Recommend Me A Daily Driver.

[r32line]

5th Gen Prelude VTiRs have now dropped below the 10K mark.

Build quality great.

Fuel consumpt'n good, in the 9s (l/100Km).

And power point in the glove box for your hair dryer?

[scathing]

I'm going to throw this out from left field and suggest a brand new Hyundai Getz.

It won't pass your "not girly" requirements, but it ticks all the other boxes. It's light on fuel (official 6.1L/100km rating). It'll be new so no idiot's driven it into the ground, which will help with reliability (as will the warranty).

The car has the full plethora of safety features (ABS, ESP) which is good in a daily, especially if you let people who can't drive that well borrow it. The head unit plays MP3s off CD or a USB drive, and has a Bluetooth handsfree kit. Importantly, it has air con.

My girlfriend's work has one as a runabout. The seats are pretty hard and the plastics are bin-like, but aside from that its not that bad as something to just drive for a while and sell in a few years.

The other issue is that the 5 door RRPs at $15K drive away ($13K if you go 3 door), but you might be able to talk them down. It's above your $10K limit, but all the mod-cons and the lack of headaches from not being pre-abused by some idiot might offset that extra cost in your mind.

P.S. I don't work for Hyundai.

Getz_Brochure.pdf

Edited November 9, 2009 by scathing

[Peter89]

a friend just bought a subaru liberty (2001, 2.5L engine, manual, ~140,000kms) for $12k. Fuel efficiency is decent if talking it easy but the best bit about is it's handling and with AWD, it grips quite well but the suspension is still conformable for a daily. plus, its no snail like most small cars, so can be a bit of fun at least compared to new corollas ect.

haven't been in many other cars that i would recommend buying for a daily

^a friend owns an old hyundai excel, after driving it, i was happy im stuck with a VN.

Edited November 9, 2009 by Peter89

[Arrbee]

I'd say a civic, corolla or a pulsar

[hauie]

I have always thought the Mazda 6 was a nice looking ride.

[adamskill]

pulsar, liberty, rx impreza, carolla, swift gti, ca slivia

[soulfire]

why are so many people recommending cars like mazdas that are so expensive to service? if you want a cheap to run daily the guy with the getz idea is on the money - however there's like 800 bucks gross profit in those cars so good luck getting a serious discount. a 3 or 4 k corolla is a great idea as they won't cost you anything to look after - and a later model magna tj for example is great value for money.

[ezy_09s]

+1 for a pulsar.

My n14 1.6 litre gets 500kms to a tank ,cost me 2 grand & is so reliable .

Even a later model n15 or n16 can be had pretty cheaply.

[adamskill]

why are so many people recommending cars like mazdas that are so expensive to service? if you want a cheap to run daily the guy with the getz idea is on the money - however there's like 800 bucks gross profit in those cars so good luck getting a serious discount. a 3 or 4 k corolla is a great idea as they won't cost you anything to look after - and a later model magna tj for example is great value for money.

same goes for hondas, that and they look shit.

[r32line]

I was looking at a daily also, mainly just for going to station, and places where I would otherwise not park etc. I dont care what it looks like etc ONLY that it is cheap and has working a/c.

The best option I came up with was a Toyota Startlet... based on what they are selling for I could easily get one for $3k and being a 1.3 they sip petrol. That is for a car that is about 10 years old and has a drivers airbag, a/c and power steer.

Only thing that annoys me is paying 2 sets of rego and 2 sets of insurance and 2 sets of maintenance which would be about $1k a year for a starlet I would say.

Not too bad a price though for the added convienience

Edited November 10, 2009 by r32line

[scathing]

I bought a Swift GTi as a daily runabout.

Like you say, the 1.3L sips petrol and being so small its easy to park. Mine doesn't have air con but they did sell some that do.

It's also a shitload of fun to drive.

The reason I didn't suggest it is because its old and, being a "desirable" hot hatch, will come pre-thrashed.

Edited November 10, 2009 by scathing

[Silvia GTR]

SR NA Silvia, great on fuel and to smash around.

They hold their value aswell as so many p platers want them, I had one bought it for $5000 added a 2nd hand nissan aero kit (painted and fitted myself) kept it for 5 months sold it for $8500 in 2 weeks, no shit.

It was manual tho

Edited November 10, 2009 by Silvia GTR

[HEKT1K]

+1 prelude. a bit girly but still nice

my dad just sold his 5th gen VTIR recently to some kid on Ps.. see heaps of younger guys driving them around

[Mr Eps]

...i bought that silvia.

...you're SOOOOOOOOOOooo dead.

[Silvia GTR]

^^^Cheers for the easy $3500 then

[r32line]

[mad082]

actually, a TJ series magna would be the pick.

smooth 3.5l v6, better build quality than local products.

BUT, my bluebird is for sale! lol

the magnas are a local product and build quality isn't that great. not bad, but not great. no worse than any other aussie made car, but not better either.

also they aren't the most economical car either. they are quick in manual form though. i have owned 2 TH magnas. both 3.5L manuals. they are the same as a TJ, just different vody shape but built off the same platform (basically just different nose and tail) and they are ok cars. my second one ran a 14.8 at willowbank with just a catback exhaust. on the highway the economy is good. you can get around 8-9L/100kms pretty easily. round town though they are heavy on fuel. even babying it i was getting around 13L/100km. if you drive a bit harder that will jump up to 16L/100kms very quickly.

I would have suggested a N15 Pulsar SSS but they are a bit long in the tooth, and Nissan build quality isn't fantastic. They did come standard with everything you'd need in a daily (air con, power windows/mirrors) and the SR20DE isn't a bad motor. Any Nissan hatch after the N15 isn't even worth considering.

i have one of these and love it. build quality is good, no different to any other nissan (for example a skyline). they run cheap (on the highway i've had a best of 6.5L/100kms) and some spirited driving round town will see me at 12L/100kms as worst figures. generally just over 10l/100kms, but if i lived in a different area and was driving further to work (and doing less short trips on cold start enrichment) i would easily get under 10L/100kms. in fact towing a 3.6m tinny on the highway i still get under 10l/100kms.

i would highly recommend the n15 SSS. they are comfy to drive, go well, and even better with some mods (full exhaust, not just cat back. extractors make a big difference to the top end) and are economical, and much nicer to drive than a corolla or lancer, etc. the old girl has a base model 2000 model corolla and it is terrible to drive compare to the pulsar. it goes ok but is too soft in the suspension. lancers are the same. and you can pick some up with low kms on them still (under 100,000kms) which isn't bad for a 10 year old car.

i don't know if i'd go with a subaru. i've driven a 2.0L imprezza and a 2.5L liberty and while they go ok, i would still take the pulsar over them.

[R TUNE]

[Can get a 2003ish toyota camry sportivo.

I have one about 600km to a tank

never missed a beat 4dr and has a large boot.

doesn't look to bad to.

[scathing]

i have one of these and love it.

I used to have one. I loved it and it always ran without missing a beat, but the interior trim was very rattly and it was squeaking in a fair few places.

build quality is(...)no different to any other nissan

Yep, that's what I said. Pretty average build quality.

Most Nissans I've been in have rattled and squeaked, most straight off the dealership floor. The bits that make it stop, turn and go are generally bulletproof but everything else feels like its not quite firmly attached.

Those characteristics are fine in a fun sporty car, but not as desirable in a daily runabout.

[mad082]

the only rattle i have in mine is from the face of the cd player, and from the kick panel on the passenger side because i didn't put it back in properly, LOL