Ideas for a daily driver $5-8k

dirtygalant · Post by **dirtygalant** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:09 am

Entaran wrote:I doubt you'll find anything that satisfies all those requirements for anything less than about double what your budget is (eg, 15-20k range).

Otherwise you will simply be getting a car that is too old and therefore either unreliable, bad on fuel or not upto safety specs.

Good luck with your search and I hope you can prove me wrong.

Cars here cost a lot more than in NZ apparently.

so you are saying I'm not going to be able to find a late 90s/early 2000s sedan with a 2L engine or thereabouts, with two air bags, ABS, air con, achieve around 30mpg on average, and maybe have cruise control for anything less than $15-20k? As I said something along the lines of a Peugeot 406, Volvo 850, 8G non-turbo Galant (which you guys don't have), MkIII Ford Mondeo (again, not available in Australia) would fit the bill except I notice their price isn't totally in line with what I am prepared to pay, which is why I was asking for alternatives which may represent better value for money.

OLD FART · Post by **OLD FART** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:15 am

DG have you searched Gumtree & Carsales websites yet??

dirtygalant · Post by **dirtygalant** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:44 am

Hey Rad yep I've been browsing gumtree and carsales in my area for ideas and have come up with a few (ie MkIV Golf), but I'm willing to travel for the right car so searching through all of QLD, VIC, NSW and SA brings up tens of thousands of examples to search through and I can only go far until giving up, perhaps missing potential vehicles. I'm not ready to purchase right at this minute so I can't exactly act right now, but no harm in looking what's out there and taking my time finding the car which ticks all my boxes.

Right now I'm keeping an eye out for a decent Pug 406, Citroen Xantia, Volvo 850 or S40 to pop up. I've even been looking at Camrys again would you believe!

Also I have been meaning to get in touch but have been a bit busy with the new job and finding a place to live etc.

enthuzed · Post by **enthuzed** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:07 pm

Two things..

Firstly one of those shots of your place in NZ are concerning. You've got all the nice cars on the lawn and in the street, yet an old Volvo takes pride of place in the driveway!

Secondly, with all this research happening, how much time have you got left before you head back home?

dirtygalant · Post by **dirtygalant** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:18 pm

haha!

The VR-4 is always in the garage at all times, and usually the white Galant GT (now sold) sits next to it. I must have been doing some work to the old Volvo. I couldn't fit the Century in the garage, and while it was a very unique and interesting car it just wasn't practical and I couldn't justify hanging onto it 'just cause' so I on-sold it to a friend of mine rather than continue to let it sit outside.

Also I am here until mid next year, so hoping to finalise buying something before the end of this year, would still have at least 4-5 months of use out of whatever I buy. While the current steed Camry will last that time - simply put I just want something nicer and perhaps a bit more modern with better safety features. I don't like the idea of traveling potentially up to 20,000kms in an 80s car with no ABS or air bags - let's face it there's plenty of idiot drivers out there in Commodores or Falcons who could crash into you when it's not even your fault. I've already done 5,000kms in the 8 weeks I've been here.

I will also be going to the UK after Australia, I wont be going back to NZ to live for probably at least another 2-3 years. Needless to say I am missing my VR-4 and the Eterna.

enthuzed · Post by **enthuzed** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:27 pm

Maybe it'd be better to put in a nice stereo and have nice tunes to put on.
Then when you get bored, turn up the noise of choice.
Perhaps you could add some extra gauges and bling inside to keep you amused...

What about some lowered springs and better shocks and swaybars?

Since you like posting pics, whack some up of your steed and we might be able to turn it into a funmobile...somehow.

Dunno what model Camry it is and whether it's a 4 or a 6, but you might be able to get stuff from the GTP model if it's of that vintage, or set it up so it's somewhat like it.

That might solve your problem. And without overcapitalising or buying another car.

enthuzed · Post by **enthuzed** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:33 pm

Ideas:

These cars as a V6 actually went pretty good. Is yours this model?

dirtygalant · Post by **dirtygalant** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:00 pm

nah mine's a '92 SV21 CS-X. 3S-FE 2.0 EFI and 4spd auto. Traveled a mere 333,000kms. I don't even think I have pictures of it saved anywhere, it's truly that terrible. It was essentially the best car I could find for around $1000 on the day after I flew into Aus, because without securing a job at that stage I wasn't prepared to have so much money tied up in a car which I may have needed to live on.

