Depends where you are.
In the country - the average age of cars tends to be older.
In the larger cities - Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane - you get the lkatest &
greatest.
Cars are generally les than 10 yrs old.

I cannot imagie paying $5000US for 'a piece of Junk".

I bought my 85 VW Carravelle - 1.9 for ~ $4000US.
It had a re-built motor, gearbox and is in very good condition.
It has served me well for over 3 years now.

Can't comment on the 100% Tax to import....but sounds rather harsh.
I would tend to disbelive rathr than belive this comment - but I do know
that if you want to import a car into Australia - you're entering a red-tape
nightmare.

Above all - car are a lot cheaper in the USA.
We don't have the market to sustain ow prices here.

David Del Ben
85 - 1.9 Carravelle

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Wilford" <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2002 10:15 PM
Subject: Re: some notes from counterman mag

> If you think cars are expensive here, just think about this:  A friend
> of mine who is a missionary to Australia told me that over there any
> car brought into the country is subject to 100% tax (yes I said 100%).
> They say that when you buy a car you are buying one for yourself and
> one for the government.  This keeps some pretty old cars on the road
> over there.  He told me that the first van he bought over there was
> such a piece of junk that he would have normally sent it to the scrap
> yard here.  He bought it for a little over $5000 (US) and it was
> considered a good deal.  He said that you would be amazed at some of
> the really old cars that are still on the road, yet kept in good
> running condition.  It is just too expensive of an investment to buy
> new.  Any Australian list members, please comment.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> http://www.vanagain.com
> Phone: 856-327-4936
> Fax: 856-327-2242
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: jimt <westydriver@TACTICAL-BUS.INFO>
> Date: Sunday, October 20, 2002 8:54 pm
> Subject: some notes from counterman mag
>
> > look at these figures keepin in mind three things
> > 1.  sixties era buses
> > 2. seventies era buses
> > 3, vanagon series
> > and how many miles some complain they never get out of engines
> > jimt
> >
> > 1960 avg vehicle survived 92kmiles before scrapping
> > 1970 - 105k
> > 1980 - 132k
> > 1990 - 191k
> >
> > 1970 15 percent of vehicles 10 yrs or older
> > today close to 40 percent are 10 years or older
> >
> > 1980s 20 percent of 5 to 7 year old vehicles scrapped
> > today only 10 percent of 12 to 13 year old vehicles are scrapped
> >
> > dealers service the majority of vehicles to age 5
> >
> > ten years ago a thousand dollar bill for a ten year old car sent
> > it to
> > the scrapper because it had reached its lifespan anyway.
> > today that car is probably fixed and expected to last another 5 years
> >
>