Frequently Asked Questions about Cars

We get new stock every day! You can search by make, model, price and year plus a range of other criteria. Our website has a Saved Search tool that lets you set alerts for specific cars you are looking for. When we list a car matching your description, we will email you. You can also add listings to a watchlist that alerts you to an upcoming auction. To use Saved Search or Watchlist, you will need to register on our website.
Register now. 

You can test drive any of our cars before buying. We encourage you to test drive and carry out a thorough inspection before buying a car. To be able to test drive, you will need to bring your driver's license with you, you need to have a Restricted or Full license (or overseas equivalent) to take a test drive. For auctions, the cars are available for test driving before the auction. At some dealerships, there is a test driving area at the dealership. At other dealerships, a staff member will accompany you on a test drive on the road. You can book a test drive online, to find out how click here.

We recommend you get an independent mechanical check before buying any used car. This will tell you if the car needs maintenance, has problems or has been in an accident. 
We can help you arrange an independent check-call or email your nearest Turners dealership for more information.

Buying a car is a big investment. It is important to check the following:

Is there a debt owing on the car? If you buy a car with money owing on it, you can be made to repay the original debt.

Is the seller the legal owner? Make sure the car you are buying is not stolen.

When you buy a car from Turners, we guarantee that the car is not stolen and you will not have to pay if there is an unpaid finance debt on a car bought from us. This is called clear title.

When you buy a car at Turners, you may be protected under the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA). This means that you can be sure you’re not being misled about the nature of the vehicle you buy and that it is of acceptable quality taking into account its age and the price you pay for it. And if something goes wrong with the car you’ve bought, Turners will work with you to resolve the issue within a reasonable time.

Learn about how the CGA applies to cars bought at Turners here.

Imported Cars
Cars first owned and used outside of New Zealand are called ‘imports’. In New Zealand, most imports come from Japan.
If the car is a new import you must pay to have it registered in New Zealand.
If you buy an imported car, you won’t receive a full history showing when the vehicle has been serviced and how many owners it has had. You may also find that any instructions and manuals for the car are in another language.

NZ New Cars
NZ New refers to a vehicle that was imported brand new by a new car manufacturer. e.g Ford or Holden, and was first registered in New Zealand. NZ New cars have only been driven in New Zealand. For NZ New cars, you can easily find information about their previous history and owners.

Whether you’re buying or selling, it pays to research what the car is worth. Here are a few tips:

Research on Turners website: There are hundreds of cars on our website, with estimated auction prices and Buy Now prices for you to review.

Attend an auction: Anyone can attend our public auctions (or watch online via Turners Live) to see what cars sell for. View upcoming auctions.

An independent mechanical check will tell you whether there are any problems with the car that might make it unsafe to drive. For help arranging an independent mechanical inspection, contact your nearest dealership.
You can also research general safety information for hundreds of cars at www.rightcar.co.nz

Most cars sold at Turners have a Fuel Efficiency rating of between 1 and 6 stars, using information supplied by the Government’s Fuel Saver programme.  This rating is displayed as a sticker on the car’s front windscreen and in its online listing.
You can find out more about these ratings by visiting www.fuelsaver.govt.nz

When you buy a car from Turners, we guarantee a number of things, including:
- No money owing
- Sold by the legal owner

For more information about what we guarantee, read our Buyer Terms and Conditions.
Cars sold by auction do not come with a mechanical warranty, however you can buy Mechanical Breakdown Insurance from us.

You can also learn about the Consumer Guarantees Act and how it applies to cars bought at Turners here.

You can view the history of most cars sold at Turners for free using the CARJAM link in the vehicle listing. This check gives details such as colour, registration details, VIN and engine numbers and mileage for free. Many of the details in this check are also available in the Customer Information Notice (CIN) that is displayed on every car, and on every online listing.
For a set fee you can purchase more detailed information about the car from CARJAM as well. For more information visit www.carjam.co.nz

We always recommend getting an independent mechanical check before you buy a car. These are available through all of our dealerships, most of which have this service onsite.

You may be covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act, learn more about this here.

Mechanical problems are not covered by Turners, but you can buy Mechanical Breakdown Insurance from us that protects you if you have a breakdown.

Turners has a huge range of BuyNow cars on offer. These have a fixed price and you can buy them on the spot without having to wait for an auction. Learn more about BuyNow.

The easiest way to find out what cars are being auctioned today is to view our online auction catalogues. You can find them here.

