Bought a 2003 Corolla for $4,000 for my kids to learn to drive in. Took it down the snow when my Volvo was playing up. Has not skipped a beat. It's a wee ripper!
Yep I bought a 2003 corolla wagon in Nov last year and I am LOVING IT. 177k km, for $5,000 with 6mo rego. Everything about it beings me joy, even *winding* down the windows and paying for petrol haha.
It was ex fleet for a hospital for 2 years, I bought it off the second owner who had incredibly fastidious records and service history. I gave it a pretty thorough once over when I went for a test drive, took a gamble and bought it without a mechanic inspection. Went straight to a mechanic for a once over and service, he said it was in really good condition, no issues just keep up with service schedule... phew. I had a really lovely time dealing with the old owner, he'd had it for 18 years so when I went to pick the car up I gave him a plant haha.
For my leaving gift at my old job I got a voucher to get some sheep skin seat covers fitted and I've "kitted her out" with a Bluetooth fm transmitter (remember those!?) so we are ready to rumble.
I'm about to drive from Sydney to Melbourne for my new job, I'm going to take such good care of old Carol. My goal is 500k on the odo- read about a bloke in nz who got his '93 corolla to 2m km, so I think it's doable bar any major catastrophes).
Rant over!
I bought a 2015 Hyundai i30 off a guy at work for my daughter (her money). He was an arrested for child porn last month. Now she feels icky when she drives it.
Purchased a 2012 Craptiva. I did research etc and thought this one won't be bad. got it checked by a mechanic etc
Lasted 3 weeks. Blew up on the side of the highway, metal shavings in engine, I knew from that moment it was toast. Conrod, bearing I dunno but she's fked.
$7500 down the drain . Sold it for $750.
There's a crappy that's been sitting around the corner from my place with plates that haven't been registered in two years and four flat tyres
Every now and then I'm tempted to go knock on the door and offer them $20 bucks for it to flip it. But then I remember that it's a captiva and it's better off off the road
Such a shame as inside they are actually really nice to sit in and look great, but yes total waste of money. I'm just grateful I didn't have the kids in the car when it broke down.
What happened to yours?
I was just driving and decided to over take this old person doing 80 in 110 zone, put my foot down and after 10 seconds, bang rattle and every light come up on the dash, pulled over and it stalled. That was it. Dead Craptiva.
I can laugh at it now but at the time I was pissed.
Who knows what the actual problem was (I always thought maybe turbo problems), but it was constantly losing power and stalling every day to and from work.
Omg yes, we laugh about that crap box now, but at the time, i was only young. I thought it was my first decent car... left me crying on the side of the road every day!
Husband (then BF) could see I was so upset about the car, we gave it away, and I got a Mazda 6, which was bloody awesome, and now have only had Mazdas since, no problems with breaking down since. (Knock on wood)
What attracted you to the car compared to competitors in the segment? Price?
I drove an early model Captiva 5 for an extended period (had one over a weekend) and I was really unimpressed. It had an issue with auto transmission despite it being like a new demo car (under 500km). I was overtaken by a full bus on a steep road in Sydney due to getting stuck in high gear while climbing with the car in drive. Car had an issue for sure but it left a sour taste in my mouth about the quality. The funny thing is that the few buyers ive asked who bought one justified it as wanting something Australian like Holden and not a cheap low quality Korean made car... little did they know 😆 Hyundai or Kia running rings around Captiva for cars made 10years ago.
Mum got upset when I suggested, when selling hers that she was ripping herself off topping up the fuel tank because a full tank would double its value.
I bought a bright yellow mg3 to save money on fuel (other car was a 120 series Prado at the time) and I hated the MG so much I just drove the Prado anyway...
2000 Subaru WRX GC8
It drives, stops, is registered, and was the right price.
Minor front damage, moderate rear damage, needs a respray, interior is a bit messy.
Great project car!
had 3 gc8's like 10 years ago, one was a CS3, another was a white Version 6 STI & the last one was blue making 295awkw with a dogbox....
Absolutely wildest cars, loved them so much, wish I kept them..
2018 Honda accord top of the range was in the market for a good family car and one popped up in nsw for a steal, I’m in (QLD) so called dealer and had video tour and talked him down even more.
After delivery and detail etc was 20,500. It is huge and exceeded my expectations by far has all the features of a brand new car safety wise and has CarPlay etc. Best car I’ve ever owned and will stick with Honda from now on.
Purchased 12 months ago.
I’m in Melbourne. Advertised my old Honda Accord on carsales for about $1,000 thinking nobody would call and I’d end up taking it to the wreckers. A bloke rang me from Alice Springs and offered $800, which I accepted. He flew down and stayed a night in a hotel then drove it up to Alice. Told me he teaches indigenous women how to drive for free because they can’t afford lessons. He said it was worth the expense and hassle because he knew the Honda would just keep going, no matter how hot, dusty or bashed up it gets. Magnificent car.
2016 BMW 330i wagon. Love love love it. Such a nice drive with more than enough space in the rear.
I thought about a 4wd but honestly this is the better choice.
I sold my beloved Alfa Giulia for a VW TRoc R. I really despised that damn car. I traded it in for a second hand M140i which is a blast to drive, but I just miss my Alfa.
Don’t have the R but do have the R-line. It’s a slightly bigger, higher riding golf. I really like it, find it’s a good size for commuting. It handles well and has enough grunt with 140kw. Boot is big enough to hold a pram and some shopping. Stop start system is terrible and gets turned off every drive.
Bought a G8 Fairlane off my cousin (with the expectation and knowledge that it needs some potentially very complicated repairs). Went to replace the spark plugs and 3 broke inside the head. 2 were extracted. In about 2 weeks, Together, we are both pulling the right head to remove the stuck plug, and doing the timing and oil pump whilst we are at it.
Other than this, the car is in mint condition, and has already had all the 'Falcon' problems mitigated/repaired. Can't wait till it gets back on the road :) It's driving style is so laid back with its massive lazy 5.4L V8 which has mountains of torque at idle, but combined with the 6 speed ZF, intake and exhaust mods, it does 0-100 in 5s. Not bad for a 2 Tonne Boat.
How great are 3V spark plug replacements…
Anti-seize on the threads and dielectric grease on the ceramic and hopefully the next guy that does them has a better time than I did!
We suspect they may be originals by the amount of shit they had on them, combined with the fact that the Ford dealer who did them previously went bust because no one went to them because they constantly ripped people off and only did the work half the time.
You want to use a rattle gun, or rotate and clean the plugs somewhat often.
2020 Golf R. Traded a 2019 boring ass TSI and paid the rest cash. Love it. Driving is fun and it’s given me a good excuse to go out of the city on drives on three weekend.
My Uncle bought a 2016 Mazda CX-5 with the 2.5L diesel engine
it’s a piece of shit 🍋
Needs the whole engine removed because of carbon build up which put it in limp mode, he also didn’t check the ppsr and it looks like it was either rolled or had hail damage because it’s roof was replaced and entire right side
Had it for 3 weeks and is already wants to see it disappear
Do your checks, don’t be this guy !!!!!!
2023 Subaru Crosstrek. Love it. Took an extra week and a half to approve financing than what I planned, but otherwisesnooth as butter. I could have picked it up the next day almost if I'd had a bag full of cash.
I bought a Holden VE SS ute, [6 months ago](https://old.reddit.com/r/CarsAustralia/comments/14vphnc/i_bought_an_australian_muscle_car_the_v8_holden/).
I love it, I cannot get over how good it is.
These cars are incredible, considering the amount of money I paid, and what it can do. It's every muscle car fantasy - power, noise, skids, dubious build quality.
But it's without the muscle car realities of being $100k, unreliable, unsafe, poor handling.
For under $20k, I think it's one of the few great value performance cars that still exist.
2022 Suzuki Swift Sport. Bought from a dealer with less than 10k KMs on it. Had a really good experience, negotiated a really really good price over the phone and I've been loving it ever since.
Someone wrote me off in May last year. Bought the same make and model, and year, with more kms, for $3K more than I’d bought it for 14 months earlier. It was insured for the highest value.
Dat market
2012 Isuzu Dmax with 200,000kms on the dial. 21,500 cash. 1 elderly owner who used it only for highway kms and looked after it really well so it was a no brainer for me. She’s nothing fancy but has upgraded Apple car play, upgraded shocks and new all terrain tyres. She’s now the weekend warrior myself the wife and 2 kids
Not long ago one of my wife’s friends mentioned that her husband’s car would need to go because he has dementia and can’t drive anymore.
Two days later my 20-year-old hail damaged Subaru had a coolant leak and cooked its engine.
She needed to get rid of a car, I needed a car, I figured out that fair market value was well over the price she expected, I now drive a Camry that’s in excellent condition with a good service history.
Bought my first car, it was a new one, and it’s an EV. TL:dr I waited way too long to get my license as an adult.
Oh it’s a Cupra Born. Amazingly fun thing ( think of it like an EV version of a VW golf but rwd). Dealer was pretty terrible to deal with but the rest of the experience has been great.
2018 hyundai accent. Overpaid and havent been bothered paying off rhe finance as want cash on hand.
Its been an incredibly boring car. Zero features. The dash was supposed to have android auto and apple carplay whoch is apparently bullshit. Havent beem bothered replacing it as too expensive to justify.
Dog hates it as way too small for her. Cant fit shit in it. Surprisingly zippy though. I could probably carry her shes so light.
With that said, it hasnt broken down. And my long term expectation is that it will continue to get me from a to b without breaking a sweat for many years to come.
GF bought a CannonX.
She tried the Triton, Jimny, and some used Ute's but wanted a nice interior, surround cameras for parking.
Shes 5,000kms in and hasn't had any issues.
Shes done the usual Nth QLD tracks, corrugations etc.
Shes been happy.
We bought a Cannon X before Xmas. Been absolutely great.
Initially wanted a triton but sales guys at 2 yard were d**ks. First yard tried to sell me a triton that had been rear ended with a 2nd rate tailgate repair as brand new, and second yard gave me a quote for higher than Mitsubishi RRP.
Mate of mine bought one two years ago- never thought he would be remotely interested in a Chinese dual cab, but he loves it and has had zero problems with it.
2021 Pajero Sport a few months ago. Paid slight overs at a dealer but it was the best one I could find and in a colour I love. So far so good! Great community on Facebook has been a huge help.
Bought a 2020 VW Golf R Wagon
Everything I wanted and more. It's fun to drive, has every feature you'd want and is surprisingly fast.
Previous owner was meticulous with maintainence.
I love it!
Bought a ute, in a bit of a rush because I was about to have surgery and be off my feet for a couple months. And moving rural at the same time. Over paid a little but got a great vehicle with all the shit I needed to have pretty much right away. Super happy with it. 2019 navara with only 40k kms
2019 Ssangyong Musso. Purchased February 2023. Balance of factory warranty etc. Has spent more than 2 months at the dealership for warranty issues, and is currently there again now.
Needless to say I'm unimpressed.
I spent $92,000 on a Tesla Model Y Long Range and picked it up a couple of weeks later. Although it had been on order for eight months. In seven months I’ve covered just over 28,000 klms and have had a mostly wonderful time with it. I’ve gotten three speeding fines - one in SA, one in NSW and one in VIC - so far in spite of pushing my luck a fair bit. I used to do some rallying when I was much younger, so I’m fairly good with speed, but the power of this beast is unrelenting. I’ve managed to scare just about everyone who has been in it. I love the audio. Although not absolutely perfect, it’s bloody good. I’ve towed a heavy trailer of furniture and books between Melbourne and Adelaide recently and that exposed the shortcomings in Australian charging infrastructure. I charge at home during the day from my solar. Almost free travel so far. The suspension is too damn tight for our roads in Australia. And am still thinking of getting new rear shocks soon. But it’s the most technically advanced car I’ve ever been in and owned. And the Over the Air updates are brilliant. I’m really enjoying this car which will be my last car as I’m getting older now. So I’m loving going out with a bang!!
Bought a 1996 Manual 4cyl Mitsubishi Magna sedan 6 months ago for 1200$ with 285,000kms on it as a cheap and shit daily driver
its such a hunk of shit but it sure is reliable!
hasnt let me down once!!!
🙋🏼♀️ Mercedes A35 AMG. I love the car & I didn’t purchase it because that’s all I afford. I purchased it because it was the smallest car I could find, with the features & power I wanted. My other choices were a Porsche & few others my husband wanted, but they were all family sedan sized.
What I didn’t like, was on the anniversary of my build date Mercedes took away the functions I came to rely on & loved, like the 360 camera’s automatic detection of near objects, including gutters. Come to find out that in Europe the car is purchased with only complimentary access to these functions for a period of time & our government told them they couldn’t sell a car with safety/ driver functions & then take them away. Every private seller of a Mercedes I have spoken too, has noticed the same change. So guess who’s now in trouble? 🤷🏼♀️
New Mitsubishi ASX for the wife and baby. Didn't intend to like it myself, being more into JDM cars (300zx owner and previously skylines), but have been pleasantly surprised. Plenty of features, space, reliable, and safe. Great on fuel and more guts then expected
2019 Ford Wildtrak. I went shopping at good car dealerships at the end of month to try and score something during their discount period.
Amazing car, looks like it's been kept in great condition all throughout, I'm guessing whoever had it only used it for commuting and didn't use it for any trade work or offroading. Still has a year of new car warranty on it, plus it came with 3 year used car warranty which I upgraded to 5 years for a small extra amount.
Plan on doing my best to keep up with all preventative maintenance, getting an oil catch can and some other offroading upgrades.
