Purchasing a new Car

[luke skywalker]

Hey guys Im currently in the market for a new car, I have 18-20 Thousand at my disposal but Im undecided on what to get.

I originally had a ford FG XR6 in mind but due to other purchases its out of the question at the moment (unless i go finance). So what would you guys get ? FG XT, VE Commodore, Subaru WRX-Forester etc etc..

Im not totally sold on either the VE or the XT, very plain looking and I will be paying in cash, kinda a bit of a let down, all that money and no shiny rims. I see the VE Luminas/Berlinas but arent exactly sure what makes them a "Lumina" or "Berlina" The WRX would be great but its a few years old, too many Km's. Before anyone mentions the BF XR6 I have been informed by a mechanic that the BF is a piece of shizen. I dig the BMW's but again 8 years old near on 100,000 Kms's and will be pricey to repair.

[SSD-85]

Theres nothing wrong with a BF. You have been misinformed & a lot of BF owning members will agree. If you like the look of a BF, go check them out

[Brazen]

With your budget of 18-20 you could get an FG XR6 Im sure

[chrisfpv]

Are you looking for a 6 or 8..?

What exactly are you looking for in the car? Power, comfort, reliability etc.

18 - 20k almost rules out an FG XR6 or VE SV6 imo, the majority going for that price would be high kilometres

You should be looking at either a BF XR or VZ SV6 in that price range. See if you can test drive both at a dealership and weigh up the +/- of each one.

[luke skywalker]

Power, comfort & reliability are all important lol if they werent Id go buy a KIA.
Performance isnt a main point to me, Id b happy with just a normal V6. Reliability is very important because i dont want to be splashing out on repairs which is whats a bit of a put off with the older cars.

Im not really interested in getting a V8.

Oh yeh BTW I live in SA.

[Brazen]

The best value second-hand are the Ghias and Calais

[Ford_The_Win]

You should easily be able to get a nice BF Fairmont or VZ Calais for that price. If you're after a 6 cyl I would get the Fairmont.
Let's be honest, buy any Australian made car and you probably won't get "reliability" but you will get insane value for money. It's not big things that let Aussie cars down, mainly small cheap things.

[Smoke Pursuit]

BF XR6 Turbo!!

[Antwon]

My biggest problem with newer falcons is the rear suspension, BA/BF and even FG are all the same. They chew out the bushes, and the diff bush something chronic, and its big $$ to replace them. Apart from that though their really good cars, the utes and wagons dont have this problem since their not IRS.

[deesun]

I have a BA XR6, never done a bush in 190k. Now a FG XR6T never done a bush.

[Antwon]

So you think. Maybe not the FG yet, but i guarantee after 190k if you took the BA to get looked at by a suspension specialist, they would of been stuffed.

[WILDB]

I've seen vehicles with less than 15k on them with shagged diff bushes.

After 190k they will be absolutely rooted, I can almost guarantee it.

[Antwon]

I can guarantee it. I work at a tyre place, but its also a suspension buisness in the same place, and i see it all the time. Its because they use softer bushes to give a smoother ride, but this means they just dont last.

[mik]

i have a mate with a bf2 xr6, he loves it, i know he has`nt had the diff bush problem as yet, and if he did he`d happily wear it.

[V8falcons]

Mr skywalker,change your mechanice mate
A BF xr6 inline 6 cylinder will out perform/last the other brand V6 hands down,apart from a diff bush mine are ok at 115ks so far(which after market bushes will rectify that) they are a brilliant car,I went looking for for a BF xr6 and came home with a BF2 Fairmont ghia,with all the gear for less than an XR6,you get ZF 6 spd leather, dual zone,premium sound,all the air bags XR6 body kit,firm suspension so essentially a high speced XR with out the insurance hike. Im getting 8.4ltr/100 no sweat.
Drive few makes before you decide on the car..........
I know a few people that dont listen have bought commodores,then go for a drive in a falcon (which ever variant) and go home disappointed with their purchase.
good luck

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Your mechanic is obviously a peanut.

For what you want to spend BF is the only choive out there!

[buggo]

BF Ghia hands down, nothing will come close to it's value for money. Top car.
Here's one

[Turboconvert]

Agreed with the above statements of changing mechanic. I have owned a bf xr8 ute for a year now. It went in for a service around september/october last yr. Not one thing wrong with it. I mean fuel economy is up the clappers (obviously been an 8) but I'll be damned if I dont love it.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Antwon

My biggest problem with newer falcons is the rear suspension, BA/BF and even FG are all the same. They chew out the bushes, and the diff bush something chronic, and its big $$ to replace them. Apart from that though their really good cars, the utes and wagons dont have this problem since their not IRS.

How much to replace it all?