Bidding is as easy as raising your hand, or bidders card in the air, but you do need to be registered to bid in a car auction.
Our auctioneer and bid spotters will be looking out for your bid. They know the difference between an itchy nose and a proper bid.
For more information, download our Auction Buyer’s Guide.

You can bid in any of our car auctions online using Turners Live. Bidding is as simple as clicking your mouse. Turners Live enables you to bid without having to attend the auction. To bid on Turners Live you will need to register on this website.

Go to 'FAQs for Turners Live' for more information. 

Turners accepts most forms of payment, however, Turners cannot release your vehicle until the funds have cleared. You can make payment immediately using cash, EFTPOS, Visa, Mastercard and Alipay. Turners do not accept cheques, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, Union Pay, UCB or Qcard. Direct credit or bank transfer are accepted, however, in most cases funds do not clear immediately.

If you require Finance, there are on-site consultants available at every branch that will be able to help you. Or you can sign-up online for pre-approved finance.  We can usually approve finance within 2 hours.

Please note:

• As of 11th of May 2023, we are no longer able to accept cash payments of $10,000 or more under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation. For more information please click here.
  
  
• Each bank sets different limits as to how much money can be transferred via EFTPOS in a 24 hour period. Turners has no control over these limits.
  
  
• With direct credit or bank transfer funds usually take at least a day to clear. The vehicle cannot be released until the funds have cleared.
  
  
• A 2% fee is charged on all Paywave, Alipay and credit card transactions. You will only be able to purchase to the limit on your credit card.
  
  
• We are unable to accept cheques.
  
  

Buying at Auction:

You will need to pay a deposit of $500 or 10% of the auction price (whichever amount is higher) after the auction. This deposit is non-refundable. You must pay the balance by 12 pm the day after the auction. You can make payment by cash, EFTPOS, Visa, Mastercard or direct credit/bank transfer. Please note the limitations above of each form of payment –Turners cannot release your vehicle until the funds have cleared and are in our bank account.

Buying with Buy Now:

In-Dealership
You will need to pay a deposit of $500 or 10% of the auction price (whichever amount is higher). The balance must be paid within 24 hours. This deposit is non-refundable. Please note the limitations above of each form of payment –Turners cannot release your vehicle until the funds have cleared and are in our bank account.

Online
You will need to pay a deposit of $500 or 10% of the auction price (whichever amount is higher). The balance must be paid within 24 hours.  The balance must be paid at the dealership. Please be aware that Turners cannot release the vehicle to you until the funds are cleared, and that this is usually at least 1 day for most banks. 

Turners organises car and personal finance through a range of lenders. We'll work with you to get the best deal to suit your particular circumstances and affordability. Find out more about finance.

When you buy a car at one of our auctions, we charge a Buyer’s Fee that covers our guarantee that the car is not stolen, that there is no money owing and the change of ownership. View our Buyer’s Fees.

Turners can help you arrange to have the car you’ve bought transported to another city. For more information, call your nearest Turners dealership.

There are a number of Terms and Conditions that apply to sale by auction and Buy Now. 
View our Buyer Terms and Conditions.

There are a number of Terms and Conditions that apply to Turners Live.
View our Turners Live Terms and Conditions.

If you are wanting CashNow this depends on a number of factors, and we need to appraise the vehicle in your local dealership before an offer can be made. You need to book an appointment to have your car appraised. You can complete this online form here, or call us on 0800 887 637. If you want to sell through auction, what you get for your car will depend on the outcome of the auction, and the reserve you set.

If you do not live near a branch, call us. The team will be able to give you a rough estimate for your car in most cases.

Yes. We must appraise the vehicle in your local dealership before an offer can be made. You need to book an appointment to have your car appraised. You can do this online here, or call us on 0800 887 637.

If you do not live near a branch, please call us. The team will be able to give you a rough estimate for your car in most cases.  

Please bring the following:

• Your drivers licence and your bank account details.
• If you have a spare key, please also bring it along with you
• Your vehicle's service history if it has one

And if you are planning to sell your vehicle to us on the day, please ensure you have a ride home! There may be public transports, taxis or Ubers near your branch, but you will need to check this and plan ahead.

We will purchase just about any car, or can help you sell it through auction. Just to be sure, you need to bring your car in for an appraisal, and you will need an appointment. You can do this online here, or call us on 0800 887 637.

CashNow is great if you’re in a hurry to sell or don't want to sell by auction. Book an appraisal, bring your car in at the agreed time and we'll make you an offer on the spot.

