The Automobile Thread

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Swords Hoopster. said:
Killy, I'm not going to slag you over the minivan because if I had a wife and a rake of kids, maybe I'd be forced into buying one too. I'd like to think though that I'd get an estate car!

Its also difficult to compare motors from here with those of the US, Oz and where you are, Canada. The cars in those Countries are much bigger because the Countries themselves are geographically much bigger. If I lived in North America I'd no doubt have a bigger car than I have now.

(As far as minivans go, your one actually looks quite well!)
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Our 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan has a 3.8L V6 engine, lots of power, fuel consumption not bad 25 mpg - it's definitely a people mover which is absolutely necessary when you have 5 kids, and a 7 passenger vehicle is required to fit everyone in, plus you also need space for luggage x7 when you go away on vacation.

What I found amazing when I upgraded from our original new 1996 model to the used 2000 model in 2008 was that an 8 year old vehicle, with relatively low mileage (for here) 145,000 KM, that cost $30,000 new on the road could be bought for only $1,950 in perfect running order, a/c working, tinted windows, cruise etc.

Yes, I recall from when I lived in the UK, the station wagon over here is called an estate.
 
Swords Hoopster. said:
You ever drive a Legacy Queens? Great Motor.

Its the Impreza you're going for innit?
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Never driven one mate but i do like the look of them. The older ones suffer from the same problems the early scoobys did,ie bad plugs etc.

On another note I got a quote yesterday for a new Subaru XV (yes in orange with the full alloys etc!)

Looks very do-able @ $200 a week including servicing, tyres, insurance, rego(road tax and MOT) and repairs. thats about GPB 130/week.
they have apparently got rid of al the bugs they had in the earlier Scoobys etc and supposed to be a good car. Not driven one yet so thats the plan this weekend.

I'd love to post a pic but cant from this computer. Perhaps one of you fine gents could do it.
Would be intrested to see opinions as its a bit like our mate Tarbs. The look tends to split people!

Have a look and let me know what you think of them.
 
Kilburn said:
1991 Toyota Corolla 4WD Wagon, 5 speed - attached a photo of the twin of mine (same province) - I have been driving same vehicle for past 22 yrs 3 mths, almost as long as I've been married. 340,000 KM original engine - a great winter vehicle - longevity eh, that's what happens when you have 5 kids to support - I tell them, it's just a metal box that gets you from point A to point B and hopefully doesn't break down in between. I've only had one non-start, in the depths of winter when my fuel pump died - drove to the office parking lot that morning, but car wouldn't start at lunchtime.

None of that nonsense air bags, power everything options, anti-lock brakes, GPS etc - very easy to work on mechanically. Last couple of years only required some bodywork to meet annual motor vehicle inspection requirements.

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R.I.P. Regrettably, my beauty of the past 22 years went to Toyota heaven last Friday.

Last week my 1991 Toyota Corolla 4WD wagon at 340,000 KM suddenly developed an engine issue with coolant disappearing – my backyard mechanic, had hoped it was just the cylinder head gasket, which he could have replaced for around $300 (the local Toyota dealer wanted $1500 for this job). I paid my guy $50 to strip the engine down (4 hrs labour) to diagnose the issue, but he discovered a hairline crack in the metal on one of the ports of the cylinder head. He couldn’t find another cylinder head, and even if he could, a used one would have been around $300, plus you would have to plane surfaces at a machine shop $150, gasket kit $100, new cylinder head bolts $60etc, so job was getting way too expensive for such an old vehicle, and I sadly decided that I must say goodbye. I drove that Toyota for over 22 years - my wife says I am now grieving the loss of my car! When I got back home after work Friday, the whole family was wailing - I thought one of our cats had just died as there was a garbage bag in front of them!

Would you believe that the day before this happened, I had just put on a brand new muffler under lifetime warranty (as long as you own the car). Even though the $100 muffler was “free” I still paid $50 in labour, nuts & bolts, shop supplies etc. but car and sounded great after repair as the old muffler was blown out and noisy. I mentioned that in the past couple of days that my heater had stopped working normally and they checked my coolant level and had to add 2 litres (a lot) to top it up which I found a bit odd as no apparent leaks. No coolant in oil though, I guess it was getting burnt off through the exhaust, as it turns out it was leaking through that hairline crack in one of the exhaust/intake ports on the cylinder head.

I am currently looking at a used automatic 2003 Honda Civic, 4 door with 150,000 km. An older lady has been driving this vehicle and she is trading it in tomorrow evening on a new vehicle, and the salesman says I can purchase it directly from her for around $2,000. My mechanic says to just make sure you change the timing belt every 160,000 km on these Honda's as you can ruin the engine if it breaks. Apparently the water pump is normally changed at same time as you have ready access to it. Not too bad a cost for these preventative maintenance repairs though:-

Timing belt - parts & labour (3 hrs) - $275
Water pump - parts & labour (0.5 hr) - $125

So for $400 this vehicle should have some good driving ahead of it.

