tell me about your car

so our car is in to get a warrant....and for the second time in two years, we have a $1000 bill to get it. We bought it for $2000 (from the in -laws, they had bought it 6 months prior for $6k), and have spent $3000 getting it repaired, and those repairs \have been caused by wear and tear, not from bumps and thumps.

So, i hate it, and want a new car. have no money so am trying to win one. but in case that doesn't pan out, may have to get a car loan for a new one...so tell me about your car. what do you love, what do you htae, and what do you recommend.

am currently driving a mitsi rvr, but have a honda odyssey courtesy car...which i am loving, but seems it may be a bit pricey petrol wise.

We have a 1996 Honda CRV and it's great, especially with a baby to lift in and out. We use one tank of petrol a fortnight, so it's about $75-$85, depending on the cost of petrol. We've paid for services, warrants & rego etc. The only thing "extra" in the 2.5 years we've had it, is the brakes, which was about $250ish. I think it's been a great buy. Easy to get the pram in & out as well.
Good luck with your decision.

We had a 1995 Honda Domani till a couple of years ago, and it was great while we had it, it didn't need much work (although the CV boot did have some problems, which I hear they're prone to). It's ABS braking system went kaput, and it was going to be more than the car was worth to fix it, so I sold it (got a better deal on TradeMe than I expected).

We bought a 97 Nissan Bluebird, and I'm a big fan. We've only had it a couple of years, but nothing has gone wrong yet. It's also chain driven, so no cam belt to worry about.

Edited by Hopes

depends what sort of car you want - do you want a people mover (6 plus seats) or a normal sudan/station wagon?

We are looking to getting a Honda oOdyssey or Mazda MPV.... so thread hogger here but anyone got one and would you recommend it?

Mitsi's tend to have a lot of issues mine had computer faults and trans issues are very common in the autos (my galant i keep for sentimental value now poor thing just sits in the garage)

As much as i love subarus they tend to have a lot of issues as well. Fuel pumps, gearboxes, airflow meters are common issues but some people are lucky and skip those faults

Toyota is the best as far as cheap parts go and reliability pretty cheap to run as well. We have a previa van petrol auto (which i hate because i am not a soccer mum with 12 kids and thats how i feel in it) but i have to admit that thing is fast, pretty cheap to run, goes well with minimal maintainence (dp is a mechanic so our cars barely get touched) and man you can get alot of groceries in it. Tows a trailer real well too and we drag a heap of cars around the south island.

DP is fixing up a Toyota Caldina for me and i cant wait pretty much the same as a corolla (which are really popular and we have one for sale pretty cheap) but more sporty looking. Toyotas are pretty good at holding their value and are easier to sell in our experience.

Had a BMW for a while which was really nice but parts are expensive so wouldnt recommend one if your wanting to keep costs down.

Um Nissans we have only had skylines which wont help as they dont tend to have alot of room in them for carseats in my opinion and DP hates hondas so dont know much about them except from the mumbled string of obscenities from DP.

Hope that helps anyway

Lol, I have a '92 Suzuki swift, it costs me about $30-40 a fortnight in petrol, it's white and had one little old lady owner before me. I love it to pieces!!! No computer or fancy parts to fail, cheap as chips to run and service, it does everything I need it to and nothing else. No flash stereo, no mags or rims or tints, just 4 wheels and a tiny motor. My dad used to work in the Suzuki factory so IF anything goes wrong, I can always ask him (touch wood, nothing has gone wrong yet). I do my own services, and I will keep this little car until it dies!

Oh yes, our Mitsi was in a garage for 3 months while all sorts of experts tried to figure out what was wrong with it - $6000 later!!! The solonoid (sp) went on it. (thank god for mechanical insurance!)

Ive had a couple of Hondas and i love them.

Currently I drive a 2002 CRV and we are looking at the 2007 to trade up to. A tank lasts about 2.5 weeks, lots of room in the back (thus avoiding the dreaded people movers...) 3 carseats easy, lots of leg room and the back seat is slightly higher up, so nice to travel in if you get spewey. Lots of boot room for big buggy and a dog. I've only bought 2 tires for my vehicle, and my 96 civic that I had till 2004 only had tires as well.
I think its important to keep them serviced if you can afford it.
I also wouldn't buy a mitzi. Not only sh*tters but fugly as well!

We have a crappy OLD Nissan Terrano 4x4. My god can it suck the petrol!! And is a pig is drive but just won't die, it keeps going and going.
The other car is a Ford Falcon (I think its a 1995) I like driving it because it feels safe, it is a little thirsty but not too bad I don't think. Plus there is HEAPS of room in the car and also the boot is huge.
I had a Nissan Primera before which was good but a little gutless if you needed to pass someone but was really cheap to run.
I've also had a Honda Accord that was the best car I've had but someone hit me and it got written off. I had had no probs at all with it.

tishy I had a toyota Starlet too - body was rusting to bits but the engine just kept going and going