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Old Car vs. New Car?

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awg said:
no-one ever hassled me on the road, they always gave way at roundabouts, merging.. haha.
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I love that!

I'm moving more and more away from the "image" nonsense as i get older.

Quite frankly, i am sick of paying "at fault" insurance premiums when it wasn't even my fault. That's what i had to go through with my lovely "new" cars!

Dislaimer: i do sometimes fantasize about a newy, but i am probably too lazy to get one.
 
I've got a 98 Toyota Camry Vienta which has just done 200,000kms.
Still drives very good, very smooth. Though i have noticed the fuel economy is dropping a bit.
The car has been extremely reliable, it has never broken down. had a few things replaced on it... starter motor, wheel bearing, tires etc but it didn't cost an arm an leg. It's been in my family since it was brand new.

Though i wouldn't mind updating my car. I've been looking at all sorts of cars from hilux's, to mini cooper s's, to alfa romeo 147 gta's. All around the 2004 models with 30,000-70,000kms. I wouldn't call myself a rev head at all, but i do enjoy watching top gear which influences me a bit!

For any car that i want it would cost around 20-25k... and i would have to take out a 15k loan... which isn't something that i wouldn't really want to do!
 
trainspotter said:
Nothing better than a concourse condition 1973 V8 Triumph Stag in fire engine red. Oldie but a bloody beauty !
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I reckon trainspotter has the best idea. My old man had a burgundy coloured one. He thrashed the **** out of it.

I helped.

Saw a nice one in Putney Hight Street the other day, first one for a very long time.

Noice!
 
My parents have a Camry as well and it seems reliable. Not sure how old it is but i'm sure they've had it for 10+ years.

If i bought a new car, i'd spend no more than 25k and a 10-15 k deposit also. The partner might be getting a company car if gets f2f sales job, or else i will wait till i'm a property owner again. Apart from that, i sometimes think about it, but try not to be impulsive because you can lose so much on it...
 

I didnt add the extra cost of insurance on new, good point

The worst thing I could ever do was turn up in my 1973 V12 Jag, cost me $6000, but people used to think I must be uber rich, and expected me to pay accordingly. They would be driving a 30k Commodore. Go figure

One of the wealthiest guys I know, never seen him out of singlets and shorts, drives an old ute.

He gets a good price when he buys property!

If you live in Sydney, every second car has unrepaired dents and scrapes.
Not good on nice new vehicles

I typically buy an older vehicle and depreciate it to near zero over 5 to 10 years.

Not as practical if you have limited understanding of motor vehicles

As I have kids, they tend to depreciate newer cars rather badly, need to balance safety features though

Corrosion is a big problem, as I live by the sea, one reason for no Fords
 
awg said:
The worst thing I could ever do was turn up in my 1973 V12 Jag, cost me $6000, but people used to think I must be uber rich,
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That's another point.

Btw, they drive like maniacs in Sydney. No wonder there are so many unrepaired dents.
 
Best ever car was a 1976 TX Gemini Sedan. Bought it for $700.00. Regularly on two wheels and often sideways. Absolute screamer of a car. Just put fuel in it and go.
 

aussie, instead of spending that amount on a new car, spend the same amount on a quality second hand car, Honda Civic, VW Golf, Subaru etc, something along those lines.

In 5 years from now the quality second hand car will be worth more than the new mass produced el cheapo car and you will have much better reliability along the way.

One of the problems I see with some of the current manufacturers is that they turn out a newer version of each model every 6 months or sometimes less, this just erodes the value of their previous versions, Toyota and Mazda constantly do this.

If I was thinking about a new Toyota I buy a second hand Toyota Lexus instead, it will retain its value for longer.

Then again you could buy a Volvo, they are built tough to protect Volvo drivers from Volvo drivers

Disclaimer, I have only had Honda's since 1991, new and second hand.
 
Something to bear in mind, especially Euro cars, also Jap.

They only need to make spare parts for 7 years.

Spare parts on most Euro cars after that will break yr heart.

You can get Holden parts much cheaper.

As most of yr long-term maintenance is consumables like brake parts, suspension components, water pumps, etc, this cost can be very high

Engines and Trannies should last 250k+

Another bugbear of mine is low-profile tyres

Cost the earth, feel every bump on the road, one curb shot and they are trashed, they wear quicker than most...the handling advantages are overstated, unless you can drive like the Stig
 
trainspotter said:
Best ever car was a 1976 TX Gemini Sedan. Bought it for $700.00. Regularly on two wheels and often sideways. Absolute screamer of a car. Just put fuel in it and go.
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That was my Dad's first car, and he drove it in a similar fashion to you. He never lets an opportunity pass to tell us one of his many "Gemini" stories...
 
I advocate 3 year old car as well. I got a Mazda 6 MPS with every option at less than half the original RRP and 60,000km on the clock. With Mazda's build quality, I wouldn't expect any major problems until 10 years.