My wife and two of my five daughters will also be able to drive this 2nd vehicle as they never mastered the 5 speed Toyota Corolla 4WD wagon.

Any thoughts out there regarding the 2003 Honda Civic?
 
Killy, I read your post that time but forgot to respond to it.

So the old girl has finally succumbed? They were a bloody good car weren't they?

Did you get that Auto Civic? How comes you didn't go for an estate again? Or did you say that you had a Mini-Van for the family stuff?
 
Swords Hoopster. said:
Killy, I read your post that time but forgot to respond to it.

So the old girl has finally succumbed? They were a bloody good car weren't they?

Did you get that Auto Civic? How comes you didn't go for an estate again? Or did you say that you had a Mini-Van for the family stuff?
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Hi Swords - Yes, the mini-van for family stuff and my wife's commute to work.

To unexpectedly replace my Toyota 4WD wagon I did not have much budget available, just $2000 from income tax refund, which over here would put me in the market for a reliable 2001/2002 Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic (but not AWD/4WD) with 200,000 KM on a 4 cylinder engine.

This week I filtered my local Kijiji ads on just "AWD" and came up with an interesting selection of alternative AWD vehicles including this one, 2005 Chrysler 300 Touring AWD 4 door sedan with 200,000 KM and a 3.5L V6 engine, asking only $3200:-

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Normally I would never ever have considered this vehicle, but when I reviewed road tests I was pleasantly surprised. This was one of the first Chrysler concept vehicles designed by German engineers when Daimler-Benz bought into Chrysler.

This was a business related long distance travelling vehicle, driven by a very nice lady who I suspect wanted to deliberately orchestrate a financial loss on paper. Even though vehicle had a current safety inspection the lady's husband insisted on installing $800 of brand new 18" tyres on vehicle and was sold to me for only $2500. I bought it in another city, an hour drive away, so had to get a drive down, transacted the business and had a wonderful drive home - it is a very smooth, quiet, drive great power and just purrs along at 100 Km/Hr (legal) @ 2200 RPM. Very nice black exterior paint and grey leather interior, no rust.

Depending on condition/Km's the retail on this 7 yr old vehicle should have been around $10,000 , when new was around $36,000 so I got a real steal and the AWD greatly increases road traction safety with the snow/ice of our Canadian winters. My kids love it and they say it is a "low rider", "gang banger" style vehicle.

Certainly quite a change from the Toyota, but suspect my wife is going to grab this and leave me with the people moving 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan - that's fine buy me, I tell my kids it's just a metal box that gets you from point A to point B and hopefully doesn't break down in between leaving you stranded on the highway.

Our current family finances do not permit new vehicle purchases with added monthly payments, so for the money this one is rather neat with the all important AWD - a different AWD system on this one, not a "floating" system, it has fixed 30% drive to front wheels and 70% to rear wheels.

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http://www.autos.ca/car-test-drives/test-drive-2005-chrysler-300c-awd/
 
Swords Hoopster. said:
Imaz said:
Saab 9-3? Just a tarted up Vauxhall Vectra at the end of the day like Audi to Skoda.
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Be prepared for the wrath of Oddball!!
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Imaz is right after anything made on a 02 plate . My car however is a Saab 9-3 Aero Hot coupe chipped and eats M3's and well most things I see on the road ... I will never change it as the faces on the other drivers is worth it .
Anyone who drives around London knows exactly what I am on about with the aggressive Audi and M3 drivers.
I do admit however keeping the torque steer under wraps is scary.
Where this car comes into its own is between 30 and 95 mph as mime does that in 3 secs The High Output Turbo HOT as standard is the same as the one on the EVO ... I have a better one than that and I am ashamed to say it comes with its own little blue gauge that sits on my dash . If I get to have to dish out a learning to a M3 or S5 then I can see if my boost is ready ... Put my foot down and good night Irene it only remains then to let them catch up to see the faces. Nearly everytime they are fuming and have to pass me but they do so slowly and look in disbelief ... Said before the 5k spent on the car and the mods are worth it and most if the time I poodle around on the roads where all this crazy cock waving drama is played out daily ... What Vauxhall does that ? I have had some top range cars in my time and yet my seats in my Saab are the best without doubt ... Full high quality leather fully heated and electronic with the words Turbo lightly embossed into them.
They are a beautifully designed car IMO and built to last 500k easily ... Saying that I do have a new engine in mime now which cost me 1700 quid brand new but worth it

I can say that my car has very little to do with a Vauxhall and I doubt if I would buy a later Saab ever.

If you see one and you are in the market for a car buy one is my advice they go for around a grand today and and bound to become a classic

They are juicy Max 33mpg and can be a problem on the aero body kit as you also need to lower them a bit but I doubt if you will ever regret it and look at another car again which are made of tin foil and plastics and generally too slow

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500kms? No way with a chipped and stressed engine like that, speed bumps would kill it long before then anyways (if it actually managed to get over them with the bodykit).
 
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