SWMBO - Daily Car Choices

[grey_ghost]

Hi All,

SWMBO work situation might be changing soon - which means that we need to buy her a daily driver...

Requirements?
Manual or auto - doesn't matter
$5,000 - $6,000 budget (maximum)
Small/Medium
<150,000 km on the clock?
Probably prefer a dealer car - yes it's more expensive, but at least you get a 3 month warranty if anything drastic goes wrong?
Victoria

I'm thinking something like a Suzuki Swift or Mazda 2..

What are peoples thoughts or suggestions?

Mick/Homestar - before you say it, I don't think that SWMBO could handle the sheer excitement of a Camry... [wink11]

Cheers,
GG.

[Mick_Marsh]

Hi All,

SWMBO work situation might be changing soon - which means that we need to buy her a daily driver...

Requirements?
Manual or auto - doesn't matter
$5,000 - $6,000 budget (maximum)
Small/Medium
<150,000 km on the clock?
Probably prefer a dealer car - yes it's more expensive, but at least you get a 3 month warranty if anything drastic goes wrong?
Victoria

I'm thinking something like a Suzuki Swift or Mazda 2..

What are peoples thoughts or suggestions?

Mick/Homestar - before you say it, I don't think that SWMBO could handle the sheer excitement of a Camry... [wink11]

Cheers,
GG.
To tell you the truth, I don't think there is anything else that would suit.

[bsperka]

Hi All,

SWMBO work situation might be changing soon - which means that we need to buy her a daily driver...

Requirements?
Manual or auto - doesn't matter
$5,000 - $6,000 budget (maximum)
Small/Medium
<150,000 km on the clock?
Probably prefer a dealer car - yes it's more expensive, but at least you get a 3 month warranty if anything drastic goes wrong?
Victoria

I'm thinking something like a Suzuki Swift or Mazda 2..

What are peoples thoughts or suggestions?

Mick/Homestar - before you say it, I don't think that SWMBO could handle the sheer excitement of a Camry... [wink11]

Cheers,
GG.Have a look at a Honda Jazz. More room inside than a 2 or a Swift.

[weeds]

i30 maybe.....

[Homestar]

Toyota Camry (seriously), I30, Mazda 3, Whatever the Kia equivalent is. Plenty of good cheap cars out there at the moment, it's a buyers market. What's wrong with the Perentie?

[loanrangie]

Camry will make her fall asleep at the wheel.

[Mick_Marsh]

$5,000 - $6,000 budget (maximum)

Probably prefer a dealer car - yes it's more expensive, but at least you get a 3 month warranty if anything drastic goes wrong?
I thought a warranty only came with cars $10,000 and over.

[Mick_Marsh]

Camry will make her fall asleep at the wheel.
The Camry makes other road users and pedestrians fall asleep.
If they notice it.

[grey_ghost]

Homestar - I have considered letting her drive the Perentie, and its still an option BUT:

* I would prefer to fit door locks to it (not that difficult I believe)
* I would prefer to fit an ignition lock to it (again, not that difficult I believe)
* It's on Club Plates - which means that I would have to transfer it to full rego (I'm guessing another RWC, and I'm guessing stamp duty. Plus imagine trying to change it at Vicroads! [bigsad] )
* During working hours - it will either be at a train station car park OR an un-secured car park
* It would need to be used for shopping, book club, etc

All very possible - but I suppose I am spoiling the Perentie at the moment... It's still a consideration.

Mick - I didn't know that about warranty.. I'll have to investigate that - you learn something every day.

Just "what iffing" at this point in time. [biggrin]

[Mick_Marsh]

Offer them $5k

We've taken a wrong turn (https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Toyota-Camry-2005/SSE-AD-5002144/)


Actually, it's not too bad. Might look at that one myself.

[V8Ian]

Collecting Camrys now, Mick?

[grey_ghost]

Hi Mick,

Wow - did you check out that spoiler!!!

And a tow bar... Hmm - wonder how much it could tow, a Series I??

Oh - and what's the flag on the dashboard?

[carjunkieanon]

Not a Camry. A Corolla!

[Mick_Marsh]

And a tow bar... Hmm - wonder how much it could tow, a Series I??

An 80" is 1200kg. Get yourself a 400kg tandem and you're at the 1600kg towing capacity.

[Classic88]

A Ford Fiesta so at least it'll be fun to drive when you borrow it?

[Hall]

Keep the land rover theme going and get a Freelander 2. Just checked on line and there are few about in your budget,
Cheers Hall

[mick88]

Tom,
You will pick up something with a lot less than 150K...there are a lot of good cars out there getting traded in for "peanuts."
Just find someone trading in a 5-7 year old vehicle that appeals to you and make them an offer, then as cash buyers they also
will be able to negotiate a better deal. I know it's above your budget, but only last week a friend purchased an as new, 5 year
old Corolla with 15K on the clock for ten big ones. My in-laws picked up a similar bargain earlier in the year, so the deals are out
there, you just need to look.

