About 12 months ago a valve blew in my 1990 honda accord - making it shake like crazy. I got that fixed (for 2/3 the price of the f***ing car), 12 months later - f***ing happened again.

So im looking around at what car to buy, but im finding it hard to find things i like that also have an economical factor as well as reliability factor.

At the moment I get around in a 2006 ford courier 4wd company ute (horrible on fuel, lucky it doesnt cost me - but has turned me off 4wd's forever), but I plan to move north shortly and will be giving it up, so I will need to replace my car for then - and would be looking at doing a fair few more km driving to come home every few weekends.

What I would like in a car?
- Reliability (because if it breaks down, i doubt ill be able to fix it)
- Economy to an extent (accord uses about 8L/100k)
- Engine quality
- >1998~

Features i'd look for (stock)?
- Cruise Control
- Comfort
- Mags
- Nice looking car

Things that don't worry me?
- Air bags
- ABS
- Power (the accord is fairly weak, its like 103kw @ 5600rpm / 1340kg)
- LPG

Things i'd avoid?
- turbo
- supercharger / any performance vehicles
- 6/8 cyl
- high petrol users (as in 10L+/100km hwy use rating, althought lower = better)
- proton/kia/holden/ford/daewoo/alfa r/merc

Cars i'm currently considering?
- 1999+ Subaru Liberty RX/Heritage (feature packed, fuel is about the same as current car)
- 1999+ Subaru Forester
- 1999+ Honda Civic (cheap to run, but usualy s*** all features)
- 1997 Daihatsu Charade G203 F2 ('Rally' edition (impossible to find one in qld i think!), 5L/100km.. charades got realllllllllllllly fugly after 1999~ - and all of them have NO Decent Features)
----
These cars I can easily get for under 10k

So all i'm looking for are sugestions to add to this list to investigate?

thx

180B

- 1999+ Subaru Forester

Things that don't worry me?

-LPG

ex taxi. When I saw fuel prices today I loled and had a nice smirk on my face for most of the trip between the GC and Brisbane.
EA on lpg FTW. $30 for a full tank that gets me about 450k's. reliable and cheap to fix. probably not what your after though.

the best thing about lpg cars is watching them explode

haha

the best thing about lpg cars is watching them explode

indeed, at least it would be a cheap explosion.

the best thing about lpg cars is watching them explode

last edited by whoop at 02:31:34 22/Nov/07

hahah that's f***ing funny whoop

- 1999+ Subaru Forester

Agreed!

get an old pulsar. theyre cheap and go forever.

the mid 90's astras should be about that price range and are pretty damn good on fuel consumption. pretty good cars too.

Get an n15 sss pulsar.

s13

Consider a VW Golf circa 1998-2000, they're great cars especially if you can find one thats been looked after.

Features i'd look for (stock)?
- Cruise Control
- Comfort
- Mags
- Nice looking car

Things that don't worry me?
- Air bags
- ABS
- Power (the accord is fairly weak, its like 103kw @ 5600rpm / 1340kg)
- LPG

You'd take cruise control & mags over ABS & air bags?

I think basically he doesn't want to pay more than he has to for those things since if all goes well you won't need them.

The VW golfs Alt is reffering to are complete s***HOUSE and being european will cost a s***load to fix. We had one in the other day at work with a completely f***ed A/C compressor, bye bye $1500.

I am selling my Nov 2000 AUII Ford Falcon Wagon for $8500.

Has 115,000km's
Cruise
Air con
Tickford suspension
Elec mirrors
Elec windows Front and back

Every option you can get on a forte basically coz it is an ex police car that was not used for patrol.

I bought it in Nov 2002 with 36,000km's on it.

Has been serviced every 7500km's since I have had it.

I am selling it under market because I am going to London in February permenently so just wnat to get rid of it quickyl rather than holding on to it to get an extra 1k for it.

Email me capt0@hotmail.com if interested.

BTW it is not "advertised" yet because I have not got the road worthy on it to legally advertise it for sale.

Probably not what you are looking for being a falcon, but then again I like the idea of a reliable car that has parts readably available.



last edited by CaPt0 at 12:08:11 22/Nov/07

thanks for the offer capto - but im not into fords/holdens, have had a falcon and a commodore as company cars and turned off both 4eva

You'd take cruise control & mags over ABS & air bags?

i have a fear of airbags leaving me with burns, and i dont need abs to stop - i dont smoke tyres by slamming breaks straight on. But a forester/liberty have both of these options anyway

When I look at the subaru range, the price isnt bad when you consider the amount of good feedback they receive as well as the features they are packed with.. awd is an attractive option too - i think they are what im going to lean toward

capto, does it run on lpg ?

Nothing runs on LPG pave, it just struggles, farts and s***s itself.

and explodes

Those fuel figures you are quoting Jerry, I'm assuming they are highway?

My $0.02 is a 2000+ Toyota Echo.

Good points:
- Safety in Numbers for cheap parts etc.
- Toyota Reliability
- Insane fuel economy for a petrol car.
- It's a TARDIS, for a small car the Roof Height, Drivers and Passenger Seats are very spacious.
- 2000+ models have p/s as standard.
- Runs on e10 no problems.

