Thread: small economical car?

Hi Xavie,

You look like spending about three hours a day driving. That could be a waste of a LOT of time, time that is hard to find spare if studying at uni.

If you get a proper drivers car, the pleasure of the journey will lull your mind into a creative mode, and you will be able to utilise your travel time constructively thinking about your studies.

Get a jangling little (or big) buzz box, and your head will be so frazzled that you will just waste three hours a day dreaming of the joys of a better car.

You might consider an older peugot diesel. A friend bought a 406 new about ten years ago, has done well over 300,000 k's with no breakdowns, and gets outstanding economy. You can pick a good one up for well under ten grand.

Whatever, you owe it to yourself to have an enjoyable car. Passing a uni course is hard enough at best of times, but waste three hours a day in an uncomfortable car......

Good luck,

Paul

Paul, I totally agree.

I have spent a long time on carsales the last few days and am slowly considering a subaru. They are heavier on fuel but safer and I know how they drive. If I sold my motorbike as well I could then go for a Subie but I do it hesitantly. The reason I go this way is heading up and over the mountains we get black ice often through winter and a touch of snow and quite a bit of rain.

I'm waiting with baited breath on the outcome

Which Uni?

To be honest... I would just drive to the station and catch a train in - especially if is one of the unis in town. There are express trains off the mountains that shoot straight into Redfern and central, and its great down time to just chill and listen to music, sleep, troll through your notes or whatever. No thinking, no traffic jams.

I dont know what you mean by cheap but 13k for me is a but exxy if you want to save money. Bugger the warranty, buy an older car in the mid 90's which has proven it self through the test of time. I recon you can get a top car for 5k. Some I have considered over my last 5 car purchases are


peugeot 306, 305 diesels
renault diesels
2008 porsche 911 twin turbo (very cheap on insurance)
mercedes have some 90's bullet proof diesels for around 10k
i dont know about korean cars except I wouldnt own one.

Originally Posted by Xavie

Paul, I totally agree.

I have spent a long time on carsales the last few days and am slowly considering a subaru. They are heavier on fuel but safer and I know how they drive. If I sold my motorbike as well I could then go for a Subie but I do it hesitantly. The reason I go this way is heading up and over the mountains we get black ice often through winter and a touch of snow and quite a bit of rain.

I'm waiting with baited breath on the outcome

Hi Xavie, Yep, Subarus are great cars, Japanese or not. Certainly vastly more a drivers car than a Toymota. Good luck we will all be interested to see what you decide.

Cheers, Paul

Ok you like the idea of a hundi, this is a beauty and its on CarSales.com.au and in NSW and sold by a dealer

Vehicle2007 HYUNDAI i30 FD SXPrice$17,650 *Kilometres18,074


HYUNDAI i30 Dealer Used Cars For Sale - carsales.com.au

I wouldnt hesitate to use a Subaru I have used them as reliable family transport for years. Not as cheap to run but they are safe and reliable apart from CV joint boots every couple of years.

I know I always go on about safety, but you're all LR lovers and I'd like to think you'll be around for a while longer.

From the ANCAP reports on the Excel.

Occupant protection Marginal
Structure Poor
Restraints Marginal.

You can read the rest of the report here.

If you can afford it (and you've said you can) why not buy from a nation that has the same safety values as our own? At least you know that the people designing the car have been thinking "my wife/daughter could be driving this one day". This is a sample of one of those cars. Anyway, happy shopping!