Mandy Bale

Didn't buy it for the speed, I like my lisence! But has plenty of low down torque to beat the speed freaks onto the roundabouts (which is what you need anything with less power is just dangerous) and believe me I've driven several underpowered tanks in my time and this car certainly out does them!! I wouldn't say I was a dead head driver, not like most!! Yes it is a practical family car which is what I need as we happen to have a family, but it certainly isn't a piece of crap, but then it is the Berlina which has all the bells and whistles, must admit the Executive is very basic and probably could be classed as a peice of crap! besides, how many cars can you fit a 3 seater sofa in??
If I want some excitement I'll take out my husbands nissan skyline GTST (185kw).

Someone mention carparks, I always park in spaces which are furthest away from the shops and has no cars either side, or on an end space, as i have found people tend to not worry about opening their doors onto your car! My husband had a good one at Maquarie University when he was working there. He was sitting in his car at the time and this girl parked next to him, opened her door and banged it right against his beloved car, when my husband confronted her about it she just said 'whats your problem' to say he was fuming is an understatement, luckily there was no damage (to his car or her) but how disrespectful!! Still you get them everywhere I suppose.

Mandy

BritboyNZ

NZ is the same if not worse - horrendous standard of driving.

The biggest culprits are asian drivers - I have lost count of the number of smashes i've seen in auckland caused by asians. regularly see them running red lights, harrassing pedestrians crossing the road (traffic has to give way to any peds crossing esp when you are turning left/right) if you take a moment longer to cross the road it's not uncommon to hear engines revving/cars edging forward. We still have the stupid 'give way' rule as well - if you are at a set of lights, and are indicating to turn left, if someone coming the other way Also wants to turn left (ie their right) you must stop and give way to them. Causes no end of pile ups...usually with tourists not familiar with the rules. Govt. thinking about getting rid of it, thank god.

Havent seen any cases of 'parking rage' - probably cos Auckland city council parking wardens are so efficient at issuing tickets and towing cars, no one dares leave their car anywhere. Britboys tip for migrants to NZ - if youre thinking of setting up a business - start up a tow company. V low startup costs - all u need is a manky yard in the middle of nowhere, to make it v difficult for people to find & collect their cars, bit of security fencing/a couple of rottweilers, 1 tow truck. Grizzly lesbian in the office trained to accept cash, cash or cash. Sit back & wait for the money to roll in ($140-150 per car).

russ

Rosy

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dotty
The roads are a piece of cake compared to getting a park in a shopping centre.

Oh dotty, you are spot on, I`m afraid. On a recent trip to a Shopping Mall, I was waiting for someone to reverse out of their space (park was heaving, no spare spaces), when a woman came up to my car window and, very friendly-mannered, asked if I could move forward so she could get her car out of her spot - so I duly obliged. Silly Cow then appeared behind me in her Ute and promptly "stole" the parking space I had been patiently waiting for....

pommie bastard

Sorry I think that Holdens are built at a price and they are neither good on fuel or performance and general build is third rate.
The engines are old Yank designs that they could not sell anymore in America , the new Gen 111 V8 is built in Canada ( another out dated Yank job) and the worse examples get exported to Australia , loads of trouble with them right now.
Must admit the Nissan Skyline a a rather good model well worth buying , for a family people movers are a better buy they hold their price and are bigger inside.

Mandy Bale

Well I'm happy with the 'crapadore', now isn't that all that matters! ours has the extra seats in the back which is handy, although you can't sit adults in the back but its great for getting the kids out of reach! just need the perspex across the middle so we can't hear them!! To be honest I wouldn't want to spend heaps on a car with a 6 and 7 year old to trash it, I've only just got it clean from our trip to Thredbo last week, which we did on one tank of fuel, there and back.

by the way, hubby says thanks for the comment on the Skyline R33!

anyway can't please everyone

Mandy

pommie bastard

Good input and given the tank size on a 'crapadore' I would not want to fill it that often but good luck.