Bad Points:
- Not that powerful so Manual only.
- Rear Seats and Luggage space is limited.
- Does look a bit meh needs mags.
- No cruise control.


last edited by sLaps_Forehead at 14:22:38 22/Nov/07

Been driving my parents 2005 echo and it is pretty cool, I think 6.2 L per 100km or so for an 80kw car. Never really seemed to struggle when driving it but they do have a manual. it always looks so high tho, massive space in the arches.

LPG FTW.
Seems to run just as good as petrol on my ED falcon. Whatever...
If it blows up, i dont care, ill just go buy another s***box for 3k with lpg.

These guys just want their fully sik skylines to run perfectly.

One downside to Subaru is if they break, well when the break, they will cost you a whole barrow load of clams to pay the man.

Features i'd look for (stock)?
- Cruise Control
- Comfort
- Mags
- Nice looking car

who needs cruise control? I guess it's good for long trips but it just encourages you to take your mind off driving people who disagree can go f*** themselves

comfort is good, look for adjustable lumbar support

mags? who cares? they don't make the car go any faster or any more efficient, they're just wank factor and anyone who thinks otherwise can do the afore mentioned self pleasuring.

Things that don't worry me?
- Air bags
- ABS
- Power (the accord is fairly weak, its like 103kw @ 5600rpm / 1340kg)
- LPG

Airbags are good in a crash but hopefully you should never need them, just need to be careful not to accidentally set them off or destroy them depending on where they are.
ABS is for noobs who don't know how to brake properly
If you have bugger all power you'll be forever putting your foot to the floor trying to get it up hills which just wastes fuel
LPG can suck my wang

Things i'd avoid?
- turbo
- supercharger / any performance vehicles
- 6/8 cyl
- high petrol users (as in 10L+/100km hwy use rating, althought lower = better)
- proton/kia/holden/ford/daewoo/alfa r/merc

turbo/superchargers aren't just on "performance vehicles". My friend had a mazda 626 and it came stock with a turbo, hell ask jim how many turbo diesels there are out there.
Why would you avoid 6/8 cyl? Fuel concern?

If it blows up, i dont care, ill just go buy another s***box for 3k with lpg.

unless you're in it at the time :p

I think some concern with LPG, or at least so I was told, is the lack of upper cylinder lubricant. When running on petrol it kind of acts as a lubricant/coolant for the upper cylinders while running on LPG the lube/cooling effect isn't as great. At least that's what some mechanic told me but that was YEARS ago when LPG just came out and I"m sure they've fixed the issues with it since then, I just don't like the smell of the stuff, makes me feel ill if I follow an LPG powered car.

Whoop - with my lpg setup i have a bottle of the valvesaver fluid that drip feeds into my engine. I just fill the bottle up once a fortnight or so and i'm good to go.

I've pretty much halved my fuel costs going from spending about 150 a week to about 70.

by a daewoo matiz.. f***ing lol

best fuel economy i ever seen, pity it's so fkn poorly designed fixing it costs more then buying one.

did u try going to:

www.carpoint.com.au
www.carsales.com.au

and select the 10k price drop down menus?

for 10k, f***, dunno, i'll give you my s*** opinion which everyone will rip to pieces...

i like mazdamators (mazdas) - or hondas, don't get anything imported, thats for people who care about thier cars and wouldnt need to post on a forum to choose a car.

10k, hrm, dunnoes, honda civic or mazda 626 imo

I think some concern with LPG, or at least so I was told, is the lack of upper cylinder lubricant. When running on petrol it kind of acts as a lubricant/coolant for the upper cylinders while running on LPG the lube/cooling effect isn't as great. At least that's what some mechanic told me but that was YEARS ago when LPG just came out and I"m sure they've fixed the issues with it since then, I just don't like the smell of the stuff, makes me feel ill if I follow an LPG powered car.

yeah your right and wrong there, depends on the car and kind of LPG system it has (older V8's are prone to this, also think along the lines of 186's 202's and 250's etc..). But nearly every car made after 1990 wont have this problem. LPG is actually non toxic too. LPG also runs cooler than ULP.

LPG is as toxic as petrol. The gases in it are the same that you'll find paint sniffing, etc.

Well regardless of the risk of it blowing up, the chances of the valves sinking into heads, LPG is awesome to have at the moment.
Especially on big 6+ cyl cars


I dont think i've ever owned a more efficent mode of transport as a falcon on LPG. Besides a postie bike...
Drove that thing for 2 years straight every day and every weekend towing a trailer, never changed the oil or tyres, everything was bald and f***ed.
Then the gearbox blew up and now im looking for another :)

Mr Hardware has stolen Vash's account

and explodes

having fun trolling there paveway..

Lulz... Asif LPG explodes...

I think 6.2 L per 100km or so for an 80kw car.

I get 7.5l/100km in my commdore on the highway, so I hope you're talking about city driving.

negative pave. there's more people than me that know that an LPG Falcon is good value for money.
mongie, Vash, Raven, Fizzer, eighty-eight and myself all own/have owned LPG cars, usually falcons.

last edited by Mr Hardware at 11:15:58 23/Nov/07

Value for money as in, a cheap car that doesn't cost much to run... But there are also people out there who like nice cars that don't smell and run really smoothly.

I'm all for LPG for certain purposes, but personally, I didn't like it for just daily driving. Others do, thats fine. Its good for cabs etc though.

well my falcon doesn't smell and it runs smooth as. In fact, i find petrol smellier than LPG, its just most people are used to the stink of petrol.

I want moneys so I can buy Captos Falcon =(