thinking of getting a new car

[Dyno]

I have a diesel landcruiser at the moment but it needs new piston rings and I'm debating whether or not to trade it in for another car instead of fixing it. It is expensive at the bowser and huge on the road. I don't go offroad anymore so I was thinking I should get something more appropriate for the kind of driving that I do now.

I was thinking of the sedans around at the moment. Im 6"6 so small cars, even with adjustable seats, are just too small. I was think of Commodores, Falcons, Avalons/Aurions, Magnas/380s. Also don't really want to spend more than 20k.

Try to avoid Ford vs Holden kinda replies.

so whaddya reckon?????????

help me PSB

[Taylor]

Subaru Liberty.

[Miss Behave]

Don't. Stick to bikes

[#30]

you will get more value for money buying a ford instead of holden. you will most likely have slightly more issues with your ford though but you can buy a fairmont(as an example) for the same price as a berlina commonwhore. i looked around 6 months ago and decided on a ford because for what i wanted i got a hell of alot more value for money buying one. or stick to your jap cars which will last forever did i confuse you?

[Dyno]

ah i forgot about subaru. im just concerned the jap sedans may not be big enough. i havent actually driven a jap sedan only commodores and falcons

id love to get another bike but sometimes i just need a car.

i might look at buying something brand new on second thoughts.
#30 you are right on the value for money. just looking at the new cars on the holden and ford websites and the base model commodore doesnt come with aircon. how weak is that?

[Taylor]

My old man's 2.5 lt Gen 2 Liberty RX AWD of course, runs better than any Australian built equivalent. I couldn't reccomend it more, they come in a B4 turbo model but even without forced induction the liberty pulls really well. You won't feel like you're missing the power of a larger engine. It handles like it's on rail tracks, something I hadn't experienced from my LX Impreza, I thought that little drift was normal at speed around corners, oh no, this liberty made me feel like it would tear around corners with magneticly fixed, constant power output, at all four wheels. Never for a second did it feel like it was out of control.

A beautiful machine.

[Scoundrel]

I have a diesel landcruiser at the moment but it needs new piston rings and I'm debating whether or not to trade it in for another car instead of fixing it. It is expensive at the bowser and huge on the road. I don't go offroad anymore so I was thinking I should get something more appropriate for the kind of driving that I do now.

I was thinking of the sedans around at the moment. Im 6"6 so small cars, even with adjustable seats, are just too small. I was think of Commodores, Falcons, Avalons/Aurions, Magnas/380s. Also don't really want to spend more than 20k.

Try to avoid Ford vs Holden kinda replies.

so whaddya reckon?????????

help me PSB[/b]

The Subaru Liberty is an excellent car but you would be struggling to get a late model with low ks for under 20 grand.

Go check out the Govt fleet auctions in Bentley on Wednesdays - heaps of ex Govt fleet BA Falcons and VY/VZ Commodores going cheap there, usually all still under warranty and with 50-70,000 klm on them. I bought my BA Falcon from there for $14,800 with only 77K on the clock, and that was last year and it still had 18 months warranty. Forget going to a dealer.

[Taylor]

Dad's car has done only 89,000k's. Takes the train to work, car for holidays.
They do exist.

Go the ex-fleet auctions.

[#30]

#30 you are right on the value for money. just looking at the new cars on the holden and ford websites and the base model commodore doesnt come with aircon. how weak is that?[/b]

thats why i bought a TYPHOON for $50000 instead of a R8 or whatever in holdens range. the ford has more gadgets and bang for your buck. and mine kicks any HSV,S ASS!

[mattski0_0]

My dads current lease vehicle is an avalon, fully specced, I don't expect that to go for more than 20k, that would be an extreme upper limit.

They are a very nice car, it's discontinued now. I am 6'3" and don't have to have the seat all the way back to be comfortable. It's a very nice car, economical yet enough power to manage most situations (towed a 33' fg boat to hamelin bay near Augusta and back and only used abuot 70l of fuel).

Anyway, i would vote for it.

[MuNch]

And BASE landcruiser doesnt come with ANYTHING.

Did you want a sedan, or would you still like to stick with something with offroad ability.
Some nice trucks can be picked up for under $20K.
Some SWB's, some dual cabs etc would be nice.

[Dyno]

I'm really looking at sedans. I like the idea of off-road but I just never actually do it anymore. I've been driving it for 10 years now and I know how practical it isn't. Also I just want an upgrade. The car is 16years old. The diesel is noisy and arthritic.

[Glenn]

Considering you already own a Toyota and mentioned the new Aurion, test drive it... yeah, it's a front wheel drive V6, but you may be very surprised. It doesn't have the lag the commodores and falcons have, if speed/grunt is what you're after. Only thing is if you want a manual transmission, forget it, not an option.

Wait a few more months and you'll be able to consider the turbo version, but still front wheel drive I believe.... hmmmmm... that will be interesting.