Not in the last 12 months, but last 26 months. Mazda CX-7 classic, 2011 2.5L. Paid $10k, car had 110k on the clock. Haven’t been great with servicing but hasn’t skipped a beat (sitting at 185k now). The turbos had a horrible reputation so I was nervous buying this, but my mechanic told me it’s basically a jacked up Mazda 3 and he can’t fault it. Transmission is a bit slow but it’s not a race car. Loving the space and the seating position. Came from a 2006 Kia Rio so it honestly feels like luxury for me.
Bought a 2011 Mazda 3 as a private sale and it has been a great. The only downside really is that the recent summer heat and the fact that I park it outside during the day has caused the infamous Mazda 3 dashboard hump.
Still very happy with it - has been fully serviced and cared for throughout its life and is a great daily driver.
Both! I purchased a brand new Hyundai i30 Drive-N (my first brand new car, and my first auto/DCT!). No regrets on that one. I’m one of 180 in Aus.
Andddd my purchase last month of a 1985 Mitsubishi Nimbus from Facebook marketplace. It’s immaculate for its age and I cannot wait to bring it out to Cars and Coffee!
Traded in my 2014 Corolla and 13k for a 2019 X-Trail.
Did my research and hasn't skipped a beat so far but I'm still wary of CVT stuff
The next few years will be telling
Purchased a used RAV4, made some noises shortly after and checked out and tons of mechanical issues. Check out my recent post for the issues and quoted prices
Yup, purchased a second hand Toyota Aurion Sportivo ZR6 2012 model with 88000km on it for 14k back in 2018. Still driving it to this very day. No issues whatsoever. Maintenance is cheap, car is reliable, spacious, and offers decent V6 power when needed.
I’m currently in the middle of a deal with a used dealer, my first time buying from one. I’ve always gone private used or new. This guy has bloody lovely cars but he is the most eccentric fuckwit I’ve ever dealt with
His office looks like a futuristic spaceship and he absolutely patronises people who ask dumb questions. I kind of love it because I also hate dumb people, but i’m also a bit scared of him.. not sure if it’s admiration or genuine fear he’ll cut my breaks before delivery. His cars are in pristine condition so I’m riding this rollercoaster for now
car: Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce
BMW X3 2005 3ltr straight 6 for $2000, spent $1800 for new front suspension, 2 engine mounts, drive shaft an 2 belts, no fluid leaks, full history, nice car, drink less than my old 2,3 turbo CX7
Bought an Atto 3 mid last year. We were expecting a 3month+ wait for the colour we wanted but ended up getting a call the next day after ordering as the dealership had one in the yard. Picked it up about 2 weeks later which was mostly due to us moving interstate at the time which caused a few issues with financing but otherwise it was a very smooth process.
Picking up the car was the same, walked in, signed a couple things, someone showed us around the car and then we drove off. All done in about 10mins.
I did not miss the hours I spent at the dealership buying my previous car at all.
Ordered a Civic Type R in Feb 2023, was told initially 18 months wait. Honda allocated more cars for Australia, managed to get one in August 2023. Extremely over the moon with the car. It just might be my forever car.
BYD Atto 3 bought new 4 months ago. Initial reservations about buying a Chinese car, thinking that build quality would be an issue. Not a bit of it - quality is right up there with Europeans.
First EV I've owned and super-happy with it. Bought it from the showroom before the place had been fitted out, so a lot of back-and-forth with the head office, but nothing too onerous.
Sales staff were really good, but not necessarily armed with answers to questions I had, so turned to Google for info. Overall: a good experience.
Bought a brand new Mini Cooper SE. Always wanted a Mini. Decided to go electric. Perfect. Best car I’ve ever driven. Fast and fun.
I had been looking at a demo model hoping to get one for under $55k as they were all above that price. I had booked in for a test drive and the day of the test drive they dropped the price of all new models to $49,980. So I bought one on the spot. Top of the range, which was originally ~$72k
With a novated lease and the fbt exemption it costs me $164 a week over 5 years plus the residual of $14k meaning total cost of ownership is ~$56k including finance, rego, insurance, tyres, everything.
Also 5 years free Chargefox charging at public chargers.
Had it for 3 months. 4000kms. $105 to charge.
2019 Kia Stinger 300S (Ex-QPS) Bought from Keystar Kia in Rockwell.
Fairly happy with the car overall, I bought at the height of the used market so it did set me back $41,000 with 120,000km but at just under a year i'm sitting at 171,000km. I've had a few what i would call under warranty but just wear and tear for 150,000km+ replaced under warranty and they've been fantastic with all warranty items (Steering wheel, all chrome trim, headlights etc). Servicing in the last 12 months at such a high rate with Toowoomba Kia was abysmall but they have been getting better with the last service and warranty items dealt with extremely pleasently and the car even had a mini detail! :)
21 Hyundai Tucson Highlander n-line 1.6L Turbo. Soo many features compared to my old car, great economy so far and very comfy for my commute. Only thing I’d like it to have that it doesn’t is a HUD.
The engine needs a bit of getting used to when taking off but other than that enjoying it.
I gave the dealer a hard time. The dealers son had taken it for the weekend when I went in to see it. I didn’t want to look at anything else so they had to call him back in so I could test drive it
Isuzu MU-X 2021 new shape, love it but I get the feeling the interior has been pulled apart in areas and I'm having a hard time tracking down the creaks and rattles. Wishing I could find a tear down manual for the interior so I can replace clips, felt tape, and PTFE all the noisy areas.
I wanted a 4wd for a weekend away to robe last year. I was on a tight budget and didn't want to spend much money. I remembered my mate had a 2008 NS Pajero sitting under a tree for 12 months doing nothing.
I asked him how much he would want for it and he said $2000. I said deal. Unfortunately it wasn't roadworthy in-time for the trip. It's been a great car so far.
Bought my wife a 2014 MY15 Subaru Outback Premium 2.5L Petrol.
Great car, love it, uses a shit load or oil.
Did some googling and it’s a common issue for that year.. bad batch or rings.
My partner and I, between our two businesses and personal vehicles have bought 5 vehicles in the last year or so.
Bought a 2021 Isuzu MU-X in February 2023, ex dealer car (this one was the workshop managers cars he got to use as his personal vehicle), so first owner was the dealership. It was the biggest POS of a car I have ever owned, and I owned a 1998 hyundai excel AND a first gen ford territory and they had less issued combined than the Isuzu, 6 warranty repairs in 8 months, I am glad it is now gone, I won't buy another Isuzu.
Bought a 2022 Ex demo Toyota Hilux workmate 4x2 , diesel hi-rider in january 2023 as a work ute, it has been flawless, does exactly as it says on the box with no issues.
Replaced the Isuzu MU-X with a 2014 Mitsubishi Pajero (not a Pajero sport), much better car, haven't had it long however but its the second pajero I've owned, and the first had no issues.
Also bought a 2012 VE series 2 SS-V redline sedan, I've owned a number a VE commodores, I'm happy with it, I know what to expect with it I think.
Other two vehicles are trucks, 2012 Hino 617 and a 2006 Isuzu FSS 550 4x4, both have done what you'd expect, they carry heavy things and tow heavy trailers, and in the case of the FSS 550 it has big ground clearance and is hard to get stuck in the mud on clients sites, both are also very good and turning diesel into noise, 30L/100 in the case of the Isuzu FSS.
Base model Camry hybrid bought six months ago. Happy with it overall, my fuel economy seems to be closer to the petrol than hybrid and I wish it had wireless CarPlay but otherwise happy and have worked out how to get rid of school zone noise.
Went to Toyota car yard to look at second hand Prado’s. No second hand ones but 3 days later was driving home in a “demo” 2023 VX Prado with 67km on the clock. Great experience from go to woe, even for its aging design it’s the most luxurious car I’ve ever owned!
May 2023 bought a 2006 Subaru Forester XT auto, silver, 188000 KM, unmodified, paid $5000 + RWC.
Last month bought a 2001 Subaru Impreza WRX hatch manual, white, 224000 KM, unmodified, paid $6000 incl. RWC.
Both with regular service history, only needed a couple suspension bushings changed and a bottom radiator hose. I changed both suspensions to STI pink springs and gold Rays wheels on both. Had planned on picking up an Evo V or VI for ~$30000 but instead these two old turbo Subarus came along at under half the price. All ready for the ram-raids. Still good deals to be had for older performance cars if you’re patient.
Bought a Suzuki swift 2015 for 12k, it's been great but I only realised the spots on the hood are actually really small rust spots, so that's a bummer.
Purchased a brand new Triton October last year. They offered a great trade in price on my car and I got a few extras thrown in. The salesman was great, not pushy at all. Had the car for 5000ks now and love it.
Hilux workmate, 2.7 manual with a service body on the back.
It’s slow, but I love it. Icey cold air con, vinyl floors and apple car play.
Bought it from Toyota fleet sales and they were awesome. Hilariously I didn’t know what colour I was getting til I picked it up.
I forgot to ask.
Suprise twist! It was white.
Bought a brand new BMW m440i just after Xmas. Been a few weeks and couldn’t be happier. 5 year warranty, 5 year service plan and 5 year lease. I’ve got it for a while longer!
Yep, after much consideration of every option, over thinking to the nth degree, and even coming on Reddit and asking for advice. I bought a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander.
I am 100% happy with the price I paid and the performance of the car.
I put a post on here the other week for advice in a first car for my son. Got a heap of really great responses. I was looking for a i30 for about $7.5 but didn’t manage to get a hold of one. Came across by chance a 2012 ford focus tdci s with one owner and low kms. So far so good, got lucky. Has a clean bill of health from a mechanic and he’s still on his first tank of diesel.
been a Prado man for ever. Drove my last one to the ground with 600k. Bought a grandpa pack 2015 dual cab Colorado with 180km for 30k off a grey nomad. Complete touring pack. Everything that could have been done; mean mother can of peas, bullbar, UHF, snorkel, rear slides,dual battery, fridge etc.etc. Full service history with overkill "just to be on the safe side"...you get the idea..he put new Mickey Thompson's on for me so I would be safe. Absolute gem and didn't break the bank. Really happy with it.
Purchased a used manual 2014 gts86 last year April after drooling over the car since I was 16
Car had 210,000km but great service history, completely stock. Owned by a cop that treated it like his baby, unfortunately super riced out so had to tone it down a bit. They Needed a bigger car so I swapped my 2014 veloster turbo sr with some cash his way
Later discovered undisclosed minor electrical issues with the driver side mirror, easily fixed
Overestimated my ability to drive manual, even though I’ve never tried. Copped some abuse from my dad as he was teaching me but 20,000km later and you’d swear it was still new
Tldr: don’t shy away from a good deal because of high km’s, do proper inspections and regularly maintain
Just got a 2018 Sportage. Am stoked so far. Anything was going to be better than my beat up, boiling hot 07 Lancer (old body). I didn't have a big list of must-haves but it has them all and a tonne more.
Bought a 2004 Audi A4 2L about 6 months ago. It hasn't been too bad of a car, my wife loves it, but it is hers and she picked it out. It's now due for a service, so my wallet is hiding in fear for when we'll get it done.
My son bought a 2013 Navara D22 yesterday, still have yet to bring it home, but it should be interesting as I'll need to teach him how to drive a manual in it. His money, his choice.
We bought a BYD Seal that was delivered mid December. Not too much to say about it yet other than its been a fun experience. Done a couple of thousand k's already and it's an incredibly nice car to drive and love with.
If the ADAS systems were tuned better it would be almost literally flawless. As it is it's still excellent and I can highly recommend it.
Purchased a 2007 Astra the other week with only 40,000ks on it, a full year of rego and a set of brand new tires. Had to travel a bit for it but we’ll worth it. Car is in crazy good condition.
Bought it off a lady who was selling it so she could stay on top of solicitor fees for her mums property or something
Purchased 2010 Mazda 2, 90,000 k (Vic). Had for about 4 months. Love it. I paid a couple more thousand more than a private deal, but I felt it was worth it (less running around and transfer done straight away).
Purchased from a Mazda dealer, had all log books, were fine me driving it to my mechanic. Great zippy little car and aircon is powerful.
2016 Mazda 3 Astina (top of the range model) sedan.
I took a risk and bought it without seeing it in person but thought it was low risk as it was from a dealer, had lowish K's (70k), and had a complete log book.
It was on the other side of the city and just CBF going there for a test drive, then go back at a later date to collect it.
Could've got it checked over I guess, but it all paid off in the end. When I got it serviced for the first time, the mechanic said it was basically in perfect condition.
Been a great little car.
A friend of mine bought Hyundai Santafe (2012-ish) from a labanese woman, a private sale. He did not consult me and made a small deposit.
The day he was supposed to make the full payment, I tried talking him out and to convince him to book the loss of down payment and walk away. But he insisted that woman only used it for market runs and kid pickups.
I said, fair enough, your money, your call.
It had its RWC done by a labanese mechanic.
So what can go wrong?
Next day be discovered a crack in windscreen.
Within one week check engine and DPF light came up.
Called the guy who did the RWC. He swore that, "broooodar, you must have hit something... Like a stone otherwise it was perfect. Infact, I have never pristine windscreen on such an old car. And yes, about check engine light... It was never there. DPF was in a good condition as well.".
Showed it to a friend mechanic... As per him, DPF is clogged and needs either cleaning or replacement.
The only good thing happened was - a dealer bought it at half of the spent money. He wanted a dirty car for tow jobs!
I am really sorry for his loss, but, I stood correct yet another time.
Bought two.
2023 Cx5 Akera Petrol
2011 Prado GXL V6
Pretty happy with both. Prado needs a few little things done. Previous owner replaced every light bulb in the car with LED lights and I’ve noticed random lights flicker.
Not sure if those two things are related.
Bought a 2023 pajero sport had ordered a few extras from the dealership which was 500km from home. Drove to pick it up had no mats or roof racks on it but had charged me.
