Car people I need your help...
 

Hi folks,

Just spent the last wee while trailing through searchs on here for cars along with carsales.com and Bix's reccomendation of the redbook and I think I am more confused than ever:blink:

I need your help with recommendations. We need another car but don't have a lot of dosh to spend on it probably up to about $15K (although that's stretching it). Our current car is a Mitsubishi Parjero which has reached over the 300K mark! We don't do 4WD but do go camping.

Can anyone advise me what's the best buy for a family of 4 (plus dog) that go away for weekends (when we get the chance).

Any help appreciated

Cheers

Ginny :thumbsup:

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

Toyota Hiace Camper Van? Discoverer Conversion

Rear seat has seat belts so can legally carry 4 people (5 if you count the little seat between driver and front passenger). Then folds down to make a bed at weekends..

Mine's done 310K and is only just run in....

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

I really like my Hyundai Santa Fe. It's not huge but it has enough room in the back if we want to go away for the weekend.

Our is a 2003 or 2004 (can't remember) and when we bought it was $18,500 and had only 100,000 kms. So you could probably get a pretty decent one for around $15,000. Oh, and it's all wheel drive. So it'd be good for camping, but wouldn't handle driving on the sandy beaches.

If you ever want to check it out or give it a quick drive let me know.

We bought it off the Keema car dealership, there's one in Cleveland just down from the Sizzler on Finucane road. They've been excellent to deal with.

I had a quick look just to give you an idea. I found a couple between $12,000 and $16,000 and they had less than 130,000 kms and were around the year 2000 or 2001. I tried to post the links but it didn't work.

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

I'm guessing that you're not wanting to replace the current 4wd with another, so perhaps you're after a bigger family car with room for the dog.

Maybe have a look at some wagons (estates), some might disagree but japanese preferably. You'd get a decent Mitsubishi Magna for 15k, also a slightly older Toyota Camry, both are sizable cars with 3 or 3.5 litre engines. Something smaller might be a Toyota Corrolla or Mitsubishi Lancer wagon; 1.6 or 2 litre engine.

Something a bit more exotic; perhaps an old Merc estate (124 series) built like the proverbial, or a V70 Volvo. Both have the advantage of coming with an additional row of drop down seats in the boot, making them 7 seaters. I owned an old merc in the uk and the running costs were the lowest of any car I've ever owned, can't vouched for the same applying here though.

The good thing about the estate is that they generally have roof rails for taking the extra camping gear when required.

If you still require 4wd, perhaps a Subaru liberty or Forester. Both estate type cars but with all wheel drive. Probably more practical than the all wheel drive Mazda Tribute etc.

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

Thanks Haley :thumbsup:



Thanks for taking the time to look.

Really appreciate the help.

Cheers

Ginny

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

Thinking laterally, how about any old station wagon with a dog screen and $1000 on a trailer for those camping trips if you don't want another 4x4?

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

It's an idea. I would love another 4x4 but they're pretty expensive and we don't use it to it's fullest potential. I had thought about a wagon and trailer. The dogs not too much of a problem so that may pay for the trailer.

Cheers

Ginny

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

There's always roof racks too. I'm not a big fan of trailers myself but my husband can manage one just fine.

What are you doing with your old vehicle? If you're keeping it you could use that for camping trips.

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

Hi,

That's the plan (hopefully) but it's getting on a bit. Where did you spot the cars you mentioned. Had a look online at Keema but didn't seem to have any. I saw a Kia Carnival with 117K on the clock for around 12K which is in keeping with the Redbook. Obviously I'd like some less K's but beggers can't be choosers as they say.

Cheers


Ginny

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

This is where I had a look:

http://www.carsales.com.au/

I think I just searched for post code 4160 and then a 25km radius. That way I wasn't flooded with stuff that was too far away. I only looked for dealer cars too. But you can pick different settings for more results.

You could also check here for more private sales:

http://www.tradingpost.com.au/

If you haven't seen a Sante Fe much I'll be bringing ours on Saturday. You could also go for a Honda CRV, the older versions even have a small camping table that's packed into the cargo area. There's a few other brands that we looked at as well, I'm sure the names will come to me eventually.

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

wots the pajero and how much?:thumbsup:

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

hi stich i haver been meening to get back to you sorry , i know i a private care dealer in thornlands who could help you out with a motor give me a shout back and will try and get you to speak to this guy he has helped me and i recomend him lee

Re: Car people I need your help...
 

Thanks Lee....

Cheers

Ginny