Westend Autos Te Awamutu wins BuyerScore award for No 1 in Waikato

Pana Bulsara (left) with his BuyerScore 2025 Top Waikato Salesman award and with his brother and co-owner, Hamish, and their 2025 BuyerScore Top Waikato Small Dealership award and Top 20 New Zealand award across all categories. Photo / Dean Taylor

From an online car sales business, to a leased yard in a Te Awamutu side street, to owning a purpose-built used vehicle dealership on the State Highway, brothers Hamish and Pana Bulsara have come a long way with their business Westend Autos - Quality Vehicles.

The brothers are car-loving businessmen with one simple motto - quality is premium - so much so it is included in the business name.

And to ensure they are providing that quality, they use independent rating and review collection service BuyerScore as a tool to gather valuable customer feedback.

There are five categories: customer service, knowledge and expertise, dealership facilities, finance and insurance and trade-in process.

BuyerScore holds annual awards which it says recognised dealerships and salespeople who are best at delivering great customer service.

In the five years BuyerScore has been in operation, Westend Autos has been rated No 1 in Waikato in the small dealership category and also rated highly in all dealership categories across New Zealand.

This year, Westend picked up the No 1 Waikato award with a review score of 4.98/5. Over the five years, the cumulative score from 642 reviews is 4.92/5.

Westend Autos was rated in the Top 20 of all dealerships in New Zealand and Pana was awarded No 1 Waikato Salesperson for all dealerships.

All listings at Westend Autos are logged with BuyerScore and sale results are sent to the customer.

“Feedback is good for us. If we are doing something that isn’t 100% we have the chance to rectify it,” Pana said.

“We appreciate that BuyerScore is a professionally managed system and think it is better than just relying on comments left on web pages or social media.”

Hamish and Pana don’t believe in pressure selling: “A great car will sell itself.”

They said they followed simple but effective steps to ensure customers can be confident with their purchase:

· Hand-picked, late-model, quality cars from major manufacturers are sourced. Many are ex-lease, because they have impeccable dealership service histories, and almost 100% are New Zealand new.

· Every car is given a full body inspection and not so much as a small stone chip misses professional panel and paint repair.

· Every vehicle has a Warrant of Fitness issued by VTNZ.

· Every vehicle has been fully groomed and is ready to be driven away once it is displayed on the yard or in the showroom.

The brothers said they were known for being “fussy” - nothing goes on sale unless it met their high standards.

They said this ensured they maintained their good reputation.

The new location at 178 Ōhaupō Rd in Te Awamutu was opened in November last year and features a plaque honouring their father John, who passed away last year.

Hamish and Pana credit him with their success.

Their love of cars started at home in Suva, Fiji, where their father was involved in several business ventures, one being a car yard.

The Bulsara family moved to New Zealand and eventually purchased Westend Superette in Te Awamutu. The boys adopted the Westend name for their hobby business, which has now grown into their six-day-a-week, award-winning operation.

They are also proud that Westend Autos in Te Awamutu is a fully owned local family business and the new premises were designed and built by the Te Awamutu Coresteel team.

And they know their father would be hugely proud of what they have achieved and is looking over them.

Dean Taylor is the former editor of the Te Awamutu Courier and the Waikato Herald.