Ideas for a second car

[4vxc]

looking to get a cheap run a round 4cyl Auto up to about $6,000, any ideas if there's a reliable car in that price range.

[Gavin Thomas]

Toyota Camry with good service records - a bit boring but hard to beat for long term reliabilty. Also basic to service, plenty of parts available & fair resale etc. Check car point etc for examples of whats around, K's etc for that price range - should be plenty.

[Barnaby]

Toyota Echo? Early models should be around that money.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Gavin Thomas

Toyota Camry with good service records - a bit boring but hard to beat for long term reliabilty. Also basic to service, plenty of parts available & fair resale etc. Check car point etc for examples of whats around, K's etc for that price range - should be plenty.

Probably the best choice.

Well...depends if you buy with the head or the heart...
When I had to move away from home to go to the train drivers school for three to four months, I decided to buy a small car of some sort. I couldn't use the motorbike as I had to carry all sorts of gear to live on my own and the missus needed the Commodore we owned at the time back in Bundy.
I set myself a budget of $7000 and realised this was the first time we would be buying a car becuase we "wanted it" rather than "needed it", so I set some parameters:
Four cylinder, five speed manual, two door, rear wheel drive, air con, and something "interesting". We looked at old Mazda RX7's, but realised they'd be a bit of a nightmare in a small country town with questionable local mechanics who mightn't know rotaries as well as you'd like. I could have just gone our and bought a nice little Hyundai or Kia, but that kind of ignored the rear wheel drive and interesting part of the requirements.
Ended up tracking down the genuine one-owner '82 Celica with only 80,000km on it for $5000, and we couldn't be happier. Of course my sister in law who is a nurse is horrified...her "basic requirements" for a car is that it be festooned with a minimum of half a dozen air bags, but there you go.

Whatever you get, get something interesting...you'll enjoy it more in the long run and won't see it later as simply some sort of utensil.

[Ford_The_Win]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Of course my sister in law who is a nurse is horrified...her "basic requirements" for a car is that it be festooned with a minimum of half a dozen air bags, but there you go.

Might have something to do with having to look after people who've been smashed up in car accidents? I can see where she's coming from, I'd feel the same way if I was confronted with the consequences on a daily basis.

To the OP, it's not exactly a small car but don't overlook the humble Magna. The TE Magna came with a 2.4 litre as a base engine and it's quite a nice little unit, they use around 9l/100 around town in automatic guise. Definitely nothing like the Astron 2.6 that it replaced. Plus they have an excellent safety rating, far better than a 323 or Corolla of the era and parts/servicing are cheap. The build quality is excellent and they are a very affordable and better looking alternative to Camry or other smaller 4 pots.

Also don't overlook a Falcon on LPG, as said above the running costs would be very competitive with a 4 cylinder, plus you get bucketloads more power and a much safer car. Small cars from the late '90s-early 2000s have questionable crash safety at the best of times.

[fasty73]

Capri convertible, great car, runs on the laser platform, looks cool and a turbo version can be had from $2000 to $4500 for a really good one. ( I need someone on here to compare notes with lol)

[jaydee]

Originally Posted by fasty73

Capri convertible, great car, runs on the laser platform, looks cool and a turbo version can be had from $2000 to $4500 for a really good one. ( I need someone on here to compare notes with lol)

Get a hand bag to go with it too.
Mazda or Corolla for economy, resale value and cheap parts, plus reliability.

[SM1DY]

N15 Pulsar, you might be able to get a SSS for that money

[sgt_doofey]

If you want a 4cyl purely for the savings in fuel costs, then go for the 6cyl on LPG. It'll be cheaper to run than a 4cyl on petrol. A 2.0L 4cyl turbo diesel in our 5 year old Peugeot 307 is about on par on a cents per kilometre basis with the 4.0L I6 in my 13 year old EL Falcon.
In my Falcon, I get approximately 500kms out of a tank for $35.

[TheInterceptor]

1.5L 5sp 3 door Festiva?

Currently a few low km ones on carpoint/carsales.com.au

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by TheInterceptor

1.5L 5sp 3 door Festiva?

Currently a few low km ones on carpoint/carsales.com.au

Dangerous car, we've got one in the family, I'm trying to get Mummy dearest out of it and into driving the Fiesta I have but unfortunately she loves her car too much, lol.

Good on fuel though, 6.4L/100km.

