Car advice please

[Mr. Peanut]

Stick with Japanese cars. Four cylinders, 1 to 2 litres displacement, no Hondas (they're disposable) and you'll have eliminated 80% of your problems. Nissan do not make the best small engines either.

Mazda 323's are also excellent cars.

[yungatart]

Stick with Japanese cars. Four cylinders, 1 to 2 litres displacement, no Hondas (they're disposable) and you'll have eliminated 80% of your problems. Nissan do not make the best small engines either.

Mazda 323's are also excellent cars.

I had a Nissan Sunny 1300 cc with close to 200000 ks on it - ran very well and had never had any engine work done - apart from regular servicing. I've had other Nissans and never had a problem with them

[The Stranger:Me]

Congratulations on your Falcon. You were lucky.

Try making a 1300cc engine last 300000km.

My brother's Corolla (1300cc) did 360000 without the motor being touched. And he is one mean bastard to any car he gets his hands on.

One of my kids had a Nissan Sentra wagon that had the living daylights thrashed out of it and sold it at 320,000 with no apparent engine problems.

[Mr. Peanut]

My brother's Corolla (1300cc) did 360000 without the motor being touched. And he is one mean bastard to any car he gets his hands on.

That was my point, brilliant engines. I stick by what I said about small nissans, they're just not as good.

[willy_01]

wise advice - small mid 80's jappa. personally id go a manual honda 1.5 both carbied and injected are great (dont get the shuttle tho - they leak, bad) my suggestion is avoid nz built toyotas like the plague, i drive one at the moment (1990 corolla carbied 1300) and it is by far the worst car ive owned, needed a full valve regrind at 92xxxkms and rust well lets not go there! best of luck i also here good things about that dogs and lemons guidebook.

sam

[eliot-ness]

don't know what a ford telstar even looks like... but what price range are you looking at?

We were thinking something like a civic, due to it being small and cheap and economical....

Thanks for the advice so far eeryone

The wife has a 96 Telstar, 380000ks and she still runs 200ks a day to and from work. Never failed a wof. Oil and filter changed regularly and belts changed when due. No other mechanical work apart from brake pads needed. Great car if you get a good one. It was for sale but I think she's got a buyer. $1500. Her previous car was an 87 Toyota Corona. Again an excellent buy if well maintained. Sold that at 320000ks for $1500. Don't be put off by imports. Some good ones around. Whatever you get make sure the belts have been done fairly recently. If the seller says it's been done ask for a reciept. A broken cambelt can be a costly repair job. I think Nissan still have camchains which rarely need changing so they could be worth a look in your price range. It would pay you to have someone with you who knows what to look for. $2000 may be cheap but it's still a lot to throw away on a lemon.

[Paul in NZ]

Congratulations on your Falcon. You were lucky.

Try making a 1300cc engine last 300000km.

My 1989 Starlet 1300cc has 270,000km on it, does 100km every day on the highway and has had a radiator and a cv joint and..... um..... oil and filters and..... um....... oh a condenser and at least 2 sets of points and.... hmm.. oh yeah, clutch and brke master cylinder kits...

rattles like two cheese graters fornicatiing in an oil drum but still runs like a bandit and uses feck all oil (leaks a bit though) but still does about 470km to 32 lt

I'd back a 1300cc Toyota against an aussie 6 nearly any day! (as long as fuel stops are taken into account)

[The Stranger:Me]

my suggestion is avoid nz built toyotas like the plague, i drive one at the moment (1990 corolla carbied 1300) and it is by far the worst car ive owned, needed a full valve regrind at 92xxxkms and rust well lets not go there!
sam

As a matter of interest have you had this vehicle from new?

The NZ assembled Toyotas are generally amongst the best.

I recall some years ago the there was a delegation here from Japan to study how it was that NZ assembled Toyota vehicles recorded fewer warranty faults than even the jap assembled units.

