Questions
Straight answers, including the ones that do not flatter us.
If yours is not here, ask us on the call — or ring 0477 636 137. Buying hours are Monday to Friday, 8am – 6pm, and Saturday, 9am – 2pm.
The price
Is the estimate what I will actually be paid?
Usually, and where it moves we tell you why. An estimate is what we expect to pay based on what you have told us; the firm offer comes from the person who inspects the car. Everything that can move it between those two points is published on the price page — and nothing that is not on that list can move it. Describe the car honestly and the two numbers tend to be the same number.
How long does an offer last?
The number we write down is the number. Nothing counts down, nothing expires overnight, and nobody will ring to tell you it has dropped because you took a few days. If a long stretch goes by we will price the car again and explain the new number rather than pretending it was always that.
Why sell to you instead of privately?
Because a private sale is a second job. The photos, the listing, the questions at 10pm, the safety certificate you pay for and whatever it turns up, the stranger who wants a test drive on Sunday and then needs to think about it. With us it is one form, one call, and half an hour at your place — then the money is in your account the same day and the car is somebody else's problem. If you have the weekends going spare, sell it yourself. Most people would rather have the weekend.
Do you charge anything?
No. Nothing for the enquiry, nothing for the inspection, nothing for the paperwork, nothing for the safety certificate, and nothing is quietly deducted from the offer to cover any of it. The number on the contract is the number that reaches your account.
The inspection
Where does it happen?
Wherever the car is. Your driveway, the street, your work car park, in any state. You do not drive to a branch — which also means you are not sitting in somebody else's office an hour from home, weighing up whether the trip was worth it.
How long does it take?
Usually half an hour, including a road test and photographs, and a straightforward late-model car can be quicker again. Stand there and ask questions the whole way through if you like — plenty do, and it makes the number make a lot more sense. Or put the kettle on and get on with your day.
Do I need to clean it, or get a roadworthy?
No to both. A tidy car photographs better but it does not change the price. And because we buy as a licensed motor dealer rather than as a private buyer, the safety certificate is our job and our cost — which is one of the bigger jobs a private sale quietly hands you. If your state has a requirement that genuinely falls on you, we will say so before the inspection, not after.
Can I say no at the inspection?
Yes, at any point, including after the offer has been made and you have slept on it. Nobody at SYCA earns more for talking you down and there is no fee for changing your mind. We would rather you sold us the next one happily than this one grudgingly.
Money and paperwork
When do I get paid?
The money is confirmed before the car leaves, and it is with you the same day you sign. You will hear the sequence on the call and again before you sign, so there are no surprises at the kerb. What we will not do is take the car away and sort the money out afterwards.
I still owe money on it. Is that a problem?
No, it is completely normal — a big share of the cars we look at have finance on them. Finance owing is completely normal and it does not stop a sale — we will walk you through exactly how the payout works on the call, before you commit to anything. If the payout figure is more than the car is worth, you will know that number before you sign anything.
Who does the transfer?
We do. The contract is signed at the car, your copy is in your email within minutes, and the transfer paperwork is completed with you standing there rather than posted to you a week later.
Do you check the car's history?
Yes — a PPSR check before we buy, which shows finance owing and any written-off record. It is worth telling us anything you already know, because it surfaces either way, and it sits far more comfortably in the estimate than it does as a surprise at your house.
Your details
Who gets my phone number?
SYCA's buying team, and the person who comes out to the car. That is the whole list. It is not sold, not shared with a panel of dealers, and not fed into a list somebody else buys next month.
How often will you contact me?
A call about the car, and after that only about the thing we are actually doing — confirming a time, sending a contract, telling you the money has gone. If you tell us to stop, it stops immediately, and that covers texts as well as calls.
Do you come to my state?
Every state, across the cities and the regional centres. If the car is somewhere genuinely remote, say so on the call and we will work out how we get to it — that is a conversation, not a no. Send the car through and you will get a straight answer today either way, rather than silence.
Ask us the rest on the phone.
Two minutes of form, then a call from someone who can answer anything on this page properly — and who is allowed to say “no, that car is not for us” when that is the true answer.
Start my estimate