See if you can pick up a Mazda 323 for $6000, you might be able to pick up a BJII for that money now.

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...px?R=10253425&

[4vxc]

had a few Toyota's before as 2nd cars not many problems but didnt think of the Mazda, will look into them. Falcon on lpg? too many Falcons already, need a small car for driveway parking.

[GT0132]

I'm in the same boat - want a cheap reliable 4 cyl runabout as well as for son to learn to drive . Looking at 323's on carsales.com for 6 grand you're lucky to get a 10 yo car with around 200k on the clock...For that money i could get a AU XR6 so the small cars do hold their value well

[TheInterceptor]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Dangerous car, we've got one in the family, I'm trying to get Mummy dearest out of it and into driving the Fiesta I have but unfortunately she loves her car too much, lol.

Good on fuel though, 6.4L/100km.

See if you can pick up a Mazda 323 for $6000, you might be able to pick up a BJII for that money now.

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...px?R=10253425&

Is it? What makes it dangerous? Sister could be buying one when she kills my Subaru :(

[Fiesta God]

Had a '99 KN Series Laser in the family which everyone learnt to drive in ... serviced every 10,000kms, clocked up 250k without a hitch and then got written off ...

Only non standard maintenance item was a cracked auto trans pan (no big deal, got onto it early) and dodgy aftermarket central locking (easy fix - use a key).

Any of the Mazda 323's or Ford Lasers from about 1995/96 onwards (until they stopped making them in 2003) are absolutely great little 4cyl cars, so reliable and good on fuel and easy to drive.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by TheInterceptor

Is it? What makes it dangerous? Sister could be buying one when she kills my Subaru :(

Low crash star rating, 2 or 3 stars. No airbags at all, no ABS etc.

Contradictory I know (coming from me lol) but when I was buying one new that's all I could afford.

They are a bullet-proof car and if you can stretch the budget get something a little larger or safer.

Once you are buying a 2nd hand car that's 7-10 years old there are a plethora of options and and extra grand or 2 will get you into something that would have cost and extra 10 grand when new.

[Ford_The_Win]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Low crash star rating, 2 or 3 stars. No airbags at all, no ABS etc.

Also important to remember they were considered to have low crash safety back then. Even the most primitive Chinese car would have better crash safety these days. Most, if not all small cars from the 1990s have terrible crash safety.

See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUcmi...eature=related

versus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNjFDGoSFg0

[TheInterceptor]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Low crash star rating, 2 or 3 stars. No airbags at all, no ABS etc.

Contradictory I know (coming from me lol) but when I was buying one new that's all I could afford.

They are a bullet-proof car and if you can stretch the budget get something a little larger or safer.

Once you are buying a 2nd hand car that's 7-10 years old there are a plethora of options and and extra grand or 2 will get you into something that would have cost and extra 10 grand when new.

Fair enough. You should check out my poor subie, doesnt even have steel bars in the doors!

[SEZ213]

you can have my pulsar for 3

oh wait, it's not an auto...dammit :-(

[Krytox]

KJ/KL/KN Laser, 1.8 robust little bastards and you'll get change from 6k.

[BLUEYBA]

Originally Posted by Krytox

KJ/KL/KN Laser, 1.8 robust little bastards and you'll get change from 6k.

Have to agree. Just recently bought a 2001 KQ Laser SR with 140000K's as a second car. Great little car which is the Mazda twin but without the Mazda cost. For some reason some people see the Ford badge and steer away but the Mazda one everyone is attracted to, so it has a higher buying price. Has front airbags, looks great with the kit and wheels, central locking, electric windows and a/c. I picked it up for $7K. I know its outside your price range but there are different models in the range or if you're lucky you maybe to pick one up

[Yellow_Festiva]

Mazda 121 Metro? Hyundai Accent? Toyota Echo? Kia Rio?

Cheers.

