What car will you get as your first car? (3 Viewers)

[RBKSoulja]

I assumed my budget would be 8k max, but I was informed it could go as far as 14k, but in the end my final budget was 20k. My car cost $18,000, bargained down from $19,990....RKBSoulja, even Tiburons and Crossfires? Awwww I would have gone for either of those hahaha Speaking of Civics, I really like the Civic Type R hatch, but I don't really like it's price tag, it's either a rip-off, really, really well made or packed with extras and features... hungwell1337, I've never thought Alfas were feminine - but good to see you don't care anyway. At least you have a car, and I know that an 05 Alfa is a much better car than what some people up here are driving....

woah 20k?! nice!! 206CC eh...damn if i had the money i wouldve liked to have gotten a hardtop. but personally, being a lover of german cars =D, i wouldve gone audi TT for that price range, cos i saw one when i was getting my merc. from memory its 2002 manual which was i think 19k. havent had much experience with french cars but do tell, how are they generally?

well i suppose the crossfire is okay except for their stereotypical Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler cheap dollar shop plastic interiors and their overly soft suspension. and yeah, tiburons for your budget arent as bad cos theyre prob a bit younger. but for my 10k budget, the tiburon (or the Coupe series as it was marketed in the 90's) theyre soooooo bad:
1. extensive wear to the gearboxes for some reason
2. hyuandais have always had issues with their paint lasting for more than 8-10 years
3.Engine oil leaks are common and brake shudder can also develop
4. interior electricals seem to die all the time
5. they seem to handle modifications really badly, even if its a new set of rims or exhaust, the cars gooone
=p

i actually quite like the alpha 147...doesnt look feminine at all! especially the mean looking grille and front lights

 

[hungwell1337]

yeah =) new alfa noses are awesome tiburon... pretty stupid to buy one new, 36k rrp, when gti's/wrx's are around that price. not to mention the cheap/ricer feel. second hand might be a good deal audi TT, not bad, but u need a full license to drive it, unless your forking out 90k+ for a 3.2 quattro version, which isnt turbocharged corollas are such mundane cars. imo corolla < civic < lancer < impreza with reliability, if you take care of your car it should be fine.

 

[61st of April]

woah 20k?! nice!! 206CC eh...damn if i had the money i wouldve liked to have gotten a hardtop. but personally, being a lover of german cars =D, i wouldve gone audi TT for that price range, cos i saw one when i was getting my merc. from memory its 2002 manual which was i think 19k. havent had much experience with french cars but do tell, how are they generally?

well i suppose the crossfire is okay except for their stereotypical Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler cheap dollar shop plastic interiors and their overly soft suspension. and yeah, tiburons for your budget arent as bad cos theyre prob a bit younger. but for my 10k budget, the tiburon (or the Coupe series as it was marketed in the 90's) theyre soooooo bad:
1. extensive wear to the gearboxes for some reason
2. hyuandais have always had issues with their paint lasting for more than 8-10 years
3.Engine oil leaks are common and brake shudder can also develop
4. interior electricals seem to die all the time
5. they seem to handle modifications really badly, even if its a new set of rims or exhaust, the cars gooone
=p

i actually quite like the alpha 147...doesnt look feminine at all! especially the mean looking grille and front lights

My sister wants an Audi TT but she can only get an automatic licence and the ones within our price range are manual - like this one (it's actually exactly the same price as mine was) 1999 AUDI TT Cars For Sale in NSW - CarPoint Australia The car is pretty good - I've heard all the horror stories concerning French car reliability but I haven't suffered yet - it has amazing handling and I'm so glad it has a hardtop and not a soft top, but it's a front-wheel drive with a 1.6 litre, 4cyl engine and weighs 1200kg so it feels a little sluggish at times. Although it does have a "Sports mode" which quickens it's acceleration and changes gears at a higher rpm, at the cost of fuel efficiency and probably engine wear. Overall, it's a great drive with excellent fuel efficiency, averaging 6L/100km. But really, it's the handling that makes it. Stiff suspension and performance tyres makes tight cornering at higher speeds no problem (but of course I never take corners quickly ) Your 300CE sounds fairly decent (that's the 2-door coupe right? Nice - I like 2/3 door cars more than their 4/5 door counterparts), even more so considering you like German cars - if the Kompressor engines hadn't been banned for P-platers, I would be driving our C200. Mercedes are good cars though so you shouldn't have much trouble with it. There's quite few German cars in my family and they've never had any problems

