Cars & Transportation Car Torque

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I’ve always had cheap, second-hand fast-ish cars in the $20k - $30k range. Only a few years old when you get them, keep them for a few years and get a few thrills.

Looking around, there seems to be a real shortage of options in this bracket at the moment. Basically WRXs and that’s it. The late Ford and Holden V8s are commanding ridiculous prices. To be expected with them going out of production I guess.
 
Bunk Moreland said:
I’ve always had cheap, second-hand fast-ish cars in the $20k - $30k range. Only a few years old when you get them, keep them for a few years and get a few thrills.

Looking around, there seems to be a real shortage of options in this bracket at the moment. Basically WRXs and that’s it. The late Ford and Holden V8s are commanding ridiculous prices. To be expected with them going out of production I guess.
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That's what happened to me. I was looking at that price range for something that was a bit of fun and had to be a manual, so I ended up with a WRX because the VE and VF Commodores had barely devalued. There were a few Audi S5's (the last of the V8s) but they were getting a bit old.

Scotland said:
Saw a Kia Stinger the other day. Had to do a double take that it was a Kia. Looked sharp. Probably **** though.
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They're actually meant to go alright from most of the reviews I've read about them.
 
Bunk Moreland said:
I’ve always had cheap, second-hand fast-ish cars in the $20k - $30k range. Only a few years old when you get them, keep them for a few years and get a few thrills.

Looking around, there seems to be a real shortage of options in this bracket at the moment. Basically WRXs and that’s it. The late Ford and Holden V8s are commanding ridiculous prices. To be expected with them going out of production I guess.
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Not really. A mate bought a VF SS ute second hand with HSV bodykit and only 20,000km for $18,000.

He recommends looking in WA.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Bunk Moreland said:
Something dodgy about their refusal to submit them to ANCAP for crash testing.
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Wouldn't stop me owning one

HSV’s converted Camaro 2SS excels in crash testing

No ANCAP rating but HSV’s RHD Camaro 2SS receives ADR safety certification
www.goauto.com.au

"HSV managing director Tim Jackson indicated that the Camaro’s lack of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) would likely prevent it from receiving the desirable five-star result."
 
mattyb2607 said:
Wouldn't stop me owning one

HSV’s converted Camaro 2SS excels in crash testing

No ANCAP rating but HSV’s RHD Camaro 2SS receives ADR safety certification
www.goauto.com.au

"HSV managing director Tim Jackson indicated that the Camaro’s lack of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) would likely prevent it from receiving the desirable five-star result."
Click to expand...

Which is fine. You wouldn’t expect it to get five stars without AEB. But it’s not an excuse not to crash test it.

Particularly given it’s had major reconstructive work as a result of the conversion.

Honestly... it would stop me buying one. I don’t need to be a vegetable for the rest of my sorry life if somebody runs into me. No car, no matter how fun, is worth that.
 

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Where do people get these ideas from that Australian made cars aren't reliable?

We've owned five commodores.

A VK that served us well in to the 2000s and is a regretful sale.
A VR (second hand) that dad used for his DIDO work and racked up half a million Ks on it. Needing minor brake work but has been left abandonned in the yard for the last decade.
A VS ute (second hand) dad got instead for his work - 300k kms, no issues, regretful trade in - was one of the last column shifts made by Holden.
A VY (second hand) that is still going reliable and strong pushing 300,000kms. Drove it to work this morning.
Dad's VE ute (second hand) that will be pushing half a mill kms soon - some pain in the arse with this one admittedly - damn computerised engines.

Now a mate of mine forked out double the price of a Commodore for his BMW, it got wet in a storm and now it's a garden ornament. It's dead and in limbo between being dead and insurance investigating any possible alternative to paying out and writing off. I know that doesn't represent all prestigious brand foreign cars, but a lotta ripped on Holdens and Fords were in the same storm.

Lastly my HQ is still putting away at nearly 50 years of age.

The idea that they aren't reliable isn't just one of the biggest myths I encounter in car talk, but in life as a whole.
 
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I’d probably have to agree in general, Fords and Holdens I’ve had haven’t been the most reliable. More specifically, I’ve found the build quality to be shithouse. Small components, bits of trim etc constantly breaking / falling off / not working.

The V8s (and XR6Ts) offer a pile of fun though that is hard to beat for the price. It’s a trade off.

I’d never buy just a boring commuter - say a V6 Commodore - however. There’s far better and more reliable alternatives. I’ve found Toyotas / Mitsubishis / Subarus are generally fantastic and go forever if serviced and maintained properly. Just my experience.
 
There was nothing wrong with the Commodores and Falcons as such and they were pretty good value but people stopped wanting large 6 cylinder sedans and station wagons. Commodore sales are 80-90k per year in the 90s and early 2000s and then under 30k by the time local production was axed. Didn't even sell 10k last year. A small market producer can't compete on those volumes.

It annoyed me that the local car industry was always two steps behind. Building the Cruze ("Australia's small car", what a joke) was a mistake. By the time we were building DOHC engines and the Cruze other manufacturers were already building hybrids. A locally built Hilux/Navara equivalent might've been a success.
 
You do know a lot of what Holden could and couldn't do was dictated to it by GM?

The Hilux/Navara equivalent would be the Colorado but I don't think it was local made, and I don't think it would have made a difference.
 
Scotland said:
There was nothing wrong with the Commodores and Falcons as such and they were pretty good value but people stopped wanting large 6 cylinder sedans and station wagons. Commodore sales are 80-90k per year in the 90s and early 2000s and then under 30k by the time local production was axed. Didn't even sell 10k last year. A small market producer can't compete on those volumes.

It annoyed me that the local car industry was always two steps behind. Building the Cruze ("Australia's small car", what a joke) was a mistake. By the time we were building DOHC engines and the Cruze other manufacturers were already building hybrids. A locally built Hilux/Navara equivalent might've been a success.
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There’s no doubt they were terribly managed as businesses.

edgie said:
You do know a lot of what Holden could and couldn't do was dictated to it by GM?
Click to expand...

Correct - and they’re terribly managed in the US as well.
 
Bunk Moreland said:
There’s no doubt they were terribly managed as businesses.



Correct - and they’re terribly managed in the US as well.
Click to expand...

Holden (I'm not read up about recently but definitely in the 60s - 70s) had aspirations at the forefront of automotive development that were either roadblocked directly or indirectly by having some Yank reassigned out to Australia to head Holden up.
 
Certain models of Comoodores were terriblly unreliable (think VT/VX, early VE). They'd start to fall apart around the 5-6 year mark. Headlining would almost always fall apart, switches would break, paint would discoulour, moulds/badges would fall off etc etc. Engine issues were common as well, timing chain issues in the VZ range among others.

A lot of issues people face with cars are that they ignore or are oblivious to major milestone work that has to be done. Oh, my Suburu's timing belt needs to be replaced at 100,000 km's. Lets stretch that out to 125,000. Bang!!!! Suburu is rubbish,never again.
 
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