Ideas for a second car

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by fasty73

Do you have any idea on how many 4 cylinder cars I have had to pull the sump off and clean out the oil pick up out and put con rod bearings in? No. Well it's in the hundreds. FOR CHRIST SAKE, CHANGE THE OIL EVERY 10000 ks or EVERY 6 MONTHS!!! Got a 95 corolla at work right now with 250k on it and it needs this done. Most jap 4s are good BUT NEED MAINTANENCE!!!

Guilty, lol. But you get that going from 40,000km to 190,000km with just oil top ups with 20W-50 black and gold oil.

Originally Posted by TheInterceptor

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

Bullet proof Mazda B5 engine, but its not safe in a crash, at all. Has a fairly low safety rating.

[Road_Warrior]

AUII or AUIII egas. Or a dual fuel one.

[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

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by fasty73

Do you have any idea on how many 4 cylinder cars I have had to pull the sump off and clean out the oil pick up out and put con rod bearings in? No. Well it's in the hundreds. FOR CHRIST SAKE, CHANGE THE OIL EVERY 10000 ks or EVERY 6 MONTHS!!! Got a 95 corolla at work right now with 250k on it and it needs this done. Most jap 4s are good BUT NEED MAINTANENCE!!!

Very true. When I was in the market for a small, cheap 4cyl run-about I lost count of the amount of cars that had no service history, or the books were lost, or the receipts faded, or the dog ate the file where all this was saved etc etc etc.

The problem is, once cars get on in age and change hands a few times owners just don't give a toss.

If you do an oil and filter change every 10,000km / 6 months with a flush (along with the other stuff that needs doing) will get MUCH more life out of an engine.

Reminds me of how dad treated his cars... never serviced, never looked after, waited for things to go wrong then when it did it was because the car was crap of course.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Ford_The_Win

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.

True... When I was buying my first new car I had 15 grand cash and didn't want to borrow from anyone or anywhere.

Was looking at an Excel, Satria, Starlet and Festiva. Come time to buy the Festiva was advertised with free upgrade to 1.5 engine and free comprehensive insurance (saving me 2-3 grand at the time). Scored it for $14700 and the rest went to an alarm.

Buying anything else just didn't make sense. If I remember right the Mondeo was being sold with flights to certain destinations as a sweetener at the same time.

[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!

[Ford Falcon XR6]

Shame you budget is $6000 i've got an 01 model Mazda 323 BJ Auto with only 90,000 k's on it it's got no rego and a scratch on the bonnet i'm looking for about $6500 as is or about $7200 with 12 months i know it's not quite in you price range but feel free to message me if you intrested

Cheers Lorenz

[SSD-85]

6 Grand? Id be getting myself an AU I6 or V8. Regular ULP at 8-10L/100km. Indestructible Ford motoring.

[sly_ba]

2000-2002 corolla...

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by sly_ba

2000-2002 corolla...

Couldn't really go wrong with that choice...might not be the most exciting car (though you can flog them mercilessly and they just keep on going), but you know it'll just keep on keeping on because it's a Toyota.

[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

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

The problem is, once cars get on in age and change hands a few times owners just don't give a toss.

Reminds me of how dad treated his cars... never serviced, never looked after, waited for things to go wrong then when it did it was because the car was crap of course.

Yep the top one is definately true
But with this helps bring down the prices of the well kept examples

How your dad treats his cars is exactly how my mate works

Buys the cheapies, drives them in the ground
He just went 12 months on a second hand diesel with out an oil change
(At least 30,000Ks i can calculate)
Screams now that it has issues !!!
He only paid 3K for the car , hasnt spent a cent
But hey , according to him its a POS

Best tip is,
Find what suits your budget , get it thoroughly inspection
Not threw the car yard or a mate of a mate of the seller
Independant
Then when your happy , buy it

[FTe342]

Just bought a 2002 manual Corolla Ascent private sale for $6k. Its done 190k's but has excellent service history & drives like new & quite quick with 100kw motor. Has 4 new Bridgestones, new pads/rotors, tint, dashmat, weathershield, Kenwood radio/CD player, after market alarm wired into central locking. Uses 6.8L/100 combined city/hwy on 91ron even @ 3300rpm doing 110kph in 5th. Best part is it has a timing chain, not a belt!

We have a 1987 Corolla in the family done 597,000 klms. Its the go fast twin cam 4AGE fuel inj 100kw motor. Never had the rocker cover off till it blew a head gasket at 530klms. Pulled it down and you could still see the cross hatch hone marks in the bore. That's what oil & filter every 10,000klms does for you.

In my exp any auto under 2.0L won't pull the skin off a custard

[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.

[GTENVY]

I just brought myself an 2003 LR LX Focus sedan. Manual, cd player, dual airbags, Boot is huge, bloody economical. 100,000 kms $7000.00. Bargain in my books.