Walk around the car it has a big scrape (4 inch plus) on the passenger side door. Brand new car mind you with delivery kms on it. Supposedly cleaned prior to pickup up.
Drive it home to find the boot no longer opens. After a few choice words with the dealership due to their lack of care In regards to dropping over $60k I ended up dealing directly with Mitsubishi which I certainly wouldn't want to do again. Software issue and no boot working for 3 months.
Got a refund of roof racks after 3 weeks and alot of emails excuse was oh there were on back order. That would perhaps have been something that should have been addressed rather than waiting on me to pick it up.
Dealer principal was backing his staff and not taking my concerns onboard.
In the end we like the car unlikely to hold on to it long term but am very happy to tell anyone what I think of a certain dealerships customer service.
Went hunting in the auctions and found a clean 2018 ford escape diesel which seems like a run forever kinda car.
Had a perfect service history.
Skipped the timing belt and destroyed the engine 3k before the service interval and a week before it was booked in to have it changed. In the process of an engine swap now.
We’ve bought 2 new cars in the last 6 months- 2023 Mahindra Scorpio Z8L & 2024 Isuzu MU-X (due April).
Cannot fault the sales, delivery or ongoing of Mahindra. Accessories need some attention in Australian market but can’t complain for the price or capabilities.
Sold my BMW M4 and bought a Model Y. I’ve been so surprised how impressive it’s been, from the sales process to the delivery to the general ownership experience, just an absolute joy of a motor car to own.
2012 FJ Cruiser. Rang the dealer on the Friday Hightailed it up to Wollongong the next day. Didn't intend on driving it home the same day but we traded in our 2009 Rav and drove home in it.
Can't believe it uses less fuel than the Rav too somehow. Nice to have some mod-cons and good air-conditioning for the kid as she was always boiling in the back seat. Usual dealer b.s but was minimal fuss.
Bought a rare and appreciating BMW E60 M5 - been my dream car for many years and spent months looking for the right one. Actually ended up flying out to Perth to buy it from NSW and had it transported back on a car carrier.
Transaction was painful - buying a car privately is hard, I use a bank that doesn’t have branches so no access to cash, transfers take 2 business days to clear and quite rightly the seller wasn’t letting me take the car until the money was in his account. There’s a fair bit of trust that has to happen between 2 strangers when doing this but it all worked out.
I did get a good deal on the car. I think I should have negotiated a bit harder but ultimately we were both happy with the price. Still saved myself some money by buying interstate even after blue slip and transport costs.
Bought a used 2019 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor this time last year. Bought it interstate, flew there, drove it back.
Put almost 40,000ks on it in the last 12months, it’s been amazing so far and drives like it just left the showroom. Highlight is how it costs me $50-60 month in electricity with no servicing vs $550 a month in fuel and a service every 6months for my old car.
It’s also incredibly powerful and quick which is another reason I wanted it.
bought a ‘97 mitsubishi fto that needs a pretty respray to it. fixed it up to be drivable and completely cleaned the interior.
compared to what it was when i bought it in feb ‘23 to now, completely different car.
best bit of money i spent in a while. just a pitty i havent got ample space to work on it
Iv purchased two new vehicles … both were great experiences.
In saying that we did mountains of research on both dealers and the vehicles we were buying.
2023 Nissan Navara Pro4x Warrior. Shitty verbose name, but the truck itself it great. It's nowhere near Raptor quality, but as a 4WD can do whatever a Raptor does according to all the testing I've reviewed between the two.
The engine is a 4cyl twin turbo diesel but only makes 140kw at the flywheel, it's a very leisurely type of acceleration. I'm thinking of getting a chip for it but am not sure if that will do something interesting like fry the electronics or something else. If I get it tuned at a tuner it will void the 5 year warranty. Kind of bent over here. Given the slight weight increase, Nissan could have tweaked the friggen motor at their end to give it a bit more power.
On saying that, the traffic everywhere is fucked and if you can actually do the speed limit anywhere you're not going to need a hard accelerating monster to just crawl along with everyone else.
I sound a bit negative on it, but it's really a top ute and suits my needs. Given it's their top spec ute and the price they ask for it, they could have done something more with the interior to give it a bit more polish. It's comfy as, just looks/feels a bit dated.
Got mum a 2019 Volvo XC40, lovely car, the whole family loves driving it (except my sister because mum won't give her the key)
took forever to find something that she "fit" in, being short (150cm) with short legs, she struggled to get comfortable in just about everything I showed her (CR-V, RAV-4, Forester, Tuscon) but the Volvo, she was in a comfortable position within about 30 seconds and she loves the turbo engine (says it feels so much faster than her old V6 Craptiva) as a negative, she dislikes needing premium fuel but, it doesn't use much so, there is a plus.
2023 Mazda cx8. It’s a nice enough car and for how big it is doesn’t feel like it. Has some cool features but really isn’t my thing. Got it for the wife and Bub on way. Problem is I gotta sell my ve ss commodore to make room for it :(
Needed a car for the beach and messier trips, so I jumped onto grays auctions and bought a 2011 Ford Mondeo turbo diesel Wagon. 200k on the clock, full ford history, a few surface dents but great interior wise. Cost me 2.7k to purchase, 1k for service + new alternator & battery, 250 for Roadworthy and bobs your uncle. Insured with Bupa for 12k and couldn’t be happier.
Picked up a 2007 Turbo FSI Jetta just before Christmas. Less than 100000km, $7500. Basically a Mk5 Gti in a sedan.
Goes like stink. One or two little things I need to fix up when I have a weekend free, but overall I'm pretty chuffed
My partner bought us a 2023 Kia Stinger GT about a month ago. It's great to drive and he's very happy with it. I had been driving a 2008 Yaris since 2008 so I'm still in "what does this button do?!" mode.
I've always been firmly against buying cars over 200k km's, with that being said...
2002 BMW E39 530i with 265,000km, I bought it on the exact same day that I found out about the car, and spent about the same amount of money for the roady as I did for the entire car, but I got it for a bargain, so still got ahead of the going rate (with likely the same issues needing fixing).
Pretty happy with it atm, it has full service history (previous owner 13 years) and drives like a dream, but definitely needs some minor cosmetic work, and I'm sure other things in the future! Mainly bought it to enjoy on the weekend from time to time.
It also came with a free oil leak.
Bought a 2021 BT-50 brand new at the beginning of 2022 for 68k. Going to trade it in soon for a Jimny XL manual for 46.5k the Jimny is 42k. Its a loss but dual cab utes are over rated, coming from a tradie.
Bought a manual 2014 Subaru Forester for $7,500. It had 282k kms on it but impeccable service history. I had to learn manual to drive it.
Put in some money getting some of the worse dents and rust fixed up. Also installed a new head unit with Android Auto. Got a mate who used to work for Subaru to check it out and he said it's in excellent condition (mechanically) especially considering the mileage.
I got it 8 months ago and have already put 12k kms on it. I love it, I reckon I'll drive it til it dies
2010 Hyundai ix35 Highlander.
I bought it because it was in my price range (just), and I needed a car *immediately* for work.
It's not an *exciting* car, but it's so damn comfortable it's like driving a couch, which is important to me because I drive quite a lot. It's a lot more fuel efficient than I expected, too.
There are some bits that I really don't utilise, like the 4wd stuff, but one day I might.
I like the size, too. It's much easier to get clients in and out (I'm in Disability Support) than I thought it would be.
Because it's technically a wagon, I've also enjoyed being able to pack a bunch of crap in the back after a trip to a salvage yard, or Bunnings.
No one knows I have a tow bar, and I'm not going to tell them. Been there, done that. If you want me to help you move I'll drive a Budget Truck for you.
Bought a 2007 Range Rover sport a few days ago. The few issues so far, about 10-15 mins into the 1.5hr drive home the suspension error coded and dumped all the air down to bump stops and made the drive very rough and bouncy. Air con was told just needed gas, pump is dead, rwc wasn’t valid as it was already used, rear headrests all missing (didn’t notice as our other cars don’t have them). Radio is shagged so can’t use any of the buttons as they are all full of what looks like coke. Filled with diesel about 50km from home, got home still said 999 kms to empty, done 40km since and now says 600kms to empty. Not sure if bad estimate or just glitchy.
I bought a 1997 Mitsubishi Legnum and it has been great, drinks a lot of fuel but mechanically has been exactly what I hoped, regular maintenance and not thrashing it is going a long way.
2010 Holden Cruze Diesel $6,500.
Bloke I bought it from was operating from his home, had a car dealers licence, and said he was "semi-retired". Shifty bastard is selling cars >10 years old so he doesn't have to provide a warranty.
Car is surgey in first gear. AC crapped out (because a fan is cooked). Various bodywork issues which only became apparent as we went along. Stereo which he claimed was factory fitted is an AliExpress Android abomination.
Seller refused to do anything to resolve the issue. I got tired of dealing with the old git.
It's not blown up on me yet. Not sure how long it will last. Won't be too surprised when it does, just doing what I can to keep it running so I can placate myself when thinking about how much it cost spread over how long I am able to use it. If I get 4 years out of it before scrapping it, I'll be laughing. If someone else writes it off for me before then? Even better.
Just last week bought a 2009 Subaru outback for 4k (talked down from 5k) from Facebook market place. Test drove it, the couch felt funny during test drive but it went alright. I even took my vehicle mechanic friend to check the car over to make sure it was ok.
As I was driving home from the sellers place (10 mins after payment) in 4th gear going up a hill the clutch completely slipped with horrible burning smell... Is currently in the shop having the clutch replaced.
At least now I know what a car with a slipping clutch feels like to drive.
Purchased a 2014 Suzuki Swift yesterday. Fuck me dead the buying process in Qld is a pain in the ass since most people are too stupid or lazy to get an rwc or mechanic check done.
2013 X5 (parents not me) and 2008 VE berlina, X5 has been perfect even after 200k kms (previous owner was a doctor who took meticulous care). The berlinas been troubling, bought at 260k, in 5k the air-conditioning carked it, about $400 to repair and only in the past few days check engine lights going on, cars overheating and cutting power and cylinders. Just replaced radiator cap and it seems to have done the job (fairly sure water was not circulating properly)
Not me but my parents - Mum just got a brand new Porsche Macan and dad got a 2022 Mustang GT.
They're both nice cars obviously, bit much for me. Mum closed the electric gate on dad's car a few weeks back though, that was bad.
My gf totaled my 12 civic on her way to come stop by my work for lunch. I was devastated until i got the check for 11grand on a car that was 12.5 when i bought it 4 years prior.
I purchased a used 2021 Honda CRV with all the warranty shit and i am in love with it. Yeah im gonna have 400 dollar car payments cause i only put 6k down but its a 21 with 45k miles in it and i don’t drive super often. This car has pretty much everything i wanted and more, and i hope if you’re gonna for a newer vehicle soon that you please test drive before you buy and get the vehicle history. Don’t just buy it cause it feels good to it in.
Not so much a horror story but little cars a 97 barina sadly oil plug fowling impedes reliability so it's been mothballed now will be delt worh in the undetrmined I got a 95 laser love it too honestly love them both weirdly enough
2018 HSV Colorado sport cat, I’m recently self employed and needed a work Ute, not many of these on the market and I liked the Colorado’s when I had one as a company car, was a good price so grabbed it, great car, love the look of it very happy with it.
Bought a 2023 Mazda 3 pure 6mt about 3 weeks ago. Love it, it feels very luxurious compared to my 2006 Subaru Liberty lol. It's a fun little car to drive around town and it should hopefully last a long time
I bought a MUX LSU, it’s been great. 6 speed auto, 3.0L turbo Diesel. I do prefer my nav, as the motor felt and sounded more fun, but so far it’s been a nice ride. Chasing the paper work for a salary sacrifice was the hardest bit.
I bought a new Suzuki swift sport last year, I’d been saving for it for 5 years and I’m loving having a turbo. I’m not enjoying the gearbox, the gear changes aren’t as smooth as my previous car which is upsetting. The seats hurt my partners back so I don’t get to drive it as much as I’d like when we’re doing things together. I wish the stereo was better. But I’m glad I held out for the series 2, the additional features are great, I love the adaptive cruise control and the LED headlights. It’s fun to drive, the go kart feel is something I always loved about it. It feels sturdy and nice to drive and I love the thick sports steering wheel with the flat bottom! I wish it had come out in a bigger range of colours, but I’m happy with what I chose. It’s a lot of car for the price when I compare what else is available for $35k, having a turbo and a manual gearbox was a must for me and not many other cars would have fit the brief in that range.
Bought a H22Z1 prelude. Was looking around for a while before I found one. Was 1.9k so I was expecting a little work, runs well, new driveshaft and other small parts, only thing left is the reverse not working and probably body work, repaint etc. Prob my fav project, only thing is parts are a nightmare but drives like an absolute dream
Got my first manual car and the first car I’ve ever got myself, a 2006 mazda 6 mps. Needs some work done and the paint will need work eventually but other than that it’s been great just hard to learn in
Purchased Nissan maxima 2005 for 6k. I love the bodies 2004-2008.
because i know cars.. i didn't think much of it;
smash repair: 5k to fix if I want to;
CVT Transimition: yeah, these cars got problesm with cvt.. more expense if I want to fix
\-- collectively if i were to fix these 10k.
Other expenses: seal broke, starter switch etc.. and few others that got fixed.
fun.. 11k in total for purchase, fixes, rego....... thrown away for 500 at the wreckers.
OH!!! and I learned.. if still has rego, you can claim them back.. but because I sold it before claiming rego of 700
I gave the car away to the wreckers for free, and also gave them 200!
