Alex & Phil's 5 Steps For Buying Your First Car

Alex & Phil. Sunshine Toyota Used Vehicle Department.

There are a few simple steps to take and things to remember that will make buying your first car so much easier.

 

1. Set your budget

Before you get out and hit the yard it is best to sit down and figure out exactly how much you can afford to spend. When looking at finance it is a good idea to look at figuring out a weekly budget, which should include things like your insurance and running costs.

 

2. Do your research

Once you have an idea of what where your finances sit, start taking notice of styles of cars that are driving about on the road. There is no point looking at hatchbacks if you really like the look of that sedan! The Internet can be a great source of information here too, but be wary if something is too good to be true, it probably is. Have a look at our website by clicking here. Things to keep in mind are things like safety rating, past history (whether it’s been in a crash/flooded/hail damaged).

3. Its time to hit the yard!
Either come down and see us or give the friendly Used Car Team a call on (07) 5493 3900 and we will be able to walk you through the different makes and models available as well as give you all the information you need to make an informed decision with finding the right car to fit your budget.

4. At the Dealership. 

Once you’re feeling you have found the right car there are a few things you HAVE to do! You MUST take it for a spin! You won’t know if it is the right car for you unless you take it for a test drive (no matter how pretty it looks!). It is like a pair of shoes, you wouldn’t by them without trying them on first! While you are out on the test drive it is the perfect time to test things like how responsive the car is on acceleration, steering and to make sure there are no funny noises.

5. Piece of Mind. 

All of Sunshine Toyota’s Used Cars come with a 3year or 175,000km Warranty, which is backed up with 2 AMAZING service locations at Currimundi and Sippy Downs. Depending on the age of the car it is also possible that remaining new car warranty will be passed on to you. All our cars have passed a PPSR Check, which means they will not be previously written-off, flood damaged or have someone else’s finance still over the car! All of the Used Cars at Sunshine Toyota have also been mechanically inspected and fully serviced by our team at our Pre-Delivery Centre before they hit our yard, so not only can you take great pride in knowing you are getting the BEST, we can too!

Congratulations! You have found your first car! It is time to take care of all the paperwork that involves agreeing on a price, your entitlements regarding statutory warranties and registering your new car in your name. Our Finance and Insurance team will also be able to walk you through applying for finance and also arm you with competitive quote from a variety of insurance companies.

Come and see the guys today!

Sunshine Toyota Volunteers for National & School Tree Days

National Tree Day and School Tree Day are some of the most important community involvement dates on the Sunshine Toyota calendar. We see it as such a terrific way not only to give back to our community but also to play a part is supporting the local environment.

 School Tree Day

The team and the TEAKs

Some of the gang ready for action at Little Mountain

This year Sunshine Toyota partnered with Talara PrimaryCollege in Currimundi to plant some trees in their new orchard. Seven Sunshine Toyota team members came armed with shovels and hoes, with their gardening gloves ready for action. The wonderful groundsman at Talara had done the hard work for us and the holes were already dug and ready to be filled. Candy Law and the Talara Environmentally Aware Kids (TEAKs) were on hand to teach us about local flora and fauna. They were excited and proud to tell us what they had learnt. We planted an assortment of fruit trees and the students promised we could come back for morning tea once they had sprouted. We took along some native plants to add to their garden. Rory and the guys at the Coolum Community Native Nursery very generously donated these natives, they have donated to so many schools on the coast and we think they are pretty terrific! Thanks Rory! It was a great day and a great friendship has been struck between Talara Primary College and Sunshine Toyota and we can’t wait to partner with them again in the future. Thanks for having us.

National Tree Day 

Thanks Geckoes for the Wildlife Presentation

This year National Tree Day was held at the end of Village Way in Little Mountain. It was extremely muddy and I don’t think my sneakers will ever fully recover- but it was worth it! Families started arriving bright and early and the Sunshine Toyota team were there to give out out National Tree Day t-shirts and gardening gloves. Rhonda from the Sunshine Coast Council did such a wonderful job in co-ordinating the site and it was terrific to see so many kids excited to be involved. Volunteering to plant trees in your community is such a great message to send to children as it empowers them through social awareness. The winter sun kicked in and it looked like the volunteers were fading just as the Sunshine Toyota team handed out ice-cold bottles of water and lollies for everyone. The working-bee continued until almost lunchtime and hundreds of native trees were lovingly planted by locals. The kids definitely enjoyed the mud!! Afterwards there was a sausage sizzle and the Lions Club did a great job on the BBQ! The team from Geckoes then put on an interactive wildlife presentation that saw the kids touching lizards and holding giant snakes! It was another successful National Tree Day that Planet Ark should be very proud of. Many thanks to the Sunshine Coast Council, the Currimundi Catchment CareGroup, The Lions Club of Caloundra and Geckos for such a great day and a special thanks to the team from Sunshine Toyota who brought their families, friends and dogs!    

The kids loved it!

     

Sunshine Toyota lends support to the Rotary 'RYDA' Program

Sunshine Toyota is showing their support for young people by volunteering for the Rotary RYDA road safety program.

RYDA’s one-day program leads teenagers through six informative and interactive presentations on all facets of road safety and is targeted at Year 11 students.

“RYDA provides the students with valuable information to arm them in becoming more aware on the road, the program adds tremendous value to the broader community we support through the education of young drivers.” Sunshine Toyota’s Dealer Principal, Darren Venning said.

