Cars: Keep or Renew?

[damoocow]

Electronic's don't wear out, moving parts wear out.

The modern cars are no longer repaired, they just remove and replace parts that are broken (sometimes they only *think* its broken). Thats one reason repairs can be more expensive, as you are less likely to find the part at Repco. plus modern cars do have more bits, like safety, and environmental thingys.

Its not totally a silly idea to buy a BA/BF Falcon or VY Comm because being so many of them, parts are plentiful and thus cheaper than a lot of other cars.




Do mount your iPhone 7 on the dashboard or the windscreen?

Wouldn't know what one looks like - my phone cost $10 from K Mart

[markTHEblake]

well electric motors are moving parts

try Ebay,
I replaced a part that Mitsubishi said would cost $2600 for about $200
local mechanic charged me $50 for labour, 30 mins is their minimum fee apparently.

[Daves]

well electric motors are moving parts

try Ebay,
I replaced a part that Mitsubishi said would cost $2600 for about $200
local mechanic charged me $50 for labour, 30 mins is their minimum fee apparently.

There is one little problem, the part is electronically coded (so it can talk to the car ECU). And Mercedes won't/can't give you the specific code, unless you buy the part from them. I am currently exploring whether the part can be refurbished and reset.

[PeteyD]

Hey Damoo,

This might be something for you. If you win you might be able to get another 200000 k out of the old girl.

http://www.triplem.com.au/brisbane/w...-out-car-show/

[damoocow]

Thanks Pete, will look into it

[Grunt]

Next car for work ordered, had to upgrade from the Golf TDI to the Passat TDI, do I still need a cardigan to drive a Passat?

[markTHEblake]

Are you Steve Jobs?

[Johnny Canuck]

Are you Steve Jobs?

I believe he is known in the industry as Change Jobs.

[Sydney Hacker]

I believe he is known in the industry as Change Jobs.

Boom!

[Captain Nemo]

Next car for work ordered, had to upgrade from the Golf TDI to the Passat TDI, do I still need a cardigan to drive a Passat?

That's a bloody good upgrade if you ask me!

[Dcanto]

That's a bloody good upgrade if you ask me!

I agree. I had a Passat wagon before changing over to a dual cab ute and it was once of the best vehicles I have owned.

[Progolfgear]

Thought I should check back in for the benefit of anyone else in the market for a dual cab.

I ended up buying the Mitsubishi Triton Exceed, have owned it for about 5-6 weeks now and done about 2,500km.

The biggest selling point up front was the price, now keep in mind I was looking at the top spec across the board, so my only real considerations were: Triton Exceed, BT50 GT, Navara STX, Amarok Ultimate and Ranger Wildtrak, I didn't bother with the Isuzu or any of the lesser known budget alternatives. Upon looking at them in person and comparing price, I found it pretty easy to narrow it down to 3 options, Triton (New), Navara (New) or Amarok (Used), I couldn't justify the price on the Ranger or BT50 - To consider these, towing would have to be very high on your priority list.

After negotiations, my driveaway pricing for the three contenders - All Automatic, with towbar:
Triton Exceed $45,000
Navara STX 4WD $49,000
Amarok Ultimate (Used, about 30,000kms) $44,000

I won't bother too much with why I didn't chose either of the other two, but rather will focus on why I bought the Triton.
5 years warranty
Best value for money
Very good claimed fuel consumption
Smallest (not by much) with a great turning circle (comparatively)
Feels the most nimble, I did read somewhere it has the quickest 0-100kph time of the competition and it certainly feels the quickest (without a load of course)
Selectable 4WD with open center diff (I always worried about my wife taking it down a loose road in 4WD then forgetting to turn back to 2wd, which obviously isn't a problem in this)
Proper Isofix child seat restraints - Can you believe in 2016 the Navara uses a flimsy little tether for the child seat? Surely anyone who knows this and cares about safety wouldn't buy the Navara

In all, very happy with the purchase thus far.

