Cars: Keep or Renew?

[goughy]

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[WBennett]

From 2014 to current.

Fundamentally, its an old car with regular updates - its also heavy, thirsty and feels like a big car in the real world.

If you can get a current model Sorrento or Santa Fe diesel for similar money, it would be my preference.

[mrbluu]

Fundamentally, its an old car with regular updates - its also heavy, thirsty and feels like a big car in the real world.

If you can get a current model Sorrento or Santa Fe diesel for similar money, it would be my preference.

Ok that's interesting. I haven't read any reviews so far, just saw some prices so I'll look into it.

Thanks.

[Moe Norman]

unless you actually want to use it as intended, then don't get a Sorrento or Santa Fe

(ie. offroading)

[WBennett]

unless you actually want to use it as intended, then don't get a Sorrento or Santa Fe

(ie. offroading)

Fair point. What % of Pajero's actually get used in low range?

[Moe Norman]

We certainly did with ours.

Thats why it was hard to find a new car.

Criteria was that it was comfortable, deisel, extremely capable off road and was minimum 7 seats with the 3rd row seating being spacious

Pretty much only one vehicle fits that category, the Discovery.

The MUX came out a year later and we would have purchased one of them if they were around when we were looking, though they are certainly a much lesser car than the Disco (but half the price!)

[andigold]

The Lancer Olympic Edition I bought new in September 2008 has been a really good car but it's closing in on 200K and I'm thinking about upgrading this year. I have no interest in cars really and am after comfort, connectivity, good visibility and convenience. I don't care about power, drivability (I'm not even sure what that is) etc.

I've been having a poke around now and then and like the look of the C200 Mercs, something like this. What do those who know about cars think, are they a good buy? I've had somebody tell me they are expensive to service but I haven't heard anything else negative.

If you have other suggestions I am happy to spend around $30K plus my current car which is the same as this

[G.K]

While I don't profess to being a Mercedes Benz expert, I do know a few things about cars. It can be a bit of a gamble buying a used European car, particularly when out of warranty. Sure, they can be nice cars if you happen to pick up a well looked after one, and you don't have an issue with paying for the ongoing maintenance bills. Not saying other cars won't have maintenance costs, but without going too far into detail, I would put it out there that it would probably cost you at least twice as much (maybe three times) to maintain something like that Merc compared to your Lancer. If you have your heart set on a second hand prestige car (or really any car), I'd recommend getting an independent inspection done before laying down any coin.

At the end of the day, it's all comes back to personal choice and getting something that suits your needs. There's plenty of options if your looking around the price of that Merc. E.g I recently had a Kia Sportage as a company vehicle which was close to the price of that Merc but brand new. Had all the mod cons as far as connectivity, GPS etc and had 7 years warranty. Was a great car. Although it wouldn't have the same carpark appeal when pulling into KH for a game.

[Johnny Canuck]

The Lancer Olympic Edition I bought new in September 2008 has been a really good car but it's closing in on 200K and I'm thinking about upgrading this year. I have no interest in cars really and am after comfort, connectivity, good visibility and convenience. I don't care about power, drivability (I'm not even sure what that is) etc.

I've been having a poke around now and then and like the look of the C200 Mercs, something like this. What do those who know about cars think, are they a good buy? I've had somebody tell me they are expensive to service but I haven't heard anything else negative.

If you have other suggestions I am happy to spend around $30K plus my current car which is the same as this

WA based Merc. The market is so low here that cars are being bought and shipped over east more than ever before.

It's been my experience with Euro that repairs are ridiculously expensive and service costs are much higher than others if you get it done at dealerships.

I'm with GK, I'd go new for peace of mind. New cars are better value than ever before with all of the inclusions.

[andigold]

I'll get a small to medium sized sedan like the Lancer or the C200, I don't want anything bigger and I hate hatches and wagons.

The Kia Optima might fit the bill and it has a 7 year warranty. Or what about the Skoda Octavia, are they any good?

[BenM]

I'll get a small to medium sized sedan like the Lancer or the C200, I don't want anything bigger and I hate hatches and wagons.

The Kia Optima might fit the bill and it has a 7 year warranty. Or what about the Skoda Octavia, are they any good?

