I have decided to sell my car. I only bought it last year in July, but have had numerous problems since I bought it. I put it down to the fact it's a second hand car. After the first second hand car I bought, I vowed never to buy another one. I should have listened to myself. I have spent at least $5,000 since I bought it, and it seems as if it's in the shop every month at some point or other. It just cost me another $1,500 on Tuesday. I'm fed up. Sadly, it has been a car I have lusted after for some years. I'll be sad to see it go, but I can't keep expending so much money on it.
So, the question is, what sort of new car do I buy? I don't want to spend more than $30,000 - $35,000 (because I'm about to be saddled with a mortgage), and my list of manufacturers is fast dwindling.
I won't buy a Ford, Holden, Suzuki, Kia, Hyundai, Daewoo, or Skoda. I don't like hatches (for reasons I don't quite know myself - if someone can convince me why they're better than sedans, I will consider them). Any car I get will have to be manual, and I like my gadgets. I would love for the car to come standard with auto lights, reverse parking sensors, and some sort of input for my mp3 player. However, if the car was cheap enough, I would pay for these to be added later if need be. I also hate 2 door cars, so it has to have at least 4. I refuse to buy a car whose seats I have to flip forward to access the back. Stupid, ridiculous concept.
This would seem to narrow the field to either the Mazda 3 SP23, or the Mitsubishi Lancer VRX. Unfortunately, Mazda have recently given their cars a face lift, so they now resemble something from a Disney Pixar film. I refuse to drive around in a cartoon car. Which just leaves the Lancer. But I'm not entirely sure I like it.
Are there any other cars I should be considering? My other requirement is that I usually buy blue cars. Bright blue cars, not dark blue cars. I just prefer this colour over all others. So if the car didn't come in a nice blue, I'd probably not consider buying it.
Any suggestions?
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26 comments:
I've had a Mitsubishe Lancer for 9 years - the only fault its had is that the FM receiver in the stereo crapped out after 2 years.
They are pretty cheap to run too.
Why a manual though? They are such a pain to drive in busy traffic. Although a manual is good for hill driving and overtaking on country roads. My Mitsubishi has the dual manual/auotmatic thing, so you can drive in either mode when you need it. Maybe you could look at one of those?
What are you driving at the moment?
As it is, as a car fan/rev head, couldn't wholeheartedly give someone a recommendation to buy a non-Evo Lancer, so your on your own there
Subaru.
They don't break down, EVAH. I last checked my oil and water in 1997.
Yeah I've heard good things about Subarus too. Honestly I wouldn't blow the money on a new car, I'd always go second hand. With second hand cars, always get a mechanic to look it over first, NRMA provide a service doing this but there are private companies doing it too. I used a mob called "car assess" last time I bought a car, and it was well worth the cost (around $200 I think).
Are they still making Trabants?
I agree on the Subaru front though I don't know how much they cost
Our car is a perfect Orinoco Blue and my toenails are the same colour! Obviously we should be hosting Top Gear
I don't know much about vehicles, but I do know that my old man bought a second hand Subaru station wagon that ran flawlessly for twenty years and thousand miles before the engine finally quit. No idea if they still make them like that any more though.
Thousands of miles
Over dirt roads, I should ad. Right, that's me done.
Pers, in her price range, thats a Impreza RS, and for a lack of a better turn of phrase, they are shite.
Perfectly pleasant, but, yeah... nah..
Old-old subaru's are fine, but the new ones aren't what they used to be...
As Subaru have been pushing up into the *prestige* market, the cheep and cheerful old subarus that just kept going and going and goin arent around anymore..
As it is, I think you got one of the last good ones, getting the older model Liberty Pers, the new ones a shocker!
I don't know much about cars but I do know this:
Jesus you're fussy, Puss.
Oh, I forgot - I'd rather walk than buy a Subaru.
But thanks for the advice on the Lancer, Kitten. That gives me some confidence.
BMX - I have an RX8.
Bob - You don't know the half of it.
Ahhh...
Yes yes, the Rotary can be a bit of a money pit..