4 hours with a random orbital polisher and the thing looks showroom new.
 
Boggo said:
Then again you could buy a Volvo, they are built tough to protect Volvo drivers from Volvo drivers
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We just handed off our old 96 Camry wagon to my sister who needed a car - it looked like crap, my wife used to wear a wig, and groucho glasses/nose/moustache combo to drive it. But it still drove beautifully, had plenty of power and all I ever did was change 1 oil filter and put in a 5 litres of home brand oil!!! In 5 years! I remember reading a motoring journalist talking about how he had just bought the same model camry "because they still go, even after you've put an axe through the engine block". Have to agree, great car - from a reliability perspective.

BUT - no airbags, no power windows, an awful after market cruise control and i got sick of the questions from my daughter about why everyone ELSE had a shiny car but we didn't. (didn't much like looking at the wife dressed up as groucho either..)

SO Bought a 2004 Volvo S60 AWD - magnificent. All the safety equipment, lovely cream leather interior, 2.5 litre turbo, great economy, fantastic stereo, and looks like it has only recently rolled out of the showroom. Someone forked out around $75k for it about the same time I bought the camry second hand and we got it for $17.5k on the road with 12 months rego. I know no-one will want to buy it off us but that's OK I'm not planning on selling it for years and lets face it dropping $10k over 5 years in depreciation is nothing to sweat over. The plan is to trade in to a current model S80 in about five years time - no-one wants those either!

So if you are going to get a new car - for your wallets sake do not buy a volvo!!
 
gav said:
That was my Dad's first car, and he drove it in a similar fashion to you. He never lets an opportunity pass to tell us one of his many "Gemini" stories...
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And so he shouldn't ! Mighty car that had the sweetest 4 speed synchromesh gearbox that was clean and tight. Massive Isuzu 1.6 litre 4 pot that redlined hard and quickly. Totally driveable when drifting. (before drifiting even became a sport) and totally cop proof. "No officer, this little car, no way could it leave black marks like that!"
 
Datsun 1600

brings a tear to my eye ...... drifts , skipping salt pans , caning the living daylights out of it trying to see when it popped ....... used to go places 4wd,s shuddered to think about then 2 blokes would pick up the back end and move it if it was bogged

bulletproof

they just dont make em like that anymore
 

Ah yes - the mighty P510 - still have mine in the garage under an inch of dust, will bring her back to life one day....

Recall towing my mates 60's ski boat from Melbourne to Cobram and back again with it, wasn't until the following week that the diff blew up, and then I still managed to drive it for a month or so before she stopped moving, luckliy just out the front of home. She had a way of looking after me like that. I recall the fitting for the oil pressure gauge breaking, which meant litres of oil pumped out ontop the road and my rear tyres, again just a few meters up the road from home.

I'm sure all I need is new battery a couple of encouraging words and a twist of the key and she'll be off and going again.

Best thing about 1600's was that just about any part from any other Datsun just bolts straight on - bigger brakes? 240k struts calipers & 240Z finned alloy drums, bigger diff? R180 or 200 will go straight in? more power - 200b 2 litre with the 180b SSS head bolted on (along with the twin SU's). more gears? 5 speed from a Z car. Lowered? chop the fronts and drop in a set of 240k rear springs.

But I'm rambling.
 

nunthewiser said:
yawn.............. please provide financial statements to validate these claims


on a side note yes gov auctions and tender processes are often a great way to pick up a bargain
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yep vivid imagination indeed
 
My favourite car ever was an old friend's parents' Torana. I loved that thing. It looked like this, but was olive green with a white vinyl roof. So camp...

 

Damm, thats good buying!...is that from a dealer?

I would need to overcome my prejudice

Q: What is the dif between a Volvo and a porcupine
A: Porcupine has the pr!cks on the outside
 
awg said:
Damm, thats good buying!...is that from a dealer?

I would need to overcome my prejudice

Q: What is the dif between a Volvo and a porcupine
A: Porcupine has the pr!cks on the outside
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Yeah from a dealer - I'm sure that you could pretty easily pick one up for the same price privately. I reckon volvo buyers are generally so conservative that they'd never think about buying a used car, hence terrible re-sale.

I'm learning to love life as a pr!ck too so it's all roses!!! Now I understand why Kyle Sandilands practices so hard - not sure if he's got a volvo though...
 
Aussiest said:
My favourite car ever was an old friend's parents' Torana. I loved that thing. It looked like this, but was olive green with a white vinyl roof. So camp...

View attachment 32013
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I've always loved the Torana's - nearly bought an xu-1 years ago, also nearly got an rx3, a gtv v6, a genuine xb cobra (before they got expensive - damn!!). I've just realised I'm a bloody tyre kicker!!!
 
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