What Is a Car Broker? Who Pays, What You Do, and When It's Worth It

A car broker sources a new car for you. You tell the broker the exact car you want, the broker takes that request to dealers, and their offers come back to you to choose from. You get a price without ringing around showrooms or haggling in one.

If you have never used a broker, it makes sense to want to know how one is paid, and whether there is a catch, before you hand over your name and number. Plenty of careful buyers ask exactly that. The reassuring part is that you do not have to take anyone's word for it. There is one number you can check against any other quote, and one public register you can search, and both take a few minutes.

What a car broker is, and what it is not

Three kinds of business get called a broker, or get mixed up with one, and each does a different job.

• A dealer sells new cars for a brand. It sells from its own stock and its brand's supply, and it is where most people start.
• A car broker sources the car. It starts from the car you name, takes that request to several dealers and brings their offers back to you.
• A car finance broker arranges the loan. It compares lenders for the money, not dealers for the car.

People usually come to a car broker for one of two reasons. Some do not have the time to visit or call several dealers, compare what comes back and follow up. Others would simply rather not haggle. A broker takes on that legwork, and you stay in charge of the choices.

Search results often blur the last two, because both are called a broker. If finance is what you are after, the useful thing to know is how the business is licensed. A credit licence holder can authorise a representative to arrange credit on its behalf, and that authorisation is registered with ASIC. So any broker arranging your loan should be able to give you its own credit licence number or its credit representative number, and you can look either one up.

Some businesses do both jobs. Rodar is one of them: a car broker, with buying and finance in one place. We source the car you have chosen, and we can sort the finance for it too. Rodar Pty Ltd is an Authorised Credit Representative (555548) of Fintelligence Pty Ltd (ACL 511803).

Who pays a car broker, and how to check the number

This is the question most people have, and it is the right one to ask first. Brokers are paid in one of three ways: by the dealer who sells you the car, by a fee you pay the broker, or by both. A payment from the dealer may not appear on anything you see, which is why it can feel hidden.

So ask any broker two things before you share your details. Who pays you? And is the price you quote me the full drive-away price?

How Rodar is paid

The dealer who wins your business pays us a procurement fee, and it is built into the deal, so the drive-away price we quote is the number you pay.

There is one exception: BYD, Tesla, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach. On those six brands, the saving comes through a novated lease, and our fee sits inside the lease arrangement.

The test you can run yourself

You do not need to see inside a deal to judge it. You need two prices that measure the same thing.

Ask for the drive-away price on the exact grade, colour and options you want, and hold it against any other drive-away quote you have for the same car. A drive-away price is the full amount to get the car on the road, with on-road costs included. If one figure is drive-away and the other is not, the two cannot be compared, however close they look. If a quote is not drive-away, ask for one that is before you weigh it against anything else.

Being exact about the car matters as much as being exact about the price. Take the Ford Ranger. Even a single grade, the XLT, is listed in five versions, from a 2.0-litre with rear-wheel drive to a plug-in hybrid and a Super Duty, and each has its own price. A quote for one of them tells you nothing about another.

A list price is a different number again. It is quoted before on-road costs, so it will read lower than a drive-away figure for the same car. When you compare, make sure every quote on the table includes the same things:

• the exact model, grade, engine and drivetrain
• the colour, and any paint or option packs
• any accessories you have asked for
• the full drive-away figure, with on-road costs included

Get every number in writing, with the grade spelled out. If a broker's drive-away price is no lower than one you found yourself, that is useful to know, and you can go with whichever offer suits you. If you would like to collect a few quotes on your own first, our guide to getting the best price on a new car walks through how.

What you do, and what stays your decision

Using a broker does not mean handing over the decision. Your part is short, and the two choices that matter stay with you: which car, and which offer.

With Rodar it runs in five steps.

• You name the car. The model, the grade and the colour you want.
• We put it to the network. Your request goes to over 1,000 trusted automotive dealers and manufacturers.
• Offers come back side by side. Each is a drive-away price, so you compare like with like.
• You pick one. Which offer to take is your call.
• We sort the rest. Finance if you want it, your trade-in, and delivery to your door.

Who chooses the car matters more than it first seems. A dealer's role is to sell the cars its brand supplies, and a good one will help you find the right car in that range. A broker starts a step earlier, from the car you have already settled on. Because the request begins with your choice, the dealers are answering one question: what they will sell that exact car for.