 

[seremify007]

The Gen2 and Persona are marketed as two different cars, but the Persona looks just like the Gen2 H-Line... I assumed my budget would be 8k max, but I was informed it could go as far as 14k, but in the end my final budget was 20k. My car cost $18,000, bargained down from $19,990. I don't know the budget of the one who wants a Savvy, but I don't think she could have afforded one anyway. "Built tougher than it looks" hahaha if she ever gets close to buying one I'll let her know

Mmm.. the one thing which surprised me about Gen2 is the interior and the sound system. Reviewers didn't seem to like it that much but I thought the interior looked pretty nice and as long as you aren't trying to modify the headunit, the interior layout is pretty decent too for it's class. The only other car which really impressed me interior-wise in this price range is the current generation Civic which still amazes me with it's spaceship feel (hence why I bought it!).

yeah =) new alfa noses are awesome tiburon... pretty stupid to buy one new, 36k rrp, when gti's/wrx's are around that price. not to mention the cheap/ricer feel. second hand might be a good deal audi TT, not bad, but u need a full license to drive it, unless your forking out 90k+ for a 3.2 quattro version, which isnt turbocharged corollas are such mundane cars. imo corolla < civic < lancer < impreza with reliability, if you take care of your car it should be fine.

Agreed. In the sub $40k bracket you can already get the Lancer ralliart (although it's turbo), as well as plenty of other far better cars. Even the Volvo C30 is in that price bracket and I think it's pretty nifty if you aren't trying to mod it up yourself.

As for the 90k+ brackets, again I agree. I test drove the new Audi A4 2.0T which was line ball with several other cars I was looking at (around $70k driveaway) and was left disappointed with the performance (especially when the dealer said "some people take this car to the track") and amazed at how little was actually standard equipment (no nice lights, no bluetooth, no satnav despite having the screen, etc!). So really, just like all the Germans, unless you put a decent amount of coin in, buying the base model really gets you the badge and nothing more.

My sister wants an Audi TT but she can only get an automatic licence and the ones within our price range are manual - like this one (it's actually exactly the same price as mine was) 1999 AUDI TT Cars For Sale in NSW - CarPoint Australia The car is pretty good - I've heard all the horror stories concerning French car reliability but I haven't suffered yet - it has amazing handling and I'm so glad it has a hardtop and not a soft top, but it's a front-wheel drive with a 1.6 litre, 4cyl engine and weighs 1200kg so it feels a little sluggish at times. Although it does have a "Sports mode" which quickens it's acceleration and changes gears at a higher rpm, at the cost of fuel efficiency and probably engine wear. Overall, it's a great drive with excellent fuel efficiency, averaging 6L/100km. But really, it's the handling that makes it. Stiff suspension and performance tyres makes tight cornering at higher speeds no problem (but of course I never take corners quickly ) Your 300CE sounds fairly decent (that's the 2-door coupe right? Nice - I like 2/3 door cars more than their 4/5 door counterparts), even more so considering you like German cars - if the Kompressor engines hadn't been banned for P-platers, I would be driving our C200. Mercedes are good cars though so you shouldn't have much trouble with it. There's quite few German cars in my family and they've never had any problems

Wait are you saying the Audi TT does 6L/100km?!?! That's like.. a third of my car >_> ... but anyway, the C200K is one of the cars which the RTA is lenient with giving out exemptions I believe. Doesn't hurt to give them a call. IMO it shouldn't be on the banned list- I fail to see how a low-power turbo in a very safe car is a BAD thing for young drivers. Although to the RTA's defence, it isn't an easy job to come up with blanket rules which please everyone and they are doing a thankless job.

