chatty34

We have spent nearly every day this week walking along the Gympie Rd, North of Brisbane looking at Car Yards, we need to buy 2 cars and we really dont want to spend much more than 10k on each of them although this seems pretty impossible and I fear that we are going to have to spend at least 15k each to get something half decent.

We dont need anything grand although one decent sized car for trips and a dog would come in handy. I have seen a corsa that seemed a good deal but I am worried that I will feel intimidated on the road in such a small car here.

I have a short list here of a few that we have seen and would really appreciate any feedback that anyone has, my husband and I know nothing about cars and have always had a mechanic in the family which we are really missing at the moment.

Mercedes A140
Ford Fairlane
Landrover Freelander
Honda Grandevro

If anyone can suggest any small or medium reliable cars that wont cost the earth to maintain we would be very grateful.

Sharon

chris_de

The Ford is locally made and depending on the age and condition, in theory you will get good value compared with foreign cars that have (in theory) a higher new sale value and subsequent high resale value... such as a Mercedes.

A Holden Commodor is also locally made and competes directly with the Ford Fairlane. These are both your long-distance cars.. good for a lot of passengers and luggage.

Asian models will often have the advantage of being good value, they are easier to ship to Australia and you can get a lot for your cash in an Asian car. In the past there have been questions about the quality however newer models really stand up to the European models on quality and durability.

With the Landrover, it uses a lot more petrol however for off-road ventures it is well-suited. On the otherhand, many people have land-rovers because the driver is higher up and can see over the traffic better. For long distance trips in the country you are also better protected against obstacles at night like wallabies and kangaroos as the cars a more sturdy.

The A-Class is comfortable and efficient though may be a bit small for your 'long-distance' car and too expensive for your small car.

ROBnCAZ

Shazza,

Firstly, DONT buy a Freelander.....pile of poop in my opinion! Had one as a company car few years ago and hated it! Underpowered, unreliable, plasticky, tacky and arse off road!!

If I were in your shoes, I would go for something Japanese, especially if reliability is important.

Surely, (although I dont actually KNOW this), anything European, ie, the Mercedes, will cost you more in Oz?? Good car though the A class..........

Good luck anyways and soz I cant help more. Sure others will be able to!

Bordy

How about a little Toyota Echo as a runaround, small cars are becoming more popular as petrol prices stay high, and maybe a 5 door Toyota Rav 4.

Tableland

If you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning because you keep tripping over all your piles of money, then get what you want. If not, then go with Ford or maybe something Japanese. Don't just think purchase price. Think about the cost when looking for parts. Parts for Fords are not only cheap, but they are everywhere. It's what I'd do.

Unless of course I tripped over piles of money every morning, then I might be a bit more exuberant with my choice.

jad n rich

A $10,000 mercedes here is going to be a very expensive animal to maintain :scared: have you looked at parts and servicing on euro cars here especially old ones that a 10 grand model would have to be.

Fairlane and Freelander would chew petrol like crazy, how many k's a week will you do here, we do 6X what we did in UK.

You are much better off buying a smaller car thats newer, for 15 grand you could get a newish small car with a warranty. Toyota and Honda seem most reliable.

markeh

Could alway's go for a Fiesta or what ever it's called in Oz.
(wife loved it here in UK)

Ford or Holden sound like the best bet for a family car - wagon

Bye
Mark

chatty34

Thanks so much for the replies, its good to be told about the Freelander as I was hankering after it.
You have all given me food for thought, and I have now narrowed it down to an Asian or Ford/Holden car at least rather than a European car.
If anyone is driving along the Gympie Rd today and spots 2 pale looking people covered in mossy bites scratching their heads and bodies and looking a tad confused

Amazulu

Avoid the American manufacturers, Holden & Ford. Go for a Japanese manufacturer. My choice would be a Toyota, Mazda, Honda or Nissan. Japanese cars are much more reliable than American cars.

chris_de

Amazulu, in Australia Holden and Ford are actually considered local brands. Ok, they are not locally owned but they build the fairlane and commodor (or whatever it is now) locally.. as they have been doing for years and they are the top selling family cars. Service and spare parts are good too, as you would expect from a locally made car.

For asian cars you often get a lot for your money compared with European cars and recent models are ever more convincing regarding safety and reliability which were the main reasons to avoid them in the past.

cam_uk

can you seriously not get anything for 10k :scared:

I was hoping to be able to pick up a run around for about 7/8k ... nothing fancy ... just something reliable and safe for me and the family

chatty34

Nope, we thought originally that we would be able to pick a up a car each for about 6k but cant find anything half decent for that, not where we are anyway. We sold an M reg laguna and an L reg 205 before we came here and would have been happy to buy similar here but no chance. Second hand cars are expensive here, it makes you wonder if you should just buy new for a few more thousand, although its something I said that I would never do again because of the price dropping so quickly but that clearly isn't the case here.

cam_uk

Nightmare, we are coming over with limited funds and wanted to keep as much of it for a deposit on a house (although we're not planning on buying for 12 months) ..

Looks like we'll have to spend a little more on a car and keep a little less towards our deposit for a house

movetoperth

With the budget you have you will be looking at an older car so one bit of advice i'd give is to have it inspected. We recently bought a second car which is 12 years old, we new exactly what we wanted and what to look out for problem wise etc, but boy was it still an experience.

I don't know about over East but in WA the smaller car yards who stock the cheaper cars don;t tend to do anything to the car before they sell it on, some offer a warranty, but this is fairly worthless really. I had 4 cars inspected and the forst 3 were unbelievable, one had been pretty wrecked in a crash, the other 2 were dangerous, luckily in the end i found a really good one 4th time round and got what i think was a pretty good deal. Know what you want, what it should cost you and potential problems to look out for, also handy to know when the major service is due as you'll often find people trade them in when the big service is due.

As someone who is newly arrived you will be easy meat for car salesmen so be prepared.

Incidentally, if you are looking for something with space i can recommend a Magna Wagon, we've had our one for 2 years now with no problems.

Cheers
Lynn

chatty34

DITTO
And scarey spending money when nothing is coming in :scared: