Wow, Repco has always had everything in stock I wanted, except heavy duty springs for a Hilux and any parts for a Ford Escort. How often do I need parts for my car! Twice a year, but my garage carries these in stock anyway, so no need to use the phone.
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 29, 5:02am
Yip. I like to be comprehensive. How much is "real cheap" and what are you using it for! Do you mean cheap to buy, cheap to run or both!
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 29, 5:11am
And if you drove a Punto you would only need parts once a year. (20'000km service interval)
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 29, 5:18am
I think its more our industry has been poisoned because it survives almost entirely on secondhand Japanese imports. That's why Fiats sell like hot cakes in other countries but are less popular here.
Fiats did go through a rusty period, but at the same time Toyota and others were every bit as bad. You notice how no one still goes on about Hiace vans and Corona's that were bubbling with rust at 6 months old! What Fiat did though was be about the first to solve it properly by galvanizing their vehicles. The Fiat design has always been good and pre-Jap Imports very well respected.
The Fiat Twin Cam engines were very popular for racing and people doing engine swaps into all kinds of things back in the day. The 124 etc was also popular and highly regarded. Uno's while prone to rust sold like absolute hot cakes back in the day.
Its a shame the silly wives tales told by so many greasy dealers have taken hold. On the other hand though, its made motoring incredibly inexpensive for me!
gilligan2,
Jun 29, 5:21am
Cheap to buy daily driver to work and back. Good fuel milage.
gilligan2,
Jun 29, 5:24am
Waaaaay cheaper
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 29, 5:26am
Shame I saw just the thing a couple of days ago. It was a low km MK2 uno with the super reliable and insanely economical Fire motor. Went for about $1000, would have been perfect for a work commuter.
gilligan2,
Jun 29, 5:27am
Nothing else out there!
johnf_456,
Jun 29, 5:28am
I think my eyes are bleeding from hearing to much about fiatsssssssss lah lah
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 29, 5:28am
Can't say I have noticed anything particularly good in my travels today, but if you have a week or two to look I don't mind keeping an eye out for you. There have been a number of cars that would have suited you over the last 3 weeks or so that I thought were terrific buys.
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 29, 5:29am
You "listen" to the message board! No wonder you are so blind to good cars.
gilligan2,
Jun 29, 5:32am
thatd be good if you keep an eye out for me. Got two weeks up my sleeve
michael.benn,
Jun 29, 5:32am
Only Fiat I would ever get would be a Fiat Barchetta =P
With all due respect Jazz, I know they're awesome cars, I just can't stand the looks. :P
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 29, 5:39am
Will do, I will start a thread with your name if I notice anything. Some suggestions to keep an eye out for: * Fiat Punto, any model.
* Fiat Bravo/Brava/Marea with the 1.6 motor (not the 2.0 its expensive to do the cambelt and thirsty around town)
* Volvo S40, preferably with the 2.0 but a 1.8 if its running sweet and has been maintained may be worth it in your price range (1.8 is a GDI Mitsi motor but is generally more reliable than the normal Mitsi GDI's) Volvo parts are dearer but you shouldn't need much and hey its a $1500 - $2000 car so sell it as is if it does something expensive.
* VW Vento/Jetta/Golf ideally with the manual transmission but a maintained auto would be O.K. Just look out for warning lights on the dash and ideally get it scanned before purchase. Check for headgasket problems.
* Uno if its not rusty. Ideally with the 1.0 "Fire" motor, make sure its a 5 speed.
Also, are you mechanical, can you do some basic repairs if something comes up cheap that needs some work! Sometimes thats the best kind of buy in the super cheap category.
gilligan2,
Jun 29, 5:41am
OKay.
mgmad,
Jun 29, 5:41am
For those making assumptions that parts for japanese cars are easier to obtain. well, sometimes, but anything a bit older and it can be a pain in the proverbial. A few times I've had to help some good friends with their SW20 MR2, finding new parts for which was almost impossible. Rear caliper repair kits, for example - none in NZ, and NLA from Japan. So I asked for a complete caliper - same story. Parts for the same age British cars, no problem, most stuff still available new (admittedly not all of it necessarily off the shelf in NZ, but a good chunk of it is). Don't just assume that because it's Japanese, it'll be easy to find in NZ, and vice versa with European stuff.
The Japanese seem big in to building throw-away-in-10-years cars, more so than the Europeans or Americans.
ngaeil,
Jun 29, 3:27pm
Well.a lot of food for thought! Thanks guys, some great advice there.
tmenz,
Jun 29, 3:45pm
My father said his first car was a straight 8, he traded that in in on a V8, then he finally bought a Urin8 which is a wee wee car for piddling around town.
slarty45,
Jun 29, 4:07pm
If FIAT invented CVT 30 years ago.
What the hell was DAF doing with CVT 40 years ago!
It states first production cvt FOR CARS! When did DAF start making CARS!
doug207,
Jun 29, 8:00pm
Do the research, some Japanese cars are massively expensive to fix as are some european cars. You will get people rubbishing any car you look at anyway.
slarty45,
Jun 29, 9:23pm
Does it matter! DAF invented CVT fot their cars, other manufacturers use CVT under licence. (just correcting some incorrect information)
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 29, 9:35pm
Technically you do have a point, its also not just DAF various versions of the CVT were used in commercial/industrial/agricult- ural applications even long before DAF. (And yes DAF did make cars, thats the short production run I am referring to.)
However DAF's was not really a proper commercial success and its not a CVT as we know it today, its more like what a Motor Scooter uses. They did make a short production run but their design which used a rubber belt was not really successful.
The first properly reliable high volume unit that resembles whats used today was the Fiat/Ford version from the 70's. The Fiat Panda was the first car to be sold in volume with a good reliable CVT.
Incidentally the Fiat/Ford CVT was developed form the initial work done by DAF. When Volvo bought DAF they transferred the Patents and technology to another company that worked with Fiat/Ford.
Either way you look at it, Fiat were one of the Pioneers and the first to have properly reliable units, thats what matters in this context. I do acknowledge you do have a point though.
vtecnet,
Jun 30, 1:28am
If you are resourceful you can buy parts for Euro Cars cheaper, ie the local stealer ship wanted $350 for a Heater Core for my Golf VR6, however I got the same part from Qualitat for $125 and found it as low as $85, but no stock.
For my E30 BMW, The stealer ship wanted $800 for an OE Fuel Pump, I imported my own one including air freight for $350. Basically. don't go to the Dealership for any older car, Honda and Toyota are just as bad, Honda said my ABS on my Accord was going to cost $2000 to repair, however I replaced the ABS pump myself for $300, (they said that they couldn't just replace the accumulator). was an easy fix and took about 2 hours. Toyota. well I had this 1 Owner MR2 a couple of years ago with 15K of reciepts from the local Toyota Dealer. you wouldn't believe some of the bullshit they charged out and prices etc. ie $4000 for Cambelt, waterpump, clutch kit, labour etc.
I personally see most Jap cars as being appliances. with no real character, of course plenty of Euro cars are like that too.
slarty45,
Jun 30, 1:35am
Far canal, 8 hundy for a fuel pump that's just blatant greed
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