Mandy Bale

yeah I know what you mean, costs about $45-$50 to fill up (dependant on what day!!), which I do about every couple of weeks, and I'm not your average 'drive to the shops and back' Mum, I go places!

by the way, as you are wise to the ways of Aus, would you recommend that we fit long range lights to the front bar if we are going touring? The full beam seems quite good but Hubby wants to fit long range lights for the outback part of our trip, do you think it is worth it? (really I think it is his excuse to get the SS front bar for it as that has the holes in the right place for the extra lights, he doesn't like the idea of fitting them to the grill!!). Also do you think we will really need a bull bar. I'm not keen on the horrible things as I'm paranoid about killing a person with it but hubby seems to think it would save the front of the car if we happen to hit a kangaroo on our travels. Hoping we won't but s**t happens I guess!

Mandy

pommie bastard

Well on that you do less in a week than myself you would be lucky to get 12 litres per 100km in a secondhand crapadore just on short runs.
The car will increase fuel use as the injectors age and cover in carbon , so god knows what you getting now .
Given fuel is about $1 a litre you would go around 400 Km a fortnight thats less than I travel to work and run around in a week.



With new models of the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore on the market, large car sales figures were up 7.2 per cent for November, while sales for thirsty 4-wheel-drive vehicles remain similarly strong.

So what is it about Australians and their love for the gas guzzler?


The sparks started flying when Holden's chairman and managing director Peter Hanenberger described the fuel consumption of Ford's new and much heralded BA Falcon, 11.5 litres every 100 kilometres in city running, as "inexcusable".

The reason, Ford admits, for the vehicle's less than desirable fuel consumption is, to put it delicately, because the car is a little bit overweight, the result of increased safety and performance features.

Mandy Bale

PB Quote: Well on that you do less in a week than myself you would be lucky to get 12 litres per 100km in a secondhand crapadore just on short runs.
The car will increase fuel use as the injectors age and cover in carbon , so god knows what you getting now .
Given fuel is about $1 a litre you would go around 400 Km a fortnight thats less than I travel to work and run around in a week.



Yep I agree its less than someone would do travelling to work but then I don't work, but I do more k's than the average 'Mum' would do. Prices vary around here between 82.9 (filled up for that last night) and 98.9. And I agree with you that the consumption is getting worse over time (its a 2000 model). The injectors will need cleaning at the next service as its gone from 12L/100k to 13.5L/100k, but when I did the trip to Thredbo it went back down to 12L/100k. And it was showing 750k to empty when i filled up. Not sure how acurate the trip computer is but don't rely on it that much as I'm sure you wouldn't get that much to a tank. But I would guess that it is more economical than the big 4X4's. I suppose I could go out and get a cheap small car thats economical and cheap to run but I feel safer driving here in a bigger car than I would in a little Barina. I wouldn't like to imagine what a barina would look like compared to a commodore if we were unlucky enough to fall victim to a crash. We thought the same back in England too, my husband was so paranoid about mine and the kids safety that he bought us a Volvo V70 2.5T to chug about in, now there was a car that was a rip off, but i suppose you get what you pay for.

By the way, what car would you recommend for a family to 'chug' about in here anyway? Are there any here that are of good value and worth a look?

Mandy

pommie bastard

My choice if I had a small family would be a secondhand Toyota Tarago , loads of room and would able to fit the kids in and their Mates no problem .
This car is proved and very well made and could be used to carry a big load , great for camping there are lots around and they have had to price them better because of all the new cheaper people movers now on the market , they drive well and you will be in demand as a family taxi with your friends.


This is the hard sell bit over kill but makes the point.

Third generation Tarago has been designed to fulfill every expectation of the modern Australian family. While its styling is uniquely aerodynamic and passenger car-like, Tarago remains the epitome of what a people mover should be.
It seats up to eight adults in safety and comfort. The sophisticated 4-cylinder, 2.4 litre intelligent Variable Valve Timing (VVTi) engine provides performance to spare without sacrifice on fuel economy.


