traffic (which, frankly, crawls). Nor is the grid system of the major streets tricky to decipher.