Station Wagons, low kms, transmissions, price!

nzclover do a searches for VW parts passat golf wagon and a regular - thejazzpianoma - has helpful info about them. There is a place he mentioned on a thread recently who stock VW parts. I'm going to ring my mechanic on Wednesday and ask him about the VW servicing and maintaining expenses.

Hi shelleigh,
Just be aware that some mechanics are excellent and know where to get parts from etc but there are a few boof head ideots around that just rubbish anything not from Japan.

If you don't get a favourable response you may be better to ring the likes of Qualitat who actually supply the parts and are also VW mechanics. They can give you proper straight up answers on what to look for and what things cost.

So long as you order parts from the likes of Qualitat and avoid places that also sell Ferrari's parts prices for VW's are super competitive and very easily sourced with several third party importers in NZ keeping competition alive.

Cheers for quoting my post, nice to know the info is helpful.

Awesome thank you for that - I've made a note of Qualitat.

Fuel economy is excellent for the size of the vehicle, as is reliability, servicing and parts. Just a note on buying low km's. Just remember that does not guarantee you reliability on its own. Its a balane of the make, model and spec of the vehicle coupled with how many km's plus (and this is the most important part) how its been treated and maintained.

If you don't mind me asking are you financing all or part of this purchase! If so you may be going a bit overboard on price if all you want to achieve is reliability and low running costs. At $15K many of the options available will still be depreciating at quite a rate and if you are paying interest on the purchase as well it may well be a false economy. Realistically with some careful scrutiny you should be able to achieve your goals with $10K and reduce depreciation and possibly finance costs.

Remember total cost of ownership is finance charges (or use of money cost) + Fuel cost + Maintenance. Maintenance is usually by far the smallest cost and its very easy to wind up with depreciation that far exceeds your fuel bill.

Anyhow, back to what you are after. In terms of what you are doing. For practical purposes at around the $15K mark I would be more erring towards the VW Touran. as opposed to the Passat, Its not technically a wagon but it has 3 rows of seats and the last row folds right into the floor giving you a big load space.

There are several reasons for going Touran. Firstly the Passat in the price range does not have the big jump ahead in technology that the Touran and MK5 VW Golf have for the same price. The Passat got the new goodies slightly later and is in a higher price range. The technology we are talking about is amazing and gives you a huge advantage in drivability and economy.

The FSI petrol and common rail diesel engines give mind blowing economy for their power output. A lot of the economy and power actually comes from the amazing DSG gearbox rather than the engine, although the engines are a work of art in themselves as well.

What DSG does is give you all the ease of use of an auto (in fact you wouldn't know it wasnt an auto unless someone told you). But it gives you all the economy and most of the low maintenance of a manual transmission. Its the first transmission to properly achieve the best of both worlds.

The trick is instead of using a torque converter (which is what a regular auto uses instead of a clutch) it uses two automated clutches. A torque converter wastes quite a lot of your fuel in its operation whereas these two clutches waste none. Couple that with its lightening fast gear change (literally quicker than you can blink) and at least 6 gears and you have one amazingly clever and economical gearbox.

Aside from the very clever engine and gearbox the Touran is incredibly under-priced in NZ (other countries pay a huge premium for them and they still sell like hot cakes). You also get great handling and excelent features and safety. Most Tourans have around 10 airbags for starters.

In terms of the mechanics of a vehicle the likes of the Touran or MK5 Golf are just miles ahead of anything else and after 7 years of production many of the opposition manufacturers are still trying to play catch up and get their version of the DSG and other VW technology to market.

Now all that aside, if you decided that you did not want a Touran or you wanted to go a bit cheaper I would then suggest the Passat as the better option.

You won't get the new DSG gearbox etc but the 1.8T engine and 5 speed auto combination may suit you really well. The shape Passat starting in 2001 is the best value and while prices are on the rise you should still be able to get a really nice example for around 10K with some patience and cunning.

I prefer the 1.8T to the 2.0 engine. I find the 2.0 quite under powered and offers no real economy benefit for the lack of power. Don't confuse this with the 2.0 FSI engine in the later Golf and Touran as that is a very different engine that gives amazing power and economy.

For round town use the 1.8T is going to be the best of the bunch for ecnomy while still having plenty of go for open road passing. Don't get a non turbo 1.8 though as they are just too slow.

$15k should just about get you a Mk4 Mondeo (current shape) which is a really really nice car, I almost prefer it over the current shape Mazda 6 which I think went a step backwards from the previous shape in terms of styling. Mk3 wagons range anywhere from $5-15k depending on year/kms, you should be able to get a 2006/2007 with under 70-80km for $12-13k or less. If you can deal with owning a manual I would pick a manual over the auto for the Mk3 model, however the auto in the Mk4 is much much better. I had a 2004 Mondeo 2.0 5spd manual wagon with nearly 400,000kms on the clock and it ran flawlessly, the only tell tale signs of high kms were worn carpets and stone chipping across the front panels, in every other regard it felt like a car with less than half the kms it had actually travelled.

friend has one not even 100k on the clock giving auto problems already and had oil changes

There don't seem to be many of them around and the price seems quite high.
I'm still wary of VWs because of mechanical costs and if they aren't that common, then parts would surely be more expensive than a more common Jap car!!

the difference in borrowing $17k as opposed to $15k would be around $15-16 per week, which may be able to get you just that much of a better car.

what do you search for when looking for these, doesn't seem like mk 3 or 4 are terms used!