One interesting feature of the new Aurion (not sure if Holdens/Fords do) is the stereo volume automatically increases with speed of the vehicle. Wierd at first, but very cool, more noticeable when slowing down at sets of lights.

[Falcore]

what sort of year are you chasing? xr8's are now close to that price range. i am just in the process of research for a twin turbo or supercharge, should be fun

[Barfrangipani]

Considering you already own a Toyota and mentioned the new Aurion, test drive it... yeah, it's a front wheel drive V6, but you may be very surprised. It doesn't have the lag the commodores and falcons have, if speed/grunt is what you're after. Only thing is if you want a manual transmission, forget it, not an option.

Wait a few more months and you'll be able to consider the turbo version, but still front wheel drive I believe.... hmmmmm... that will be interesting.

One interesting feature of the new Aurion (not sure if Holdens/Fords do) is the stereo volume automatically increases with speed of the vehicle. Wierd at first, but very cool, more noticeable when slowing down at sets of lights.[/b]

It will be supercharged, and like Mitsubishis attempts at a performance car, will be heavily watered down because of FWD's lack of ability to handle horsepower. Stocko they produce 200kW, the supercharger will only increase that to 240kW, even then I bet it torque steers like a bitch. And I bet there won't even be a LSD, let alone a nice 4WD setup.

In summary, Toyota can and do make great performance cars. We just haven't seen any of them in Oz for about 15 years, not since the celica GT4 groupA.

[thro]

Now don't laugh - but considered a Prius?

A mate of mine has one, he's 6'4 ish. Really nice inside, *heaps* and heaps of space with the tailgate/fold down seats, quiet, go about as well as a v6 commodore and good on fuel.

It all depends on what you want the car *for* of course, but if it's just a "get from a to b" type thing, i'd suggest at least checking one out.

If you don't like that idea, you won't go wrong with a Liberty...


Just noticed your "20k" budget. Might find it hard picking up a prius for that, but you'll definitely be able to get a liberty of *some* description (perhaps an older one tho). A mate has an older 2.2L front wheel drive one - it's done well over 250,000km now, and basically all it has had in terms of maintenance is oil/filter and timing belt as required.

Compression is still excellent, oil is still clean, economy is still great, etc....

[Juffy]

Subaru Liberty.[/b]

How do the Libbos go for legroom? I know I wouldn't want to be any taller than I am (6'4") driving my Impreza.

[Aphex]

SUBARU FTMFW!!!!!!!!

Impreza/Forester are based on the same platform and and 6'2 I wouldnt want to be much taller.

Liberty/Outback again share the same platform but they are actually quite roomy. Too roomy for me to have the seat all the way back infact so taller peoples shouldnt have too much of an issue.

Now that the govt has a buy back scheme in place with Subaru Aust, there are sure to be some reasonably priced MY04/05 Libertys just around the corner. 2.5 is the go for sure but the second gen 2l is ok.

At 20k you might be hard pressed for an MY04/05 an MY01/02 RX 2.5 with reasonable K's is not to be sneazed at either. Subaru's hold their value and they're almost bullet proof. Im on scooby number 5 now. Would never buy another brand again. Unless of course I win lotto. (*COUGH*Bugatti Veyron*COUGH*bullshit*cough*) My last Forester had 150k of HARD driving on it and not a thing wrong with it when i sold it. The Liberty I had before that and sold to a friend now has 295k and is still going strong. Recently did the trip across oz twice. No majour repairs ever been required and the donk is showing no signs of being tired.

Subaru etc etc etc....

</subaru fanboy rant>

[thro]

Also worth noting is that in terms of resale value, a liberty will shit on commodore/falcon/mitsubishi in a big way.

And, not to sound like a microsoft marketing droid - the hit you take on resale is a fairly huge chunk of the total cost of ownership, particularly if buying new-ish... plus, they just feel really nicely built

edit:
re: aphex - i wouldn&#39;t write off teh *older* libertys either. the one my mate has (i mentioned above) is a mid 90s model (before they went awd only) and as you say, it has never had any "issues". I just remembered he has replaced the clutch in it... but they&#39;re a consumable, and it&#39;s not like he drives it sedately.... front wheel drive burnouts on a regular basis, etc

[Aphex]

Oh dont worry thro... Im well aware of the older liberty&#39;s. A friend of mine had a first gen liberty which copped a hiding. fwd only model 2.2l. Although we may have tried to kill it we didnt do a very good job. My last Liberty was an MY95 GX Ralley. Thats the one I sold to a friend. Was a very entertaining drive on the gravel. The road between Dwellingup and Collie holds some very nice memories of that car Last scooby was an MY01 Forester which for the life of me i couldnt kill even though at times Im sure it thought it was a landcruiser. Although I do like the MY06 Forester sitting in the driveway now much better

As for resale you&#39;re spot on.