 

[61st of April]

What kind of Civic do you have? I automatically think of the Type R - those triangular exhausts are cool! The older coupe's are really good I hear and I know someone who drives the new sedan - says it's great!

"nothing else will feel as finished"

 

[seremify007]

What kind of Civic do you have? I automatically think of the Type R - those triangular exhausts are cool! The older coupe's are really good I hear and I know someone who drives the new sedan - says it's great!

"nothing else will feel as finished"

Yep I have that Civic (the current generation sedan which is Japanese designed but built in Thailand). It's known as the Civic FD1. Decent car- bought it at launch. Quite fun to drive and good for P platers.

New CTR looks alright but it isn't as track/performance focused as before... it's more the hardcore/angular/controversial look than anything else. Interior isn't too bad but even at driveaway pricing of sub $40k, it's still too much for a Civic. Especially one which isn't even fast.

 

[Nikkay75]

I recently got a Subaru Liberty GX 1999. Had only done 100,000km and got it from a family friend cheap

 

[RBKSoulja]

Your 300CE sounds fairly decent (that's the 2-door coupe right? Nice - I like 2/3 door cars more than their 4/5 door counterparts), even more so considering you like German cars - if the Kompressor engines hadn't been banned for P-platers, I would be driving our C200. Mercedes are good cars though so you shouldn't have much trouble with it. There's quite few German cars in my family and they've never had any problems

hmmm i agree, coupes look much nicer than the "executive" variations. straight from the factory, the 300ce looks a tad boring, but i bought mine with lowered suspension on the rears with set of 18s needs a paintjob though, replace the rubbers and clean out the rust and all. and its done a fair bit of kms though >< 220-ish

hahaha the reason for my like of german cars is cos we've had an old Passat, 720i and an A6 which were all excellent. Recently (a year and a bit), our family bought a CX9 and a PT Cruiser, the latter which i dont like too much except for its awesome speakers and exterior styling. the CX9 is pretty decent but we still prefer the performance of the german cars as compared to the japanese cars, as my father found out when he was given a Tiida loan car when the Chrysler was being serviced. personally i think japanese cars arent too bad, seeing as ive owned a toyota soarer and driven a 95 civic. the only thing's the engine, which seemingly wears more than european cars do

oh and just one thing totally irrelevant: why are skoda and volvo made jokes of?? ive driven the skoda octavia which seemed fairly nice and some old volvo which was a bit slow but they were ok. any ideas??

 

[David Spade]

rta doesnt give out exemptions anymore

 

[seremify007]

If there's one thing I noticed about German vs. Japanese cars is that the Germans don't tend to sound so powerful on paper/specs but drive alot harder for the same engine CC (but obviously much higher in the price range). Just compare even an old 540i with an equivalent 4L V8 from Holden/Ford and you'll feel the difference. Maybe it's the transmission, weight difference, or some other factor, but it is noticeable. Specs don't say it all.

rta doesnt give out exemptions anymore

How long ago is this? One of my mates bought a 135i on his greens and got one a few weeks back...

 

[David Spade]

i dont know its just what i was told so it probably isnt even true

 

[Bulldog4lyf]

98 Toyota Celica, bug-eyed preferrably.

 

[David Spade]

i just vomitted in my mouth a little

 

[SnowFox]

Might get my step brother to help me get a RX7 :/

 

[Azamakumar]

lol you have a penchant for shit vehicles dont you
have fun replacing seals and shit man

 

[Riet]

this is exactly how rotaries work

 

[SnowFox]

NVM then lol.

 

[Azamakumar]

Nah I reckon they're brilliant cars, just don't be naive about the amount of maintenance they need. I'd get one if I had the time/money

 

[Riet]

They are awesome I fucking love rotaries. Would love an FC. But like I said, that is exactly how they work.

 

[SnowFox]

My step brother buys them cheap, fixes them up, then sells them for a major profit. If something needs replacing, he will buy brand new.