What car would you buy?

[Demons1964]

I have a dilemma at the moment (but a good one). My wife drives an '89 Pulsar 210,000km that is just starting to have a few things fail. I drive a VSII V8 Statesman, no problems with it. We've decided to trade in the Pulsar, she'll drive the Statesman and I'll get a new/used car.

So what's the dilemma? I have $40,000 at my disposal at the moment to buy whatever car I want. But what car do I buy? Taking into account that the tradein should cover stamp duty, dealer delivery *cough, splutter* and that I'm not prepared to borrow money, $40k becomes my sticker price. I've done the research on what that money will get me:

New V8 S Ute - $39,500
New V6 Acclaim (A/C, side airbags, 6CD) - $39,800
New V6 Crewman similar accessories- $39,100
Note: $40k cannot get any new commodore sedan with a V8!!
Used 2001/02 WHII V8 Statesman - Leather interior, 10CD, climate control $38k-$40k.

Obviously I can bargain down a few grand but those are the likely options. My most important consideration? Given that I'm currently in a luxury car I'd prefer another luxury car. So even a new standard Exec would be like a step down; but on the other hand it would be a new car. The car will be a daily driver with no modifications to be performed, and I would prefer one with a new-car/extended warranty and therefore trouble-free (that rules out a 300kW souped up VL destined to blow its head gasket once a month!!). Sorry for the long post. I'll throw it open to you guys: which car would you buy with $40k and why?

Mark.

 

[DJ Majah]

Well it says 'What car would 'I' buy', so this is it.

If I could get a supercharged V6 Statesman for the price, I'd grab it. Otherwise I'd take the Acclaim. Then again if I had that much money I could afford a V8, so go with the Statesman!

 

[The1985divo]

The VY acclaim would be a good buy, I personally would get the statesman, they look real good and have everything, or y not a VY S nice kit and have sum grunt it thats what your looking for.

 

[Gobbles]

i would also go the statesman with the genIII

 

[Astranomical]

Yep, i'd get the Stato.

 

[jules]

i would buy a 90s nissan gtr

 

[Big_Lebowski]

Well, if it was me, I'd just grab a nice, fairly new car with low Kms for $20,000 and invest the rest. In fact, after re-reading your post, I'd stick with the car you already have. You said yourself there are no probs with it....

Surely you can put your 40K to better use. At least with your current car you know how it's been driven, etc etc.

But, that's just me. Other mates of mine are continually upgrading their cars, whereas I tend to drive mine into the ground until they either stop running or until the cops defect it so bad it's not economical to fix it.

 

[fourstar82]

All very nice cars, but remember to take into consideration insurance and rego costs, they can sky rocket depending on the car you get. On pure adrenalin, I would go for the New V8 S Ute. However I would probably end up going the Statesman as it isn't that old, has V8 power, luxury the others can't give you and low Km's!!! Plus it can be used as a family car and I'm sure your wife wouldn't mind being carted around in it, not to mention your kids!!! (assuming you have kids)

Andy

 

[Wombat]

$40,000 to play with...if it was me personally I'd throw the VS Berlina keys to the missus and I'd go and buy a genuine E-49 Charger....

thought that'd get your attention... .
If it was me, and I was looking at a Holden, I'd probably look for a supercharged V6 Monaro. i know they stopped making that version a while ago, but the market forces driven by the "V8's are the only way to horsepower" brigade pushing the V8 prices up mean that I have seen very nice Supercharged V6 Monaros advertised for under $40,000...well under.

 

[OSL-060]

Until the new Holden six comes, it'd be a BA XR6T, the things are so refined and they'll hold their value being the first mass produced Aussie turbo since the VL which still sported the Nissan engine. Used XR6T's are going for around 33k with less than 30,000klms on the clock. If you've been in the VS statesman, you'll love how the BA feels to drive, probably one of the smoothest, quietest performance cars I've been in.

Flame me, but with an open mind it'll be the next Aussie cult car