Good car, not much goes wrong with them. Great resale, but high initial cost to buy them to begin with.
charilej1,
Feb 25, 9:29am
we have a 2006 estima "G" 3.5 v6, in our 2 & 1/2 years of ownership we have had 3 different transmission problems, the last one being the torque convertor housing totally cracking. the motor is good and quite grunty, and they're very practical, but definately get a warrenty if you do buy one. Also have heard that a oil hose can burst, stuffing the engine, but could just be a one off thing.
charilej1,
Feb 25, 9:02pm
didn't mean to sound so negative about the estima's ianalice, but dont want you to have the same problems as we have had. spec wise, i would go for the higher spec "g' model rather than the aeras - the interior on the g is a lot better quality, the main feature we appreciate is having centre headrests and armrest in the middle seat on the 2nd and 3rd rows. other differences between the g and the aeras is the g has twin electric doors, electric drivers seat, rear climate control air conditioning. however, the aeras is better looking with the sports bodykit. just one other thing, preferably go for the 2wd model rather than 4wd, as the 4wd version doesnt have a spare wheel, only a tyre repair kit, and they have higher fuel consumption.
Thanks guys for your feed back. Interesting to hear what problems some have and what to look out for. Noted about the G spec, does sound better. I also agree about 4wd, why would you want want one! We in no major hurry as only just finished paying Oddy off. Re: warranty, I whole heartily agree.Our last 3 cars when bought, were less than 5 years old and warranty paid for itself, many times over. Reason we have Oddy is that we do school run for 4 grandbabies, but hoping won't go on to much longer. Before that we loved our Windom's, so may go back to something along those lines.
ianalice1,
Feb 25, 9:21pm
Thanks. You know of any NZ based sites! Thanks.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 25, 10:21pm
Hi ianalice, without going into detail the Estima of that vintage is going to cost you thousands per year more (when you factor in purchase price, depreciation and running costs) vs the Touran. They are also a big bulky lump to drive around in. If you were carting 8 Adults long distance and cost of ownership of a nil issue it would be the right kind of thing, but honestly why not spend the extra money on some great holidays or similar instead and enjoy a more manoeuvrable vehicle around town.
BTW, to put it into perspective, you could probably pay a Taxi to do the School run for you for what it would cost you extra to own the Estima!
ianalice1,
Feb 26, 12:45am
\\\
Thanks, Jazz. There is a Touran, on here, at the Mount. I've emailed him and waiting for him to get back. (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Brow- se/Listing.aspx!id=355998564).- But, as I said, I'm really hoping we get out of the school run, by about mid year and looking for a Windom alternative. Any ideas! Size wise, toys, etc.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 26, 4:44am
Hi ianalice, Honestly the VW is the best thing since sliced bread at the moment. (Pretty much every other manufacturer is desperately trying to sort their own version of that technology) Because you are not really paying a purchase price, economy or size premium to run one of those I would suggest going that way, even if you do end up not doing the school run. Then if you do need to run the kids around at a weekend you are still able to, and with the back seat folded down the extra space can be super handy anyway. Also, the Touran has the higher seats which can be much nicer to get in and out of if you get a bit creaky in the bones like me!
If you wern't buying a people mover I would still be advising a Golf anyhow (The Golf basically being a Touran without the extra seats and a lower roof). Be wary of Toyota's, I used to have them in past when they were sensibly priced and they were great,but nowdays they are usually terrible value for money. Be very wary of the super reliability and ease of service claims, having worked on and ordered parts for several lately I am far from impressed.
VW parts are very well priced and easily available so you would see no advantage for the extra cost of purchase, worse economy and lack of compatible features in the Toyota.
Now that said, the Windom is a bit of an exception to the rule in that it does not seem to wear the massive price premium of some of the people movers and smaller Toyota's. I still think you can do a lot better for the money though. If you decide you would like more of a "flying armchair" experience than the Golf/Touran I would be happy to make some suggestions along those lines for you to compare.
Best of luck!
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 26, 5:57am
The catch with the Presage is that it uses as much gas as a 4.0 litre 200KW Falcon but it has slower acceleration than a 1200cc Fiat Punto.
djazza,
Feb 26, 6:04am
The catch with the Touran is pretty much all of them need the transmission valve body replaced at a cost of around $3500!
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 26, 6:17am
Thats miles away from even being close to true. Not very fair/responsible making silly statements based on nothing when someone is trying to make a very very expensive buying decision possibly partially based on what they read here.
The DSG gearbox is one of the most popular gearbox's in the world (currently used in two of the top ten biggest selling cars in the world). With those numbers around you get the odd one show up with problems. BUT when you actually look at the figures the DSG gearbox is actually proving to be about twice as reliable as Toyota's gearbox's which are supposedly the most reliable out there.
