First time EV and NL.
We will be relying on public charging as we don't have off street parking.
We don't drive much during the week and so occasional long trips (Sydney to Canberra etc)
Last car had about 35k in 4 years so we probably average 10k or less a year sometimes less, sometimes more.
Thoughts on the budgets? Not sure what to allocate as we haven't had an EV before.
Vehicle is VW ID4
After my stolen in early April and retrieved car was finally written off in mid-May I have been waiting for my employer to finalise their agreement with an NL provider.
Finally this week was told it is Smart Leasing. Since we have been carless since April I was ready to go. Knew what we wanted etc.
We have been approved for finance and told that my insurer defaults to lowest rate which is about 7.6%.
Today they said the car I want Volkswagen id4 pro isn't available until Jan 2027. My local dealer told me earlier in the week I should be able to get one within a few weeks.
I have sent the details to Smart but curious if it's common for their network not to have stock but stock to be available?
I don't want to have to keep waiting given all the waiting with police, insurance, my employer etc.
Any experiences with this. Also any tips on dealing with Smart appreciated. I was prepared with a finance quote from my bank but what they've said is what my bank was prepared to offer.
We seem to be outliers as we prefer wagons to SUVs. Our last car was bought during covid when cars were impossible to get and affordable wagons were limited. We ended up with a Skoda Octavia.
Our car was stolen and recovered but was deemed a total loss. We are keen to sort a new car asap as we've been without our only car for 5 weeks.
We like the look of the BYD Seal 6 Touring but it's a PHEV and we would prefer to go to a straight EV. We can't really wait for the Zeeker wagon and Skoda Wagon that are on the horizon unless they will be available in the next few months which is unlikely.
We 2 adults and 2 kids. We live in a densely populated area where cars are parked on the street (most don't have driveways or garages). Want something with decent boot space after having over 600L in the Octavia and not too SUV like if possible.
Planning on a novated lease but nothing super pricey like some of the other available wagons.
Looking for suggestions of what else to consider. Thinking maybe something like Sealion 7? Any other recommendations welcome ideally 500L or so boot.
Previous experiences with NRMA claims have been great but recent experience is driving me crazy.
Car stolen on 9 April. Reported and recovered the same day.
Police had it for just over 3 weeks. NRMA offered hire car and would not extend past 3 weeks. I get it the PDS says 3 weeks however they have had zero care factor or urgency when I told them it's our only car.
Their only solution was to make their rates available for me to hire my own hire car. Assuming $50/day I could get a novated lease or loan for a new car for less than what is be paying for a hire car.
I had to keep following them up about getting access to my car..the second it was at the repairer and had a sharps check Wednesday last week I took an uber to the repairer to do the required 'theft check'.
I was told I would be informed once it has been assessed. I have asked to be informed once assessed and kept updated as it's our only car as I know whether it is repaired or it is deemed a total loss it will take time to sort out.
We would have been better off it not being found as it would have been settled by now.
Thursday will be 5 weeks since it is stolen. It has been at the repairer since 4 May and I inspected as soon as I was asked on 6 May to keep it moving.
They have been really unhelpful with waiving the excess. I gave them the police report number and informed them police caught the person who did it. They keep telling me to get a police report or the persons name from police which the police won't give me.
Only after pushing today did someone say all they need is the contact information for police so they can confirm with police charges were laid.
I get that a lot of this can't be helped but the fact that the only time I get updates is if I call and ask and the lack of any care about the fact we are without our only car for 5 weeks and likely many more depending on when it is assessed and repaired. The lack of urgency is very frustrating. I know workloads and delays can be unavoidable but there has been no compassion or acknowledgement of how frustrating or hard this is.
I work in insurance so know how to raise complaints and go to AFCA if I need to but so far it's not really there yet. It's just frustrating and annoying and a lot of work for a not at fault claim.
Not the best picture I know. Our car was stolen and this is the damage sustained in addition to the windscreen being damaged and the rear vision mirror having been ripped off. A few other scrapes but the worst is pictured here.
Car is 3 years old so assuming won't be enough to write off but curious if such damage is serious as it's been with police for 3 weeks and only now almost 4 weeks later will be assessed. We have been waiting to know if we can expect our car back or if we will need to sort out a new car.
I only saw the car for the first time today in person and this photo is all I have at the moment from the perpetrator running a red light.
Process has been slow and frustrating with the hire car period running out while police had the vehicle and insurer refusing to extend.
Our car was stolen just shy of 3 weeks ago. The police caught the person who did it and recovered the car within hours of it being reported stolen.
I informed my insurer who offered me a hire car for up to 3 weeks and said they'd wait to hear when it is released from police so it can be assessed and repaired.
I have no idea how damaged it is except I can see some damage from a red light camera photo. I can't see the whole car and dont know if they damaged it further after that.
The police towed it for forensic examination. I heard nothing since they found it so I have followed up a few times for an ETA but each time I'm told I'll be contacted when they're done and no ETA.
It's our only car and the hire car 3 week period ends Friday. My insurer won't extend it. Ive looked at the PDS and for theft a damage from theft hire car is only 3 weeks, where as if it was in a not at fault accident I'd have a hire car until my car was repaired.
How long do police forensics take? I get it's a low priority and why that might be but my family is now without a car and will have to see if we can borrow one from family for who knows how long as who can afford a hire car for however long the investigation will take.
I have no idea if I'll then have to arrange a new car or wait for repairs because I don't know how damaged it is. It would have been better if they didn't find the vehicle as I would have been settled by the insurer and not waiting on an investigation.
Anyone been through this and any tips. I'm in NSW