That's the shape Camry I would ideally look at if I were to get a Camry, but I still find them severely lacking in terms of style and driving dynamics. They may be reliable as the day is long but the suspension/chassis is soft and not very rigid and leave you with a horribly boaty wallowey ride as a result of having softly sprung springs for comfort.

Again whatever I get I'm not looking to modify it or turn it into a project. Whatever I am getting, it will more or less stay in that same condition and ideally be already well setup straight out of the box, which I find the majority of European cars are.

enthuzed · Post by **enthuzed** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:16 pm

Well, err...okay. With that model, specs and $ invested perhaps not...

thrash · Post by **thrash** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 2:32 pm

have you considered a citroen xsara?

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/dea ... 1&__N=1216 1246 1247 1252 1282 4294966818 4294966662 900&silo=1011

the one in that ad is a bit pricey due to being from a dealer, and it's also a 2 door, but you can get them in 4 door, and if you get the early ones of that shape, they had i think a 120kw engine, which was downgraded in the later models for some reason. I've driven one in manual, and it's a very nice, zippy drive.

dirtygalant · Post by **dirtygalant** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 3:53 pm

thanks mate I didn't think of the Xsara, the four door is pretty much along the lines of what I would be looking at. Having said that I'm a little partial towards the Peugeot 306 counterpart.

Entaran · Post by **Entaran** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 12:10 am

The only thing that might not be totally fucked at that price range is an auction special vx or vz series 1 commodore.

The rest to match your long list of desires will be at the bare minimum 12-14k for abad one and 20k+ for a good one.. Whatever you get.

I don't know if it's been mentioned but early 2000's magna's and mitsubishi 380's are good cars too if a little sterile. I know heaps down here (country vic.) that have done 400k+ kms and never missed a beat.

dirtygalant · Post by **dirtygalant** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 8:18 am

"my long list of desires"? wtf? you guys must be incredibly starved of choice if you're saying I can't find a car with my requirements (which aren't high by the way, I think you should re-read the list) for no less than $12k for a rough example. I think you seriously lack reading and comprehension skills.

I'm after something from the late 90s or early 2000s, mid-sized four door/liftback or wagon, 1800-2400cc petrol or diesel turbo preferably, 5spd or auto, reasonable safety rating (ie have a couple air bags, something which is just about standard on most cars since the mid 90s), ABS, air con, and maybe even cruise control if I'm lucky.

You're telling me I can't get the above for anything less than $12-20k?

I've already mentioned cars which I think fit the bill, but at the time when I first started looking I was finding Peugeot 406s were upwards of $10k which made me go 'WTF' big time, because they are worth HALF the amount around the rest of the world - not just in NZ. Since looking further I have been able to find some for as little as $2k needing work, so I feel it's entirely possible to pick one up for $4-6k for a reasonable one.

redzone · Post by **redzone** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 10:22 am

I think you're absolutely nuts considering a euro car in australia, they just don't have the parts or service info support here, and they don't stand up to australian conditions very well..

dirtygalant · Post by **dirtygalant** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 10:47 am

some would say you're absolutely nuts for buying a Mitsubishi too.

I know perhaps they aren't going to be as reliable as a Camry but with my previous experience with owning over a dozen Euros I haven't found them to be overly expensive to maintain. I think the high cost comes from people who don't have a clue who drop their car into a European car dealer and say 'here fix this' and then get shocked with the $3000+ bill. In this day and age if you drop a Toyota into a Toyota dealership you will find the labour charge is on par with the European marques and some of the cost prices are just as astronomically high.

If I need parts I tend to shop around well in advance of needing it, often sourcing them from over-seas. Having said that I also do that with my Mitsubishis, I buy my genuine Mitsubishi oil filters in bulk loads 10 at a time from the US along with other misc parts and they all end up being much cheaper than what the local dealer can offer.

As far as general frequent maintenance goes the Europeans are not more expensive to run, and if they are any more expensive to run then I'm happy to take it on the chin in exchange for having something which is enjoyable to drive and is packed with features.

Austarion

Ideas for a daily driver $5-8k

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