Andi, I may have mentioned it in this thread before but we have two Octavias in the family, I've got an RS wagon (diesel) that I bought new about 3 years ago, and the wife bought a base model liftback second hand cos we liked mine so much. I haven't driven the latest iteration but they were just coming out around the time I bought mine so have had plenty of time to work out any issues.

Honestly, my opinion you could do a lot worse - I really really like mine, and I tend to get sick of cars pretty quickly but not thinking of changing mine any time soon, even though it's just out of new car warranty I'll probably hang onto it for another year or two at least. Basically they're a VW Golf under the hood. Servicing can be dear if you go to a dealer (which I have been, while the car is under warranty) but the service intervals are long (15k/12months) so it's not so bad, and the current series Octys have fixed price servicing so you know what you're up for - being in the big smoke, you probably also have the option of going to an independent VW specialist who will tend to be much more competitive on price while still having the know how to look after them properly. My wife has had hers serviced at a local independent guy, costs bugger all more than her other cars have, apart from the fact they need dearer synthetic oil.

More than happy to tell you all about my experiences in person when I see you over the next few days!

[Moe Norman]

I've owned a few Merc Andi and while they are a little dearer to service, if you find a good mechanic who isn't affiliated with the brands - but specialises in Euro cars - they aren't really much more expensive to service

I had a C180 and it cost me $120 a year for about 3 years in a row, then one year I needed new tyres and brake pads and something else all at once and it was $2100, then back to $120 per year again. Eventually something else quite big went wrong, the quote was $4k to fix it so I traded it and got way overs because people like european cars.

[3Puttpete]

I'll get a small to medium sized sedan like the Lancer or the C200, I don't want anything bigger and I hate hatches and wagons.

The Kia Optima might fit the bill and it has a 7 year warranty. Or what about the Skoda Octavia, are they any good?

If you're not into cars and it's transport you're after you'd be mad not to look at the Kia for value for money.

[WBennett]

Andigold, take my Kia for a drive this weekend.

[backintheswing]

Andigold, take my Kia for a drive this weekend.

What happened to the xr6 mate?


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[WBennett]

What happened to the xr6 mate?


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Got old

[Dotty]

FYI for those who want to put a $ saving on upgrading to a diesel engine (or 4 vs 6 cylinder) ...

Just doing last year's tax and comparing fuel costs for approx. 25,000 km per year.
2015 - 4 litre XR6 - $4,800 fuel per year
2009 - 2 litre TDCi Mondeo - $3,300 per year
2003 - 2.5 litre Forester - $4,200 per year

For country driving, the Forester chewed fuel at the same rate as in the suburbs approx. 10-11 l/100km (Much worse than the XR6 (8.3-9 l/100km), without the power to safely overtake or get back up to speed, if baulked on an incline.)

[bergsey]

The Subaru boxer engines are notorious for poor economy. Great cars but disappointed they haven't been able to address it.

[simmsy]

My Forester XT uses 6-7l/100km on country road and between 8-9 on suburban drives.


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[Dotty]

My Forester XT uses 6-7l/100km on country road and between 8-9 on suburban drives.


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Manual? Or CVT?

The old 4 speed automatic used to sit on just under 3000 rpm, at 110kph.

[mrbluu]

My Forester XT uses 6-7l/100km on country road and between 8-9 on suburban drives.


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Blardy hell simmsy are u doing all Ur driving down hill and down wind??

Best I ever got on the freeway is low 8's and high 10's in the city. I've got a 2009 Manual XT.

[simmsy]

Haha.
CVT. 2013
It gets those numbers easily.


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[Dotty]

Blardy hell simmsy are u doing all Ur driving down hill and down hill??

I think you've hit the nail on the head. It's WA and very flat.

Most of my driving is in the Hills district, with occasional trips to the Southern Highlands or the M1 north.

[coalesce]

This is as good a thread as any to mine for this question...

I have some family coming over to visit for an extended period at the end of the year and they'd be looking to hire a car. At 47 days, it leads to some pretty high quotes from the usual suspects rental company websites such as Hertz, Budget, Europcar, etc. A family car looks like being $2000 based on what I've seen so far.

I was wonder if there are any other options that would work out cheaper - maybe less of a long term rental and more of a short term lease? I'd be happy to put it in my name so long as they were able to drive it...

[goughy]

I know when Rob's dad and mum had a 3 month visit back to Holland a few years ago, their family ended up buying them, on their behalf, a cheapie car that they drive while there then they sold afterwards.