Whats a good small car???

IH8HSV · 22-02-2006, 10:07 PM

Hi all...

The misses has talked me into selling one of my fords so she can have a small economical car for her to go to work and back everyday. ( 60km round trip).

The problem is that i know nothing about small cars!
Whats a good small car for under $5000 that is bloody cheap to run and will last a while?
What are these Hyundais like? or how bout a Laser?
Are toyota corollas any good? Dihatsu charade??? the list goes on....

:

Any info would be great - especially those whos girlfriends have a small car.

cheers in advance.

Paxton · 22-02-2006, 10:14 PM

Corolla all the way. Reliability, unbreakable, and well, almost everybody had one as a First car. Stay away from the Koreans at that price. They will be the early, and awful Excells, and Holwoo Nubrias aren't any good either.

The other pick is the Laser/323, which is also a fantastic car. They are as reliable as a Corolla, and have a more 'sporty' drive than the Corolla. It depends on what you want.

Fletty's EL · 22-02-2006, 11:03 PM

Definitely Corolla. Australian made up until the late 90s. Very reliable cars.
My friends have tried to kill a couple of old ones - the old box is still running around the farm.

Quicklier · 22-02-2006, 11:40 PM

I'd tick the corolla and Laser/323 box.
My old lady just picked up a '91 rolla with only 80,000km on it.
The beauty of it is, it still won't have increased by the time she wants to sell it (in about 10-15 years).

I had a pal who had a KE11 (1.3l) 'rolla. It was the best paddock bomb, reliable, never used fuel or oil (seemed to never use fuel) and the body work took a great deal of pain before showing any bruises.

Sure, 'rolla's are really bland, but they never tried to be anything else.
Small, cheap and built like 75-Series Cruisers.
Stick to the Aussie made variety... 90-93 were a good bunch. Go the 5 door option.

turboute · 23-02-2006, 12:03 AM

Sometihing wil a bit of potential - either a charade 1L turbo 50kW of POWER!!
or you might be lucky enough to find a GT starlet at that price.

xf_vanner · 23-02-2006, 07:53 PM

go corolla they are cheap to run and reliable i've got a hyundai excel 97 model picked it up for $5000 with 127000 on the clock 500ks cost me $40

hoppo366 · 23-02-2006, 08:16 PM

Go a rolla my mates got one a 90 model and its a great car with a bit of go and its the carby model. Apparently the efi ones of the same era go really good.

Paxton · 23-02-2006, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoppo366

Go a rolla my mates got one a 90 model and its a great car with a bit of go and its the carby model. Apparently the efi ones of the same era go really good.

My AE92 Corolla has the 1.6 EFI (4A-FE engine), and it went like the clappers. I haven't driven it in a while, as my Sister-In-Law has it now, but it never let my family down, even though it has had four people learn on it. They are the most reliable cars I have ever owned. I am not yet reliant on my Territory, however I would trust my life to my old Corolla.

Sourbastard · 23-02-2006, 08:24 PM

Buy a bobcat, and make her ride in the scoop in front.

vztrt · 23-02-2006, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourbastard

Buy a bobcat, and make her ride in the scoop in front.

AT least it'll stop her nagging ya!!

Corolla for the reasons stated above. Just dont hit anything with it, they're not a very strong car.

ClassicAU · 23-02-2006, 08:58 PM

N15 Pulsar SSS. They have the SR20DE motor in them, and personally, i reccon they look awesome for a small car. Very roomy inside too. But make sure what ever u get its manual!

Gilesie · 23-02-2006, 09:02 PM

Q. A good small car?
A. A Crushed one.

Seriously you would have to go the Toyota

alesia · 23-02-2006, 10:25 PM

hey,

i have a 1985 kc TX3 Laser ( 2 door sport) as my run around , and if your looking for something cheap on fuel they are the way to go, the other good thing about the lasers is almost every wreckers will have 2 , that way if you have any problems with anything its not going to cost you a arm and a leg to get a replacement part.

