Family car

[fish]

Well I've finally met the woman of my dreams and we're planning to move in together early next year. We'll be two adults plus three boys aged 3 to 9 so we're going to need a family car to get ourselves around - my '96 Corolla is too small and her Starlet is even smaller!

I am wondering what car we should get. We are looking at a used car, late model (3 to 5 years old?) so it has decent safety features and decent fuel economy. It'll need plenty of room for ourselves and our gear as we are intending to do a fair bit of camping towing a camper trailer.

I'd be interested to hear what people might suggest...

[Jimmy_041]

Bit hard to find an upgrade from the 96 Corolla mate

[am Bays]

have you thought about going European? Maybe a Trabant?

[The Sleeping Giant]

I've got a hummer

[Bully]

not a make believe 4WD . (rav 4,honda CRV.. etc)

buy a wagon, ford or holden if your looking for space as you say something 2-3 years old. Plenty of room, and space at the back for luggage

[Booney]

Depends on funds available. I'd say a Falcon over a Commodore myself. Look at the price bracket 15-20k and the Holden will have 100k's+ and the Ford under 100k's for similar costs. This reflects the market "likes" the Commodore more and its resale is higher accordingly,but often when compared to the Ford in the used market the Ford will offer more options and less k's on the clock.

I've also owned a 97 Magna from new, done over 200,000k's in it and have never had an issue of major proportions to deal with. It is sitting in the shed awaiting Junior Boons 16th in July this year and susequent driving. These would be going dirt cheap but I would baulk at buying a 15 year old Magna today.

1 - Falcon
2 - Commodore
3 - Camry

[Psyber]

I'm not into towing any sort of van - my camping has been done with portable tents only.
But if one were going off bitumen and towing I'd look at proper 4WDs not the electronic "on demand" type as Bully mentioned.
These are basically front wheel drives which can deliver some drive to the rare wheels temporarily via an electronic system.
(Unfortunately the VW Tiguan is one of these too, as otherwise it is nice.)

So you need a proper 3 differential set up with a lockable centre diff.
The smallest of these is the Suzuki G/Vitara, which I bought one of recently, but you'd have to check towing load capacity.
Several mechanics had warned me off Hummers and Jeeps, and suggested Toyota or Kia models if anything larger is needed.

[Booney]

*Edit*

Didnt read the camping / off-roading bit.

Do not buy - Holden Captiva, Toyota Kluger, Mitsubishi Outlander.

Consider - Ford Terrority Diesel or LPG, Prado, Landcruiser.

[HH3]

I have a 2009 Ford XR6. I bought it last May for $27K, just before they dropped to about $21K

Besides that, Im extremely happy with it. 5 star safety rating, between 600 and 700 kms per tank. About $70 to fill. The boot is huge too.

All of the Falcon range have the same space and Id guess if you got the base model (XT) or G6, you would probably get better fuel economy. They also come with tiptronic semi-auto gearbox, so if you're towing you just flick the gearstick over to the left and select which gear you want to drive in. (good for drag racing too, I hear)

If $20k's to much, go for a BA or BF falcon. Roughly the same size and specs. An emaculate one still fetches in the mid teens but you can pick up decent ones for around $10k.

I have a BA Fairmont and an FG XR6, and wouldnt trade them for anything (within reason)

PS. Commodores are way over-priced second hand. Living off their popularity from the past decade, but Fords probably the better manufacturer at the moment.

[Booney]

Agree, I too have an FG XR6, but I'm not sure that it suits his towing/camping requirements. ( The towing bit, yes, obviously )

Amazing the disparity between Falcon and Commodore 3-5 year old vehicle pricing, isn't it? You'd be mad to buy a second hand Commodore.

[Lightning McQueen]

*Edit*

Didnt read the camping / off-roading bit.

Do not buy - Holden Captiva, Toyota Kluger, Mitsubishi Outlander.

Consider - Ford Terrority Diesel or LPG, Prado, Landcruiser.

I'm hoping to win one in dreamteam!

