What car to buy?

[geoffw]

I'm faced with the choice of a car to buy, and I'm clueless about cars. I have an unfortunate attitude that a car is something which gets you from one place to another.

I have a Falcon about 14 years old, 300,000 clicks and battle scarred (I chose to collect an insurance payment of $4000 in lieu of actually getting the dints ironed out- not my fault).

I'm not quite sure what I want. But a few thoughts.

1. I do need to transport stuff from time to time. Quite often. The Falcon was a good size for this.

2. I don't like what I'm spending on fuel for the Falcon, nor what it's doing to the air. A hybrid might be good. Or an LPG or dual fuel. But keeping in mind point 1. A nice hybrid which is really efficient may not have enough room to carry something in the boot or back seat.

3. I would prefer to get something with perhaps 40K on the clock. Like the last one. That extra 40K for buying new would have cost me a lot more. Plus I wouldn't want to carry stuff in a brand new vehicle. Ex lease in Canberra can often be suitable.

4. I want to be able to carry up to four people.

I've never been fond of four wheel drives. But if that's what fits I may have to go that way. At least I will be able to see better when reversing out of a parking spot when I'm parked next to another 4WD. But I'm not quite sure if a 4WD fits into my garage. How tall are they?

My accountant suggests that I have up to $35K to spend. But I would be more comfortable with $25K. If possible.

I've been very happy with the reliability of the Falcon. I drive a lot of km. But the cheaper price of some of the new brands is tempting. How good are they?

Thanks for any help!

 

[sash]

You could get a 2009 Falcon XR6 for less than 24k with less than 40k.

Try pickles......

The other option is a 2008 Commodore Omega petrol...for about 16-18k.

I'm faced with the choice of a car to buy, and I'm clueless about cars. I have an unfortunate attitude that a car is something which gets you from one place to another.

I have a Falcon about 14 years old, 300,000 clicks and battle scarred (I chose to collect an insurance payment of $4000 in lieu of actually getting the dints ironed out- not my fault).

I'm not quite sure what I want. But a few thoughts.

1. I do need to transport stuff from time to time. Quite often. The Falcon was a good size for this.

2. I don't like what I'm spending on fuel for the Falcon, nor what it's doing to the air. A hybrid might be good. Or an LPG or dual fuel. But keeping in mind point 1. A nice hybrid which is really efficient may not have enough room to carry something in the boot or back seat.

3. I would prefer to get something with perhaps 40K on the clock. Like the last one. That extra 40K for buying new would have cost me a lot more. Plus I wouldn't want to carry stuff in a brand new vehicle. Ex lease in Canberra can often be suitable.

4. I want to be able to carry up to four people.

I've never been fond of four wheel drives. But if that's what fits I may have to go that way. At least I will be able to see better when reversing out of a parking spot when I'm parked next to another 4WD. But I'm not quite sure if a 4WD fits into my garage. How tall are they?

My accountant suggests that I have up to $35K to spend. But I would be more comfortable with $25K. If possible.

I've been very happy with the reliability of the Falcon. I drive a lot of km. But the cheaper price of some of the new brands is tempting. How good are they?

Thanks for any help!

 

[geoffw]

Thanks Sash.

But bearing in mind the fuel requirements- I'd prefer something cheaper to run or more environmentally friendly than a petrol only.

Cheers, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

 

[wylie]

I am like you in your attitude to cars. We have a Nimbus that can seat 7 but two seats can be removed totally. It is really the size of a normal station wagon and we carry all sorts of stuff in it. I love it.

Son has just learned the hard way that his Saab is costing way too much in fuel and he is buying a demo Holden Cruze Diesel for $24K (supposedly $31K drive away). This will reduce his fuel consumption considerably.

It seats five, but I'm sure you could not carry much in it. Maybe a different diesel vehicle with more carrying capacity would do the job.

 

[Rolf Latham]

slightly used falcon wagon on gas

2 to 3years old 18 to 25 k max

ta
rolf

 

[geoffw]

Thanks Mark.

I suspect though that the picture you posted is in disagreement with your sig

 

[geoffw]

Thanks Wylie.

I have an attitude that diesel is especially dirty and polluting. Is that the case still?