(Based on warranty comparisons between the Corolla and the Golf)
phillip.weston,
Feb 26, 6:52am
I cannot believe how retarded you can be at times jazz. you clearly made a silly statement yourself saying the Presage is uneconomical and slow (which it isn't really, if you've even taken the time to drive one, which I suspect you haven't), yet when someone makes a somewhat true statement, you instantly jump on the defensive saying what a brash statement to make.
One eyed Toyota owners are one thing. but you sir are in a completely different league.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 26, 7:39am
Errr no, I think you need some lessons in reading comprehension. I said:
1. The Presage uses as much gas as a 4.0 litre 200KW Falcon. Which is correct when compared to the current model Falcon of the above spec.
2. The Pressage has slower acceleration than a 1200cc Fiat Punto Which is correct when compared to the common as salt 1200cc Punto ELX which is about the most common Punto on NZ roads.
Its a sad day when people get called retarded for stating easily quantifiable and verifiable facts. While others make statements that are the polar opposite of the truth but are condoned.
I would suggest you check your facts carefully before giving advice that could cost people thousands of dollars. Your last lot of advice I had anything to do with on here could have cost the poor poster an engine rebuild because you spouted off an incorrect generalisation without bothering to do even the most basic of checks.
Thats all I will say on the matter. ianalice is bright enough to figure it out.
ianalice1,
Feb 26, 7:43am
Thanks guys. All very interesting. We have a friend who has Presage Diesel and love it. What sort of fuel mileage are you talking about, with them! Had a quick look on here and nearly all petrol. There must be a reason for that ;( My friend is a foreman in a Diesel workshop, might have something to do with it.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 26, 7:47am
Expect just under 10l/100km for combined running or about $20 per hundred km.
gammelvind,
Feb 26, 7:49am
To thejazzpianoma. While I appreciate your total enthusiasm for your beloved VW Jazz, just sometimes I would love to hear what people have to say about the vehicle asked about, ie the Estima. A suggestion to them to look at the VW would of course be fine but for you to totally take over the thread is dissapointing. You did it to the last Estima thread so that it died and now it is happening again. European vehicles do have a fanatical following here in NZ, and you are one of those fanatics.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 26, 7:52am
gammelvind, the OP has also been considering the Touran very seriously (has been waiting for one to come up locally to test properly) it only makes sense to compare both vehicles. (and again put it up against the Nissan)
The OP has also posted on here some time ago wanting to look at ways of reducing running costs as they are on a fixed income. So with that in mind of course it makes sense to compare running costs very carefully, especially when there is a significant difference.
If ianalice wants me to leave and just consider the others advice they only have to say.
ianalice1,
Feb 26, 7:55am
To be honest, the one thing that does concern me, with the Touran, is there doesn't seem to be any/many for sale around here. Estima/Odysseys, etc, heaps.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 26, 7:59am
Fair enough, good question. In reality it won't affect you for parts availability etc. (which I assume is the underlying concern)
The reason being all the running gear is the same as the VW Golf so everything is easy to get and very inexpensive to buy. The only challenge could be a lack of secondhand body panels, but when you consider that those items would be covered by insurance and new panels are easily available again its no issue.
Having bought in and repaired several damaged VW's in past I can say this with excellent first hand knowledge.
BTW the Golf is 4th most popular car in the world at the moment, hence the competitive price of parts. Its also only about 10% by volume behind the second most popular car in the world.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 26, 8:00am
BTW, what will affect you is our sadly very inept local VW service centre, however that again is an easily avoidable trap. There is a garage just down in Papamoa that happily services these at an excellent price and with very good knowledge and experience.
gammelvind,
Feb 26, 8:02am
As a previous euro car fan, with family being the same, those of us who are now driving japanese are having fewer reliability issues and much lower service costs, Toyotas for example are boring cars but I can always be sure it will start in the morning. Still would like my old euro car for fun though lol.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 26, 8:07am
I have to go so can't argue this other than to say, if you are making generalisations so large as to consider all cars made in europe as one your statement is going to be miles from accurate.
The Golf (and therefore theoretically the first gen 2wd Touran) stacks up about the same as a Toyota Avensis for reliability.
Be carefull of reviews of the Touran that include the 4WD Cross version which does have a few issues due to its complex nature.
EDIT, its easy to check up on service costs for the Touran vs the others. Just ring/email Qualitat and they will give you a price on any service procedure or part you wish to query. Do the same for what else is being looked at and compare apples with apples.
I don't understand the obsession on here with generalisations and heresay. Its easy to look up, ask and find out the facts about the specific vehicles in question.
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