If you have not settled on a car yet, that is the place to start. Our list of Australia's best-selling new cars and our family car guide are both good places to begin a shortlist.

When a broker helps most, and when it cannot move the price

A broker is most useful when you know what you want and do not have the time, or the appetite, to chase dealers for it. Knowing the exact grade and colour matters, because that is what the dealers are pricing. A few situations change what a broker can do for you.

When you have a date to meet

A lease ending, a new job or a car that has been written off can all set a deadline you did not choose. With Rodar, the fastest case is 24 to 48 hours, when the car is in stock and your finance is already sorted. Both have to be true. Most cases take one week onwards. It depends on the specific model and stock availability across our network of over 1,000 trusted automotive dealers and manufacturers.

When the car has a waiting list

On a model in short supply, there may be no lower price to find anywhere, and a broker cannot create one. What a broker can do is look for a car that is in stock across many dealers, rather than waiting on the one you happen to call. If the car you want has a queue, ask about availability before you ask about price, and ask for an expected date in writing.

When the brand's saving sits in a novated lease

Six brands work differently: BYD, Tesla, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Maybach. On these, a discount exists only through a novated lease, not on a cash purchase. Shopping the cash price to more dealers will not change that, so on these brands the honest answer is to look at the lease instead.

If you are looking at a BYD Sealion 7, a Tesla Model Y or a Honda CR-V, the useful question is whether your employer offers a novated lease. If it does, that is where the saving sits. Our guides on whether novated leasing is worth it and novated leasing an electric car explain how it works, and our Model Y and Sealion 7 comparison puts two of these cars side by side.

When there is a trade-in and finance to arrange too

Buying a car is often three jobs at once: the new car, the old one, and the money. Handled separately, that can mean three sets of phone calls and three sets of paperwork. With Rodar, we sort your trade-in and your finance alongside the car, with buying and finance in one place, so you are not arranging each one on your own.

When you enjoy the negotiation

If you like negotiating, know the car well and have time to visit several dealers, you may do as well on your own. That is a fair result, and the same test applies: compare drive-away against drive-away. What a broker gives you is the time back, no back-and-forth, and several offers in front of you at once.

How to check a broker, before and after you buy

Giving your details to a business you found online takes trust, so it is reasonable to check first. Four questions cover most of it.

Is it on ASIC's register?

If a broker arranges finance, its authorisation to do so is registered with ASIC, and you can check it yourself on ASIC's Professional Registers Search. For Rodar, search for Rodar Pty Ltd or the number 555548. The record shows Rodar as a credit representative of Fintelligence Pty Ltd, the holder of Australian credit licence 511803. It takes a couple of minutes, and it is a fair thing to ask of any business arranging your loan.

Where does the deposit go?

Many new car purchases ask for a deposit to secure the car. Before you pay one to anyone, ask who holds it, what it secures, and what happens to it if the deal does not go ahead. Get the answers in writing. A business that is set up properly will answer all three without hesitating.

What do other buyers say?

Reviews from recent buyers tell you how a business behaves when things go smoothly and when they do not. Look past the star rating to what people describe: how quickly they heard back, whether the price they were quoted is the price they paid, and how any problem was handled.

Who do you call after delivery?

Questions about warranty and servicing usually come up months after the car arrives. It is easier to ask them before you buy. Find out which dealer the car is coming from, who your contact is if something needs attention, and where you can have it serviced. Keep the answers with your paperwork, so they are there when you need them. Clear answers now save a phone call later.

How Rodar helps you buy a new car with less of the legwork

Buying a new car is a big decision, and wanting to understand who you are dealing with is part of making it well. We would rather you check us than simply take our word for it. Run the drive-away test on any offer we bring you, and look us up on ASIC's register.

When it suits you, tell us the car you want, down to the grade and the colour. Because the dealers come to you, it is the most efficient route we know to a competitive drive-away price. On BYD, Tesla, Honda and the Mercedes-Benz brands, we work through the novated lease with you instead. If you need finance, it can be part of the same conversation, and a lender decision can come back within 24 hours. Rates and repayments are indicative only and subject to lender approval.

Tell us the car, and we will come back with the offers. Whenever you are ready.