[Courty]

Thought I should check back in for the benefit of anyone else in the market for a dual cab.

I ended up buying the Mitsubishi Triton Exceed, have owned it for about 5-6 weeks now and done about 2,500km.

The biggest selling point up front was the price, now keep in mind I was looking at the top spec across the board, so my only real considerations were: Triton Exceed, BT50 GT, Navara STX, Amarok Ultimate and Ranger Wildtrak, I didn't bother with the Isuzu or any of the lesser known budget alternatives. Upon looking at them in person and comparing price, I found it pretty easy to narrow it down to 3 options, Triton (New), Navara (New) or Amarok (Used), I couldn't justify the price on the Ranger or BT50 - To consider these, towing would have to be very high on your priority list.

After negotiations, my driveaway pricing for the three contenders - All Automatic, with towbar:
Triton Exceed $45,000
Navara STX 4WD $49,000
Amarok Ultimate (Used, about 30,000kms) $44,000

I won't bother too much with why I didn't chose either of the other two, but rather will focus on why I bought the Triton.
5 years warranty
Best value for money
Very good claimed fuel consumption
Smallest (not by much) with a great turning circle (comparatively)
Feels the most nimble, I did read somewhere it has the quickest 0-100kph time of the competition and it certainly feels the quickest (without a load of course)
Selectable 4WD with open center diff (I always worried about my wife taking it down a loose road in 4WD then forgetting to turn back to 2wd, which obviously isn't a problem in this)
Proper Isofix child seat restraints - Can you believe in 2016 the Navara uses a flimsy little tether for the child seat? Surely anyone who knows this and cares about safety wouldn't buy the Navara

In all, very happy with the purchase thus far.

I notice you didn't mention Toyota... too dear?

[Progolfgear]

I notice you didn't mention Toyota... too dear?

Ah yes, when I was writing that list I knew there was one I was forgetting. Yes, much like the Ranger/BT50, to get the spec I wanted it was just too expensive.

[BrisWesty]

Been out of this thread for a while. Ended up buying a manual i30 in June. Despite the free auto, I didn't want to get that as the kids are at that learning to drive age and I'm not going to limit them by teaching them to only drive an auto.

Driving is going OK with eldest daughter, though she is a perfectionist and gets down on herself for not performing a perfect gear change etc.

I was offered $1 trade in for the Elantra. Decided to keep it and use it as the kids' first car. Despite now having a 2 year old SUV (manual), a less than 6 month old hatch (manual), the daughter prefers to drive the 12 year old Elantra with 300,000km on it as she says it's the easiest car to drive. Go figure. I'm not complaining though.

[BrisVegas]

20151205_134231_zpsqsnw0opq.jpg

ok, car update time. Currently we have 2 x 4wd wagons,a 2002 Pajero and a 2015 Isuzu MU-X.

My old Pajero is hanging in there with nearly 400,000km on the clock. It regularly costs us money with breakages etc., but otherwise it owes us nothing and I like driving it. I had to put new tyres on it this year, which I was a bit annoyed about. I had assumed the car would be long dead before the old Bridgestone Duelers wore out. Hope to trade the Paj in on a smaller town car (Focus/Octavia/i30 etc.) next year sometime, but for now it just keeps plugging along.

The MU-X is a weapon. We looked at a new family 4x4 to replace the Pajero last year, as we've gotten more into outback touring and offroading etc. It had gotten to where we couldn't trust the Pajero for the big trips anyway. Started looked at 3yo Pajeros and Prados, around $40k mark, but wasn't much out there and everything had 100,000km on it already. Also checked out the new Everest, Pajero Sport and the Fortuner, as they were all fresh on the market at the time. They all had their pluses and minuses. We had a lot of D-Max and MU-X come through work (TJM) for upgrades and I liked the look of them. They're kinda plane jane inside, but the engine and drivetrain is bombproof and they're very good value. Ultimately, that's more important to me than gizmos and luxury. Picked up the mid-spec LS-U which had the rear aircon for the kids for $42k. 5 year warranty and new car smell. I threw most of the TJM catalog at it because I was working there at the time and the thing is setup really well now for us. We've put 30,000km on it in 12 months, including a 8,000km trip out to the Tanami and Simpson Deserts. Planning another big trip down to Cameron Corner, Strezlecki and Birdsville tracks next winter. Hope to have the MU-X for many years.