No parts are not dearer. You have to bear in mind that there are just about more cars running VW mechanicals in the world than any other manufacturer. Why would parts be expensive for one of the most common vehicles on the planet!

All parts for any make have to be imported so it has nothing to do with shipping.

Yeah you're right, Mk3 is the 2001 to early 2007 shape, while the Mk4 is the 2006 to current shape. $15k is on the high side for a Mk3 wagon unless it is a low km 2006/2007 year (which really isn't any different to buying a 2004/2005 example), yet $15k would be a great price for a Mk4 wagon, which is almost twice the car of the Mk3 it replaced.

at the end of the day, I need to invest in a car that's reliable for a long time. I won't be getting another for a while because I'm going to downsize the job. So, what do I pay.$10k! $15k! $17K! lol it's so confusing

I think when you are going to be spending an amount such as $10k+ on a late model vehicle, you should budget a further $1000 for a comprehensive 24 or 36 month mechanical warranty such as one from Autosure which covers just about everything and does not exclude 'wear and tear' which companies like Protecta do, and there is no limit to how many times you can claim, and the claim limit is very generous too. That way you can have peace of mind when purchasing whichever vehicle you choose and not have to worry about any unexpected costs 12+ months in the future where your typical dealership cover will no longer apply. Just about anything can go wrong with any car, while some are definitely more reliable than others I've seen some 'mainstream' cars cost a large amount to repair.

I think you need to first decide exactly how much you want to spend, or what you can safely afford without sending you broke. I think if you're going to have your car for the next 10+ years then maybe look at spending on the higher end of the scale, but focus on something as late model as possible rather than as low kms as possible. You're better off buying a 80,000kms 2-3 year old car rather than a 30,000kms 5-7 year old car for the same price, as 5+ years later the newer car is going to be worth more despite the kms it would have on it (within reason).

* Mondeo from 2000 as discussed.
* VW Passat from 2001 with the 1.8T as discussed
* Volvo V40 (possibly but there are some catches and pitfalls we would have to discuss)
* VW Golf GT Wagon (Thats a Golf wagon with the 1.8T engine)
* Honda Accord Wagon
* Audi A4 wagon (just in case a good value one came along, not usually price competitive but worth watching)

Now if this was me in your shoes and practicallity and running costs were formost, then there is actually one vehicle that I would buy ahead of all others and it won't even cost you 10K. you will laugh but these puppys are amazing, thats why I own one now and have for years.

Fiat Multipla Diesel
* Loads of grunt but is like running a little 1200cc car for running costs.
* Super versatile, each seat is individually removable and it has a flat floor.
* Much much easier to manouver in town than any wagon, its short and has no blind spot but is still huge inside.
* Parts are cheap and they are stupidly reliable
*They handle and ride really nicely.

In terms of what it would actually cost to own and run you would easily be looking at well under half the costs compared to the wagons discussed in this thread.

There are no suitable ones on TM right now but they come up quite regularly.

One sold the other day for about $8000 that would have suited you perfectly.

You can get a mint one that looks like this for around 8K
http://www.carbb.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/fiat-multipla-2002-001.jpg Or the more mainstream looking one for about 12K http://img2.netcarshow.com/Fiat-Multipla_2004_800x600_wallpaper_02.jpg

Surely if you are looking for a station wagon, a newish 2003+ Subaru Legacy or Outback would come to mind! they're probably the best all-rounder by far in my honest opinion. Not to big, not too small, good on gas compared to the older subies, good interior, good exterior, etc etc.

I hate AWD wagons with their engines oriented for a FWD layout.

nzclover,
If you want to tell us the following I can probably make things much easier by giving you some actual estimated figures in terms of running/ownership costs for a few for comparison. It will probably make life a lot simpler.

I would need to know:

* Roughly how many km's you do in a week split into town and open road running. Just an estimate will be fine it dosn't have to be super accurate.

* Approximately how long you intend keeping the vehicle assuming you are happy with it. i.e is a long time 3 years 5 years 10 years 15 years!

* How much actual cash you have to spend on a vehicle before you have to start financing (sorry its probably a bit personal but we will need it if you want a fairly good idea of costs)

Drop in those figures and when I am next free I will do the math and give you some nice easy comparisons. With what we are going on at the moment things are a bit vague and its hard to give you a definitive answer on some things.

that 1999 Accord for $11k doesn't even have side air bags. It's also a very boring and dreary car. You can get a 2002+ shape Accord for similar money which is twice the car of that '99 Accord. The 2002+ Accord with 4cyl engines are also chain driven, so no need to worry about a cam belt to change.

I think if you're going to be spending $10-15k, you would want to get something as new as possible with the most features, especially safety features as possible, and those late 90s Accords just don't provide in that regard.

1. about 50 around town and 100-open road on average

2. intend to keep 5-10 years

3. prefer to save full amount before i buy

thanks for the advice, not interested in such old cars :)

I dont think theyre big enough for our summer holidays. We don't tend to travel light :)

A Subaru Legacy or Outback is going to be the same size as the Mazda 6/Atenza, Nissan Primera, Ford Mondeo and Honda Accord - perhaps you need something bigger like a Commodore/Falcon wagon!

really! they look smaller, not too interested in a subaru anyway. Def dont want the bigger wagons

yeah the 2003+ shape is in the same class, in fact all Legacies have been mid-sized, and the current shape Legacy is perhaps even bigger than the Mazda 6 and Accord, it certainly is alot taller anyway. Perhaps you're confusing it with the Impreza!