me
Cheers Mick! I havent considered any Suzukis, I had an old Daihatsu many years ago and it didnt die it was just the rust that stopped me being able to re register it[biggrin]
How big a car do you need? Camry are near bulletproof. Corolla likewise. If you only need a small car the a Yaris is about the best around. Go to the government auctions for the best price on a near new car. Govt. cars are usually sold at 2-3 years of age and usually well maintained. Perhaps a last model Commodore. They are a really great car. Do not buy Euros if you want lower cost reliable motoring. At least three repair shops I know well refuse to book in Citroen/Peugeot/Renault/Audi/ Fiat/Alfa. Also some models of Volvo and Benz are not welcome. Neither are Land rovers.
Cheers Bigbjorn
I forgot about the Auctions, does it still work out worthwhile given the hassle, auction cost and mandatory haulage?
As for the size i would like a wagon for bikes & boards ect but not too fussed about size. In saying that the Yaris may be a little twitchy for high country kms (only speculation as I havent driven one though).
For a while I had a 99 auto Hyundai Sonata. Got it at 243k km's and unloaded it at 450k km's or thereabouts. To my knowledge it's still a daily driver from Dandenong to Hoppers Crossing. Cosmetically it's rubbish but mechanically it's fine. An old workmate has an early i30 with a bazillion km's on it and it's fine - just normal servicing. Lots of lease fleets are Hyundai's these days. One of the big wigs of 13CABS uses leased Hyundais and puts LOTS and LOTS of km's on them before he changes them over. He uses the Hyundai option because they never let him down.
If it was me, I'd go the Hyundai option. After a few years they start to look like crap but they go on and on and on. Tey seem to drink bugger all fuel too which is a bonus.
shorten the oil changes (I know guys that have installed quick drains and cut holes in the panels for access to filters) and the coolant changes
and on most small front engined mobile bump stops they'll go forever, till the timing belt lets go.
Id be aiming for one of the earlier mid sized diesel VW or volvos, one thing that the small cars do not stack up well against is roo strike.
What is wrong with using the 110 as a commuter, The money you would save on rego alone would offset any fuel cost gains owning/driving the extra ****box car?
I use my D2a for pretty much everything and clock up 25-30K a year in it and it is WAY more fun to drive also much more comfortable than ANY of the hideous little ****boxes mentioned here so far[thumbsupbig]
My brothers VW Passat diesel that is not long out of warranty broke a water pump belt which then took out the timing belt , it has bent all 24 valves . Not good when the water pump was replaced by the dealer 6 months ago one would think they would have replaced the belt at the same time . They also make a shield kit that stops the Water pump belt from taking out the cam belt but this was not offered or fitted so a nice expensive job just before Christmas.