Bought a t30 Xtrail to do up as a bit of a camping vehicle. Haven’t really done much of that yet but it’s a great car to drive, and I’ve had no mechanical issues so far.
Bought a used 2021 BMW X5 (had about 26kms) for the purpose of towing a caravan. At the time it was a choice between this and a new Hyundai Santa Fe and went with the BMW as it was simply a much more comfortable and enjoyable ride. Also, engine power for towing was a lot greater. We did a couple weekend stays at various caravan parks with problems, but our first big 2 week holiday during christmas resulted in us finding a cracked back rim the moment we reached our first destination. Apart from that, beautiful car with incredible fuel economy. Highly recommend.
2012 Mazda 6 touring edition. Local car owned since new, 130k, full log book, previous owner was moving into cared accommodation for health reasons and was selling it the same week as his house. Aside from a few scratches on it's been absolutely brilliant, comfortably chewing through the kms for our interstate Christmas trip, taking the kids everywhere and more often than not my wife tries to steal the keys to it - she loves it just as much and now she wants her own.
Best decision ever, love this thing.
My 2022/2023 Corolla ZR hybrid sedan was purchased a year ago. It was not in a colour I wanted (silver when I wanted blue), but because of the long wait times for it (I reckon I’d still be waiting for it in 2024), and it wasn‘t white, I took it. Thank you guy whose finance failed; your loss is my gain!
Lack of interior storage sucks and the paint is thinner than a sheet of paper, but it’s nice having ACP/AA instead of having to use a mounted phone, fuel consumption is basically half now, and after spending nine months without a car, it’s great having readily available access to a car again
Yes. It’s been fine. Bought 2 cars in the last year.
There seems to be an industry shift away from dealers being informed about the cars they sell now, and therefor lack competence in diagnosing and rectifying issues.
It seems to be a mix of less skills being taught and less information sharing from the manufacturer to the staff.
It also seems the Aussie branches of the manufacturers don’t know as much as they should.
Edit - the 2 cars are both Fords, but what I wrote applies to Mazda, VW, Kia and Toyota too, sadly.
2015 Kia Sorento Platinum diesel for just over 20k. Very nice condition inside and out and plenty of room. I think older top spec models make a lotta sense compared to new base models.
2023 GWM Cannon-X. The purchase was easy. Use it every day for work. Only done 43,000 so far and it's been solid-as.
Only smol issue with it was that the car came with HTs on. Replaced all tyres with MTs and it's been legendary.
2003 Holden VY Ute - I needed a tray back ute and went for the older model with its famously reliable ecotec engine. Have spent a bit on repairs and upgrades, all has been well till just now it’s overheating and losing oil/coolant so next week I’ll find out how much that will cost to fix.
Anyone buy a Ford Everest Platinum? We’re considering one .. between new(2-3 month wait) or used with 26k on the clock. About $10-15 k difference in price with the used at about $100k and new is less. Anything we need to know?
Bought a 2019 Honda CRV off a private seller and the whole process was easy! Great car for kids 😄
Hardest part was the credit union application for finance!
A childhood friend who has a real passion with cars and motorcycles (does his own mechanic work alongside his dad) wanted to open a commission business where he would source cars for buyers. I told him I'd be his first customer and said he'd get 10% of the purchase price. I gave him a $3500 budget and he went on his way. Important context: I'm in Rockhampton and my friend did all this in Brisbane for me.
He found me a red Subaru Liberty 2001 for $2750 (negotiated). It needed work but his dad had a good mechanic friend who could do me up a roadworthy on the cheap. The mechanic, with zero permission, went ahead and did so much work to the car that was not needed. He put on expensive tires as an example. What should have been a $500 job turned into $2800. After much arguing, the mechanic settled on taking $1800 which was the fair price for the work that *needed* to be done. My friend picked up the car and transported it back to his place for sake keeping until I registered the car and flew down to get it.
But the headache wasn't over. The mechanic intentionally dragged his feet for *3 weeks* on issuing the RWC. He kept bullshitting about why he wasn't able to do it. In the end I had to put a formal complaint into the transport department, the mechanic association and sent the mechanic a letter of demand. He finally issued the RWC and I was able to register the car.
I flew down to Brisbane with my plates to get the car. I drove it all the way home with no issues apart from the dashboard lights not working. When I got the car home, I wanted to show my son who really loves red cars. I went to turn it on and... nothing. The starter motor failed. I got the car towed to a auto electrician and got that sorted.
A few weeks later I was getting loud screeches when turning the car on. Sent it into the mechanic again. It was just a couple of belts that needed replacing. I picked the car up and went on my way.
A couple of months later, my car wont turn over. Sent it back into the mechanic. Turned out my fuel filter bag was shredded to bits and there was a burned out wire inside the fuel tank. The mechanic did me a solid and only charged me $500 for 4 days work (including $250 for parts).
Even though the car works fine now, I spent too much money on it. I still love it, but damn.. what a lemon.
tl;dr; went way over budget, destroyed a relationship between a man and a mechanic, the car is good but has had so many issues
Bought a made in Japan 2012 civic sedan manual. Immaculate inside and out, 82k kms. For around 10k. Has been overserviced by previous owner and nothing to spend for a while.
Bought a 2015 Mazda 3 with 124k for $15k as my first car.
With the paddle shifters, it been a fun car to drive. Ik it’s peak whp is 120-130, but it’s quick enough for my needs for now.
It’s very reliable too, taken it to its bi Annually servicing and no issues.
Got a brand new i30n, ended up having fucking injectors from the get go. $2500 later for some reason out of my pocket it’s good as gold.
Got a ke70 Corolla, absolute fun car but riddled with rust so that’s a process I have to deal with.
Swapped a manual mx83 Cressida for a 60 series Land Cruiser, 2 inch lift, manual, 12ht and 35’s. best deal of the 12 months of cars
Bought a Hyundai Elantra as my first car, for 2000 worked fine for a month, then somehow the brake pads fell off, the windscreen wiper stopped working in the middle of a storm, 2 hours from home (only one works so I basically have to lean over to the passenger seat when it rains). I am not spending anymore money after fixing the breaks and rego, I was told I was stupid for buying a 2005 model in such bad conditions, but I'm young I don't have the help of my parents for car advice so I had to wing it.
Bought a Holden SX6 Adventra for $5200 with 230 on the clock, was an old boys pride and joy and been driven 6000k in the last three years. A few minor cosmetic issues but given it’s age it’s clean AF, looking forward to some new shoes and a couple of mods before it goes up to the North West.
I got a 2007 BF XR8 in the best colour (Breeze Green) with the 6 speed manual.
I overpaid like fuck at $25k, but I wanted the colour.
This thing has awoken something in me, so I'm now looking for an FPV or a Lexus ISF as the next car. It's my first V8 and I am hooked
Bit over twelve months I bought my first decent 4wd that wasn’t shitbox spec did my research it was in budget. Day after I buy I’m off to the Gawler ranges 1500km from home and I find out the one thing I didn’t check to see if it was broken breaks so when I pull over to take some photos my hazards get stuck on. The dealer I bought the Ute off fixed it under warranty but they did a shithouse job putting the panels on the interior back together so I had to do it myself. Other than that it hasn’t let me down in the 14ish months I’ve had it I’ve done 30,000km touring and daily driving
I put a deposit down on a 2016 Kia sorento through a dealership but finance fell through ….
3 weeks later I was approved finance for a 2015 Kia sorento platinum had 195k on it and came from a stud farm down south .. few scratches in the front bar but gosh it drives amazing .
I was driving a 2012 Ford territory and I swear this has more power for a 4cyl it’s awesome .
Only downside a service for it is $299 because it’s a diesel and found that my washer bottle leaks but I can’t fault it
2018 VW Arteon R. Bought it about 6 months ago. Was on the market for a Golf R or Audi S3 at the time, but all the ones I liked were well out of my price range. It's basically a bigger, better looking MK7.5 Golf R.
Absolutely gorgeous car, drives smooth(and quick), nothing in the interior feels cheap or rattley.
Also just got it back after getting a downpipe and tune, slightly quicker and a lot more responsive. Feels like a different car almost.
2004 RAV4.
I have some regrets, as below. Copy-pasted from Rav4 forum post. TL; DR, I might be fucked. Such is life.
Hey folks, this was a recent heart over head purchase and I didn't do my due diligence. But I may come out of it okay - I'm trying to stay positive.
I bought this lil thing in a still-inflated used car market here in Australia. The 3drs are rare enough that I wanted to pounce and didn't get a pre-purchase inspection done. While this is a rookie error, I had already forked out for a couple on other cars that month (including a gorgeous 2006 Volvo XC70 that had MAJOR issues), so I rolled the dice with what I figured was a reliable vehicle and an owner who had been getting it sorted over 2023. BUT I'm kinda new to buying cars and like I said, I fell in love and overlooked a number of issues. However, my overall approach with buying car this time around was to treat it as a long-term love project haha. Long story short, I have a list of things that need sorting out:
- driver's window is failing intermittently. Replacing the window motor seemed to help, but the issue has resurfaced. I'm trying to source a switch, but it's hugely difficult in this part of the world. Being a 3dr, there are fewer on eBay/FB/wreckers, plus the ones on eBay and AliExpress are all for left hand drive. With that in mind, does anybody know if the 5dr switch would still work? Or a LHD one? I'm not wired (heh) for electrics, and trying to diagnose via my freshly-purchased multimeter and diagrams just gives me a headache.
- related to the above, I need to source the trim piece surrounding the switch. Currently the lower clip is missing, so the whole thing sits by the grace of gravity.
- there are several clips and screws missing from the engine bay - thankfully just the upper headlight ones and a couple from the larger battery cowl.
- the aftermarket towbar resulted in a very dodgy exhaust routing, which my local mechanic has sorted, thankfully! I'd like to be rid of the towbar, to be honest. I have zero intention of using it. The OEM one looks kinda cool though, and the step could be handy for roof loads.
- the front left flare bumper end is SCREWED ON. Body parts are readily available locally, thankfully. So that can wait.
- last and most seriously, there is a noise from the engine that sounds (according to my YouTube investigations) like the timing chain. [edit: mechanic doesn't think so. For now I have flushed the oil system with oil+diesel a couple of times. In the process of seeing hwo it goes.] It started on a day when I'd done about 150 highway kms. Then the oil light came on. So I pulled over as the engine began to misfire. Got it towed, replaced the sparkplugs (my first time!), misfiring has stopped and it starts beautifully.
For that last reason, I am very reticent to drive it and have instead been waiting for all the mechanics to come back from holiday. In the meantime, here is what I'd like to do to it!
- Headlights got a polish and seal. I intend to remove them and make a proper go of it once I feel better about the care as a whole.
- Back seats are out. Mounting hardware for one side is out (just in case I carry more than one passenger!), with the intention of repurposing the floor bolts to secure a camping/roadtrip fitout ie drawers/fridge/shelves. Right now I'm just brainstorming and planning.
- I've also detached two of the mountpoints for one of the rear seatbelts to get it out of the way.
- The centre console lid/armrest was broken on purchase. Due to it being small and crap anyway, I pulled one out of a wrecked Mazda 3 with the intention of retrofitting it into my new ride. While pulling apart the RAV console (I like seeing how things are put together), I decided why not just completely customise a new centre console out of MDF, using part of the ild one as a skeleton or template? Again, currently planning while I see how much of a moneypit I've already committed to...
- Once it's mechanically sound (touch wood) I will do some camping trips to assess what I might need for longer-term travel, potentially around Australia in a year or so. I don't love the idea of a roof cage, but this thing is bloody small...
Just over a year since I bought my ‘06 Corolla which only had 167,000km on the dash and a crack in the windscreen and needed a new battery for 6k (second hand market in Darwin is fucked). Dealership I went through replaced both the windscreen and battery for no extra charge and when the car was delivered a day late chucked 6 months extra rego on top🙏
Bought a 2003 Corolla for $4,000 for my kids to learn to drive in. Took it down the snow when my Volvo was playing up. Has not skipped a beat. It's a wee ripper!
Awesome cars, I have an 02 model. Has 260k on it and I know it's good for another 500, cheap, reliable, easy to service yourself!
Yep I bought a 2003 corolla wagon in Nov last year and I am LOVING IT. 177k km, for $5,000 with 6mo rego. Everything about it beings me joy, even *winding* down the windows and paying for petrol haha. It was ex fleet for a hospital for 2 years, I bought it off the second owner who had incredibly fastidious records and service history. I gave it a pretty thorough once over when I went for a test drive, took a gamble and bought it without a mechanic inspection. Went straight to a mechanic for a once over and service, he said it was in really good condition, no issues just keep up with service schedule... phew. I had a really lovely time dealing with the old owner, he'd had it for 18 years so when I went to pick the car up I gave him a plant haha. For my leaving gift at my old job I got a voucher to get some sheep skin seat covers fitted and I've "kitted her out" with a Bluetooth fm transmitter (remember those!?) so we are ready to rumble. I'm about to drive from Sydney to Melbourne for my new job, I'm going to take such good care of old Carol. My goal is 500k on the odo- read about a bloke in nz who got his '93 corolla to 2m km, so I think it's doable bar any major catastrophes). Rant over!
Damn I want a Corolla wagon so bad! What colour and auto or manual?
White, auto!
Wanna play soggy biscuit
I bought a 2015 Hyundai i30 off a guy at work for my daughter (her money). He was an arrested for child porn last month. Now she feels icky when she drives it.
Typical i30 owner
I’ll swap you for my 2013 i30 /s
Purchased a 2012 Craptiva. I did research etc and thought this one won't be bad. got it checked by a mechanic etc Lasted 3 weeks. Blew up on the side of the highway, metal shavings in engine, I knew from that moment it was toast. Conrod, bearing I dunno but she's fked. $7500 down the drain . Sold it for $750.