Tarago's 2.4 litre, in line, 4 cylinder, VVTi petrol engine generates 115kW of power at 5600 rpm, and 221Nm of torque at 4000 rpm. This impressive performance, together with low pollution output and high fuel efficiency, is largely due to the technology of Tarago's VVTi engine.

VVTi allows continual variations of the intake valve timing, creating optimal output for the engine's operating conditions. In everyday terms, this means the Tarago offers you the power of a V6, with the smoothness and fuel efficiency of a standard four.


Tarago's 2.4 litre, in line, 4 cylinder, VVTi petrol engine generates 115kW of power at 5600 rpm, and 221Nm of torque at 4000 rpm. This impressive performance, together with low pollution output and high fuel efficiency, is largely due to the technology of Tarago's VVTi engine.

VVTi allows continual variations of the intake valve timing, creating optimal output for the engine's operating conditions. In everyday terms, this means the Tarago offers you the power of a V6, with the smoothness and fuel efficiency of a standard four.





http://www.tarago.toyota.com.au/Tara...ge/0,,,00.html

Mandy Bale

Thanks for that PB. I must admit the Toyotas are looking more appealing. Back in UK we were big Vauxhall fans and when we moved here, having no idea what to expect apart from what we had surveyed on the web, hubby was keen to give the commodore a go (better the devil you know than the devil you don't - sort of).

Anyway, yes I do like the commodore, it is comfortable and easy to keep clean and easy to drive even though it is 5m long, cheap to insure, and would be heavy enough and torquie enough to tow a light horse float eventually (here's hoping but might have to ditch that idea), BUT I admit we have since found that it isn't that economical although it is better than some and towing a horse float probably wouldn't do it any good either. Looking at the Tarago's statistics it would probably lack a bit of power for towing although it weighs the same, and after comparing prices the commodore comes out $20,000 cheaper so it all boils down to you get what you pay for I suppose. We paid heaps for our Volvo V70 back in England, but it was fantastic for towing the horse trailer and coped with it no problems but out here we would have to take out a small mortgage to afford a Volvo again!!

Mandy

pommie bastard

Most second hand crapadores are company,state or rep cars that have been abused shows in how quick the price falls but Toyota hold their price due to build and name.
Resale counts in cars and if you need a good tow car try the RAV4 good fun car for the areas most like to go to and not to bad on fuel , good street cred for the lady about town too.

Mandy Bale

Yeah ours was an ex Telstra executives car but hadn't been badly treated and had fairly low milage for the age. funnily enough the Telstra lady that had it as her company car had the same name as me and when I first took it back for a service all the holden blokes were falling over backwards to help me out, it was really funny. They've since found out I'm not the Telstra woman and try it on a bit but I don't let them get away with anything!! I wouldn't have touched a commodore executive model as I know these are your every day work horses, ours is a Berlina so you know its not been thrown around by some idiot. I'm not really keen on the RAV4, they seem a bit 'tacky' inside, a lot of the mums around here have these or some other 4x4 even though they just run to the shops or school and back!

anyway, thanks for your imput, we will stick with our 'crapadore' for a few years I think, unless my hubby gets other ideas! At the moment he is thinking of trading in the Skyline for an old Jag XJS, is this going to be a tempary whim or is it his age showing, who knows!!

Mandy

pommie bastard

Well I tried all tastes differ my wife could not cope with a crapadore , parking would freak her out .
Looking at the roads the Australia driver is changing his/her tastes , the two car country is opening up to overseas models and smaller cars are more common.
I also have dreams about a Jag an old E type would do , once you past 40 your youth catches up with you , the dreamers are right I am a sad old bugger.

Slippers

Like Inspector Morse? Are you picturing downing bitter, listening to classical music, living in Oxford, solving crimes - "The Case of the Missing Brickie?"

Cheers old chap - your posts give me many laughs I must say.

Slippers