Gday,

A good friend of mine is in the market for a new automobile, and quite unsure at what he wants - im interested in pushing him in the right direction. There are, however, certain criteria to be followed in his decision. I know most here are obviously Z biased, but since ive placed this in the general discussion forum, i trust most will gather that hes not necessarily fixed on a Z. Im interested to know what you all think would be a good choice based on the facts that

- hes after something with a capacity equal to or greater than 1.8L

- to a maximum of $8000 [Australian]

- not overtly sporting but dynamically superior to your average joe bloggs machine

- up to 6cyl but no greater

- power output greater than 84kw [112.6hp]

- post 1990

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Tom

damn that was a big **** up...

Sounds like your buddy wants a car a grandmother would drive!!! I mean, do they even make cars with less than 113 HP now days? How about a new VW beatle...the low HP version. I think that would be perfect. :tapemouth

Ive edited it... :tapemouth

How about a Geo Metro.

Vicky

or a Soap-Box Derby racer.

I would say a Corolla. Toyota make the most reliable cars I have ever driven. My current Camry has been run into the ground, I mean thrashed real hard, and she still runs. I've had her running weeks with but a drop of oil, had her running on 3 cylinders for a while, she's had a main seal leak for months and months (you should see the front of my house ). They have a good reputation for being a workhorse and rightly so. Also, if you start shopping around you will notice thjey keep their value a lot more than most of your small to medium capacity tin cans that come from Asia.

So my vote goes to any Corolla or Camry model from the mid '90's.

Good luck to your buddy.

Silviaaaaaaa

That's what I'd buy from my interpretation of the criteria... A Corolla like George said you couldn't go wrong with. But personally I wouldnt call it "dynamically superior". It's pretty subjective though innit

i have a 2002 corolla levin wagon that has just clicked over 50000km

it laps wakefield in 1:18 absolutely stock.

It has gone offroad, hauled firewood, used as a quasi tractor on a quasi farm etc etc.

and its still going strong.

but yes..its still boring.

I most emphaticly agree with George and Alfa as to the dependability and reliability of Toyota.

In 1989 I bought a 2by 4 drop side ute that I used and abused until I sold the farm 4 years ago.

That old girl has only let me down once and that was just a clogged in line fuel filter.

Of course, regular servicing and maintenance plus careful driving habits has a lot to do with it.

I still have the old girl and use her just about every day.

Rick.

My R31 GTS-X cost less than $8000. and had less than 60,000K's on the clock.

Like Alfa says the Silvia turbo/180sx has a lot of bang for buck.

Aussie R31 skylines (made up to 89) are really cheap, and powered by the RB30E.

Commodores are dirt cheap too.

Depends what he's after. If its just to get from a to b, any car will do.

Cheers for the responses :classic: ,

Perhaps however, i should have rephrased the criteria. Trs, Rick and TOG thank you for your suggestions :classic: - I too agree toyota tend to have bulletproof reliability, great resale and a fantastic availability of parts. However, as far as dynamics go theyre a tad on the bland side. Throughout my reading and own personal experience, they are a very 'safe' conservative car. I had the opportunity to drive a 2000 Camry CSX 2.2. It was extremely comfortable, quiet, reliable [over the four years we owned it] and we managed to sell it at a decent price. However, it was extremely uninspiring and lacked spirit. Sure the 2.2 four was a dated motor and it was an auto, but there was not a dash of dynamic chassis ability to make up for it. The suspension was definitely set to keep 'junior' happy on the long journeys - soft and compromising, with a great ability to soak up the crappiness of Oz roads, but no ability to round a corner in a sporting fashion when pushed - pure, safe understeer. I think a camry would be fine for my un-initiated friend, but i sincerely believe he will always be wanting something more. As for my experience with corollas it is limited to reading. As far as im aware they too tend to convey a similar 'safe' theme.

Lachlan and Craig, thankyou too for your suggestions. Personally i agree that a silvia or a JDM r31 would be great bang for the buck - and come packed with a nice slice of handling in that large, grocery bag full of bang. The only problem is i think in his eyes theyd sting hard of cap-backwards-tool-with-ultra-amplified-blowoff-valve... I think as you said craig, an aussie r31 would be a solid bet...the commode would be a little too...well derro

So, hopefully thats made it a little clearer :stupid: if there are any other suggestions :classic: Has anyone had any exp with an early oz spec liberty rs turbo? I think theyd fly under the 8k radar and be relatively inconspicuous. Anything else you could think of, even the obscure? Many thanks,

Tom

How about a 240Z with a ford V8 and Supra 5 speed for $8500?

http://www.wazregister.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62

Search the Quokka online:

http://www.quokka-online.com