Recommend me a car please

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69steel, Sep 29, 5:17am
For a family of 4. Has to be reliable, economic and cheap to fix/service. Has to fit 2 car seats and be under 8k if possible. Is it better to get a later model with higher ks or older model with less ks! Thanks!

edangus, Sep 29, 5:19am
Reliable, Economic and Cheap to repair.

Pick the 2 you want most of all then come back.

intrade, Sep 29, 5:20am
best to get onewith as little electronic as possibile .8k rules out any new cars as in NEW-NEW.
What do you mean 2 car seats! for 2 small kids!
You need to have a good mechaniccheck a car over also what ever it ends up to be as they all can be bombs when they had enough abuse, and this country has a high rate of people not servicing there cars treating a woflike a service.

trdbzr, Sep 29, 5:23am
Rule of thumb for your price range. If it says CVT, DSG, D4, GDI, NEO DI anywhere on the car, then walk away.

dave653, Sep 29, 5:23am
Holden Torana, Ford Cortina, Mitsubishi Sigma, Toyota Corona, etc etc. Parts everywhere, cheap to maintain, easy to work on, economical, buggerall electronics to pack up.

69steel, Sep 29, 5:25am
gosh 8k isn't that cheap lol!

69steel, Sep 29, 5:26am
how about reliable, economic and cheapish to repair

trdbzr, Sep 29, 5:28am
What exactly are you after! ie small hatch/wagon/sedan/van. And what sort of driving do you do eg mainly motorway etc. And car prices have gone up quite a bit in the past 2ish years. You will be amazed at the prices people expect these days.

intrade, Sep 29, 5:29am
economy and cheap dont go togather , depends what preception you have of economic!
My opinion of economic is 60mpg or higher thats 5 liter per 100km or lower.
cars only got economical in the last 3 years with like a newkia-picanto as a example for cheapish and economical

edangus, Sep 29, 5:30am
So 2 kids. Prams required! Dog! Daily Driver or Second Car! Short trips or long distance! Rural or Urban! Towing! Need to be good looking or average!

69steel, Sep 29, 5:34am
yes small pram, urban small trips, daily driving, no towing, average looking ok, economy maybe 7l per 100k

thejazzpianoma, Sep 29, 5:35am
Reliable and cheap to run for 8K isn't that hard to do IMO.

Its not so much about the brandbut checking things out properly to make sure you get a good example. Also, don't expect to get good value from a car dealer in that price range, then you will most likely be looking at something old and tired.

Our 2007 Grande Punto with 115K on the clock cost less than that. I am not suggesting one of those but it shows you the value that is out there.

Also, don't forget to factor in getting the servicing right up to date. Most cars of that price range are due for a full going over, cambelt, waterpump, accessory belts, tensioners, brake fluid, coolant etc is all likely to need doing.

Don't be fooled into thinking a cam chain car is magically not going to need a serious service in that price bracket either.

The best value vehicles are often the ones which are internationally recognised as being excellent vehicles, but are undervalued in NZ because of the Japanese import car dealer wives tales.

69steel, Sep 29, 5:35am
hatch or wagon would be good

69steel, Sep 29, 5:36am
what about 10k!

thejazzpianoma, Sep 29, 5:42am
Can you drive manual!
That is a good way to get a good shot at economy, plus your most expensive risk with a car of that age is automatic transmission failure.

69steel, Sep 29, 5:44am
yes I can drive manual. What do you recommend! What car is internationally recognised as being good!

intrade, Sep 29, 5:46am
non are good but most cars with little electronic wont give troubles for the first 10 years if serviced correctly.

intrade, Sep 29, 5:48am
other option is to buy a older one thats still good and save the money for a new car, there is currantly no car for sale in this country that would be alost free of electronics junk but might be in 2 years.

69steel, Sep 29, 5:52am
I can't afford to spend more than 10k. Is it better to get an older car or newer car with more ks! Is a toyota corolla still the most reliable! What else should I be looking at!

intrade, Sep 29, 5:52am
some new manual cars are expensive to repair the clutch as they run dualmass flywheel. its for your convinience so you dont have gearbox rattle , but this is then negative reflected when you got to service the clutch at about 150,000km.this car has absolut no frills however its not available as rhd untill next year and dont know how mutch longer till we get em in new zealand.
www.dacia.co.uk

thejazzpianoma, Sep 29, 5:53am
I would cast a fairly wide net and look for bargains as opposed to narrowing it down to just one car.

When you find "the car" you want to buy then its important to find out what specifics you need to check for that vehicle.

Some cars I would consider are:

* 2003 ish Fiat Stilo with the 1.6 or 1.8 engine. BUT pay only around 5K and then spend another $1500 - $2000 getting everything done as mentioned above.

* VW Golf MK4, but only in manual. Any engine option would do, the 1.6 is a bit slow but very economical in manual, the 2.0 is cheap to work on and bullet proof but not as powerful as the 1.8 twin cam which uses a similar amount of fuel.

* Fiat Grande Punto but only if you can get an example down around your 8K like I did. Any engine option will do.

* Honda Accord, but not really around in manual. They are generally better value than some of the other Japanese offerings.

There are others I would consider too, just a matter of seeing what good deals are going. For example a Kiwi New manual Mazda 626 might be good going but finding one for a good price can be hard going.

Ford Mondeo's (only in manual) might be worth a look too, but they havn't been particularly good buying when I have looked of late.

intrade, Sep 29, 5:54am
corolla corona anything toyota with 3sfe(4cilinder) engines be ok for a few years, but only if it was not abused like most toyotas are in this country, so you would have to hunt a while to find a good example.

thejazzpianoma, Sep 29, 5:54am
Corolla's are the very last thing I would look at personally. They may be slightly more reliable than some other offerings, but are often grossly over priced older models and often have not been serviced properly.

They are also not much car for your money, in that they often don't have much in the way of safety or comfort features. Auto ones are dreadful and they are not as economical as you might expect.

I say this having owned two.

They would have to be NZ's most over hyped vehicle.

matthew111, Sep 29, 5:56am
any 4 door carcosting about $ 3-5,ooo is fine. It is only a means of tranport from A to B afterall.

69steel, Sep 29, 5:57am
I thought Fiat was FIX IT AGAIN TONY lol! Is a honda accord economic! and cheapish to fix!