Articles by Joshua Dowling

Either way it can be confusing for car buyers trying to determine if it's a good deal or not.In many cases it can be better to haggle a sharp price and arrange your own finance outside the dealership. But sometimes the deals in the showroom do add up.We did some number crunching on one deal.At least one leading brand is currently offering 0 per cent finance on quite a high retail price of $24,990 drive-away for a small car that has in the recent past limboed to $19,990 drive-away.At 0 per cent finance over five years the $24,990 price would cost $417 per month, presuming there are no other hidden charges or establishment fees.Make sure you find out the total interest and total amount you will repay over the life of the loanBut what happens if you buy the car at $19,990 drive-away and arrange your own finance?If you have a good credit history, you may be able to wrangle a rate of 8 per cent. According to online calculators, that works out to be $405 per month over five years, paying $4329 in interest, bringing the total cost of the car to just $24,319.It always pays to get more than one quote. Make sure you find out the total interest and total amount you will repay over the life of the loan.Dealers often make more profit from finance deals than they do from the sale of the car itself.One more tip: don't just look at the monthly repayment figure (finance experts can make this figure look small by stretching the repayment terms, which means you pay more interest for longer).The longer the repayment period, the greater chance the payout figure will be more than what the car is worth at trade-in time.

Japanese makes have to close the books on their financial year — get in for these deals before the end of the month.March is the second-biggest month of the year for new-car sales — as Japanese brands have one last sales push to close off their books for the end of the Japanese financial year.Almost every other brand in the Top 10 must also have a crack if they don't want to be left behind, which is why Holden and Hyundai and others are out there with sharp deals to lure buyers away from Japanese showrooms.A lot of the deals will seem similar to the January offers, as dealers are still trying to clear 2015-built stock. But prices and/or other bonuses have been sharpened even further on a few models.Here are the best deals as we see them.Small carsAmong the tiny tots, the Suzuki Celerio is still the cheapest in the business at $12,990 drive-away with automatic transmission, while the Mitsubishi Mirage is also sharp buying for $1000 more, at $13,990 drive-away with auto, including a standard five-year factory warranty.Need the next size up? The Suzuki Swift hatchback is still at an incredibly low $15,990 drive-away with auto. That's about $4000 off retail and $2000 less than the sharply discounted Toyota Yaris, which continues at an appealing $17,990 drive-away with auto ($3000 off RRP).With the popular Hyundai i20 all but sold out, Hyundai has now taken the knife to the Accent to help drive sales. It is $15,990 drive-away with auto (this offer isn't clear on the website, but that's the deal if you ask before the end of the month, a saving of $4500).Need something a little roomier? As anticipated, Hyundai is back with a super sharp price on the i30 hatch at $19,990 drive-away including automatic transmission, rear-view camera and five-year warranty. It's unbeatable at this price.Deals are usually rare on top-sellers. But Toyota has shifted its discount from the dearer Corolla Ascent Sport to the regular Ascent, which is $21,990 drive-away with CVT auto this month. That's $2000 less than the previous Corolla offer.SUVsOur eyes popped when we saw this deal. The updated Holden Captiva5 (with the new look and Apple CarPlay) is an astonishingly low $25,990 drive-away. The seven-seater Captiva7 is $29,990 drive-away. The Captiva may be overdue for replacement but this is the most metal for the money in the class.Need something smaller? The city-sized Holden Trax SUV is $23,990 drive-away with auto and free servicing until 2020. At that price, who cares what it looks like?The Mitsubishi ASX remains at $25,000 drive-away with auto, rear camera and five-year factory warranty. No wonder it's one of Mitsubishi's top sellers. This is $5000 off the original RRP but it's been this price for so long it's worth pointing out it's still $3000 less than its direct rivals.UtesNeed a cheap work ute? The Isuzu D-Max with dropside tray is still the sharpest tradies' diesel at $25,990 drive-away.Pay $1000 more ($26,990 drive-away) if you want a Mazda BT-50 diesel with a dropside tray or pay $2000 more ($27,990 drive-away) if you want the new Toyota HiLux with black wheels and a smaller tray but that bulletproof Toyota badge.Need a new four-door 4WD ute but don't want to wait three months for a top-of-the-range Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux? Get the Toyota HiLux Workmate dual-cab 4WD at $43,990 drive-away. Dead set bargain. And with the money you save, you can afford to replace the ugly black wheels.Don't mind the gangly looks of the new Mitsubishi Triton? That $36,990 drive-away deal on the GLX four-door 4WD just got better for March. It includes free auto (as well as the camera and alloys), which is about $5000 off full freight. Decent.Honourable mentionIt's not a small car, an SUV or a ute (our biggest categories) but if you want a sedan, Toyota is trying to clear the 5300 Camrys it declared as sold in December 2015: it is still $27,990 drive-away, with zero interest. Red hot price on a solid car.

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There are no deals on the just released, all-new version of the market-leading Toyota HiLux ute but big discounts have emerged on rivals fighting over the scraps. Here are the best deals — down your tools and go and kick some tyres.Ford RangerDiscounts on the Ranger are extremely rare, so we had to double check this one wasn't a misprint. The workhorse XLS grade 4WD four-door ute may lack the bling of the XLT and Wildtrak but it has the same strong 3.2-litre five-cylinder diesel engine and all the other Ranger attributes (including 230V power adaptor). The price of $45,490 drive-away after a $500 bonus is super-sharp. The RRP is $48,090 plus on-roads, so this is a discount of nearly $5000. Auto adds $2200.Nissan Navara RX 2WDNissan has a headline price of $36,835 drive-away for the base model four-door ute but there are a few caveats. This price is for the 2WD, not the 4WD, the 1 per cent finance deal must be repaid over just three years — then there's the massive balloon payment of $19,795, more than half the purchase price. Best to arrange your own finance and haggle harder on the price.Mazda BT-50Need a workshop runabout? The Mazda BT-50 single cab with 2.2-litre turbo diesel and factory dropside tray can be had for $26,990 drive-away, or $1500 less than the Ford Ranger equivalent.Mitusbishi TritonThe new Triton was well priced at launch earlier this year but buyers have avoided it in droves, due to either its ungainly looks or its mainly carry-over chassis. So Mitsubishi has made the price even more compelling. The GLX 4WD four-door is $36,990 drive-away, including alloy wheels, reversing camera and five-year warranty (which the Colorado lacks). But the best buy is the $39,990 drive-away GLS with Super Select (4WD can be used on sealed roads), larger alloy wheels, rear-view camera in the central display screen, sports bar, hard tonneau cover ... the list goes on. If Mitsubishi fitted the new Pajero Sport nose to the Triton it would have a winner on its hands.Holden ColoradoThe Colorado — one of the first cars to suffer from General Motors cutbacks during its development in the global financial crisis — has been in permanent discount mode since it went on sale a couple of years ago. It is not rated as highly as newer utes. But the basic LS 4WD four-door (pictured, LS-X) at $35,990 drive-away (after a $1000 bonus) is sharp buying if you're on a budget. At that price, the equivalent Isuzu D-Max ute can't get close.Ford Falcon XR6 UteWant to buy one of the last homegrown utes? The XR6 ute limboes to a new low: $31,940 drive-away after a $500 discount. That's with six-speed automatic transmission, 18-inch alloy wheels, alloy sports bar and eight-inch colour touchscreen. This is about $5000 off the full RRP for the XR6 ute and about $10,000 less than the Commodore SV6 ute.