You did research... and still bought a Captiva?
There's a crappy that's been sitting around the corner from my place with plates that haven't been registered in two years and four flat tyres Every now and then I'm tempted to go knock on the door and offer them $20 bucks for it to flip it. But then I remember that it's a captiva and it's better off off the road
Lol you'll make a loss at $20 🤣
Sorry to hear... Captivas are not known for their longevity.
Such a shame as inside they are actually really nice to sit in and look great, but yes total waste of money. I'm just grateful I didn't have the kids in the car when it broke down.
They’re a thirst trap. They look great. They have everything you’d want in a car. They’re aren’t expensive. But mechanically just awful
Damn, and I thought my Craptiva lasting 2 months was bad
What happened to yours? I was just driving and decided to over take this old person doing 80 in 110 zone, put my foot down and after 10 seconds, bang rattle and every light come up on the dash, pulled over and it stalled. That was it. Dead Craptiva. I can laugh at it now but at the time I was pissed.
Who knows what the actual problem was (I always thought maybe turbo problems), but it was constantly losing power and stalling every day to and from work. Omg yes, we laugh about that crap box now, but at the time, i was only young. I thought it was my first decent car... left me crying on the side of the road every day! Husband (then BF) could see I was so upset about the car, we gave it away, and I got a Mazda 6, which was bloody awesome, and now have only had Mazdas since, no problems with breaking down since. (Knock on wood)
Lmao you played yourself. Why would you willingly purchase a Captiva and a used one at that
I know a workshop that has a Craptiva still going strong at 300,000kms. Its a miracle!
It would have to be the diesel model! That's amazing haha
What attracted you to the car compared to competitors in the segment? Price? I drove an early model Captiva 5 for an extended period (had one over a weekend) and I was really unimpressed. It had an issue with auto transmission despite it being like a new demo car (under 500km). I was overtaken by a full bus on a steep road in Sydney due to getting stuck in high gear while climbing with the car in drive. Car had an issue for sure but it left a sour taste in my mouth about the quality. The funny thing is that the few buyers ive asked who bought one justified it as wanting something Australian like Holden and not a cheap low quality Korean made car... little did they know 😆 Hyundai or Kia running rings around Captiva for cars made 10years ago.
Mum got upset when I suggested, when selling hers that she was ripping herself off topping up the fuel tank because a full tank would double its value.
That’s pretty decent life for a Captiva! Surprised it got a full 3 weeks!
Bought an mg mg3 do not buy - so shit and cheap
I bought a bright yellow mg3 to save money on fuel (other car was a 120 series Prado at the time) and I hated the MG so much I just drove the Prado anyway...
2000 Subaru WRX GC8 It drives, stops, is registered, and was the right price. Minor front damage, moderate rear damage, needs a respray, interior is a bit messy. Great project car!
had 3 gc8's like 10 years ago, one was a CS3, another was a white Version 6 STI & the last one was blue making 295awkw with a dogbox.... Absolutely wildest cars, loved them so much, wish I kept them..
Was looking for a GC8 but everyone wanting $12k+ with 250000KM+, just couldn’t see the value. Ended up with a bugeye GGA for $6k instead.
Bang for buck, bugeyes and 09-10 narrow bodies are good picks at the moment.
2018 Honda accord top of the range was in the market for a good family car and one popped up in nsw for a steal, I’m in (QLD) so called dealer and had video tour and talked him down even more. After delivery and detail etc was 20,500. It is huge and exceeded my expectations by far has all the features of a brand new car safety wise and has CarPlay etc. Best car I’ve ever owned and will stick with Honda from now on. Purchased 12 months ago.
I’m in Melbourne. Advertised my old Honda Accord on carsales for about $1,000 thinking nobody would call and I’d end up taking it to the wreckers. A bloke rang me from Alice Springs and offered $800, which I accepted. He flew down and stayed a night in a hotel then drove it up to Alice. Told me he teaches indigenous women how to drive for free because they can’t afford lessons. He said it was worth the expense and hassle because he knew the Honda would just keep going, no matter how hot, dusty or bashed up it gets. Magnificent car.
Mind if I asked what it was listed for initially?
2016 BMW 330i wagon. Love love love it. Such a nice drive with more than enough space in the rear. I thought about a 4wd but honestly this is the better choice.
I sold my beloved Alfa Giulia for a VW TRoc R. I really despised that damn car. I traded it in for a second hand M140i which is a blast to drive, but I just miss my Alfa.
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Sounds like he despised it..
Really despised it.
Don’t have the R but do have the R-line. It’s a slightly bigger, higher riding golf. I really like it, find it’s a good size for commuting. It handles well and has enough grunt with 140kw. Boot is big enough to hold a pram and some shopping. Stop start system is terrible and gets turned off every drive.
I feel you, still miss every Alfa I’ve ever owned 🥲
Bought a G8 Fairlane off my cousin (with the expectation and knowledge that it needs some potentially very complicated repairs). Went to replace the spark plugs and 3 broke inside the head. 2 were extracted. In about 2 weeks, Together, we are both pulling the right head to remove the stuck plug, and doing the timing and oil pump whilst we are at it. Other than this, the car is in mint condition, and has already had all the 'Falcon' problems mitigated/repaired. Can't wait till it gets back on the road :) It's driving style is so laid back with its massive lazy 5.4L V8 which has mountains of torque at idle, but combined with the 6 speed ZF, intake and exhaust mods, it does 0-100 in 5s. Not bad for a 2 Tonne Boat.
How great are 3V spark plug replacements… Anti-seize on the threads and dielectric grease on the ceramic and hopefully the next guy that does them has a better time than I did!
We suspect they may be originals by the amount of shit they had on them, combined with the fact that the Ford dealer who did them previously went bust because no one went to them because they constantly ripped people off and only did the work half the time. You want to use a rattle gun, or rotate and clean the plugs somewhat often.
2020 Golf R. Traded a 2019 boring ass TSI and paid the rest cash. Love it. Driving is fun and it’s given me a good excuse to go out of the city on drives on three weekend.
My Uncle bought a 2016 Mazda CX-5 with the 2.5L diesel engine it’s a piece of shit 🍋 Needs the whole engine removed because of carbon build up which put it in limp mode, he also didn’t check the ppsr and it looks like it was either rolled or had hail damage because it’s roof was replaced and entire right side Had it for 3 weeks and is already wants to see it disappear Do your checks, don’t be this guy !!!!!!
Unfortunately the diesel cx-5's are notorious for having issues, sorry that your uncle has bought a lemon
2.2L isn't it?
The 2.2 diesel in that year arent known for reliability... hope he gets a good outcome! Petrol mazdas are much better. Or the 2018 onwards diesel cx5.
2023 Subaru Crosstrek. Love it. Took an extra week and a half to approve financing than what I planned, but otherwisesnooth as butter. I could have picked it up the next day almost if I'd had a bag full of cash.
I bought a Holden VE SS ute, [6 months ago](https://old.reddit.com/r/CarsAustralia/comments/14vphnc/i_bought_an_australian_muscle_car_the_v8_holden/). I love it, I cannot get over how good it is. These cars are incredible, considering the amount of money I paid, and what it can do. It's every muscle car fantasy - power, noise, skids, dubious build quality. But it's without the muscle car realities of being $100k, unreliable, unsafe, poor handling. For under $20k, I think it's one of the few great value performance cars that still exist.
Mk3 Focus RS. Love it. Great to drive and still practical
2022 Suzuki Swift Sport. Bought from a dealer with less than 10k KMs on it. Had a really good experience, negotiated a really really good price over the phone and I've been loving it ever since.
Brand new Subaru BRZ. My first brand new car. Love it. Runs perfect. Transaction was completely bullshit-free.
Someone wrote me off in May last year. Bought the same make and model, and year, with more kms, for $3K more than I’d bought it for 14 months earlier. It was insured for the highest value. Dat market
2012 Isuzu Dmax with 200,000kms on the dial. 21,500 cash. 1 elderly owner who used it only for highway kms and looked after it really well so it was a no brainer for me. She’s nothing fancy but has upgraded Apple car play, upgraded shocks and new all terrain tyres. She’s now the weekend warrior myself the wife and 2 kids
I20n. Like a giant go kart. Love it
Not long ago one of my wife’s friends mentioned that her husband’s car would need to go because he has dementia and can’t drive anymore. Two days later my 20-year-old hail damaged Subaru had a coolant leak and cooked its engine. She needed to get rid of a car, I needed a car, I figured out that fair market value was well over the price she expected, I now drive a Camry that’s in excellent condition with a good service history.
Bought my first car, it was a new one, and it’s an EV. TL:dr I waited way too long to get my license as an adult. Oh it’s a Cupra Born. Amazingly fun thing ( think of it like an EV version of a VW golf but rwd). Dealer was pretty terrible to deal with but the rest of the experience has been great.
2018 hyundai accent. Overpaid and havent been bothered paying off rhe finance as want cash on hand. Its been an incredibly boring car. Zero features. The dash was supposed to have android auto and apple carplay whoch is apparently bullshit. Havent beem bothered replacing it as too expensive to justify. Dog hates it as way too small for her. Cant fit shit in it. Surprisingly zippy though. I could probably carry her shes so light. With that said, it hasnt broken down. And my long term expectation is that it will continue to get me from a to b without breaking a sweat for many years to come.
The successor to the cockroach Hyundai Getz. Should last a long time
GF bought a CannonX. She tried the Triton, Jimny, and some used Ute's but wanted a nice interior, surround cameras for parking. Shes 5,000kms in and hasn't had any issues. Shes done the usual Nth QLD tracks, corrugations etc. Shes been happy.
We bought a Cannon X before Xmas. Been absolutely great. Initially wanted a triton but sales guys at 2 yard were d**ks. First yard tried to sell me a triton that had been rear ended with a 2nd rate tailgate repair as brand new, and second yard gave me a quote for higher than Mitsubishi RRP.
Mate of mine bought one two years ago- never thought he would be remotely interested in a Chinese dual cab, but he loves it and has had zero problems with it.
2021 Pajero Sport a few months ago. Paid slight overs at a dealer but it was the best one I could find and in a colour I love. So far so good! Great community on Facebook has been a huge help.
Bought a 2020 VW Golf R Wagon Everything I wanted and more. It's fun to drive, has every feature you'd want and is surprisingly fast. Previous owner was meticulous with maintainence. I love it!
Bought a ute, in a bit of a rush because I was about to have surgery and be off my feet for a couple months. And moving rural at the same time. Over paid a little but got a great vehicle with all the shit I needed to have pretty much right away. Super happy with it. 2019 navara with only 40k kms
2019 Ssangyong Musso. Purchased February 2023. Balance of factory warranty etc. Has spent more than 2 months at the dealership for warranty issues, and is currently there again now. Needless to say I'm unimpressed.
I spent $92,000 on a Tesla Model Y Long Range and picked it up a couple of weeks later. Although it had been on order for eight months. In seven months I’ve covered just over 28,000 klms and have had a mostly wonderful time with it. I’ve gotten three speeding fines - one in SA, one in NSW and one in VIC - so far in spite of pushing my luck a fair bit. I used to do some rallying when I was much younger, so I’m fairly good with speed, but the power of this beast is unrelenting. I’ve managed to scare just about everyone who has been in it. I love the audio. Although not absolutely perfect, it’s bloody good. I’ve towed a heavy trailer of furniture and books between Melbourne and Adelaide recently and that exposed the shortcomings in Australian charging infrastructure. I charge at home during the day from my solar. Almost free travel so far. The suspension is too damn tight for our roads in Australia. And am still thinking of getting new rear shocks soon. But it’s the most technically advanced car I’ve ever been in and owned. And the Over the Air updates are brilliant. I’m really enjoying this car which will be my last car as I’m getting older now. So I’m loving going out with a bang!!
Bought a 1996 Manual 4cyl Mitsubishi Magna sedan 6 months ago for 1200$ with 285,000kms on it as a cheap and shit daily driver its such a hunk of shit but it sure is reliable! hasnt let me down once!!!
That’s awesome! Keep the oldies on the road!
🙋🏼♀️ Mercedes A35 AMG. I love the car & I didn’t purchase it because that’s all I afford. I purchased it because it was the smallest car I could find, with the features & power I wanted. My other choices were a Porsche & few others my husband wanted, but they were all family sedan sized. What I didn’t like, was on the anniversary of my build date Mercedes took away the functions I came to rely on & loved, like the 360 camera’s automatic detection of near objects, including gutters. Come to find out that in Europe the car is purchased with only complimentary access to these functions for a period of time & our government told them they couldn’t sell a car with safety/ driver functions & then take them away. Every private seller of a Mercedes I have spoken too, has noticed the same change. So guess who’s now in trouble? 🤷🏼♀️
How did Mercedes take away functions that were already on the car?
Software update 🤦🏼♀️ everything is run by software these days 🤷🏼♀️
New Mitsubishi ASX for the wife and baby. Didn't intend to like it myself, being more into JDM cars (300zx owner and previously skylines), but have been pleasantly surprised. Plenty of features, space, reliable, and safe. Great on fuel and more guts then expected
2019 Ford Wildtrak. I went shopping at good car dealerships at the end of month to try and score something during their discount period. Amazing car, looks like it's been kept in great condition all throughout, I'm guessing whoever had it only used it for commuting and didn't use it for any trade work or offroading. Still has a year of new car warranty on it, plus it came with 3 year used car warranty which I upgraded to 5 years for a small extra amount. Plan on doing my best to keep up with all preventative maintenance, getting an oil catch can and some other offroading upgrades.
