Thread: Small Runabout Car

Originally Posted by gonetropo

avoid anything with cvt !

Fixed

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Fixed

yep, but the nissan ones are the most unreliable of the lot.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

avoid nissans with cvt !

Avoid all the small Nissan's, they rust bad

Everything is going CVT unfortunately. One of the issues with CVT is people flogging them and not keeping up with services - some of them are utter bastards to do though so I can understand why they get avoided. Also it can actually be hard to get hold of the specific fluids rated for each transmission at times which doesn't make it easier. One I did you'd have though it was full of cold thick coffee - yeet.

Was looking for a wee car for our daughter last year. I found anything advertised for $4k or less was really a sub $1k car. We ended up getting a Fit . Spent $5k but difference was remarkable body and interior mint, reasonable k's Replaced one coil and so far so good it's been on a few runs to Auckland and does surprisingly well on the open road. Sits on a hundy @ 2000 revs.(On the flat).

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

Mazda Demio, the most stolen car in NZ

Exactly, loiter near any Michael Hills long enough, eventually a cheap one will get parked inside it.

You’ve got a hilux, be rude not to buy another Toyota.

Just bought a 2010 focus 1.8 diesel manual for 700 from otaki, clutch needs some work soon, in the winter but say 1000$ and 700 for the car have a car that uses 4-5L per 100 versus my 4x4 at 10-12L works out a hell of a lot cheaper to run, own, and maintain versus the 4x4 and has a 4star safety rating so bring on the cheap run about also handy for when the 4x4 is off the road for whatever reasons

I’ve got to question those who use the safety argument for a SUV or ute as a daily driver. Way more likely to crash in the first place due to high centre of gravity and longer stopping distance, and most modern ones have so much pickup they make you forget you’re driving a 2 ton tank. Sure, your wife & kids might come out okay, but pity the poor bastard in the Yaris that they just flattened. Good on you for leaving it in the garage until you’re going to use it as intended.

I have a Hilux and a 1990 Corolla, the Corolla preceeded the Hilux by about seven years and I have kept it for the exact reason as the OP, to offset the Ute kms. It lives in 6 monthly intervals as it will be disposed of when it doesn't get a easy WOF, but that hasn't happened yet. I also like to use it as a road end car.

When my partner and I first met, she also had a Corolla, same shape and colour, just a bit newer, it got written off in 2019 and we replaced it with a 2005 Corolla wagon (same as the Fielder) for about 4k which has become the main driving wagon for plenty of long trips and plenty of commuting.
In four years of ownership, it has clocked up 90k km and the running total for repairs (brake discs) is $140. So irregular maintenance and depreciation to date has been ~$25 per week, but I expect that number will get lower as time goes on.
All of our Corollas have been very reliable and cheap to keep on the road. Doing ones own servicing helps and it is cheap and easy to service a Corolla and none of them have needed any real money spent on repairs.
I had a Caldina as a work wagon for a few years that had been absolutely hammered and kept getting hammered and it never ever missed a beat.
If I was buying another vehicle for a commuting runabout I would probably just default to another old Corolla or Caldina, there may be better options out there, having clocked up as many Corolla kms as I have, I know what I am getting and what to expect and can roughly budget accordingly.

One word of advice if you go down this road, the manual gearbox in the older Corolla is better than the auto gearbox. The inverse applies to the Caldina gearboxes. This is from Dog and Lemon.

Originally Posted by mopheadrob

I’ve got to question those who use the safety argument for a SUV or ute as a daily driver. Way more likely to crash in the first place due to high centre of gravity and longer stopping distance, and most modern ones have so much pickup they make you forget you’re driving a 2 ton tank. Sure, your wife & kids might come out okay, but pity the poor bastard in the Yaris that they just flattened. Good on you for leaving it in the garage until you’re going to use it as intended.

Yes and no i get what your trying to say but the only thing you can say is what would you rather have a crash in a late model hilux or a smaller older cheaper run about - noone logical is ever going to say the cheaper car because of what/who you might crash into, you want the safest option for yourself and wifey and kids and dog all day every day but there are some safer cheaper cars about versus 1992 1100kg corollas

Originally Posted by Carbine

Yes and no i get what your trying to say but the only thing you can say is what would you rather have a crash in a late model hilux or a smaller older cheaper run about - noone logical is ever going to say the cheaper car because of what/who you might crash into, you want the safest option for yourself and wifey and kids and dog all day every day but there are some safer cheaper cars about versus 1992 1100kg corollas

That is the part I admittedly forgot to mention while waxing lyrical in my previous post, in the older Corolla you might as well be driving an open chassis or riding a motorbike albeit with less propensity for tipping over.

Can vouch for the Toyota Yaris/Vitz models.
Very reliable except for the 1.3 2sz engine.
The 1nz and 2nz are bulletproof!
I own 3......
Very nippy wee cars and run on the smell of an oily rag.
The 1500cc are quite a bit peppier than the 1.3, but the 1.3 isn't a slug motor.

The later 130 series with cvt are ok but they do sound like a slipping clutch when accelerating hard. They don't have many issues if serviced correctly.

Toyota Yaris

Absolutely reliable and not bad to drive if your over 6 foot.

Originally Posted by mopheadrob

I’ve got to question those who use the safety argument for a SUV or ute as a daily driver. Way more likely to crash in the first place due to high centre of gravity and longer stopping distance, and most modern ones have so much pickup they make you forget you’re driving a 2 ton tank. Sure, your wife & kids might come out okay, but pity the poor bastard in the Yaris that they just flattened. Good on you for leaving it in the garage until you’re going to use it as intended.

Way more likely to crash in the first place might apply to the earlier utes before the stability control and driver safety aids, but to be fair from what I see and hear on the local roads in good conditions it's older sedan type cars with inexperienced or uncaring drivers, flash arseholes in brand new mercedes or other expensive euro's that think they have god's right to drive everywhere at 130 that cause the crashes. In crap weather, it's a bit more of a lottery but the cautious driver wins here regardless of vehicle they are piloting.

The biggest factor for me, is by driving to the conditions and being conservative when required, sticking to the speed limits etc it's a more than even chance that if I'm involved in a crash it's either weather, failure of something like a tyre or someone attacking me (my last three have been people driving into me at intersections). In that case, you bloody bet I want to be in a 2-ton steel armoured box and to be fair I'm not too bothered if someone hits me through no fault of mine how they get on. I'm about me and mine now, and that's partially due to my recent experiences with our beloved medical system and the fact I'm still off work three years after an injury due on no small part to the total f-around I had during the end of Covid with getting treatment and people making incompetent decisions.