Car price confusion

But it's not our fault. And I'm not happy.

We are going to be restricted in the way we report new-car arrivals from today, as well as their likely rivals, because carmakers do not want to give us a price. They will still give an individual price for a particular car and a particular individual, but the days of a single, Australia-wide recommended retail price for any car are gone.

The change comes because of a much bigger change in the way cars are now being advertised in Australia. A new rule, enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, means all cars must now be advertised with an 'all-in' price. In effect, it means that all prices will now be quoted as a driveaway deal.

That sounds great, once we all adjust to the extra costs — registration, stamp duty, delivery and third-party insurance — and how they affect the price of any group of cars. But it means there will not be a single RRP for any car.

Some companies also worry that they might be setting prices too high, and removing competition, by quoting things like a single dealer delivery fee.

Where you buy, when you guy, where you live and even how much you drive could potentially have an effect on your driveaway price for a particular car. But the new deal raises some very big questions. And doubts. For a start, it is going to be very tough for any company to do a full-scale, Australia-wide sales push with a single driveaway price. But that's their problem.

We are worried that our readers will not get the right information, and that we will be hit by the regulators for something as simple as quoting prices for the road test rivals each week. No-one knows yet if giving a price to a journalist is advertising. If it is, the price must to calculated to the new rules. But if it's not, which price should we have?

As an example, Mazda Australia tells me the RRP for this week's test car — the MX-5 Roadster — is $48,755, but also insists I should add on-road costs of somewhere between $3176 and $5909. So the price we should be reporting is somewhere between $51,931 and $54,664. But exactly what?

"It depends on where you live, and . . . bla-bla-bla".

Does that make any sense to you? No, and not to me.

So, as much as we can or until we get corrected by the ACCC, we will try to stick to RRP and cut through the confusion. Wish us luck.