[Mr. Peanut]

The Ford telstar is mechanically identicle to the Mazda 636. The Ford laser is mechanically a 323.

[98tls]

As a matter of interest have you had this vehicle from new?

The NZ assembled Toyotas are generally amongst the best.

I recall some years ago the there was a delegation here from Japan to study how it was that NZ assembled Toyota vehicles recorded fewer warranty faults than even the jap assembled units.

i sold toyotas up in wellington for 5 years...the damn things are pretty much bullet proof in general...seen plenty of 1.3 hatchbacks and 1.6 liftbacks with 200/300000 kms and still going strong,generally just getting a bit sloopy...gearbox etc.Do not buy an early to mid eighties honda as they were the last jap manufacturer to deal with rust and the things just go rotten especially the hatchbacks.

[NotaGoth]

I would recommend a toyota corolla.

Paid 2k for my first one, 1992, manual, had fairly high k's, 259,000 clicks I think it was. (Yes cars are expensive up north here) But the damn thing was a very good car.

Got my 2nd one now, after a mishap with my last one (own fault) another manual. Lower k's, and it runs real well. Never failed to start as yet (yeah til the whatchu me calls it came loose off the battery) Fairly cheap to run too.

Parts are cheap, and if maintained and well looked after you can click up alot of k's on them and get your money out of it.

Good book is the dog and lemon guide. gives you a fair idea as to what types of cars will be worth your time when buying used. Gives you an idea as to what common problems can occur with them also.

If you do look at a corolla, preferably look at one thats got a good service history, and that has its service records.

Would you prefer an auto or a manual? Thats another thing to look at. You can pick up automatics for dirt cheap. Its all really down to your preference.

[Swoop]

Have your vehicle AA checked. As you seemed to answer your own question earlier - someone else used another vehicle appraiser and got burnt.

Corollas are very well engineered and as long as the oil has been changed regularly you will be OK.

[madboy]

I just bought a 1993 Nissan Sentra for $260. Has 404,000k on it, and goes fine. Doesn't compare that well to our "family wagon" Primera of 1998 vintage and 124,000k, but it's worth only the price of a tyre or two on the wagon. You get what you pay for.

I trashed thrashed and completely abused my parent's 91 Civic from new, and that was fine at 180,000, as was their 97 Corolla that received not quite as much treatment from me. It's all about servicing. Regular servicing will keep a vehicle alive and well for ages. I've had cars shit themselves at 102,000k thru no maintenance, but I've driven an ex-courier Corolla with 485,000k on it that ran fine (rooted suspension, but again... you get what you pay for!)

So long as you buy a "name brand" and common jappa under 2 litres your odds are good. Don't buy Korean or other in that price range, they'll be rooted. If you want to improve your odds, then an AA inspection is good for people who are mechanically clueless. Beware, though, they may find a million little faults that may be completely insignificant and have you thinking you're looking at a lemon when you're not. If you can get a car with a documented service history (unlikely in that price range) then you are on to a winner. If a car is serviced well, it will last for ever.

One option is to scan and post any AA report online here. There will be enough car buffs on here to tell you what faults they identify are really faults, and what are a great big nothing.

[andrea]

yeah ive heard toyotas are pretty good especially the hatchback they are nice to drive, get any under 2L cause petrol is farken expensive. rear wheel drive cause it wont cost as much to change the cambelt as it does for a front wheel drive. i prefer manuals cause they are better, my sister stuffed up her automatic trans. gearbox and it cost the earth to replace cause she got it done at a nissan dealer. have the car AA checked before you buy it of course like the others say. nissans are ok i still have my 2L front wheel drive double overhead cam and its a chain and not a cam belt, so the only thing i need to do that i dont do ahem it service and tune the damn thing. but say if your interested i might know someone whose got a honda integra variable timing, for sale for 1500 lol. he's a driving instructor old guy and he's looked after this car real good, but thats if he's still got it though.
oh yeah test drive the car hmmmm