Matt Parker

• Position: Vehicle Benefits Specialist

A bit about me…

I grew up out in the quiet town of Picton about two hours outside of Sydney (although without the M5 in those days, it used to take a lot longer!). My parents ran a successful plant nursery so I spent a bit of my youth going to suppliers and customer's nurseries in my Dad’s three tonne truck or one of our vans.

When I hit 18, I realised that if I wanted to party all night long, study at university and enjoy the sights that Sydney had to offer, I needed some wheels and thus began my love affair with cars.  I eventually came to my senses though and bought an apartment closer to the city with my wife Melanie. We have been married a few years now and I’m loving every moment.

My AutoPackage

This time around (my 4th AutoPackage), my wife's car was due for replacement. Due to an impending family, we needed something large enough to fit a pram and a baby-seat, but small enough as my wife loves small cars.

At the end of the day, out of all the cars we drove, she still loved my VW Golf, so we picked up a second one, this time a 2011 Volkswagen Golf 77TSI. Powered by a 1.2 Litre turbocharged petrol engine it’s no rocket ship, however it surprisingly has plenty of get up and go, and we regularly see fuel consumption in the ballpark of 5 litres per 100kms.

I have set it up on a 1 year program, just in case our family rapidly expands, so we have the flexibility to change to something else with a minimum of fuss. This shorter aggressive term also delivers significant tax benefits.

Golf GTi

First car

1979 Ford Cortina Ghia Station Wagon. The best car I could get my hands
on for $850 as a P Plater. It was slow as a wet weekend but infinitely practical.

Favourite road trip

Las Vegas, Nevada to Anaheim, California. This road trip took significantly longer than it should have due to the fact that it was done at the end of a long weekend (Veterans Day in the USA) so the roads out of Las Vegas were choked with cars.

I didn't mind though, as I had a 2010 Mustang at my disposal fitted with a Sirius Satellite radio (100 channels of crystal clear sound). Staying on the wrong side of the road at 65 miles an hour proved easier than first expected, but my wife had to remind me a few times when coming to an intersection.

I got to experience a real American road house for lunch and some great desert sunset sights. Some good outlet-mall’s along the way too!

What I like most about Autopia

Definitely my colleagues. We are a big group of like-minded individuals and we all get along famously. The only time things get heated is when someone has a controversial opinion about what their next car might be, we usually all get involved in the debate!