Just sold my Ford Focus yesterday, going to miss it but need something a bit bigger. My budget is up to $7000, between 2.0 to 3.0 litre, Auto or tiptronic, preferably sedan and in the Waikato/BOP and Sth Auckland. What are some good cars for my requirements and what should I stay away from!
vtecintegra,
Jan 23, 2:58am
If you liked the Focus why not look at Mondeos.Just make sure they're Mk3 not the Mk2
incar.,
Jan 23, 3:28am
i wouldn't recomend a Mondeo!
fmadams,
Jan 23, 5:21am
What is wrong with Mondeos!
tradingfreak360,
Jan 23, 5:34am
To be honest I'm not to keen on a Mondeo. As for that Accord above, I got a mate to have a look and as it says in the decription, more dents and bumps than you would expect. Although I'd been keen on different Accord/Torneo. And yes, I'll leave Jazz to the euros :)
tradingfreak360,
Jan 23, 5:36am
What about these.any good! 341645155 348157249
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 23, 6:17am
What other requirements do you have and what sort of things are you using the car for!
I.e is this a go to work car, are you towing a boat! How important is safety/economy/power!
I spotted this for someone else before. its potentially a lot of exceptionally nice vehicle for the money 346368996
phillip.weston,
Jan 23, 6:18am
I would avoid the Avalon, I don't know what Toyota were thinking with them. They were designed to fill the gap between the Camry and the larger Crown range that wasn't available outside of Japan by that time. It may be a 2001 model but they were first released in 1994 and just by looking at it you can easily spot that.
The Skyline will be a bit cramped in size inside, and probably not as economical as you would expect. They are more of a performance orientated 'drivers car' rather than a family commuter car.
tradingfreak360,
Jan 23, 6:30am
Prefer power over economy and not to concerned about safety. The car will be used every where in general, but mainly on long trip. As for that Audi A6, what are common problems with those car! Never owned a Euro before. And I also quite like the look of Passats, how about this one 347775830
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 23, 7:01am
O.K so I assume you know Audi and VW are the same company using the same parts in different body's!
The A6 and the Passat you are looking at are very mechanically similar and have the same range of engines. The 2.4 and 2.8 are very similar engines sharing most parts.
The A6 is bigger than the Passat and better featured. in fact A6's often have heated seats, electric rear blinds, amazing stability control and all sorts of nice goodies.
For a sophisticated car the A6 is generally very reliable. They can break like any other car of course but there are really no well known problems specific to the car. That is with one exception (also applies to the VW's) the original water pumps had a plastic impellar that could break and cause the waterpump to jam which would in turn break the cambelt.
All those waterpumps SHOULD have been changed out for metal impellar ones by now as its standard practice to do them at cambelt time. but be aware of it and make sure its been done.
VW/Audi parts are easily available and very well priced with several 3rd party genuine parts importers like Qualitat around.
VW/Audi's are generally very reliable, however reliability increases with each new model. The Passat/A6 were the first of the more modern better built and more reliable vehicles.
Changing a cambelt on a V6 Audi/VW will cost you around $1200 plus gst perhaps a bit more and thats for a proper job. It needs doing every 5 years or 100'000km whichever comes first.
Aside from that the maintenance required is very little and for the size of the vehicle they are quite economical. A 1.8 Turbo Passat is also worth considering and is at least as lively as the V6 (depending on actual displacement of the V6) and is a bit more economical and a bit cheaper for cambelt canges.
The VW Passat/Audi A6 is particually well priced at the moment and offers some serious bang for buck
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 23, 7:03am
If you really want some power there is always the W8 and V8 Passat and A6 respectively!
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 23, 7:04am
BTW, 4Motion and Quattro mean 4WD and Avant means wagon. Might help you search through them!
craig04,
Jan 23, 7:08am
I owned one! Beautiful car to drive and very economical for a V8. 8-9l/100kms open road and 13 around town. Because the back seats are electric (reclining and sliding) the boot is rather small though.
tradingfreak360,
Jan 23, 7:09am
Thank Jazz, your info helps a lot. Yip I knew Audi and VW are the same company. What do think of the A4.seem quite nice as well.
craig04,
Jan 23, 7:09am
Someone hand Jazz the tissues.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 23, 7:11am
LOL. like a lamb straight to the slaughter aye!
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 23, 7:14am
Be a little bit careful with the A4, the engines are no issue but the pre-2002 models are sort of a case of a "last of the old" and lack the safety etc of say the A6 and Passat. Not a terrible car though, just perhaps not quite as good.
Its just a funny time for the company, at that point they are going from the fairly average Audi 80 style cars to the really properly advanced and much better new models.
If you did particularly want a really nice A4 I know of a really nicely looked after one coming up for sale soon.
carkitter,
Jan 23, 7:26am
I'm looking for a nice A4 atm.
incar.,
Jan 23, 7:26am
Considering i'm a mobile mechanic, i attend so many break downs for more Euro's than Jappers, so i know what is a reliable vehicle and what isn't, my comments are purely based on Facts!
tradingfreak360,
Jan 23, 7:28am
Do you know if the transmission oil pans are plastic or steel on the A4 and A6! Reason I'm asking is because I do a bit on driving on gravel.
tshop,
Jan 23, 7:31am
A Ford Mondeo is no lada bro there just pricks to work on.
carkitter,
Jan 23, 7:31am
So the fact that you haven't attended to many Bugatti Veyrons must mean they are the most reliable car in NZ!
Make sure you interpret your 'facts' correctly. Reading statistics is a much misunderstood talent.
tradingfreak360,
Jan 23, 7:38am
This looks good.except he's only owned it for a month, "selling due to needing money for rent, I don't need a car when I move back to Hamilton".348455026
carkitter,
Jan 23, 7:42am
Because Jazz pretty much answered the question with the post above while I was typing, making my Q redundant. seems Jazz's talents now stretch to ESP.
Only the A4 is an import, the Passat is NZ-new.
incar.,
Jan 23, 7:42am
My facts are interpreted correctly, just for gronks like you. on the other hand, the more ford mondeo's on the road, the more call outs I get, so either way I??
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