You need to talk to your finance company about your current finance contract and if you can sell the vehicle before your loan is paid off. If you can, then we can help.

When you bring your car in, we’ll give you a free appraisal. Appraisals are done by our experienced consultants, to book an appraisal, call or email your nearest Turners dealership.

When you sell a car at one of our auctions, we charge a Seller’s Fee that covers the time we spend managing the sale process – from marketing your car to arranging the change of ownership. We also charge an administration fee each time the car goes through an auction.
View our Seller’s Fees.

All of the cars we sell are advertised on Turners website and on many other major car sales websites in New Zealand.

Selling a car at Turners is really easy.  Just book an appraisal, come in at the agreed time and we’ll do the rest. All we need you to do is set the reserve – we take care of advertising, buyer negotiations and change of ownership. There are fees to sell by auction find out more here).

Our auction consultant will help you decide on a fair reserve price. Before you set your reserve, it pays to do some research. Here are a few tips:

Research on our website: There are hundreds of cars on our website, with estimated auction prices and Buy Now prices for you to review.

Attend an auction: Anyone can attend our public auctions (or watch online via Turners Live) to see what cars sell for. Find upcoming car auctions.

Get an appraisal: We offer auction sellers a free appraisal to help set their auction reserve. You must bring your vehicle on site to get this appraisal done.

Clean, tidy cars get a better price at auction. Make sure you have removed rubbish and personal belongings, cleaned the car and vacuumed it. You can also pay for valet service at any of our dealerships – contact your local Turners car dealership for details.

Unfortunately, no. This is due to respect the privacy of the purchaser.

There are a number of Terms and Conditions that apply to sale by auction.
View our Vendor Terms and Conditions.

An offer is valid for 7 days but is dependent on the vehicle being in the same condition, and traveled no further than 100km’s since appraisal.

If you sell your car to us through CashNow, payment for your car will be received within 2 to 3 days business days. Business days being Monday-Friday. Not the weekend.

If we sell your car on your behalf through auction, then you will get the money not more than 2 business days after we get paid. As Tina says, boom – money in the bank.

Important note for all online users:
If you have an email address, or your email is handled by Yahoo or Xtra, you may not be able to receive our activation email unless you add us to your address book in your webmail.

(Please note this has to be done in your webmail and cannot be done using a desktop application like Outlook).

The activation email could also be in your spam or bulk folder so we suggest you check in all junk mail/spam or bulk folders as well.

Any auction with a green VIEW LIVE link can be viewed in Turners Live.

All our vehicle auctions are accessible both in person at the branch and via Turners Live.

We will not deduct any money from your credit card unless you make an online purchase. When registering your credit card, $1 will be held temporarily against your card, it will be back in your account within a few days. 

When you buy online through Turners Live, a deposit of $500 or 10% of the purchase price (whichever is greater) will be deducted immediately following the auction.

You will need to pay the rest by EFTPOS, credit card, direct debit or cash by 12pm the next day.

Please make sure you have sufficient credit funds on your credit card to cover the initial deposit before you bid.

Turners does not record or store your credit card details.
All credit card entries and transactions are done on the website of DPS (Direct Payment Solutions) who are certified with banks in Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia.

When you register for Turners Live you can opt to be registered as a dealer. Once approved you can access trade sales and enjoy the many benefits of being a trade approved client.

You will be contacted by Turners Credit department within 2 working days of your initial registration to verify your dealer details and set up your dealer account.

In the meantime you can register as a non-dealer which will allow you access to all public auctions.

If you require access to trade areas sooner please contact our credit department directly on (09) 580 9376 or dealer_registrations@turners.co.nz.

In an auction there could be a lot of bidding activity whether is on site, over the phone or online. 
All bidding gets processed during the auction and if you are bidding online it may take a moment for it to register with the clerk.

A system generated email will then be sent to you. A consultant will be in touch to arrange payment and pick up of the car.

The sale has not yet commenced. Once the sale is underway the screen will automatically change to the lot that is being auctioned.

There are a number of Terms and Conditions that apply to Turners Live.
View our Turners Live Terms and Conditions.

Yes, it works on all modern mobiles and tablets. 

If a good is saved to your watchlist, and you’re logged in, you will see the icon below.

Simply click on the tab in the relevant section.

This is what the audio device looks like.

As a default, the audio will provide the following notifications:

1.    New lot is opened. The voice will say ‘Lot 1’, ‘Lot 2’, ‘Lot 3’ etc.

2.    A lot has been opened that is on your watchlist. A bell will sound and the voice will say ‘This lot is on your watchlist’.