[dave289]

You want an fg xr6, so get an fg xr6. There are plenty hovering around the 20k mark. Borrow a couple of grand and get the car you want. The repayments on such a tiny loan will be next to nothing. As I often tell people ,you only live once, get the fg xr6, you will have a current shape ,got the car you want for repayments of around $40 per week over 1 year or $20 per week over 2 years. You can always pay out the loan early if you get cashed up.Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Antwon]

Originally Posted by flappist

How much to replace it all?

Not exactly sure, as i said im a tyre fitter there and dont do the pricing, but i think its around 1200 - 2000. Mainly because the whole IRS cradle needs to come out, so theres a lot of labour.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Antwon

Not exactly sure, as i said im a tyre fitter there and dont do the pricing, but i think its around 1200 - 2000. Mainly because the whole IRS cradle needs to come out, so theres a lot of labour.

So $1200 in say only 100,000km.

In the same time you have put:

$6000 worth of tyres (unless you buy rubbish in which case you wont care about the bushes)

$1000 worth of brakes.

$15-20,000 dollars of fuel.

Untold money on servicing and mods/gadgets

$1200 is not even worth mentioning really..........

[Antwon]

You would be getting bloody good tyres if your paying 6 grand a year, even with out buying rubbish you could spend quite a bit less then that.

And yes it is worth mentioning when stuffed bushes means it cant be wheel aligned, so your going to chew tyres, and when you wouldnt have to do it on a different car, or if you dont earn much like myself.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Antwon

You would be getting bloody good tyres if your paying 6 grand a year, even with out buying rubbish you could spend quite a bit less then that.

And yes it is worth mentioning when stuffed bushes means it cant be wheel aligned, so your going to chew tyres, and when you wouldnt have to do it on a different car, or if you dont earn much like myself.

$6k a year? Where did you get that from.

Good tyres are about $500 per corner by the time they are fitted aligned and all the other stuff unless you work in the tyre industry or get wholesale.

Good tyres last about 30-35k on a Falcon so in 100,000km you will eat 3 sets of tyres. 3 * 4 * 500 = 6000.

To me tyres are important as they are what holds my car on the road.

Info based on 350,000 km odd travelled in Falcons in the last 10 years, tyres were Dunlop S9000, Yoki Advan 103 & Bridgstone Potenzas.

[Iggypoppin']

Luke, go a BF mate, they are insane value for money. Your mechanic is either really stupid or his eyes are painted on. BF falcons fixed most of the issues that came in BA series falcons, they got 6speed ZF autos, which are amazing, the torque of the 6cyl owns any other compatible car, and if you get the xr6t, you'll be laughing even more. Stay away from the VZ or early VE, they don't hold a candle to the BF.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by flappist

$6k a year? Where did you get that from.

Good tyres are about $500 per corner by the time they are fitted aligned and all the other stuff unless you work in the tyre industry or get wholesale.

I think the Continental tyres on my WS (only 195/50/15 though) are about $250+ a corner, so I'd imagine the same tyre in a 235/45/17 on a Falcon would probably be about that.

[deesun]

If they chew out tyres how come I still get 35k out of a set? At 190k I have put on about 6 sets, had wheel alignments,rego checks, rear brakes. Three different mechanics shops have done work on it including the dealer who I now trust more than the outsiders and no one has ever mentioned getting the bush's replaced. Someone would have noticed the rears being chewed out. Actually last time I was at the tyre place a woman came in with a commonwhore and her rears were shot at less than 20k. Rear bush's too?

[Antwon]

Ok sorry i wasnt thinking right, 6k per 100,000 not year. But still you can get really good 17s for under 300, bridgestone potenzas are some of the most over priced tyres on the market. Like i said twice now i dont do the pricing, but i think retail on Toyo teo plus is 230-250 ish? and they are a really, really good tyre. In fact my boss has these on his FG XR6 ute, and he does 240km every day through the hills to and from work. (your not going to believe that so for people that know adelaide he lives just the other side of mannum and works at holden hill)

And in reguards to your back bushes mate, your lucky if your still getting that many ks out of your rear tyres, if its still getting wheel aligned then its because they want your money for a wheel alignment. It can still be done but with the amount of play it wont be done properly which means you wont get a true alignment. and thats a mechanic not a suspension specialist, they dont focus on the suspension as much as mechanical.
Ford dealers never pick it up, 8 times out of 10 they say its fine to a customer, then they come to us and their shagged! And no the Commodore would be because they have problems with rear camber, so the inside shoulder would be gone, this is extremely common for Commodores and i thought everyone knew that, so why are you bringing that up?

[Antwon]

Oh, and by the way do you realise your arguing with someone thats worked in a tyre and suspension shop for 2 years?

[Mr Hardware]

In 100,000klms In my AU i have done:
$1270 in tyres (50k out of two sets of bridgestone turanzas, not cheap rubbish)
$325 in brakes (two sets of pads, one disc skim and fluid)
$8000 in fuel (averaging $8/100klms)
So to me $1200 in overhauling the IRS is a significant proportion of my TCO and I would try my hardest to avoid it.