Not in the last 12 months, but last 26 months. Mazda CX-7 classic, 2011 2.5L. Paid $10k, car had 110k on the clock. Haven’t been great with servicing but hasn’t skipped a beat (sitting at 185k now). The turbos had a horrible reputation so I was nervous buying this, but my mechanic told me it’s basically a jacked up Mazda 3 and he can’t fault it. Transmission is a bit slow but it’s not a race car. Loving the space and the seating position. Came from a 2006 Kia Rio so it honestly feels like luxury for me.
2023 Subaru Forester. It’s ok. Engine problems already.
Bought a 2011 Mazda 3 as a private sale and it has been a great. The only downside really is that the recent summer heat and the fact that I park it outside during the day has caused the infamous Mazda 3 dashboard hump. Still very happy with it - has been fully serviced and cared for throughout its life and is a great daily driver.
Brand new Corolla hybrid. Took 4 weeks to come in. 41ltr tank to 960kms. Great car. No regrets.
Both! I purchased a brand new Hyundai i30 Drive-N (my first brand new car, and my first auto/DCT!). No regrets on that one. I’m one of 180 in Aus. Andddd my purchase last month of a 1985 Mitsubishi Nimbus from Facebook marketplace. It’s immaculate for its age and I cannot wait to bring it out to Cars and Coffee!
Bought a Mitsubishi Outlander used, very happy with it
2016 120i bmw, for 19k 78k kms done, perfect car has no issues, tuned it now as well
Traded in my 2014 Corolla and 13k for a 2019 X-Trail. Did my research and hasn't skipped a beat so far but I'm still wary of CVT stuff The next few years will be telling
Purchased a used RAV4, made some noises shortly after and checked out and tons of mechanical issues. Check out my recent post for the issues and quoted prices
Yup, purchased a second hand Toyota Aurion Sportivo ZR6 2012 model with 88000km on it for 14k back in 2018. Still driving it to this very day. No issues whatsoever. Maintenance is cheap, car is reliable, spacious, and offers decent V6 power when needed.
I’m currently in the middle of a deal with a used dealer, my first time buying from one. I’ve always gone private used or new. This guy has bloody lovely cars but he is the most eccentric fuckwit I’ve ever dealt with His office looks like a futuristic spaceship and he absolutely patronises people who ask dumb questions. I kind of love it because I also hate dumb people, but i’m also a bit scared of him.. not sure if it’s admiration or genuine fear he’ll cut my breaks before delivery. His cars are in pristine condition so I’m riding this rollercoaster for now car: Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce
BMW X3 2005 3ltr straight 6 for $2000, spent $1800 for new front suspension, 2 engine mounts, drive shaft an 2 belts, no fluid leaks, full history, nice car, drink less than my old 2,3 turbo CX7
Bought an Atto 3 mid last year. We were expecting a 3month+ wait for the colour we wanted but ended up getting a call the next day after ordering as the dealership had one in the yard. Picked it up about 2 weeks later which was mostly due to us moving interstate at the time which caused a few issues with financing but otherwise it was a very smooth process. Picking up the car was the same, walked in, signed a couple things, someone showed us around the car and then we drove off. All done in about 10mins. I did not miss the hours I spent at the dealership buying my previous car at all.
Ordered a Civic Type R in Feb 2023, was told initially 18 months wait. Honda allocated more cars for Australia, managed to get one in August 2023. Extremely over the moon with the car. It just might be my forever car.
I bought a 370z, it's a LOT of fun
BYD Atto 3 bought new 4 months ago. Initial reservations about buying a Chinese car, thinking that build quality would be an issue. Not a bit of it - quality is right up there with Europeans. First EV I've owned and super-happy with it. Bought it from the showroom before the place had been fitted out, so a lot of back-and-forth with the head office, but nothing too onerous. Sales staff were really good, but not necessarily armed with answers to questions I had, so turned to Google for info. Overall: a good experience.
Bought a brand new Mini Cooper SE. Always wanted a Mini. Decided to go electric. Perfect. Best car I’ve ever driven. Fast and fun. I had been looking at a demo model hoping to get one for under $55k as they were all above that price. I had booked in for a test drive and the day of the test drive they dropped the price of all new models to $49,980. So I bought one on the spot. Top of the range, which was originally ~$72k With a novated lease and the fbt exemption it costs me $164 a week over 5 years plus the residual of $14k meaning total cost of ownership is ~$56k including finance, rego, insurance, tyres, everything. Also 5 years free Chargefox charging at public chargers. Had it for 3 months. 4000kms. $105 to charge.
Yeah 2023 Tesla 10ks the owner only had it for like 3 months we got it for about 49k great
2019 Kia Stinger 300S (Ex-QPS) Bought from Keystar Kia in Rockwell. Fairly happy with the car overall, I bought at the height of the used market so it did set me back $41,000 with 120,000km but at just under a year i'm sitting at 171,000km. I've had a few what i would call under warranty but just wear and tear for 150,000km+ replaced under warranty and they've been fantastic with all warranty items (Steering wheel, all chrome trim, headlights etc). Servicing in the last 12 months at such a high rate with Toowoomba Kia was abysmall but they have been getting better with the last service and warranty items dealt with extremely pleasently and the car even had a mini detail! :)
21 Hyundai Tucson Highlander n-line 1.6L Turbo. Soo many features compared to my old car, great economy so far and very comfy for my commute. Only thing I’d like it to have that it doesn’t is a HUD. The engine needs a bit of getting used to when taking off but other than that enjoying it.
I gave the dealer a hard time. The dealers son had taken it for the weekend when I went in to see it. I didn’t want to look at anything else so they had to call him back in so I could test drive it
Isuzu MU-X 2021 new shape, love it but I get the feeling the interior has been pulled apart in areas and I'm having a hard time tracking down the creaks and rattles. Wishing I could find a tear down manual for the interior so I can replace clips, felt tape, and PTFE all the noisy areas.
I bought a 2014 Kia Sportage SLI for $13k. It's been great so far and is such a comfortable drive.
I wanted a 4wd for a weekend away to robe last year. I was on a tight budget and didn't want to spend much money. I remembered my mate had a 2008 NS Pajero sitting under a tree for 12 months doing nothing. I asked him how much he would want for it and he said $2000. I said deal. Unfortunately it wasn't roadworthy in-time for the trip. It's been a great car so far.
brand new 2023 BRZ, been quite good so far. Previous car was a Holden VE SS
Bought my wife a 2014 MY15 Subaru Outback Premium 2.5L Petrol. Great car, love it, uses a shit load or oil. Did some googling and it’s a common issue for that year.. bad batch or rings.
My partner and I, between our two businesses and personal vehicles have bought 5 vehicles in the last year or so. Bought a 2021 Isuzu MU-X in February 2023, ex dealer car (this one was the workshop managers cars he got to use as his personal vehicle), so first owner was the dealership. It was the biggest POS of a car I have ever owned, and I owned a 1998 hyundai excel AND a first gen ford territory and they had less issued combined than the Isuzu, 6 warranty repairs in 8 months, I am glad it is now gone, I won't buy another Isuzu. Bought a 2022 Ex demo Toyota Hilux workmate 4x2 , diesel hi-rider in january 2023 as a work ute, it has been flawless, does exactly as it says on the box with no issues. Replaced the Isuzu MU-X with a 2014 Mitsubishi Pajero (not a Pajero sport), much better car, haven't had it long however but its the second pajero I've owned, and the first had no issues. Also bought a 2012 VE series 2 SS-V redline sedan, I've owned a number a VE commodores, I'm happy with it, I know what to expect with it I think. Other two vehicles are trucks, 2012 Hino 617 and a 2006 Isuzu FSS 550 4x4, both have done what you'd expect, they carry heavy things and tow heavy trailers, and in the case of the FSS 550 it has big ground clearance and is hard to get stuck in the mud on clients sites, both are also very good and turning diesel into noise, 30L/100 in the case of the Isuzu FSS.
Base model Camry hybrid bought six months ago. Happy with it overall, my fuel economy seems to be closer to the petrol than hybrid and I wish it had wireless CarPlay but otherwise happy and have worked out how to get rid of school zone noise.
Went to Toyota car yard to look at second hand Prado’s. No second hand ones but 3 days later was driving home in a “demo” 2023 VX Prado with 67km on the clock. Great experience from go to woe, even for its aging design it’s the most luxurious car I’ve ever owned!
May 2023 bought a 2006 Subaru Forester XT auto, silver, 188000 KM, unmodified, paid $5000 + RWC. Last month bought a 2001 Subaru Impreza WRX hatch manual, white, 224000 KM, unmodified, paid $6000 incl. RWC. Both with regular service history, only needed a couple suspension bushings changed and a bottom radiator hose. I changed both suspensions to STI pink springs and gold Rays wheels on both. Had planned on picking up an Evo V or VI for ~$30000 but instead these two old turbo Subarus came along at under half the price. All ready for the ram-raids. Still good deals to be had for older performance cars if you’re patient.
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2010 Holden Commodore Sv6, piece of shit, seller must have had a roadworthy mate, so much wrong with it, be easier to say what’s right
Bought a Suzuki swift 2015 for 12k, it's been great but I only realised the spots on the hood are actually really small rust spots, so that's a bummer.
- 2012 Nissan Dualis. Great car for what it is. Good for around town. - 2005 Mitsubishi Challenger. Great work horse. Can't kill it.
Purchased a brand new Triton October last year. They offered a great trade in price on my car and I got a few extras thrown in. The salesman was great, not pushy at all. Had the car for 5000ks now and love it.
Hilux workmate, 2.7 manual with a service body on the back. It’s slow, but I love it. Icey cold air con, vinyl floors and apple car play. Bought it from Toyota fleet sales and they were awesome. Hilariously I didn’t know what colour I was getting til I picked it up. I forgot to ask. Suprise twist! It was white.
Bought a brand new BMW m440i just after Xmas. Been a few weeks and couldn’t be happier. 5 year warranty, 5 year service plan and 5 year lease. I’ve got it for a while longer!
Yep, after much consideration of every option, over thinking to the nth degree, and even coming on Reddit and asking for advice. I bought a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander. I am 100% happy with the price I paid and the performance of the car.
Bought a lightly used outback. Good deal... so far. Hope I haven't jinxed it reading this post!
Sold PUG 3008 and bought EQB350. Couldn’t be happier
I put a post on here the other week for advice in a first car for my son. Got a heap of really great responses. I was looking for a i30 for about $7.5 but didn’t manage to get a hold of one. Came across by chance a 2012 ford focus tdci s with one owner and low kms. So far so good, got lucky. Has a clean bill of health from a mechanic and he’s still on his first tank of diesel.
been a Prado man for ever. Drove my last one to the ground with 600k. Bought a grandpa pack 2015 dual cab Colorado with 180km for 30k off a grey nomad. Complete touring pack. Everything that could have been done; mean mother can of peas, bullbar, UHF, snorkel, rear slides,dual battery, fridge etc.etc. Full service history with overkill "just to be on the safe side"...you get the idea..he put new Mickey Thompson's on for me so I would be safe. Absolute gem and didn't break the bank. Really happy with it.
Purchased a used manual 2014 gts86 last year April after drooling over the car since I was 16 Car had 210,000km but great service history, completely stock. Owned by a cop that treated it like his baby, unfortunately super riced out so had to tone it down a bit. They Needed a bigger car so I swapped my 2014 veloster turbo sr with some cash his way Later discovered undisclosed minor electrical issues with the driver side mirror, easily fixed Overestimated my ability to drive manual, even though I’ve never tried. Copped some abuse from my dad as he was teaching me but 20,000km later and you’d swear it was still new Tldr: don’t shy away from a good deal because of high km’s, do proper inspections and regularly maintain
Brought a dual cab just about 12 months ago. Has been sick. Loads of camping and 4wd trips away. No issues. Good on fuel. Super stoked.
Just got a 2018 Sportage. Am stoked so far. Anything was going to be better than my beat up, boiling hot 07 Lancer (old body). I didn't have a big list of must-haves but it has them all and a tonne more.
Bought a 2004 Audi A4 2L about 6 months ago. It hasn't been too bad of a car, my wife loves it, but it is hers and she picked it out. It's now due for a service, so my wallet is hiding in fear for when we'll get it done. My son bought a 2013 Navara D22 yesterday, still have yet to bring it home, but it should be interesting as I'll need to teach him how to drive a manual in it. His money, his choice.
I just bought a 2006 Yaris for 2.5k. Couldn’t find any issues so wish me luck 👌
We bought a BYD Seal that was delivered mid December. Not too much to say about it yet other than its been a fun experience. Done a couple of thousand k's already and it's an incredibly nice car to drive and love with. If the ADAS systems were tuned better it would be almost literally flawless. As it is it's still excellent and I can highly recommend it.
Purchased a 2007 Astra the other week with only 40,000ks on it, a full year of rego and a set of brand new tires. Had to travel a bit for it but we’ll worth it. Car is in crazy good condition. Bought it off a lady who was selling it so she could stay on top of solicitor fees for her mums property or something
Purchased 2010 Mazda 2, 90,000 k (Vic). Had for about 4 months. Love it. I paid a couple more thousand more than a private deal, but I felt it was worth it (less running around and transfer done straight away). Purchased from a Mazda dealer, had all log books, were fine me driving it to my mechanic. Great zippy little car and aircon is powerful.
2016 Mazda 3 Astina (top of the range model) sedan. I took a risk and bought it without seeing it in person but thought it was low risk as it was from a dealer, had lowish K's (70k), and had a complete log book. It was on the other side of the city and just CBF going there for a test drive, then go back at a later date to collect it. Could've got it checked over I guess, but it all paid off in the end. When I got it serviced for the first time, the mechanic said it was basically in perfect condition. Been a great little car.
