Thread: the other car

I bought a 1995 Diahatsu Feroza for my daughter but would happily
choof around town in it..
Maybe a zook?

Originally Posted by justinc

A really good, reliable and cheap to run and buy vehicle is a 1992 Camry. Even the later wide body 1993/4 onward are a good reliable cheap vehicle, that won't make you look suspect

JC

Of course, driving a Camry will make you look like an old fart who hates cars and whom we all avoid like the plague as we know Camry drivers have no idea what they are doing.

BTW, if you buy one, it is imperative that you do not drive at any speed approaching the speed limit. To do so will get you chucked out of the Camry Owners Club.

Buying a camry is akin to trading in your man hood

HOW DARE YOU!
The Subaru anything is the spriritual successor to the Volvo Wagon, and mark the driver as one to be avoided at all costs.

Any Japanese old car is a good bet. The early 90s Mazdas ( 323 and whats the stylish one? ASTINA ( just remembered, )were very stylish and so well built they almost sent Mazda broke. Corollas , Camry, or basically anything with a Toyota badge is great. I bought my daughter a Camry with 340KK on it a year and a half ago and it is still going strong.

If you want cheap and cheap to run , an old Charade is the go. I ran a B11 ? turbo for many years despite my son thrashing it to death.
Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by justinc

True some Camrys have proven a bit dodgy, JC

I'm looking similarly for a small runabout and I too thought of the Camry and your comment surprised me. Is that dodginess related to any specific year model JC?

If you actually enjoy driving, take I fiesta for a run.

While we are Camry bashing, I thought I'd tell you about the one we bought.

1993 wide body 2.2 litre wagon. Basically bought as an "invisible" car, with slightly seedy paintwork no-one would look at it from a theft point of view.

At 224K it had a broken conrod, but still ran on 2 cylinders without noise. Piston no.1 was sitting at the top of its bore, conrod was in the sump, oil pressure was close to nil. We got it for $500 and put a second hand engine in it and a gas system.

In 18 months/25K we have had:

Failed central locking/immobiliser. It wouldn't let you out of the car unless you got brutal with the lock lever.

Collapsed engine mounts, these hydraulic mounts cost an an arm and a leg, but it still vibrates in typical 4 cylinder fashion under power.

Failed alternator, no big drama it's a Bosch and easy to fix.

Failed dissy, wouldn't start one morning.

Failed speedo sensor.

Failed headlamp control module, the headlamps would go out randomly and come back on when you flicked the flasher on. That took a load of study to work out how to rewire it to standard operation.

Failed plastic top tank of the radiator.

Exhaust pipe broke off at the engine flange, manifold cracked in half, studs broken/seized etc.

Headlamp adjusters broken off, pointing at the ground. Yellow reflectors. Another headlight.

And for the biggie: the other day I was driving it, gave it a bit of welly, and with an almighty bang the gearbox tried to select two gears at once or something. I backed off, it was still driving so I nursed it home with only first and third operational. Being suspicious, I tried it on petrol, it ran like the proverbial woolly goat. Turned out to be ECU failure, another one got plugged in and it worked again. Don't know if the trans has any damage.

Oh and the plastic trim acts like snowflakes, dropping off in little bits.

So yeah, it's still mobile, but my wife would like a less difficult car. And the power steering leaks and isn't very nice to drive. While it only does local runs I will put up with it, but somewhere there must be a nicer way of getting around.

If I hadn't picked up another matching wreck for a further $500 I would have trashed this one. If you have had a good Camry in the past, cherish the memory. If you want a good one, find a looked-after granny's car. Or a new one.

Oh and my brother has two of these, the first one was fine until it cracked the head beyond repair, then with a new head did a big end. And a clutch. The second Camry also did a head and got his almost new head on it. Plastic trash, beyond its use-by date.

Originally Posted by PhilipA

The Subaru anything is the spriritual successor to the Volvo Wagon, and mark the driver as one to be avoided at all costs.

We have a 2005 Liberty sedan, I don't think we conform to your stereotype. It is a great car to drive and with 17 inch tyres, bilstein struts and constant awd handles very well.