[302 XC]

I just acquired a 1998 Hyundai sonata
Twin cam,auto thingy
Bit bigger than an old laser/corolla
Mother in law owned it for the last 9 years
Funny thing is even with only 120k on the clock its market value is only 3.5K
Goes quite well for what it is , and cheap on fuel

A small car with good return,toyota
But youll pay extra for the priveledge

Need to ask yourself , how long realistically are you planning on owning it ???
Till it dies,or a year or two or three

[Mr Hardware]

Good luck with the sonata 302 XC, they're a 'mitsubishi style' timing belt 'interference/non-clearance' motor.
We call them hand grenades, cos you just don't know when the belt is going to snap and you need a remachined top end.
That's why they have terrible resale value
I recently turned down a 2003 Sonata with 170k on the clock for $4k for this very reason

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

Good luck with the sonata 302 XC, they're a 'mitsubishi style' timing belt 'interference/non-clearance' motor.
We call them hand grenades, cos you just don't know when the belt is going to snap and you need a remachined top end.
That's why they have terrible resale value
I recently turned down a 2003 Sonata with 170k on the clock for $4k for this very reason

Thanks for the tip
But for the pricely some of "$0" with 9 months rego
Ill drive it till it goes pop
Ill just ensure it keeps its service intervals,when the time comes for a big $$$ repair,ill wiegh the odds

Ya wanna talk about big $$$ repairs
Go crack a head on a GU 2.8 patrol
You wont get any change from 4K
Thats just a top end repair,not a motor rebuild

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

Good luck with the sonata 302 XC, they're a 'mitsubishi style' timing belt 'interference/non-clearance' motor.
We call them hand grenades, cos you just don't know when the belt is going to snap and you need a remachined top end.
That's why they have terrible resale value
I recently turned down a 2003 Sonata with 170k on the clock for $4k for this very reason

Yes they do. Right now my son's old 1997 Sonata is sitting under his house with a dead engine from a snapped timing belt. Not worth repairing.

[FreddyDUZ747]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Yes they do. Right now my son's old 1997 Sonata is sitting under his house with a dead engine from a snapped timing belt. Not worth repairing.

Is it snapped or is it free spinning on the cog?

[BrisVegas]

I'm in the same boat. Looking for a cheap, economical second car later this year. Although I've never owned a Falcon, the AU3 Falc looks to be pretty good value and there are plenty on gas already. Even on petrol they wouldn't be that bad if you're not doing lots of kms. We've got a 4cyl diesel for trips. The second car would just be for juggling kid dropoffs on days when the wife gets work etc..

Having owned Corolla, Integra, Focus, Fiesta, Accord and a Maxima... None of these are any better or worse. The jap stuff is pretty reliable, but is still quite expensive second hand compared to 6 cyl Falcon and Commodore. Small car parts are not cheap.

If only doing modest mileage, a used 6 cyl looks to make more sense to me.

[BrisVegas]

Originally Posted by BrisVegas

I'm in the same boat. Looking for a cheap, economical second car later this year. Although I've never owned a Falcon, the AU3 Falc looks to be pretty good value and there are plenty on gas already. Even on petrol they wouldn't be that bad if you're not doing lots of kms. We've got a 4cyl diesel for trips. The second car would just be for juggling kid dropoffs on days when the wife gets work etc..

Having owned Corolla, Integra, Focus, Fiesta, Accord and a Maxima... None of these are any better or worse. The jap stuff is pretty reliable, but is still quite expensive second hand compared to 6 cyl Falcon and Commodore. Small car parts are not cheap.

If only doing modest mileage, a used 6 cyl looks to make more sense to me.

just as a followup, would a BA Falcon be noticeably worse on fuel/maintenance costs than an AU2/AU3 ? The BA is a bit nicer shape IMHO, but is quite a bit heavier. For $5-6k, both models are available with similar kms.

EDIT: looks like the BA is rated slightly better for fuel economy!

http://www.redbook.com.au/used-cars/compare.aspx?__Qpb=1&__Ns=p_Make_String|0||p_Class ificationType_String|0||p_Family_String|0||p_Year_ String|1||p_SequenceNum_Int32|0&__N=2994%204294961 316%204294843578%204294965762&silo=1300&CT=Compare &__Nne=15&trecs=10&__sid=1232CFC2E84C

[ingles]

Considered a Subaru?Your budget will probably go an AWD Liberty of mid 90's vintage-just make sure of good service history.If you find one with such history,you're set.My missus car is 93.(I'm sure you will be able to afford a later one),but they have pwr steer/air/cruise/leccy windows/4 wheel disc-if you're lucky,dead cow interior and a hole in the roof.Hers gets along quite well,and its a sludg-o-matic.As an added bonus, the build quality on these things is pretty good,so they're not all squeak/rattle/bits fall off every second day.Economical too.
Sincerely recommend at least looking at them.