Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

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 by Galois
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/323354-decent-reliable-cheap-daily/
Share on other sites

  • Replies 81
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

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

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

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

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 :D

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.

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

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

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

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 by jaxt

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...

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.

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.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Cheers. Skyline is back on the menu, can’t get rid of it. It’s like a child you don’t want, or herpes 
    • I got back to Japan in January and was keen to get back on track as quickly as possible. Europe is god-awful for track accessibility (by comparison), so I picked up a first-gen GT86 in December just to have something I could jump into right away. The Skyline came over in a container this time and landed in early January. It was a bit battered after Europe, though—I refused to do anything beyond essential upkeep while it was over there. The clutch master cylinder gave out, and so did the power steering. I didn’t even bother changing the oil; it was the same stuff that went in just before I left Japan the first time. Naughty. Power steering parts would’ve cost double with shipping and taxes, so knowing I’d be heading back to Japan, I just postponed it and powered through the arm workout. It took a solid three months to get the car back on the road. Registration was a nightmare this time around. There were a bunch of BS fees to navigate, and sourcing parts was a headache. I needed stock seats for shaken, mistakenly blew 34k JPY on some ENR34 seats—which, of course, didn’t fit—then ended up having the car’s technical sheet amended to register it as a two-seater with the Brides. Then there’s the GT86. Amazing car. Does everything I want it to do. Parts are cheap, easy to find, and I don’t care what anyone says—it’s super rewarding to drive. I’ve done a few basic mods: diff ratio, coilovers, discs, pads, seat, etc. It already had a new exhaust manifold and the 180kph limiter removed, so I assume it’s running some kind of map. I’ve just been thrashing it at the track non-stop—mostly Fuji Speedway now, since I need something with higher speed after all that autobahn time. The wheels on the R34 always pissed me off—too big, and it was a nightmare getting tires to fit properly under the arches. So I threw in the towel and bought something that fits better. Looks way cleaner too (at least to me)—less hotboy, less attention-seeking. Still an R34, though. Now for future plans. There are a few things still outstanding with the car. First up, the rear subframe needs an overhaul—that’s priority one. Next, I need to figure out an engine rebuild plan. No timeline yet, but I want to keep it economical—not cutting corners, just not throwing tens of thousands at a mechanic I can barely communicate with. And finally, paint. Plus a bit of tidying up here and there.  
    • Nope, needed to clearance under the bar a little with a heat gun, a 1/2" extension as the "clearancer", and big hammer, I was aware of this from the onset, they fit a 2.0 with this intake no problems, but, the 2.5 is around 15mm taller than a 2.0, so "clearancing" was required  It "just" touched when test fitting, now, I have about 10mm of clearance  You cannot see where it was done, and so far, there's no contact when giving it the beans Happy days
    • It's been a while since I've updated this thread. The last year (and some) has been very hectic. In the second-half of 2024 I took the R34 on a trip through Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland - it was f*cking great. I got a little annoyed with the attention the car was getting around Europe and really didn't drive it that much. I could barely work on the car since I was living in an inner-city apartment (with underground parking). During the trip, the car lost power steering in France - split hose - and I ended up driving around 4,000kms with no power steering.  There were a few Nurburgring trips here and there, but in total the R34 amassed just shy of 7,000kms on European roads. Long story short, I broke up with the reason I was transferred to Europe for and requested to be moved back to Japan. The E90, loved it. It was a sunk cost of around EUR 10,000 and I sold it to a friend for EUR 1,500 just to get rid of it quickly. Trust me, moving countries f*cking sucks and I could not be bothered to be as methodical as I was the first time around.
×
×
  • Create New...