Hi gang,

Since we're moving back to Melbourne next year, we're thinking of buying a smallish, relatively cheap, hopefully quite fuel efficient, well made etc... second hand car for the odd trip around town and weekend getaways to the beach and stuff.

Since I know almost nothing about cars and lots of you do, of course I thought to post here and see what kind of answers I get. So, let's see what you guys recommend!

PS. Sorry if I've given too little information. Mostly I'm interested in fuel efficiency and a cheap price!

A Toyota Corolla ticks all the boxes

Toyota Yaris or VW Lupo, I would suppose.

toyota aygo, VW fox, pergoet 107

Not too sure what cars they have over on the other side of the world, or what the prices are like, but my Clio was cheap and is great on fuel.

Its a 2001 reg, 36,000 on the clock, nippy 1.2 engine, does 45+mpg (if you drive sensibly) and cost £2900.

Do you have a budget?

Quote from anbiddulph :

toyota aygo, VW fox, pergoet 107

Mmm what is a pergoet 107?
Is it a renamed peugeot only made in Britain, similar to the foxhole's opel makes over there?


On topic : since u are moving to Australia the only car that's worth buying is a holden , either the commodore SS or one of their HSV vehicles. :lovies3d:
If u really do want fueleconomy, I guess u have to go for one of the newer small cars with a tiny diesel in.(either japanese or european) But they arent fun to drive at all imho.

Quote from Noccy :

Mmm what is a pergoet 107?
Is it a renamed peugeot only made in Britain, similar to the foxhole's opel makes over there?


On topic : since u are moving to Australia the only car that's worth buying is a holden , either the commodore SS or one of their HSV vehicles. :lovies3d:
If u really do want fueleconomy, I guess u have to go for one of the newer small cars with a tiny diesel in.(either japanese or european) But they arent fun to drive at all imho.

True, but in all fairness he never said he wanted anything 'fun to drive'. Plus the body roll and comedy understeer make them 'fun' :P

First thing that popped into my head was a Yaris. Good cars.

if your looking for feul economy look no futher then a diahatsu , most people over look them and go for the over priced and over engineered yaris... but haven work on them , id rather drive a lada then a yaris.

Vw lupos are good but there made of plastic which tends to fall off if you rev over 850 rpm

diahatsu charade is the best option 75-80 mpg , cheap insurance and best of all , even with there 1.5 top of the line engine , you still pull 50 mpg

the car is extreamly light and you can fill the tank on 20 $ and not have to refill for over a week ( judging my the distance most people drive ) simple engineer makes the car extra special mainly because Anyone can fix them with a box of spanners and newer parts

Quote from theirishnoob :

if your looking for feul economy look no futher then a diahatsu ,

My girlfriend's got a Daihatsu "Sirion" - little car thing. It's alright, 3cyl 996cc engine, does 60+mpg, happily runs at 80mph+ on the motorway but you probably wouldn't want to hit anything at that speed.

Looks like it's mostly Toyota parts, so it should be pretty reliable. Only downside is it's pretty ugly. It looks like a cross between a Micra and the elephant man. Oh and if you're over 6'0" you probably won't be able to fit behind the wheel.

Quote from Electrik Kar :

Hi gang,

Since we're moving back to Melbourne next year, we're thinking of buying a smallish, relatively cheap, hopefully quite fuel efficient, well made etc... second hand car for the odd trip around town and weekend getaways to the beach and stuff.

Since I know almost nothing about cars and lots of you do, of course I thought to post here and see what kind of answers I get. So, let's see what you guys recommend!

PS. Sorry if I've given too little information. Mostly I'm interested in fuel efficiency and a cheap price!

My wife just returned from being over there a couple a months ago.
She told me they have a lot of vehicles that run on LPG. Its supposed to be cheaper or something. I don't know anything about them except what I just typed, but you might want to look into those. Oh, and while you're looking at cars. could you tell me how much one of those old Holden Chargers cost?
Also, another thing you might want to factor in as far as getting a car like what you're wanting is how easy is it to get parts for it? and how often will you need to get part for it? That is, if you're getting a used car.

Anyways, good luck

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Only downside is it's pretty ugly. It looks like a cross between a Micra and the elephant man. Oh and if you're over 6'0" you probably won't be able to fit behind the wheel.

Oh I've seen worse, ALOT worse infact an Aixim would be alot worse than that :P

Quote from hectic :

A Toyota Corolla ticks all the boxes

I read the thread title and immediately thought "Corolla" :up:

My other half had a late-90s 1.8 Conquest for about eight years and it never put a foot wrong or had any niggling mechanical problems. She had it serviced regularly (but not often) and, as mentioned, it ticked all the boxes with regard to efficiency & reliability. While it's not dangerously quick it's fun to drive hard (if you like that kind of thing) and quite nimble. I'm sure more recent ones would be somewhat improved over Mrs H's model, but you could probably get a 'rolla from the 80s that's still running brilliantly

Thanks everyone for those responses. Food for thought and I'll sort through it all down the road.

