Daily driver for a new arrival
Discussion
As the title suggestes, I've recently arrived in Sydney and am looking for some relatively cheap wheels for daily use.
Won't be using it for work, will be getting the bus in to the centre of Sydney. But will use it at the weekend for the beach, picking up friends from the airport, shopping, maybe a road trip once every couple of months.
Budge wise, I'd like to spend no more than about $5k, but from looking around that doesn't get me much. Only here for 18 months initially so finance would be a problem, therefore paying cash.
I've looked at all kinds, from Subaru Foresters and Jeep Cherokees to B5 Audi A4s and Passat 2.8s. Think I'm favouring the Forester in terms of price, reliability etc. Some slightly rough ones for $5k ish though, seem to get a fair bit more for maybe $8k.
Does anyone have any advice in general or tips on anything in particualr?
Cheers
Alex
Won't be using it for work, will be getting the bus in to the centre of Sydney. But will use it at the weekend for the beach, picking up friends from the airport, shopping, maybe a road trip once every couple of months.
Budge wise, I'd like to spend no more than about $5k, but from looking around that doesn't get me much. Only here for 18 months initially so finance would be a problem, therefore paying cash.
I've looked at all kinds, from Subaru Foresters and Jeep Cherokees to B5 Audi A4s and Passat 2.8s. Think I'm favouring the Forester in terms of price, reliability etc. Some slightly rough ones for $5k ish though, seem to get a fair bit more for maybe $8k.
Does anyone have any advice in general or tips on anything in particualr?
Cheers
Alex
Ignore the euro cars and the Subaru. If you are here to travel around then the best choices would be Ford Falcon, Holden Commodore, Mitsubishi Magna and Toyota Camry. They are the biggest selling cars in Australia and always have working aircon and are generally bullet proof. They are also so popular that any monkey of an outback mechanic carries spares and knows their way around them.
Thanks deviant. I'm not here to travel though, working in Sydney and living in Coogee.
We want to be able to do a few trips up and down the coast every now and again but generally the car will be used around town and the coogee/bondi area.
Was trying to find something that I might not lose too much on over the next year and a half as well and the Foresters seemed to hold their value quite well once they get down to the sub $10k level.
We want to be able to do a few trips up and down the coast every now and again but generally the car will be used around town and the coogee/bondi area.
Was trying to find something that I might not lose too much on over the next year and a half as well and the Foresters seemed to hold their value quite well once they get down to the sub $10k level.
Google [bot] said:
Deviant is right in what he says.
Yep agree too. $7500 can get you a lot of Aussie cars. $5000 should get you something fine too. I would say the bottom 2 are more economical than the top 2. Ford Falcon AU/BA Futura
Holden Commodore VT/VTII/VX/VY Acclaim
Mitsubishi Magna/Verada
Toyota Camry/ Vienta.
Could have put you onto a good Magna few weeks ago, think it went for $2k on ebay in the end.
Go and raid www.carsales.com.au and maybe register with their auto alert thing.
Nearly all will have Aircon but check, not all will have airbags or even cruise control. So if you want those put it on your list. If you are going long distances cruise is important as well as aircon. Some come as wagons/estates too. Make sure it has long rego too, don't want to ge slugged with that.
If i had the parking room i would go for a Magna or Falcon though.
the stuff of dreams.aussieal said:
Think someone must have snapped that one up pombstard, the link doesn't seem to be working. What was it?
Twas a 1990 MX5. Not surprised if its sold - pictures showed a good-looking, original car - no big wheels or lairy ICE. Probably not much good for the airport run but you could always rent a Corolla for that!Hi, was in the exact same situation as you. Newly arrived in Sydney and in desperate need of a runabout. The only ‘problem’ I had was that I have to share the care with my girlfriend. So gone were the exciting left field options of an old Alfa, or an old Valliant, and anything exciting in between. Instead, as we are currently living with her parents, she wanted to listen to her dad’s ‘sensible’ suggestions of a 90s Toyota Corolla, Ford Festiva, Mazda 323, Holden Barina (Vauxhall Corsa) and other such uninspiring delights.
We looked on carsales.com.au and in the local paper on a Saturday (Manly Daily). I found it really difficult as when you don’t specifically know what you are looking for the choice becomes too overwhelming. There is also a street near by (Newport Hill) that transforms into a massive one lane forecourt at the weekends, so we checked this out over the past four weeks, as it was local and gave us a few physical examples.
Then 2 weeks ago we saw a car that instantly jumped out at us. It was the sort of car that I wouldn’t have even considered in the UK, but over here, on that sunny day on this hill, it seemed perfect for the $4,500 asking price. We took it for a drive, and then bought it the next day. A 1999 white Honda HRV Sport. It was a nice compromise as the other half and her father were content with the ‘Honda reliability’ record, her mother happy with the ‘safety’ aspect of a pseudo 4x4, and for me, it was a massive improvement on the other options and a little quirkier to appease me.
It has a high mileage at 190k, but this was good compared with most vehicles of a similar age, and many newer ones, and particularly at the price. Full service history and a recent cam belt change confirmed that this was the right car.
Once I am more settled here and find a place to live, I will definitely look at getting a project car to keep me happy on the sunny weekends – when they arrive!
We looked on carsales.com.au and in the local paper on a Saturday (Manly Daily). I found it really difficult as when you don’t specifically know what you are looking for the choice becomes too overwhelming. There is also a street near by (Newport Hill) that transforms into a massive one lane forecourt at the weekends, so we checked this out over the past four weeks, as it was local and gave us a few physical examples.
Then 2 weeks ago we saw a car that instantly jumped out at us. It was the sort of car that I wouldn’t have even considered in the UK, but over here, on that sunny day on this hill, it seemed perfect for the $4,500 asking price. We took it for a drive, and then bought it the next day. A 1999 white Honda HRV Sport. It was a nice compromise as the other half and her father were content with the ‘Honda reliability’ record, her mother happy with the ‘safety’ aspect of a pseudo 4x4, and for me, it was a massive improvement on the other options and a little quirkier to appease me.
It has a high mileage at 190k, but this was good compared with most vehicles of a similar age, and many newer ones, and particularly at the price. Full service history and a recent cam belt change confirmed that this was the right car.
Once I am more settled here and find a place to live, I will definitely look at getting a project car to keep me happy on the sunny weekends – when they arrive!
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