[Booney]

*Edit*
Didnt read the camping / off-roading bit.
Do not buy - Holden Captiva, Toyota Kluger, Mitsubishi Outlander.
Consider - Ford Terrority Diesel or LPG, Prado, Landcruiser.

I'm hoping to win one in dreamteam!

It isn't worth it.

[Lightning McQueen]

It isn't worth it.

I'll sell it to Sybe

[HH3]

Agree, I too have an FG XR6, but I'm not sure that it suits his towing/camping requirements. ( The towing bit, yes, obviously )

Amazing the disparity between Falcon and Commodore 3-5 year old vehicle pricing, isn't it? You'd be mad to buy a second hand Commodore.

Yeah I know. Theres a bit of bias here, coz Ive been a Ford man/boy/baby/embrio my whole life, but when I was looking for a car I did weigh up the options of maybe getting a Commodore. Unless you want the shitty base model, you're looking at around 12-15K for a VY!

My brother has been a Holden man his whole life, and he was looking for a car at the same time as I was. It was pretty easy to convert him to Ford once he saw the stupid prices. He got a BA XR6 and its his pride and joy now.

[Booney]

I know 2 people with Kia Sportage, one has had his for about 4 years from new, loves it and does similar to what you are looking at doing. Not so much off the beaten track, more caravan park to caravan park travelling.

[smac]

Oi! I'll be selling a second hand commodore in January, slag them off after then please.

[fisho mcspaz]

Speaking of second-hand Commodores...

Anyone want to buy a 1998 VT Commodore sedan, new radiator, new transmission, damaged back quarter panel, squashed air conditioner/filter/whatever thing it is that makes the A/C work, good nick apart from that , and Mr McSpaz reckons as soon as he puts more transmission fluid in it and does something else to it (can't remember what), it'll go. (Currently it starts but just runs on the spot.)

(Seriously, I want to get rid of the thing, it's been sitting in our carport for the last six months. I ran over one of those black and white arrow signs they have on roundabouts, and knocked the transmission out, and since then it hasn't been driven. As for the damaged panel, that wasn't my fault, someone hit it with a trailer and then drove off so I couldn't get their details. It doesn't affect the car's performance. I'd pull the damn thing off and replace it if it wasn't spot-welded. I know it's a long shot at trying to sell the thing but if MM can get it to run, there's nothing wrong with it at all except for the busted A/C. Before I ran over that sign, the mechanic said it was the best used VT he'd come across. Any takers? )

Oh yeah, family cars. We've now got a Falcon something-or-other station wagon with roofracks. 2001 model, I know that much. It could probably tow a minotaur and fit another one inside the boot, but it IS a gas-guzzler even for a 6-cylinder - we might have to investigate it, actually. But it's got cruise control and one of those sports thingos on the gearstick - I don't know exactly what it does, but Mr McSpaz thinks it's pretty good so it must do something useful. Sorry, I'm probably not much help. I know nothing about new cars. I don't know much about old cars if it comes to that, but at least I can look under the bonnet and have a decent guess at what the problem is, and sometimes I can even fix it temporarily.

[HH3]

I saw what the Rhino did to your car on Facebook Fisho. Is it still like that? If you just wanna get rid of it and dont care how much you get for it, U-Pull-It will come tow it for free and give you a couple of hundred dollars for it.

Guessing this is like your new car?

[fisho mcspaz]

I saw what the Rhino did to your car on Facebook Fisho. Is it still like that? If you just wanna get rid of it and dont care how much you get for it, U-Pull-It will come tow it for free and give you a couple of hundred dollars for it.

Guessing this is like your new car?

Yeah, that rhino was a f***head. If I see it again I'll cut off its horn and sell it. Yeah, it's still like that. I WILL be calling U-Pull-It soon if MM doesn't fix it; I threatened to a month ago but he said 'I can make it go again, just give me a couple of weeks'. Hmmmm.

Yes, that looks like my car except dark green.

[AFLflyer]

I have been looking into a similar option myself. Need to downsize from a 4WD extra cab ute.
The best (offroad) performing SUV according to some, is the Nissan X-trail.
They look good, i reckon.
I'm looking for one with roof racks and bumper preferably.