Consolidating cars - thoughts?

[c2105026]

OOh a crapload.......well into 5 figures. Me not having a lot of space and being DIY inept meant much of it was shopped out. Great new perspective. Thanks for reminding me. :thumbsup:

I could save 3-4k a year with a single small car but would take a few years to re-coup what would have been 'wasted' on the VB. Even on the VX a couple of grand has been spent.

The more I think about it, the more I think I might just maintain the status quo. VB has huge investment potential and VX is just run in.......if I can put up with the fuel bill, the VX can be very cheap motoring for several more years......

Thank you all for thoughts replies and responses :thumbsup::wave:

 

[c2105026]

If I wanted to save $$$ Could always put VB on club plates, thereby driving VX more (using less and cheaper fuel, cheaper rego and insurance for VB too)......

 

[Tasmaniak]

VX on gas?

 

[c2105026]

VX on gas?

Nah, thanks for the idea though. Conversion is...$3k? My mileage on that vehicle is only running at about 12-13,000km/yr, wouldn't be that cost effective. Would take about 4yrs to break even. More importantly I am a real stickler for originality. With exception of 2-way radio car is exactly as it rolled out of Lithgow Holden on 24/5/01......

 

[VS_Pete]

Mazda 3.......................

 

[Jesterarts]

Get an x-trail. Versitile, cheap servicing (my last wad 215 at the dealership), not too bad on fuel (10.5L average even with my driving) and the ST-L has all the comfort bits like leather, heated seats, mp3, etc.

I came out of my old VZ R8 into this and love it.

 

[Jesterarts]

Also, Holden Cruze is an alright car.

Only thing being you would want the diesel as the petrol is really gutless. Buy diesel is more costly at service time.

The build quailty is not bad and these is a lot of them out there so parts are easy to come by.

I also drove a Mazda 3 for a while. Its was great but I remeber something in it annoying me. Just cannot remember what it was at the moment. Seating position related I think.

 

[Calaber]

In late and haven't read all this thread, but my two bob's worth.

I assume you still enjoy driving. Therefore, you don't want to be bored to death by what you drive. Camry's are out, then, unless you think it's "hip to be square"......Same for just about anything else with a Toyota badge.

I assume you want reliability. Scratch Veedub's, if my previous (first and only new car) Golf 5 experience is anything to judge by.

Can't comment on the new Mazda 3 but the old model suffered very badly from road noise. The NVH suppression in those cars was poor by current standards.

For reliability/value/quality, it's hard to pass up the Koreans these days, particularly Hyundai and Kia. Both the same cars under the skin but the Kia's are a very attractive range of cars, IMO much more so than the parent Hyundai model. Rio or Cerato, depending on the size you need. I think they'd be hard to beat.

And I agree with keeping the VB if it's in good nick. It always gave me a buzz to drive my restored HT 350 GTS around when early Monaro's were getting thin on the ground. Good clean VB's are a rare animal today.

 

[Heron SSV]

First question is what's your budget? Is it the 12k mark that was mentioned before?

 

[c2105026]

Well I have decided probably not to go through with it (mentioned a few posts ago.....basically waaay too much been invested into VB and VX has such low mileage it could last a decade or more)

but if I hypothetically sold both cars for minimum $12k and had $5k cash i'd have at a low estimate $17k. Enough for a new small base model car (eg. fiesta) or a 2-3 yr old small car (i.e. corolla-size).

But I drove a new 'light' car yesterday (5dr yaris to be exact) to see what it was like; even with a manual had very slow acceleration (VB actually feels better performance wise), and actually felt as solid as the VB (which...isn't much). May not be the greenest/fuel efficient option but the VX has vastly superior highway comfort, even at 12 years old. So it may be worth to pay the extra $3000/yr for rego, fuel, insurance, servicing etc and keep both vehicles. Additionally....a ford fiesta has never been a conversation starter