3.    A click sound will be made each time a bid is made.

Can I choose my notifications?

You will have the option of hearing all announcements or turning some of them off.  You can also adjust the volume or mute the sound altogether. To do this, simply click on the settings button shown below.

You will then see the options shown below where you can select your preferences. 

No, we do not store your credit card information.

If you're set up to bid on Turners Live, you're already set up to bid on these auctions. If not, please see the instructions below.

Private customers & companies

- Log into your Turners website account 
- Go to MY ACCOUNT
-  Click ACCOUNT DETAILS - Edit
- Go to the ACCOUNT TYPE section at the bottom of the page and tick the box that says BID ONLINE. Or you will see a red 'BID ONLINE' button on the top right hand side
- You will then be prompted to enter your credit card details. To authorise your card we need to charge $1 to it, this will be credited back onto your card after a couple of days.

Registered Motor Vehicle Traders, Licensed Second-hand Dealers & Licensed Dismantlers

- Log into your Turners website account  
- Go to MY ACCOUNT
- Click ACCOUNT DETAILS - Edit
- Click the red 'BID ONLINE' button on the top right hand side
- If you can't see the red button you may not be registered with us as a licensed dealer. Go to the ACCOUNT TYPE section at the bottom of the page and ensure the correct account type is selected, fill in the additional details and we will send a General Agreement to Trade form. You will need to complete this form to be registered as a dealer within our system

Go to MY ACCOUNT, and select ACCOUNT DETAILS – Edit. You will then see the LINK MY TRADE ME ACCOUNT button below

Alternatively, if you click on the BID or BUY NOW button in an online auction you will be prompted to link your account.

This is because our Turners Trade Me Auctions are held in partnership with Trade Me, you need to link your Turners account to Trade Me to be able to bid or Buy Now.

You do not need to link your account to Trade Me for Turners Online Auctions.

You can still search for and view goods in online auctions. You can even ask questions, but you can’t bid on or buy the good if it's a Turners Trade Me Auction - you can if it's a Turners Online Auction.

If you don’t have a Trade Me account and would like to bid on Turners Trade Me Auctions you will need to create one. Then link your Turners account to Trade Me.

You can still search for and view all goods on www.turners.co.nz without linking to Trade Me.

Turners Live allows you to bid on live auctions that are taking place physically and are run by an auctioneer in front of customers.

Online auctions are only held online, there is no physical auction or auctioneer. The customers are all online.

Autobid will place bids at the next minimum amount up to your maximum, if you are outbid.

If the reserve has not been met and your autobid exceeds the reserve, a bid will be placed at the reserve amount.

Learn more about autobids here.

1)      Specify the maximum you want to bid in the box

2)      Tick the autobid box - MY BID (on the left hand side) will then change to MY MAXIMUM BID

3)      Click AUTOBID

Learn more about autobids here.

Your screen name is dispayed next to your bid.

Turners Trade Me Auctions
Your screen name will be your Trade Me user name, as these auctions are held in partnership with Trade Me. 

Turners Online Auctions 
If you don't have a screen name your Turners website account name will be displayed. You can set your screen name here.

For Damaged and End of Life Cars the identity of the other bidders is kept completely private.

Payment options will vary, but are likely to include; direct credit, cash, EFTPOS, Visa or Mastercard*.

Our standard terms are that funds need to clear before goods can be released.

*Please note that we charge an extra 2% on all Paywave, Alipay and credit card transactions. We are unable to accept cheques.

Turners Trade Me online auctions
There are no additional buyers fees. What you bid, is what you pay.

Turners online auctions
Standard buyers fees will apply on top of your bid price.

To view our buyers fees, click here.

Goods bought via online auctions will be available for pick up and/ or shipping at the buyers expense. Talk to your local branch about your shipping options.

Please use the QUESTIONS & ANSWERS tab at the bottom of the listing. You need to be logged into your account to ask a question.

Because our Turners Trade Me Auctions are held in partnership with Trade Me, you will receive emails from them depending on your Trade Me notification settings.

To check your Trade Me notification settings:

1)      Go to www.trademe.co.nz

2)      Login in

3)      Go to ‘My Trade Me’

4)      Click on 'view my Trade Me'  

4)      Under ‘More options’ click on ‘Email options’

To find out more about Turners Finance and to apply, please visit www.turners.co.nz/Finance

There is a lot of helpful information including, application forms, booking a no obligation consultation and a loan calculator.