 

[Corey Batt]

Hybrids are bleh. Sure they are good for the reduced petrol per 100km stats, but they have increased carbon footprint in the production process which as a net result make them less than amazing. Furthermore if one is truly intent on providing the best bang for buck, they would go for a Civic with slightly higher petrol consumption and use the difference in price to donate to a carbon capture forest regen program. I know many a car enthusiast who have many issues with them

So in the end you have to decide whether you want to save your hip pocket, or truly be efficient. If you want to go nuts, do an electric vehicle conversion, with a solar/wind turbine recharge station. You would be truly 'off the grid'. Unfortunately such a build wouldn't suit your size requirements.

To keep petrol usage down for myself, I'm currently doing a restoration of a '69 Datsun 1000 ute, body weighs less than the original Mini Coopers (less than 500kg) putting in a A14 motor (A15 illegal ). 1.4 L motor, with a very enviable Weight to power ratio making it a fast pocket rocket (This build will have a power to weight ratio 33% higher than a 4L BA Falcon).

 

[Ausprop]

mitsubishi 380... apparantly a great car and as they had 5 year warranty a lot of the 2nd hand ones are still under warranty. purchase value is stuff all....like $12k

 

[Simon]

Being in Canberra you should check out what you can buy at Auction. You will see where the dealers make their money. ie a $10K Commodore will sell on the lot for $16K.

Lots of ex govvy fleet cars - I know Defence sell theirs at $40K and they are usually well looked after.

I personally own Commodore Wagons for the same reason as you - always moving stuff for family. Don't buy a ute. Everyone you know will ask you to move house for them.....

If you get a Falcon/Commodore sedan then you can easily put gas on. Even a wagon - they put a smaller gas tank in the spare wheel well and mount the spare vertically in the back.

What you save on buying an ex fleet car will pay for the increases fuel usage for longer thanyou will own it.

I'd stick with the Falcon if you know that the one you had suited you well.

 

[twobobsworth]

$35K might be a struggle but a bright yellow Hummer H3 with subway plastered down the side would look great.

 

[pennyk]

if you do head towards SUV/ 4WD, be careful to check out the boot space/ carrying capacity, if that's important for you. We went from a Subaru liberty stn wagon to a Mazda CX7. We have been very happy with both, but the space available in the CX7 is about half that in the Subaru.
Apart from that, I can offer no wisdom on cars..... completely clueless!
Pen

 

[Perp]

But the cheaper price of some of the new brands is tempting. How good are they?

We have a Daewoo and a Kia. I'm not a "car person", and found the value-for-money of Korean cars unbeatable.

The Daewoo Matiz (now THAT is fuel efficient - 800cc) is now 9 years old and has "fully depreciated" its $11K purchase price. The last 3 or 4 years, its inferior quality has shown mainly in the aesthetics, eg paint peeling off the rear-view mirrors, but mechanically it's been pretty good. We've spent about $2K on repairing it, all in the last 2 years, but up until then we'd just paid for servicing. It easily does 110km, and if you don't have any passengers, you can fold the rear seats down and actually fit quite a lot in it. I'd definitely consider buying another Matiz when this one dies.

The Kia Grand Carnival is 5 years old, and very thirsty, but it hasn't skipped a beat, either.

I'd definitely consider buying Korean cars again.

 

[handyandy]

Just buying a Falcon station wagon LPG only 2007 model with 104k on the clock through Pickles for just under $17k.

This will be for one of my son's. Went for the station wagon to avoid FBT.

Cheers

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

http://www.auctions.sa.gov.au/price...ran_type=ANY&price_range=price1&Submit=Search

'06 Falcon wagon from the SA government auctions, 81,000km. Went for less than $10k.

Cars there are real cheap. I haven't bought one, but at that price I'll be considering it next time around.

 

[Ms Jade]

I'd definitely get a Commodore wagon - but that's 'cos I am a Holden gal. You may be happier with a Falcon. Either way, if you can't find a good one already converted just pay to convert to LPG. The gov't rebate is still available & there are on-line calculators where you can work out the payback period.

 

[HappyCamper]

How about a 3yo Nissan X Trail diesel? Might be around the $25k mark. Ticks the boxes for storage and economy.

 

[geoffw]

Thanks for all the feedback people. Some good ideas so far.

Either way, if you can't find a good one already converted just pay to convert to LPG. The gov't rebate is still available & there are on-line calculators where you can work out the payback period.

Does an LPG conversion take away half the boot space?

 

[HappyCamper]

Thanks for all the feedback people. Some good ideas so far.

Does an LPG conversion take away half the boot space?

It depends on the model, but the majority do go in the boot. Some 4WD's have their auxilary tanks converted to LPG, so retain all their boot space.