Im looking at 350z's at the mo'
I think, after stepping out of an RX8, into a Lancer any less than a Ralliart or EVO, your going to be bitterly dissapointed...
And, also, I wouldn't put the fact that your RX8 has been unreliable to the fact it is 2nd hand...
More to the fact it is sports car with a rotor, and there a *tad* fragile..
Buying second hand doesn't automativcally equal bad...
I usually buy ex-demo's or very new used cars... still get the lions share of factory warranty plus some other sucker takes the first depreciation hit...
My only suggestion is don't buy a white car. My car's white & looks dirty five minutes after I wash it.
Or, that could be because I never wash it properly?
I know they can be fragile, but I do treat it properly. I regularly check the oil and burn the excess carbon out of the engine before I stop it, etc etc. The damn thing just keeps having expensive issues. And I would put it down to it being second hand. Every car I've had second hand has been a money pit. Every car I've bought new has been fine. Peasant logic it may be, but it works for me.
As for stepping out of the RX8 into a non-sports car, I don't think it will be that difficult. They're all bark and no bite. They have absolutely no torque whatsoever. The only good thing about them is their handling. So I think going to a straight Lancer would actually be an improvement.
Now, if it was an RX7, that would be a much different story!
EMS - Totally agree with you. Plus, white cars look too much like fleet vehicles to me.
Honda Accord?
VW Jetta or Golf?
Try the Golf for the best chance of being converted to a hatch owner.
Puss, do you drive the RX8 around corners quickly?
If so, you will despise the Lancer...
Yes, I know the RX8 has no torque, and all its HP is sky high (8000-9000rpm), but damn, they handle.
A Lancer VRX, not so.
I do, rather. However, I also used to drive around corners quickly in my Mazda 3 SP23, and it was still fun.
I wouldn't consider buying the Ralliart, because it's a poor man's Evo (and I wouldn't buy an Evo for the aforementioned Subaru-dislike), and I think the VRX is the highest Lancer.
Bruce, but why would I be converted to a hatch owner? What's so great about them? I just find them ugly.
The SP23 was a damn good thing... A much better tuned chassis than the FWD Lancers
Its too bad you don't like the new 3, the SP25 or the MPS are reaaaal nice(albeit, the MPS is a hatch).
9/10 I would buy the hatch over the sedan equivalent (Think Ford Focus or Mondeo hatch vs Sedan, Volkswagen Golf vs Jetta, etc)
And for me, its a case of in the smaller cars, the hatch is usually the sports model (Focus XR5, Golf GTi)
Sounds like your after a bit of a beast machine, but I'll share my mechanics advice with you nonetheless:
"Get a Camry, or a Honda."
But I only need a family car that isn't a complete slouch, so an automatic V6 is plenty. Plus Camrys tend to be tough. I can drag a boat trailer up a rough dirt track and back without the Camry barely hissing. A Falcon or Commodore wouldn't even make it half way there.
Camrys are fine if your buying your car to match your washing machine and fridge... ie: Whitegoods shopping.
Camrys have this aura of being nice and reliable... but trust me, we have a Toyota dealership in my work, as well as a Holden dealership... and I hate Holdens, but I would rather have a Commonwhore than a bloody Camry/Aurion(Camry with a v6 and different nose/tail)...
My partner has an MPS, and I hate it. I feel like I need a new spine every time I get out of it. And yes, it's a damn shame Mazda ruined the look of the 3s. They were nice cars.
I thought about the Aurion, but only because I like the blue it comes in.
So is that it? Because they're the sport version? I just don't see the point of them, is all. They're usually so much uglier. And the dealers charge you a fortune if you want the 2 extra doors. I had to pay $2,000 more for my 2 extra doors way back when I bought my little Toyota Echo (I was 20).
Get a Honda Civic Sedan. They never die and they're not too bad on the eye nowadays.
Skoda? naah.
Ahh yes, but, in the case of the VW Golf GTi, I would go the 3 door, not the 5 door...
I don't have the same issue with folding a seat forward as your good self..
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