North Lakes, and what it means for the car
Built from scratch
The project started in April 1999 on a 1,000-hectare site, planned for 8,500 houses, and North Lakes became a suburb in its own right in February 2006. At the 2011 census its median age was 31, six years under the national figure. If your car is still under its maker's warranty, the servicing rules below are the part that matters.
Buses, not trains
The only public transport inside North Lakes is the bus. So the car covers the school run, sport and the shops, and many of those trips are short. RACV says trips under 20 minutes don't give the alternator long enough to recharge the battery.
The Bruce Highway alongside
The Bruce Highway runs past the suburb, and the Plantation Road bridge over it to Dakabin opened in December 2014. Heading south, the highway ends at Bald Hills, where it meets the Gateway Motorway and Gympie Arterial Road.
Servicing a car that's still under warranty
In North Lakes, servicing by a qualified independent mechanic, done to the maker's schedule and specifications, does not by itself void a new car warranty. The regulators' guide to car buyers' rights backs that up for your consumer guarantees too.
There's one exception RACV points out. Mitsubishi's longer warranty is conditional: years six to 10 depend on servicing at a franchised dealer. If that's your car, check the warranty booklet before you choose.
Whoever does it, ask for the logbook to be stamped or a written record of the service, and keep it with the car. It matters if a warranty claim comes up, and again when you sell.
What we'd do
We'd put the model and the odometer reading in the card and add a note that it's under warranty, so the mechanic quotes the service in the book. Then we'd ask for a battery test at the same visit, because school-run cars are hard on them.