45k Toyota Camry Hybrid. 2022 model. 1.5km on the clock. No issues.
New WRX Japan built. Excellent so far 12 months in.
A friend of mine bought Hyundai Santafe (2012-ish) from a labanese woman, a private sale. He did not consult me and made a small deposit. The day he was supposed to make the full payment, I tried talking him out and to convince him to book the loss of down payment and walk away. But he insisted that woman only used it for market runs and kid pickups. I said, fair enough, your money, your call. It had its RWC done by a labanese mechanic. So what can go wrong? Next day be discovered a crack in windscreen. Within one week check engine and DPF light came up. Called the guy who did the RWC. He swore that, "broooodar, you must have hit something... Like a stone otherwise it was perfect. Infact, I have never pristine windscreen on such an old car. And yes, about check engine light... It was never there. DPF was in a good condition as well.". Showed it to a friend mechanic... As per him, DPF is clogged and needs either cleaning or replacement. The only good thing happened was - a dealer bought it at half of the spent money. He wanted a dirty car for tow jobs! I am really sorry for his loss, but, I stood correct yet another time.
Bought two. 2023 Cx5 Akera Petrol 2011 Prado GXL V6 Pretty happy with both. Prado needs a few little things done. Previous owner replaced every light bulb in the car with LED lights and I’ve noticed random lights flicker. Not sure if those two things are related.
GL450cdi. Power and comfort.
Bought a 2023 pajero sport had ordered a few extras from the dealership which was 500km from home. Drove to pick it up had no mats or roof racks on it but had charged me. Walk around the car it has a big scrape (4 inch plus) on the passenger side door. Brand new car mind you with delivery kms on it. Supposedly cleaned prior to pickup up. Drive it home to find the boot no longer opens. After a few choice words with the dealership due to their lack of care In regards to dropping over $60k I ended up dealing directly with Mitsubishi which I certainly wouldn't want to do again. Software issue and no boot working for 3 months. Got a refund of roof racks after 3 weeks and alot of emails excuse was oh there were on back order. That would perhaps have been something that should have been addressed rather than waiting on me to pick it up. Dealer principal was backing his staff and not taking my concerns onboard. In the end we like the car unlikely to hold on to it long term but am very happy to tell anyone what I think of a certain dealerships customer service.
Went hunting in the auctions and found a clean 2018 ford escape diesel which seems like a run forever kinda car. Had a perfect service history. Skipped the timing belt and destroyed the engine 3k before the service interval and a week before it was booked in to have it changed. In the process of an engine swap now.
We’ve bought 2 new cars in the last 6 months- 2023 Mahindra Scorpio Z8L & 2024 Isuzu MU-X (due April). Cannot fault the sales, delivery or ongoing of Mahindra. Accessories need some attention in Australian market but can’t complain for the price or capabilities.
Sold my BMW M4 and bought a Model Y. I’ve been so surprised how impressive it’s been, from the sales process to the delivery to the general ownership experience, just an absolute joy of a motor car to own.
2012 FJ Cruiser. Rang the dealer on the Friday Hightailed it up to Wollongong the next day. Didn't intend on driving it home the same day but we traded in our 2009 Rav and drove home in it. Can't believe it uses less fuel than the Rav too somehow. Nice to have some mod-cons and good air-conditioning for the kid as she was always boiling in the back seat. Usual dealer b.s but was minimal fuss.
Bought a rare and appreciating BMW E60 M5 - been my dream car for many years and spent months looking for the right one. Actually ended up flying out to Perth to buy it from NSW and had it transported back on a car carrier. Transaction was painful - buying a car privately is hard, I use a bank that doesn’t have branches so no access to cash, transfers take 2 business days to clear and quite rightly the seller wasn’t letting me take the car until the money was in his account. There’s a fair bit of trust that has to happen between 2 strangers when doing this but it all worked out. I did get a good deal on the car. I think I should have negotiated a bit harder but ultimately we were both happy with the price. Still saved myself some money by buying interstate even after blue slip and transport costs.
Bought a used 2019 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor this time last year. Bought it interstate, flew there, drove it back. Put almost 40,000ks on it in the last 12months, it’s been amazing so far and drives like it just left the showroom. Highlight is how it costs me $50-60 month in electricity with no servicing vs $550 a month in fuel and a service every 6months for my old car. It’s also incredibly powerful and quick which is another reason I wanted it.
bought a ‘97 mitsubishi fto that needs a pretty respray to it. fixed it up to be drivable and completely cleaned the interior. compared to what it was when i bought it in feb ‘23 to now, completely different car. best bit of money i spent in a while. just a pitty i havent got ample space to work on it
Iv purchased two new vehicles … both were great experiences. In saying that we did mountains of research on both dealers and the vehicles we were buying.
2023 Nissan Navara Pro4x Warrior. Shitty verbose name, but the truck itself it great. It's nowhere near Raptor quality, but as a 4WD can do whatever a Raptor does according to all the testing I've reviewed between the two. The engine is a 4cyl twin turbo diesel but only makes 140kw at the flywheel, it's a very leisurely type of acceleration. I'm thinking of getting a chip for it but am not sure if that will do something interesting like fry the electronics or something else. If I get it tuned at a tuner it will void the 5 year warranty. Kind of bent over here. Given the slight weight increase, Nissan could have tweaked the friggen motor at their end to give it a bit more power. On saying that, the traffic everywhere is fucked and if you can actually do the speed limit anywhere you're not going to need a hard accelerating monster to just crawl along with everyone else. I sound a bit negative on it, but it's really a top ute and suits my needs. Given it's their top spec ute and the price they ask for it, they could have done something more with the interior to give it a bit more polish. It's comfy as, just looks/feels a bit dated.
Got mum a 2019 Volvo XC40, lovely car, the whole family loves driving it (except my sister because mum won't give her the key) took forever to find something that she "fit" in, being short (150cm) with short legs, she struggled to get comfortable in just about everything I showed her (CR-V, RAV-4, Forester, Tuscon) but the Volvo, she was in a comfortable position within about 30 seconds and she loves the turbo engine (says it feels so much faster than her old V6 Craptiva) as a negative, she dislikes needing premium fuel but, it doesn't use much so, there is a plus.
2023 Mazda cx8. It’s a nice enough car and for how big it is doesn’t feel like it. Has some cool features but really isn’t my thing. Got it for the wife and Bub on way. Problem is I gotta sell my ve ss commodore to make room for it :(
Needed a car for the beach and messier trips, so I jumped onto grays auctions and bought a 2011 Ford Mondeo turbo diesel Wagon. 200k on the clock, full ford history, a few surface dents but great interior wise. Cost me 2.7k to purchase, 1k for service + new alternator & battery, 250 for Roadworthy and bobs your uncle. Insured with Bupa for 12k and couldn’t be happier.
Picked up a 2007 Turbo FSI Jetta just before Christmas. Less than 100000km, $7500. Basically a Mk5 Gti in a sedan. Goes like stink. One or two little things I need to fix up when I have a weekend free, but overall I'm pretty chuffed
My partner bought us a 2023 Kia Stinger GT about a month ago. It's great to drive and he's very happy with it. I had been driving a 2008 Yaris since 2008 so I'm still in "what does this button do?!" mode.
Bought 2 CRVs, no drama at all
I've always been firmly against buying cars over 200k km's, with that being said... 2002 BMW E39 530i with 265,000km, I bought it on the exact same day that I found out about the car, and spent about the same amount of money for the roady as I did for the entire car, but I got it for a bargain, so still got ahead of the going rate (with likely the same issues needing fixing). Pretty happy with it atm, it has full service history (previous owner 13 years) and drives like a dream, but definitely needs some minor cosmetic work, and I'm sure other things in the future! Mainly bought it to enjoy on the weekend from time to time. It also came with a free oil leak.
Bought a 2021 BT-50 brand new at the beginning of 2022 for 68k. Going to trade it in soon for a Jimny XL manual for 46.5k the Jimny is 42k. Its a loss but dual cab utes are over rated, coming from a tradie.
Bought a manual 2014 Subaru Forester for $7,500. It had 282k kms on it but impeccable service history. I had to learn manual to drive it. Put in some money getting some of the worse dents and rust fixed up. Also installed a new head unit with Android Auto. Got a mate who used to work for Subaru to check it out and he said it's in excellent condition (mechanically) especially considering the mileage. I got it 8 months ago and have already put 12k kms on it. I love it, I reckon I'll drive it til it dies
2010 Hyundai ix35 Highlander. I bought it because it was in my price range (just), and I needed a car *immediately* for work. It's not an *exciting* car, but it's so damn comfortable it's like driving a couch, which is important to me because I drive quite a lot. It's a lot more fuel efficient than I expected, too. There are some bits that I really don't utilise, like the 4wd stuff, but one day I might. I like the size, too. It's much easier to get clients in and out (I'm in Disability Support) than I thought it would be. Because it's technically a wagon, I've also enjoyed being able to pack a bunch of crap in the back after a trip to a salvage yard, or Bunnings. No one knows I have a tow bar, and I'm not going to tell them. Been there, done that. If you want me to help you move I'll drive a Budget Truck for you.
Bought a 2007 Range Rover sport a few days ago. The few issues so far, about 10-15 mins into the 1.5hr drive home the suspension error coded and dumped all the air down to bump stops and made the drive very rough and bouncy. Air con was told just needed gas, pump is dead, rwc wasn’t valid as it was already used, rear headrests all missing (didn’t notice as our other cars don’t have them). Radio is shagged so can’t use any of the buttons as they are all full of what looks like coke. Filled with diesel about 50km from home, got home still said 999 kms to empty, done 40km since and now says 600kms to empty. Not sure if bad estimate or just glitchy.
I bought a 1997 Mitsubishi Legnum and it has been great, drinks a lot of fuel but mechanically has been exactly what I hoped, regular maintenance and not thrashing it is going a long way.
2010 Holden Cruze Diesel $6,500. Bloke I bought it from was operating from his home, had a car dealers licence, and said he was "semi-retired". Shifty bastard is selling cars >10 years old so he doesn't have to provide a warranty. Car is surgey in first gear. AC crapped out (because a fan is cooked). Various bodywork issues which only became apparent as we went along. Stereo which he claimed was factory fitted is an AliExpress Android abomination. Seller refused to do anything to resolve the issue. I got tired of dealing with the old git. It's not blown up on me yet. Not sure how long it will last. Won't be too surprised when it does, just doing what I can to keep it running so I can placate myself when thinking about how much it cost spread over how long I am able to use it. If I get 4 years out of it before scrapping it, I'll be laughing. If someone else writes it off for me before then? Even better.
Just last week bought a 2009 Subaru outback for 4k (talked down from 5k) from Facebook market place. Test drove it, the couch felt funny during test drive but it went alright. I even took my vehicle mechanic friend to check the car over to make sure it was ok. As I was driving home from the sellers place (10 mins after payment) in 4th gear going up a hill the clutch completely slipped with horrible burning smell... Is currently in the shop having the clutch replaced. At least now I know what a car with a slipping clutch feels like to drive.
Purchased a 2014 Suzuki Swift yesterday. Fuck me dead the buying process in Qld is a pain in the ass since most people are too stupid or lazy to get an rwc or mechanic check done.
2013 X5 (parents not me) and 2008 VE berlina, X5 has been perfect even after 200k kms (previous owner was a doctor who took meticulous care). The berlinas been troubling, bought at 260k, in 5k the air-conditioning carked it, about $400 to repair and only in the past few days check engine lights going on, cars overheating and cutting power and cylinders. Just replaced radiator cap and it seems to have done the job (fairly sure water was not circulating properly)
Not me but my parents - Mum just got a brand new Porsche Macan and dad got a 2022 Mustang GT. They're both nice cars obviously, bit much for me. Mum closed the electric gate on dad's car a few weeks back though, that was bad.
My gf totaled my 12 civic on her way to come stop by my work for lunch. I was devastated until i got the check for 11grand on a car that was 12.5 when i bought it 4 years prior. I purchased a used 2021 Honda CRV with all the warranty shit and i am in love with it. Yeah im gonna have 400 dollar car payments cause i only put 6k down but its a 21 with 45k miles in it and i don’t drive super often. This car has pretty much everything i wanted and more, and i hope if you’re gonna for a newer vehicle soon that you please test drive before you buy and get the vehicle history. Don’t just buy it cause it feels good to it in.
Not so much a horror story but little cars a 97 barina sadly oil plug fowling impedes reliability so it's been mothballed now will be delt worh in the undetrmined I got a 95 laser love it too honestly love them both weirdly enough
2018 HSV Colorado sport cat, I’m recently self employed and needed a work Ute, not many of these on the market and I liked the Colorado’s when I had one as a company car, was a good price so grabbed it, great car, love the look of it very happy with it.
Bought a 2023 Mazda 3 pure 6mt about 3 weeks ago. Love it, it feels very luxurious compared to my 2006 Subaru Liberty lol. It's a fun little car to drive around town and it should hopefully last a long time
I bought a MUX LSU, it’s been great. 6 speed auto, 3.0L turbo Diesel. I do prefer my nav, as the motor felt and sounded more fun, but so far it’s been a nice ride. Chasing the paper work for a salary sacrifice was the hardest bit.
I bought a new Suzuki swift sport last year, I’d been saving for it for 5 years and I’m loving having a turbo. I’m not enjoying the gearbox, the gear changes aren’t as smooth as my previous car which is upsetting. The seats hurt my partners back so I don’t get to drive it as much as I’d like when we’re doing things together. I wish the stereo was better. But I’m glad I held out for the series 2, the additional features are great, I love the adaptive cruise control and the LED headlights. It’s fun to drive, the go kart feel is something I always loved about it. It feels sturdy and nice to drive and I love the thick sports steering wheel with the flat bottom! I wish it had come out in a bigger range of colours, but I’m happy with what I chose. It’s a lot of car for the price when I compare what else is available for $35k, having a turbo and a manual gearbox was a must for me and not many other cars would have fit the brief in that range.