Cheers, Mick (the other one ;) )

[Davetd5]

Corolla or Mazda 3. We had a 2002 Corolla for 8 years and nothing went wrong. Still had the original radiator, starter, alternator and cv joints at 298,000km when we sold it. We live in the hills and it actually didn't steer too bad either. The only problem was at one stage swmbo had to drive 60kms and 2hours each way for work at one stage and the seats gave grief to her bad back.

[DoubleChevron]

Wow you guys like cars that are boring as hell [bigsmile1]

2003 RENAULT CLIO RS SPORT 172 HATCH 2.0L MANUAL ABS AIRBAGS 0-100km/h 6.9 sec | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2003-RENAULT-CLIO-RS-SPORT-172-HATCH-2-0L-MANUAL-ABS-AIRBAGS-0-100km-h-6-9-sec-/272859151414?hash=item3f87ac3c36:g:d7AAAOSwqXZZxga Q)

Does she mind dimples ..... :) One of these would be an enormous amount of fun to drive for next to no $$$$

seeya,
Shane L

[AK83]

brother just got himself a 307 HDi Pug.
Nice little car, massively economical. min 800km in city driving.. can't wait to see it's range on a drive.
very comfy suspension compared to jap cars too. Not as comfy as the 406, but not too far off.

highly recommended to give one a test drive. $3k-ish should get you a nice one.

[Homestar]

Wow you guys like cars that are boring as hell [bigsmile1]

2003 RENAULT CLIO RS SPORT 172 HATCH 2.0L MANUAL ABS AIRBAGS 0-100km/h 6.9 sec | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2003-RENAULT-CLIO-RS-SPORT-172-HATCH-2-0L-MANUAL-ABS-AIRBAGS-0-100km-h-6-9-sec-/272859151414?hash=item3f87ac3c36:g:d7AAAOSwqXZZxga Q)

Does she mind dimples ..... :) One of these would be an enormous amount of fun to drive for next to no $$$$

seeya,
Shane L


Yeah, reliability is so boring. Personally wouldn't own a Renault of this vintage - there's a reason they just about give them away. ;)


Hmmm, in hindsight I should change that statement - I wouldn't own Renault.... That's better. :D

[V8Ian]

Dunno Gav, I always fancied a 16.

[Homestar]

Nah, the 16 is the original pregnant roller skate. Maybe it's the Pommy blood in me but I can't stand Renaults. Everything about them irks me.

[V8Ian]

I've only got one thing to say to you then Gav, Austin A30. [bigrolf]

[DoubleChevron]

Yeah, reliability is so boring. Personally wouldn't own a Renault of this vintage - there's a reason they just about give them away. ;)


Hmmm, in hindsight I should change that statement - I wouldn't own Renault.... That's better. :D

A renault sport would be a huge amount of fun to drive ... A megane sport would be even better.

renaults have always been mechanically tough ( as long as you avoid the automatics ).... huge fun. Have you see the renault 5's with engines in the middle.

Top Gear - Renault 5 Turbo - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRdg4H69_Wg)

seeya.
Shane L.

[lyonsy]

Mitsubishi mirage late model 5 star ancap sips fuel and is prob the best value for something small that's relatively new and low km We've taken a wrong turn (https://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Mitsubishi-Mirage-2013/OAG-AD-15149451/?Cr=3)
if ya willing to travel Suzuki Jimmy manuals can be had for that price and km but they are old ones
Suzuki alto's are around the same as the mirage but have around 100'000 km

stay well away from any dual clutch transmissions esp ford and vw

when you go to the dealer what ever the price is take at least 2-3k off when you make an offer

Cars have no resale atm as it is flooded and everyone wants a 4x4 or suv so you should be able to get a small car for bugger all that mirage i linked i would not pay more then 5k drive away for it, if they don't go for it just say the deal is on the table until you find something else leave ya number and walk away, if the salesman is struggling to meet his sales target for the month you will get it.
also just look at cars don't buy until end of the month for same reason you will get much better deals then at the start of the month.
and just like real estate agents and politicians while the sales mouth is open their will only be excrement leaving it.

also those warranty's they try to sign you up for are not worth the paper they are written on and are not warranty's they are insurance's

[Homestar]

