Not everone wants a punto . do you go to bed with your hand on a punto all you talk about!
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 21, 10:16pm
Pity because if its in good condition that's really good buying and a real cracker of a car for what you are doing. For that money you also have some spare if it needs a cambelt or anything done as well.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 21, 10:17pm
Its not a Punto.
scoobeey,
Apr 21, 10:20pm
I would find another engine they are cheap as chips and good for what you are doin :))
bigracket,
Apr 21, 11:42pm
This is the best thing that has been said in this entire thread. That Nissan is where my money would be going. Jazz is extremely bias, nice guy but very bias. Ask a few mechanics before you buy European,
autocars1,
Apr 22, 3:29am
Do yourself a favour and go down to your speed shop and get a bottle of Chem-i-weld, $25, follow the directions to the letter and you will find you have a fix-it, may not be forever but at least it will keep you going. I put it in a BMW I ahd that cooked on the way home and stuck that in it and it has lasted years and years.absolutely beaut.
intrade,
Apr 22, 7:09am
RE*39 i hope you dont sell cars with that crap added. its all fine if you dont sell the car on afterwards.
kcf,
Apr 22, 7:10am
autocars1 has a point . you've got a car with absolutely no value other than as parts now.So even if the chemiweld doesn't work, all you're out is the cost of the bottle of chemiweld, and it might get you another six months out of your Laser before it dies (how long is a piece of string).I'd say give it a crack, and if it works, just keep running the Laser until it dies again.
Save up maybe $3k if you can, and buy a Sentra / Pulsar / Corolla / Civic to tide you over the rest of your student days.
phillip.weston,
Apr 22, 7:25am
Out of all the Galant/Legnums of that shape that one is probably the most reliable of the bunch. Being 2.0 SOHC non-GDI and 5 speed manual. 240,000kms is nothing for one of them. The only thing of concern on one of those is the front lower suspension arms which the ball joints wear out over time.
phillip.weston,
Apr 22, 7:27am
I couldn't think of a more dreary over-rated car than that 16 year old 188,000kms Pulsar, for which that $3500 you would spend on it could easily get you something much safer, just as reliable, and most importantly newer.
phillip.weston,
Apr 22, 7:32am
They aren't a bad car at all, very nice to ride in, not bad looking, and reasonably safe. However they just don't seem to be built to last and at 172,000kms it will be nearing the end of its usable economical life. As mentioned above the cam belt needs to be replaced every 60,000kms, so be sure that the cam belt on that example has indeed been replaced within the last 3 years/40,000kms otherwise you would need to set aside more money to replace the cam belt. Those engines don't like being over-heated also, and once they have been they tend to blow the head gasket or even warp/crack the cylinder head. Another common fault on them is cam and crank sensors which occasionally fail, and even the wiring going to the sensors breaks down and causes all sorts of trouble. It's a good car, but I think at $3000 it's at least $1000 over-priced. I've been watching the value of that shape Vectra very closely over the last months as I've got a '97 2.5L V6 5 speed manual hatch that I need to sell shortly, and have been getting an indication of where the market is at.
phillip.weston,
Apr 22, 7:33am
Would you recommend a Mondeo instead!
nickolaz,
Apr 22, 7:39am
I'm tsarting to get the feeling that there's not many good cars out there
phillip.weston,
Apr 22, 7:44am
I think, as much as I generally dis-like Toyotas because they are so over-rated, that the '93 Caldina auction number 368555544 is probably the best buy out of that lot, but only at the $2500 reserve rather than the $3000 buy now. They are an incredibly reliable car, economical, spacious, drive pretty well, and resale is good as you can see. My only dislike of that model is the interior is a bit 'cheap', if you touch and tap the dashboard you will most likely agree.
phillip.weston,
Apr 22, 7:47am
that's not true, you just need to be better equipped with information before making your choice. It doesn't help that the value of cheaper cars have basically doubled due to the increased petrol costs etc
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 22, 7:52am
I am extremely biased in this price range but for very good reason. Fiat in this price range is a great way to go because they are reliable and cheap to fix and most importantly way way under-priced simply because of unfounded attitudes like this one (no offence big racket, if you owned a Marea like that for a while I think you would change your mind pretty quickly).
My own car with 200K of very hard commercial km's on the clock runs this very same running gear and has been the picture of reliability for the 80'000km I have owned it. I know first hand what the costs are for parts and what reliability and working on them is like and how they compare to Toyota etc and they shape up really well. Not to mention how much money you save on fuel compared to some of the opposition.
Any mechanic that just makes blanket statements like "European cars are more expensive to fix" should not be trusted with a Corolla let alone anything else. Each brand and model has its own peculiarities, the Opal for example is higher maintenance, not as well built and has much shorter service intervals. Its a pity because as Philip said they are actually a nice car to drive and travel in.
The Marea has one of the best drive-trains around at that time, and that drive train even still produced new (petrol version of the Multipla runs it), and it still competes really well for reliability, economy and performance 20 years after it came out!
phillip.weston,
Apr 22, 7:56am
I would agree with Jazz. some people pay through their nose for something which is percieved to be 'reliable', and then it ends up costing the same to run as any other car. what was the point of paying a premium for a boring, dreary and un-safe car again! Oh yes. that so called 'reliability'.
My friend has an FN15 Pulsar GA15DE and so far he's had to do more maintenance on it than any of my Mitsubishis.
nickolaz,
Apr 22, 7:57am
Hmm I may almost be able to stretch 4.but I thought people were trying to steer me away from Autos!
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 22, 7:58am
Its just such a shame it isn't local to poster one. If she could get in and take it for a drive I think it would all start to make sense. If it was up here I would have bought that one for myself its such good buying.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 22, 7:59am
If you got a really well maintained auto it might be O.K so long as you understand the disadvantages. Personally though I would be sticking with manual in that price range, much less chance of expensive trouble. Different if you were paying $8000 for a car and were into better maintained stuff.
Bear in mind that I am erring on the side of caution here.
phillip.weston,
Apr 22, 8:03am
With modern cars the difference in economy between an auto or a manual is very little, perhaps 5-10%, and the larger the engine is the smaller that percentage gets. So long as an auto has been maintained like they should be, and if they aren't abused or neglected, then they will be fine. Some autos are worse than others, Toyota and Nissan are probably the two makers who have the least amount of auto transmission faults, but that's not to say that they don't have their faults cause some of them still do.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 22, 8:03am
I agree completely. That is probably about best of the bunch in your area. Even Turners don't have anything decent in the price range. Its no Marea but I would buy it over the Opal etc.
nickolaz,
Apr 22, 8:06am
Hmm ok, I guess that means the Caldina would probably still be my favoured option at this stage. Though that Legacy does look very nice, might be just out of reach.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 22, 8:13am
Argh. if only we could get you to jump on a plane to Christchurch, the Caldina is no where near the car that Marea is!
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 22, 8:14am
I have to run, someone else can get a word edgeways now!
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