Just found this... cars that run on air! I've heard of this before but it looks like the French guy's almost ready to go commercial. Good on him! Looks amazing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmqpGZv0YT4
http://www.theaircar.com/

I'd suggest something like a Honda Civic Hatchback from the late 90's. Honda's reliability is impeccable and they are also great on fuel. Good luck with your move to Australia.

If you want small and fuel efficiency, the only vehicle to recommend is a GM Hummer! Very small and very efficient!

Better put my sarcasm tag on, I know someone will say something.... [/sarcasm]

Quote from thisnameistaken :

My girlfriend's got a Daihatsu "Sirion" - little car thing. It's alright, 3cyl 996cc engine, does 60+mpg, happily runs at 80mph+ on the motorway but you probably wouldn't want to hit anything at that speed.

Looks like it's mostly Toyota parts, so it should be pretty reliable. Only downside is it's pretty ugly. It looks like a cross between a Micra and the elephant man. Oh and if you're over 6'0" you probably won't be able to fit behind the wheel.

diahatsu have been making toyotas engines since 1920... hence why toyotas are " the best made cars in the world..

also there not pretty but with all the money you save you can make them look Completely different ( or buy deep tint windows so you dont have to hide your face when you drive by people you know :P

Quote from Electrik Kar :

Hi gang,

You want a Small Volkswagen to be honest, Toyotas just pootle around, causing more damage to the environment in the long run, with costs of how many parts you go through etc.

I would say Audi's are the same but they don't make small cars and for their extra quality, comes an extra price, and in the UK specifically, the Tax is higher, as i think they are in a group higher than most Volkswagens. Steer Clear of French cars, as they brake down alot, although they are safe.

Quote from Racer Y :

My wife just returned from being over there a couple a months ago.
She told me they have a lot of vehicles that run on LPG. Its supposed to be cheaper or something. I don't know anything about them except what I just typed, but you might want to look into those.

There you have (one of) the exact reason(s) why America is one of the leading countries (continent!) on producing air pollution.

(LPG is very cheap, it will run less mpg, but because of how cheap the gas is, it'll end up being cheaper.

I'm a Ford guy, so I'd say a Ford Fiesta or Fusion if you need a bit more space. If you take a TDCI it'll be pretty fuel efficient (our 2.0 liter Mondeo actually runs at a same mpg as my older 1.8 little Fiesta).

But I'd have to admit that a Toyota or something similar will even be better.

Quote :

You want a Small Volkswagen to be honest

The VW Lupo TDI has been recommended, but when I looked into them, the Seat Arosa 1.4 Tdi was sometimes pointed out as being a better car, although quite similar, and cheaper.

Yaris sounds good also, and the Diahatsu would be alright but the Diahatsu factory in Australia has closed down apparently, so maybe that's not so good.

Corolla's are looking a bit too big for our purposes.

I'll probably look into the viability of converting whatever we end up getting to run on LPG... Alternatively I've got friends who are pretty into the biofuels, and I know a few hundred fish and chip shops in which to source cheap fuel from! So maybe thats a goer as well


edit: I'm actually tending towards a second hand Seat Arosa for now. Anyone with any experiences/know anything about this car?

Škoda Roomster - fuel consumption O.K, fits a lot, relatively cheap.. altough I think you won't get it second hand.

Quote from Electrik Kar :

I'm actually tending towards a second hand Seat Arosa for now. Anyone with any experiences/know anything about this car?

A friend of mine used to sell cars and he worked at a Seat dealership for a while. He sold his sister an Arosa in late 1997, and his mother now drives it, so it's been driven by women for ten years and it's still going.

Quote from Lible :

Škoda Roomster - fuel consumption O.K, fits a lot, relatively cheap.. altough I think you won't get it second hand.

Oh, Skoda, good you brought it up. Very underrated car because the bad years it had. Very cheap, and the diesel models should be very good for their money. Although, I got to say that I think the Roomster is one ugly car because of that stupid pilot window.


But I still rather would go with a Toyota Corolla, would think they'd be cheaper near Japan? :P

Quote :

If you want small and fuel efficiency, the only vehicle to recommend is a GM Hummer! Very small and very efficient!

Better put my sarcasm tag on, I know someone will say something.... [/sarcasm]

Heh, interesting article over here on the mostly hidden embodied energy and pollution costs comparing a Hummer and a Prius...

http://greenmesh.com/2007/03/u ... g_the_hummer_vs_prius.php