Decent, Reliable, Cheap Daily?

[Galois]

Hi all,

I've been pondering this for some time and thought I'd voice it aloud.

My gf and I are after another car soon. She's on her L's but ready for her P's, and I only have an r34 gtt. So we're looking for something reliable and cheap for 3-5k.

And before anyone suggests them, I'm not keen on holdens or fords or some european cars, haven't been in one ive liked in a long time but have watched friends having them repaired regularly (specifically commodore, falcon, barina, astra, vectra, audi 80, peugeot, alfas lol).

I'm hoping for abs and airbags, and been looking at camrys, celicas, lancers, imprezas, liberties, and civics. any other ideas?

Cheers for the help

Edited June 3, 2010 by Galois

[alr33x]

r31?

[jaxt]

generally these cars are reliable

toyota camry's just to reiterate

nissan bluebird U13

mazda 626's

toyota corollas

was exactly on the same boat as you just last week (ie wanted something reliable and in that price range) and ended up getting a mint mazda 626 as I'm saving for an R34 GTR and at the same time didn't want to spend too much on the temporary car.

also what about honda legends? don't know too much about them though,

hyundai excels were also touted in another similar thread for reliability due to its simplicity

my2c

[Galois]

im already glad i posted that lol, have suggestions i wouldn't have thought of. does the r31 have abs and airbags? my gf will be driving it a mostly so i'm a bit keen on safety.

how does the 626 go mate? feel and drive alright?

i used to have a 94 camry and thought it was not too bad for what it was, had the shoes replaced in the rear drums one day and the brake balance has been really rear-heavy since lol

[willL]

aussie delivered r31s didnt come with abs or airbags.....reliable none the less though

[Kujotk]

Kia rio, it survived the first 4 years of my driving life and it used to get airborn back in the p'plate days...... tut tut tut i hang my head in shame now, but nevertheless the car copped the punishment

[mad082]

N14 or N15 SSS pulsar. natro sr20 goodness. will be at the upper limit of your price range

[FrangaR33]

N14 or N15 SSS pulsar. natro sr20 goodness. will be at the upper limit of your price range

I didnt see the sugestion of the SSS Pulsar coming from you at all Marc

R31 is always a good cheap option if it blows up just throw it away and buy a new one. EA-EL Falcons on gas can be found on LPG for 2-2.5k which reduces running costs massively and in a year or less (depending on how much you drive) it would of paid for itself. Also you can sell on a car on LPG for the same if not more than bought if for even 4-5 years down the road.

[mad082]

I didnt see the sugestion of the SSS Pulsar coming from you at all Marc

R31 is always a good cheap option if it blows up just throw it away and buy a new one. EA-EL Falcons on gas can be found on LPG for 2-2.5k which reduces running costs massively and in a year or less (depending on how much you drive) it would of paid for itself. Also you can sell on a car on LPG for the same if not more than bought if for even 4-5 years down the road.

yeah it was pretty random wasn't it, LOL

[Galois]

hahaha i think we were all waiting for that mad! i never would have thought an sr20 car would be in that range, will have to give one a test drive. keep up the suggestions guys, old getz's are in the 3-5k range too

[mad082]

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/privat...id=12882FBFA166

$4999, but there were a few others. that was just searching SSS up to $5000 in qld (so i know that doesn't help you, but it prooves my point). if you look at n14 Q's or Ti's some of them also had the sr20, just not quite as well spec'd

[rgr34]

other than what been suggested the only thing that come to mind are mid 90's honda civics or integras. they have good build quality and look pretty good....pretty sure they have airbags even abs in some models......

[jaxt]

im already glad i posted that lol, have suggestions i wouldn't have thought of. does the r31 have abs and airbags? my gf will be driving it a mostly so i'm a bit keen on safety.

how does the 626 go mate? feel and drive alright?

i used to have a 94 camry and thought it was not too bad for what it was, had the shoes replaced in the rear drums one day and the brake balance has been really rear-heavy since lol

yeh it goes all right (i had a vq35de maxima and a 32gtr before this...so bear with me if I don't sound passionate enuf) I was really surprised especially for an auto not as nimble as a bluebird in comparison though but for the purposes of lugging me 70-80 kms a day it's effortless. also as marc/mad said have a go at an SSS pulsating-car they're pretty fun too.

I also seriously considered an A32 maxima, very comfortable and has all the features you want....but couldn't get to inspect the many examples on carsales as I just didn't have the patience and time to travel and look around too far from where I lived.

BTW a broker/wholesaler I know has a whole heap of cars within your requirements in his yard if it helps but with the tyranny of distance so to speak you may be just offsetting costs. you never know though as he may have contacts to help you.

Edited June 3, 2010 by jaxt

[Galois]

hey mad, never doubted you went and looked it up as soon as i read your post, there's a fair few around the place between 4 and 5k.

cheers jaxt, i'll have to have a good look at whats around. i live in newcastle and sydney (complicated year) so hopefully can find enough test drives. will have a look at maximas now...

[KezR33]

Get a Corolla, those things never die.

[GTR-N1]

Corolla and Camry will be easier to offload later on too; without much depreciation.

Maximas are good value but hard to resell.

[tridentt150v]

Corolla and Camry will be easier to offload later on too; without much depreciation.

Maximas are good value but hard to resell.

I'm with Terry on this, Camry is the one to get, resale, reliable, roomy, economical, safe ish, adequate power [for its type], low insurance etc etc etc.

Boring as hell, but sometimes even that is a plus. At least you are never disappointed.

[666DAN]

AE92 SX Twincam.....great little car that isn't completely gay

[jaxt]

here's another I also considered a while back....does anyone know how reliable volkswagen VR6's are? this might help galois as well if he/misses so desires to go towards those cars.

[Hank Scorpio]

My first car was a '93 Lexus ES300. Toyota/Lexus/Camry build quality, leather, sunroof, climate control, ABS, air bags, big boot. No doubt you could find one for less then $5k these days.