Mitsubishi mirage late model 5 star ancap sips fuel and is prob the best value for something small that's relatively new and low km We've taken a wrong turn (https://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Mitsubishi-Mirage-2013/OAG-AD-15149451/?Cr=3)
if ya willing to travel Suzuki Jimmy manuals can be had for that price and km but they are old ones
Suzuki alto's are around the same as the mirage but have around 100'000 km

stay well away from any dual clutch transmissions esp ford and vw

when you go to the dealer what ever the price is take at least 2-3k off when you make an offer

Cars have no resale atm as it is flooded and everyone wants a 4x4 or suv so you should be able to get a small car for bugger all that mirage i linked i would not pay more then 5k drive away for it, if they don't go for it just say the deal is on the table until you find something else leave ya number and walk away, if the salesman is struggling to meet his sales target for the month you will get it.
also just look at cars don't buy until end of the month for same reason you will get much better deals then at the start of the month.
and just like real estate agents and politicians while the sales mouth is open their will only be excrement leaving it.

also those warranty's they try to sign you up for are not worth the paper they are written on and are not warranty's they are insurance's

It's a real shame that VW and particually Ford ****ed these up so badly as the concept is very good and there are decent ones out there that don't explode every 5 minutes, but these 2 big players managed to pretty much single handedly ruined the DCT reputation very quickly.

Like a lot of things, the R&D cuts them down to the lightest, cheapest components to save money but a little more thought would have meant they could've have lived long and healthy lives. Automatic transmissions are going the same way now - 150,000KM design life for most small stuff these days.

Disposable cars, what a waste. What will car enthusiasts be restoring in 20 or 30 years time?

[lyonsy]

I am not aware of anyone else doing cheap dual clutch setups and yes good cocept but really for low power applications you are much better off with a cvt and when they get them to work with big hp then cvt will be the best gbox.

[lyonsy]

Oh stay away from nissan's cvt which is jatco i think as they are as crap as ford and vw dual clutch setups.

[Homestar]

I am not aware of anyone else doing cheap dual clutch setups and yes good cocept but really for low power applications you are much better off with a cvt and when they get them to work with big hp then cvt will be the best gbox.

Kia and Hyundai have been doing them for years in there more expensive ranges - anything above the pauper pack basically across the entire range. With 7 and 5 year warranties and few reported issues. Not exactly high horsepower applications - only up to around 200HP, but on a par with some other manufacturers that have managed to **** this up. :)

Yes, a good CVT makes the best use of the engines power but again, the concept has been dealt a blow by ****ty versions that have had issues too.

[cripesamighty]

John Cadogan was scathing of a couple of car manufacturers for wrecking the concept for everyone else. These cheaper units overheat and then will bunny hop through the rev range forever more. Shame really.

[grey_ghost]

And the winner is... A 307 Pug!

2005, auto, 100,000 kms on the clock

! https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/10/642.jpg

[DoubleChevron]

And the winner is... A 307 Pug!

2005, auto, 100,000 kms on the clock

! https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/10/642.jpg

If it's a 4spd slugomatic ....> RUN ..... fast .... the AL4 ( or as I call it AL$) gearbox in PSA vehicles of that era is an unreliable, skitzophrenic peiece of ****.

I drove a very low milage 6spd manual 307 wagon a few years ago when we were looking for cars for my wife.... I hated it before we even get out of the service street the car yard was in. The damn thing felt like it had live axles welded to the body as it bounced down the service lane. The motor and gearbox were great though (we ended up with a poogoe 407 ... same drivetrain in a bigger body). The poogoe 407 rides better than the 307 ( doesn't everything though ?) ... unfortunatly it's one of those "big on the outside ... and miserable and little on the inside" cars with crap rock hard seats and no ground clearance (its hammered itself into the ground so often anythyng was was made of plastic underneath has long since gone).

the motor and gearbox in it is good though... I get out of the modern 407 and into my old rat infested Citroen CX that was designed at the begginings of the 1970s ....and feel like I have moved about 5 decades into the future in car design.

seeya,
Shane L.

[bblaze]

can see a 2 inch lift, a bulbar and a "whats the best spottie thread", along with "what are the best tyres thread" [bigsmile][bigsmile]
cheers
blaze

[1950landy]

Hope it is better than the Citroen C4 my wife had , could not wait to get rid of it. The only car I hace owned that I think was worst than it was a VB Commodore. Always had Holdens up till then ,Have not bought a GMH product since.[biggrin]

[rar110]

Our 407 hdi with Aisin 6 speed auto has been good. It drives very nice.

[grey_ghost]

Positive bunch aren’t we? [emoji12]

[DoubleChevron]

Our 407 hdi with Aisin 6 speed auto has been good. It drives very nice.

Yes ... there a great 'box ... I just prefer manual (having said that, my wifes manual has a rattly flywheel .... shoulda bought the 6spd auto!)

seeya,
Shane L.