How did I end up with 2 x 4wd wagons? Well, when it came time to buy the MU-X, nobody was interested in trading the Pajero and I couldn't really sell it without spending significant $$ on a RWC. It was just easier to sell the little Fiesta, as it was still under extended factory warranty, was in good nic and had low enough kms to appeal to new car buyers. Got $9k for it, which was pretty good considering I paid $13k for it 3 years prior.

[markTHEblake]

Been out of this thread for a while. Ended up buying a manual i30 in June. Despite the free auto, I didn't want to get that as the kids are at that learning to drive age and I'm not going to limit them by teaching them to only drive an auto.

Good plan. My daughter thinks it's so comical that almost none of her friends including males have absolutely no idea how to drive a manual. How is this modern generation ever going to be able to drive a tractor?

[goughy]

I keep telling Jasmine she will have to learn in my HiAce commuter as it's the only manual we have. If you can drive that, you can drive anything.

[Moe Norman]

I had lunch with a mate the other day who was insistings his son get a manual license.

Why?

My wife has a manual license, hasn't driven a manual since her test.

I have one, and I've driven a manual car about 5 times since i got my license.

[goughy]

Cause you just never know.

[Sydney Hacker]

In NSW your automatic licence automatically changes to a full licence (without restrictions) after a period of time.

I had a crack at one of my brothers in law once about taking the soft option and he just said it wasn't worth it due to the above. I did need to teach him to drive a manual about 2 years later though.

I have just gone back to a manual work triton by choice, I feel like I am a better driver in it and leave a larger gap to the car in front of me for some reason. Which by the way is something most people in Melbourne driving on the eastern freeway each morning could take on board!

[LeftyHoges]

In NSW your automatic licence automatically changes to a full licence (without restrictions) after a period of time.

I had a crack at one of my brothers in law once about taking the soft option and he just said it wasn't worth it due to the above. I did need to teach him to drive a manual about 2 years later though.

I have just gone back to a manual work triton by choice, I feel like I am a better driver in it and leave a larger gap to the car in front of me for some reason. Which by the way is something most people in Melbourne driving on the eastern freeway each morning could take on board!

Same in VIC, after your initial 3 years on your P's your licence becomes full and unrestricted.

[markTHEblake]

That further explains why there is so many bad drivers in Qld, it's the bloody Mexicans

[goughy]

I'm with mtb! No way you can handle a clutch if you're never driven one! We didn't own a manual when I was learning but got lessons in a manual. I think luckily due to drumming I had a bit of control between my left and right feet. Though when I got my learners the first place my dad took me was the Kmart carpark (closed on Sundays back then). It was in his auto, and the very first thing I did was floor the gas, then floor the brakes. That was the end of the lesson until I'd had an official lesson. Probably didn't help it was in a v8 kingswood.

I was a bit caught out after my first half ironman. A friend and I travelled together and were heading home straight afterwards, but I wasn't in the greatest of shape. She only had an auto licence so I had to do the driving. Wasn't a fun time for me, particularly with the sunburnt back I couldn't lean on the seat back. She certainly wished she could do the driving that day.

[goughy]

Our current car has a habit of stalling atm. Mechanics said try running premium through it a couple of times, which did help. But it keeps coming back. Naturally it doesn't do it for them when I take it up there. They say it's just old. So may actually genuinely need this thread some time next year. Not looking forward to it. Haven't had a car loan for more than 7 years now. It's nice not having to worry about that. And I don't care much about cars, as long as they get me from a to b and have aircon. But will be looking for something not too old (that probably means like only 4 years old).