“The day focuses on the key government ‘big five’ road safety issues of speeding, DUI, fatigue, seatbelts and distractions as well as the importance of driving as a social responsibility” RYDA Program and Schools Coordinator Neville Woodforth said.

The RYDA program has been instrumental in keeping the Sunshine Coast roads safer since it was founded in 2000 and introduced to the Sunshine Coast in 2009. Today the program is delivered to over 50,000 Year 11 students in 90 different venues around Australia each year.

Darren Venning and the team at Sunshine Toyota

“Working in the automotive industry, my team feel a connection with this program and sought out the local Rotary clubs to see how we could lend support, we encourage every school on the coast to get involved.” Mr Venning said.

“We are proud to donate our time and volunteer for the RYDA program to support in facilitating this road safety education process.” Mr Venning said.

Sunshine Toyota will attend the Unity College RYDA day at Corbould Park on 22^nd July.

Laser Tag!

Wednesday night was dark and the enemy was out on the prowl! The Sunshine Toyota team was at Laser Zone in Warana ready for action! We are all about fun here at Sunshine Toyota and we love any opportunity to hang out with our co-workers after the close of business. We find that it is a pretty fun bunch of people that are attracted to working at Sunshine Toyota and this means our after hours outings are usually pretty funny! So with our flashing vests on and our laser guns at the ready we were all excited to shoot for high scores, find the perfect hiding spot and have a lot of laughs. It was a great night out with the team. Brett and Ryan definitely took winning the most seriously! Looking forward to the next time… we might take it REALLY seriously and the camouflage paint might have to make an appearance!! 

Aly Bull's Olympic dreams

A little part of Sunshine Toyota is with Aly when she competes

Not many people can say that they are an Ironwoman, but 19 year old Alex Headlands girl Alyssa “Aly” Bull can! Aly’s winning combination of dedication and hard work has seen her enjoy many a success out on her surf ski and it was exciting to have a chat to Aly and talk about her career hopes for the future.

Like Aly, her car stands out from the crowd!

Sunshine Toyota is very proud of the support that they are able to give Aly. Her consistent hard work and positive attitude are some of the qualities that started us following her career. Being a local girl, Aly grew up on the beach. She has always loved the water and got into nippers and life saving at the Alex Surf Club at an early age. She has recently made the transition from surf to sprint kayaks in order to challenge for the Olympics a decision Aly recalls was not an easy one. It meant leaving her family and friends as well as her home town surf club and moving to the Gold Coast to train with the revered Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). She hasn’t completely left the surf club behind- thank goodness- Aly still competes in the Clubby Carnivals in the ski events, and certainly gets the biggest cheers from her hometown supporters!

Aly adheres to an intensive and strict workout regime that sees her up at the crack of dawn and on the water for her morning session; she then goes for a run before her afternoon session of gym and a paddle. Aly does an extra long cross training session on Saturday mornings as well as lots of core work and stretching AND she rides her bike to and from every training session. I’m exhausted just thinking about it! This might seem like a huge commitment, too much for some, but not for Aly as she is chasing her dream of a podium finish at the next Olympics. Go Aly!

Aly is so proud of her achievements and the dream that she is chasing, but when asked if there was anything she felt she missed out on because of her incredible sporting triumphs the answer was quite funny. The Big Boing in Birtinya is the one thing that came to mind! She explained that it looked like so much fun- and her friends love it- but it was too risky for her. It wasn’t worth the gamble of injuring herself. I guess when Olympic gold is at stake- a bounce in trampoline land is a small price to pay!

So far this year Aly has made the U23's National team again and has also qualified for her first Senior National team. Aly is heading overseas this month to compete in Portugal in the kayak world cup. Should she be successful she then will head to Germany for round 2. Aly has a busy few months ahead of her- the domestic season starts in December and the Olympic trials are in February. Until then Aly will continue her lifestyle of clean eating and heavy training- as well as rest days and recovery period. Aly says it’s a science and she trusts her coaches to advise her, saying that “if you train at your best, you race at your best.” We are behind you all the way Aly!

Aly Bull
 

Brett's Blog: "Wiggle Room"

Hi everyone! Well it’s been a while since my last post, Lots of fantastic deals and so many very happy customers here at Sunshine Toyota it’s been hard to get a chance to sit down to write my blog!!

Well it’s that time of the year when it seems everyone is out to buy a new car, and I read an interesting article in cars guide this month about dealer's ‘wiggle room’, so have a read below.

http://www.carsguide.com.au/car-advice/dealer-profit-margins-explained-32397#.VVqGrVWqpHw

 

Basically what the article says is today's new cars are being priced so sharply, there is very little “wiggle room”.

So what does that mean for you, the buyer?

Well firstly it means the price you see is going to be close to the price you pay, allowing you to decide the vehicles you would like to compare more easily.

Secondly it doesn’t mean someone who is a “good negotiator” gets a better deal than someone who is not.

Thirdly your buying decision becomes less pressured about a deal “today” you can make decisions as they feel right for you

And lastly it becomes all about the experience and the treatment you receive at dealerships, the “bad service” dealership cannot compete by “slashing’ a price so you buy from them.

So come down to Sunshine Toyota to see me or and the team to get the BEST experience of buying your new car, you definitely will not regret it.

By Brett Wardly