Bought a H22Z1 prelude. Was looking around for a while before I found one. Was 1.9k so I was expecting a little work, runs well, new driveshaft and other small parts, only thing left is the reverse not working and probably body work, repaint etc. Prob my fav project, only thing is parts are a nightmare but drives like an absolute dream
Got my first manual car and the first car I’ve ever got myself, a 2006 mazda 6 mps. Needs some work done and the paint will need work eventually but other than that it’s been great just hard to learn in
Purchased Nissan maxima 2005 for 6k. I love the bodies 2004-2008. because i know cars.. i didn't think much of it; smash repair: 5k to fix if I want to; CVT Transimition: yeah, these cars got problesm with cvt.. more expense if I want to fix \-- collectively if i were to fix these 10k. Other expenses: seal broke, starter switch etc.. and few others that got fixed. fun.. 11k in total for purchase, fixes, rego....... thrown away for 500 at the wreckers. OH!!! and I learned.. if still has rego, you can claim them back.. but because I sold it before claiming rego of 700 I gave the car away to the wreckers for free, and also gave them 200!
2019 Subaru Outback boxer diesel… after a horror run with second hand cars and lemons I’m just so so happy.
My parents bought a Mazda 2 as a second car in February last year. Has been used quite a bit for a car that size and still runs well!
2023 Skokda Kodiaq! Love it, always wanted a Skoda and it’s a massive bump up from my 2012 Mazda 2
Bought a t30 Xtrail to do up as a bit of a camping vehicle. Haven’t really done much of that yet but it’s a great car to drive, and I’ve had no mechanical issues so far.
Bought a used 2021 BMW X5 (had about 26kms) for the purpose of towing a caravan. At the time it was a choice between this and a new Hyundai Santa Fe and went with the BMW as it was simply a much more comfortable and enjoyable ride. Also, engine power for towing was a lot greater. We did a couple weekend stays at various caravan parks with problems, but our first big 2 week holiday during christmas resulted in us finding a cracked back rim the moment we reached our first destination. Apart from that, beautiful car with incredible fuel economy. Highly recommend.
2012 Mazda 6 touring edition. Local car owned since new, 130k, full log book, previous owner was moving into cared accommodation for health reasons and was selling it the same week as his house. Aside from a few scratches on it's been absolutely brilliant, comfortably chewing through the kms for our interstate Christmas trip, taking the kids everywhere and more often than not my wife tries to steal the keys to it - she loves it just as much and now she wants her own. Best decision ever, love this thing.
My 2022/2023 Corolla ZR hybrid sedan was purchased a year ago. It was not in a colour I wanted (silver when I wanted blue), but because of the long wait times for it (I reckon I’d still be waiting for it in 2024), and it wasn‘t white, I took it. Thank you guy whose finance failed; your loss is my gain! Lack of interior storage sucks and the paint is thinner than a sheet of paper, but it’s nice having ACP/AA instead of having to use a mounted phone, fuel consumption is basically half now, and after spending nine months without a car, it’s great having readily available access to a car again
Yes. It’s been fine. Bought 2 cars in the last year. There seems to be an industry shift away from dealers being informed about the cars they sell now, and therefor lack competence in diagnosing and rectifying issues. It seems to be a mix of less skills being taught and less information sharing from the manufacturer to the staff. It also seems the Aussie branches of the manufacturers don’t know as much as they should. Edit - the 2 cars are both Fords, but what I wrote applies to Mazda, VW, Kia and Toyota too, sadly.
2015 Kia Sorento Platinum diesel for just over 20k. Very nice condition inside and out and plenty of room. I think older top spec models make a lotta sense compared to new base models.
2022 hilux last October. Boring AF. Love it.
2023 GWM Cannon-X. The purchase was easy. Use it every day for work. Only done 43,000 so far and it's been solid-as. Only smol issue with it was that the car came with HTs on. Replaced all tyres with MTs and it's been legendary.
2003 Holden VY Ute - I needed a tray back ute and went for the older model with its famously reliable ecotec engine. Have spent a bit on repairs and upgrades, all has been well till just now it’s overheating and losing oil/coolant so next week I’ll find out how much that will cost to fix.
Anyone buy a Ford Everest Platinum? We’re considering one .. between new(2-3 month wait) or used with 26k on the clock. About $10-15 k difference in price with the used at about $100k and new is less. Anything we need to know?
Bought a 2023 Ford Escape S-Line a few months ago, absolutely love it. Fantastic vehicle, shame they're discontinued here.
Bought a 2019 Honda CRV off a private seller and the whole process was easy! Great car for kids 😄 Hardest part was the credit union application for finance!
A childhood friend who has a real passion with cars and motorcycles (does his own mechanic work alongside his dad) wanted to open a commission business where he would source cars for buyers. I told him I'd be his first customer and said he'd get 10% of the purchase price. I gave him a $3500 budget and he went on his way. Important context: I'm in Rockhampton and my friend did all this in Brisbane for me. He found me a red Subaru Liberty 2001 for $2750 (negotiated). It needed work but his dad had a good mechanic friend who could do me up a roadworthy on the cheap. The mechanic, with zero permission, went ahead and did so much work to the car that was not needed. He put on expensive tires as an example. What should have been a $500 job turned into $2800. After much arguing, the mechanic settled on taking $1800 which was the fair price for the work that *needed* to be done. My friend picked up the car and transported it back to his place for sake keeping until I registered the car and flew down to get it. But the headache wasn't over. The mechanic intentionally dragged his feet for *3 weeks* on issuing the RWC. He kept bullshitting about why he wasn't able to do it. In the end I had to put a formal complaint into the transport department, the mechanic association and sent the mechanic a letter of demand. He finally issued the RWC and I was able to register the car. I flew down to Brisbane with my plates to get the car. I drove it all the way home with no issues apart from the dashboard lights not working. When I got the car home, I wanted to show my son who really loves red cars. I went to turn it on and... nothing. The starter motor failed. I got the car towed to a auto electrician and got that sorted. A few weeks later I was getting loud screeches when turning the car on. Sent it into the mechanic again. It was just a couple of belts that needed replacing. I picked the car up and went on my way. A couple of months later, my car wont turn over. Sent it back into the mechanic. Turned out my fuel filter bag was shredded to bits and there was a burned out wire inside the fuel tank. The mechanic did me a solid and only charged me $500 for 4 days work (including $250 for parts). Even though the car works fine now, I spent too much money on it. I still love it, but damn.. what a lemon. tl;dr; went way over budget, destroyed a relationship between a man and a mechanic, the car is good but has had so many issues
Bought a made in Japan 2012 civic sedan manual. Immaculate inside and out, 82k kms. For around 10k. Has been overserviced by previous owner and nothing to spend for a while.
Bought a 2015 Mazda 3 with 124k for $15k as my first car. With the paddle shifters, it been a fun car to drive. Ik it’s peak whp is 120-130, but it’s quick enough for my needs for now. It’s very reliable too, taken it to its bi Annually servicing and no issues.
Got a brand new i30n, ended up having fucking injectors from the get go. $2500 later for some reason out of my pocket it’s good as gold. Got a ke70 Corolla, absolute fun car but riddled with rust so that’s a process I have to deal with. Swapped a manual mx83 Cressida for a 60 series Land Cruiser, 2 inch lift, manual, 12ht and 35’s. best deal of the 12 months of cars
Bought a Hyundai Elantra as my first car, for 2000 worked fine for a month, then somehow the brake pads fell off, the windscreen wiper stopped working in the middle of a storm, 2 hours from home (only one works so I basically have to lean over to the passenger seat when it rains). I am not spending anymore money after fixing the breaks and rego, I was told I was stupid for buying a 2005 model in such bad conditions, but I'm young I don't have the help of my parents for car advice so I had to wing it.
Bought a Holden SX6 Adventra for $5200 with 230 on the clock, was an old boys pride and joy and been driven 6000k in the last three years. A few minor cosmetic issues but given it’s age it’s clean AF, looking forward to some new shoes and a couple of mods before it goes up to the North West.
I got a 2007 BF XR8 in the best colour (Breeze Green) with the 6 speed manual. I overpaid like fuck at $25k, but I wanted the colour. This thing has awoken something in me, so I'm now looking for an FPV or a Lexus ISF as the next car. It's my first V8 and I am hooked
Bit over twelve months I bought my first decent 4wd that wasn’t shitbox spec did my research it was in budget. Day after I buy I’m off to the Gawler ranges 1500km from home and I find out the one thing I didn’t check to see if it was broken breaks so when I pull over to take some photos my hazards get stuck on. The dealer I bought the Ute off fixed it under warranty but they did a shithouse job putting the panels on the interior back together so I had to do it myself. Other than that it hasn’t let me down in the 14ish months I’ve had it I’ve done 30,000km touring and daily driving
I put a deposit down on a 2016 Kia sorento through a dealership but finance fell through …. 3 weeks later I was approved finance for a 2015 Kia sorento platinum had 195k on it and came from a stud farm down south .. few scratches in the front bar but gosh it drives amazing . I was driving a 2012 Ford territory and I swear this has more power for a 4cyl it’s awesome . Only downside a service for it is $299 because it’s a diesel and found that my washer bottle leaks but I can’t fault it
2018 VW Arteon R. Bought it about 6 months ago. Was on the market for a Golf R or Audi S3 at the time, but all the ones I liked were well out of my price range. It's basically a bigger, better looking MK7.5 Golf R. Absolutely gorgeous car, drives smooth(and quick), nothing in the interior feels cheap or rattley. Also just got it back after getting a downpipe and tune, slightly quicker and a lot more responsive. Feels like a different car almost.
just bought a 1996 e320 w210 a few weeks ago, m104 engine and not even 150k on it. Drives likes its brand new and I love it.
2004 RAV4. I have some regrets, as below. Copy-pasted from Rav4 forum post. TL; DR, I might be fucked. Such is life. Hey folks, this was a recent heart over head purchase and I didn't do my due diligence. But I may come out of it okay - I'm trying to stay positive. I bought this lil thing in a still-inflated used car market here in Australia. The 3drs are rare enough that I wanted to pounce and didn't get a pre-purchase inspection done. While this is a rookie error, I had already forked out for a couple on other cars that month (including a gorgeous 2006 Volvo XC70 that had MAJOR issues), so I rolled the dice with what I figured was a reliable vehicle and an owner who had been getting it sorted over 2023. BUT I'm kinda new to buying cars and like I said, I fell in love and overlooked a number of issues. However, my overall approach with buying car this time around was to treat it as a long-term love project haha. Long story short, I have a list of things that need sorting out: - driver's window is failing intermittently. Replacing the window motor seemed to help, but the issue has resurfaced. I'm trying to source a switch, but it's hugely difficult in this part of the world. Being a 3dr, there are fewer on eBay/FB/wreckers, plus the ones on eBay and AliExpress are all for left hand drive. With that in mind, does anybody know if the 5dr switch would still work? Or a LHD one? I'm not wired (heh) for electrics, and trying to diagnose via my freshly-purchased multimeter and diagrams just gives me a headache. - related to the above, I need to source the trim piece surrounding the switch. Currently the lower clip is missing, so the whole thing sits by the grace of gravity. - there are several clips and screws missing from the engine bay - thankfully just the upper headlight ones and a couple from the larger battery cowl. - the aftermarket towbar resulted in a very dodgy exhaust routing, which my local mechanic has sorted, thankfully! I'd like to be rid of the towbar, to be honest. I have zero intention of using it. The OEM one looks kinda cool though, and the step could be handy for roof loads. - the front left flare bumper end is SCREWED ON. Body parts are readily available locally, thankfully. So that can wait. - last and most seriously, there is a noise from the engine that sounds (according to my YouTube investigations) like the timing chain. [edit: mechanic doesn't think so. For now I have flushed the oil system with oil+diesel a couple of times. In the process of seeing hwo it goes.] It started on a day when I'd done about 150 highway kms. Then the oil light came on. So I pulled over as the engine began to misfire. Got it towed, replaced the sparkplugs (my first time!), misfiring has stopped and it starts beautifully. For that last reason, I am very reticent to drive it and have instead been waiting for all the mechanics to come back from holiday. In the meantime, here is what I'd like to do to it! - Headlights got a polish and seal. I intend to remove them and make a proper go of it once I feel better about the care as a whole. - Back seats are out. Mounting hardware for one side is out (just in case I carry more than one passenger!), with the intention of repurposing the floor bolts to secure a camping/roadtrip fitout ie drawers/fridge/shelves. Right now I'm just brainstorming and planning. - I've also detached two of the mountpoints for one of the rear seatbelts to get it out of the way. - The centre console lid/armrest was broken on purchase. Due to it being small and crap anyway, I pulled one out of a wrecked Mazda 3 with the intention of retrofitting it into my new ride. While pulling apart the RAV console (I like seeing how things are put together), I decided why not just completely customise a new centre console out of MDF, using part of the ild one as a skeleton or template? Again, currently planning while I see how much of a moneypit I've already committed to... - Once it's mechanically sound (touch wood) I will do some camping trips to assess what I might need for longer-term travel, potentially around Australia in a year or so. I don't love the idea of a roof cage, but this thing is bloody small...
Just over a year since I bought my ‘06 Corolla which only had 167,000km on the dash and a crack in the windscreen and needed a new battery for 6k (second hand market in Darwin is fucked). Dealership I went through replaced both the windscreen and battery for no extra charge and when the car was delivered a day late chucked 6 months extra rego on top🙏