How do I find out if a business is legit?

http://www.carbroker.com.au/

That's their website. I wanted to buy a Hyundai Getz, which would normally cost around AUD $18800 after all costs. Since I suck at negotiating (its my 1st time), I figured it would be possible for me to negotiate down to a price of $18000. However, www.carbroker.com.au got me a price of $16750. They go and negotiate the price of the car for you. If you like the price they get you, then you can go through with the deal. If you don't like the price, then reject their offer and go do it yourself. Sounds too good to be true. 🙄


Reasons I think they're legit:

- Their site is enormous. It would be a pretty difficult site to make just to steal money, especially if they were closed down by the authorities. But they're still around, so maybe they're legit.
- I've googled for A1 Car Broker and Carbroker.com.au to try to hopefully find some dirt on them, and I found nothing. Maybe I didn't look hard enough? I also searched for the name of the car broker, Chris Wilson, and found no dirt on him either. He also appears to be the owner of www.findcars.com.au.
- My father has a co-worker in Canada (not Australia) who has gone through a car broker, and he negotiated the price of the car on his own as well. The car broker beat his price by $3000, and it was legit. However, the car was $80000 CAD, or around $60000 USD. I'm about to save around $1000 USD on a car that's only $15000 USD.


Reasons I'm worried about dealing with them:

- Seems too good to be true. I only paid them $55 AUD, and they're going to get me a price that's around $1300 better than what I could get? Doesn't even sound like the dealer is making much of a profit, which is why it doesn't seem logical to me.

- No other website or news agency (or any car-related board or whatever) has info on www.carbroker.com.au (A1 Car Broker) and says that people should go through them to buy their car. Not a single site on the internet I have seen has recommended them or had a story to tell.

- The name Chris Wilson seems like one of the most common names in the universe, which may be exactly what he wants, as it would be hard to Google his name and get HIS exact info. And there's the name of a musician named Chris Wilson, so most hits point to the musician.

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Can someone help me by going to the link and somehow figuring out a way to see if the business is legit, or if their website and mailing address is all registered to a legitimate business? I don't know about this stuff very well. 😱

stubeeef said:

Because you say you are not a good negotiator, maybe that price isn't that great after all? Who knows if 7% is a true discount, in the states it is ok on some models great on others, poor on some. Also the dealer may have it marked up through the roof to make it look like you got a big discount. Hard to tell.
You are doing the right thing investigating it, does the Aussies have a Better Business Bureau? That is where I would start. Link
Good luck, and if you think you're getting too good a deal, send me the extra $$$ 😛

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Well, the online price is $15800, and generally you pay approximately $3000 AUD on top of that (exact fee depends on the car). Prices all include tax, so the fee pays for things that are basically mandatory. That's $18800

I've been told by a Mazda dealer who used to work at Hyundai that the cost of a Getz is around $18500 AUD, so lets use that price. Well, the "buying service" I'm using can get the car for $16700. That's a big savings....around 10%. I used a savings of $1300 in my example assuming I could bargain down to a nice round $18000, which I haven't done yet.

Thanks for the help. I can't seem to find a BBB for Australia, so I'll just have to keep looking I guess. 😕

Well from what I now know:

They have an ABN. A1 Car Broker is just a business name. They're not a company and don't have a company name. However, I believe a "company" in this case is equivalent to a "corporation" in North America, so it basically just means that they're not a corporation (I believe).

There have been no prosecutions against A1 Car Broker, and they have been a registered business for 3 years, so that's good. However, they're not allowed to tell me if there have been any complaints against them because they haven't been found guilty of anything, so that's bad. Maybe there are NO complaints. Who knows. They can't tell me.

They basically told me that they've given me all the info they can, so....... maybe I'll take a risk and put down a deposit of $1000. I mean, no prosecutions in 3 years is a good thing, but the complaints may be piling up. And it's not like 3 years is a VERY VERY long time.

I'm going for it. 🙂