ON_DUBS · 23-02-2006, 10:35 PM

the corollas have definately proven to be both reliable and economic, however they are still ИИИИ.

the lasers are a much nicer car.

how bout a '96 suzuki swift? you can definately get a nice one for 5g's, i noticed there was a gti listed. lots of nice ones 4 sale, economic and airconditioned

suzuki swifts under 5k

XtRmn8 · 23-02-2006, 10:37 PM

Daihatsu Centro 990cc 3cly

or a Suzuki Swift 1.3i GTI

SSBUB · 23-02-2006, 10:45 PM

barina? mirage is you can afford one?

Steffo · 23-02-2006, 11:11 PM

Well oops.

: didn't see the 5k bit haha.

There's nothing I'd buy for under 5000 that's small and I'd call good personally. Given a few hundred thousand km and a few years, small engines don't like it. They get very thirsty.

A Mk2 Golf GTi 1.8 isn't bad. Can have one, 1990 model, 4200-4400$, 165,000-185,000 odd km. 77kW 1.8 4cyl, 1019kg. They're pretty well loaded for a car of that vintage... four wheel discs, front vented rear solid, ABS etc. And they're generally bulletproof reliability wise.

Not much else I'd go for personally. Perhaps a 1992 or 93 Laser?

Deanodriver · 23-02-2006, 11:59 PM

I reckon go for an N13 or N14 Pulsar.

We used to have an N13, and it was a top car, but only go the 1.8L manual, the 1.6's are CFI and only have about 2/3 of the power of the 1.8's, and the autos are 3 speed.

The N14's are also tough, the GA16DE is a very good motor for a 1.6L.

347Stroker · 24-02-2006, 12:09 AM

Isnt a falcon a small car????
A fairlane is a big car...........

24-02-2006, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deanodriver

I reckon go for an N13 or N14 Pulsar.

We used to have an N13, and it was a top car, but only go the 1.8L manual, the 1.6's are CFI and only have about 2/3 of the power of the 1.8's, and the autos are 3 speed.

The N14's are also tough, the GA16DE is a very good motor for a 1.6L.

I love my pulsars, but no, thts not good advise to be giving.

N13 - Camira engine. Normally head gasket and head related problems. Manual gearboxes seem to wear out every 300000ks. If you had to get one, from 5000 you'd want the best one avaliable, no ks, with the 18LE (1.8) engine in it. Wouldn't waste your time with an auto.

N14s are a bit better. With 5000(compared with 8-10k for a SSS) you can get the Luxo TI model, which has the SSS (SR20DE) engine in it, without the "sports car" insurance premium. If you find a SSS try to get the Jap-Spec, not the Aussie made (has better foggies, sunroof, better build)

Id say a Mirage, Starlet, perhaps a late model twinkie Excel, 4A-GE 16v AE-92 Rolla(100kw!)

**gregaust** · 24-02-2006, 07:40 AM

I just helped a good friend get a toyota starletbut it is just over the 5k but nice little car,goes well for 1.3 and very economical.Looked at plenty and they just dont seem to age ,even ones with higher k's were still good prob because they are so simple.Actually the worst one i looked at had the lowest k's.

BlueRaven · 24-02-2006, 08:02 AM

Subaru Sherpa. Small. VERY small. 2cyl motorbike postie power!

Seriously, for some absurd reason, my dad decided to buy one as a drive around car. Take your average falcon and split it in half...then half that again and thats the size.

Economy rocks, its okay on the highway (not very loud) and will got to at least 130 without complaining.

Dad gets a similar amount out of each tank as the falcon, at only a fraction of the price!
Talk about cheap to run!!

24-02-2006, 09:16 AM

LOL @ the sherpa!

melbzetec · 24-02-2006, 09:31 AM

I reckon an old Honda Civic is better value. Just as reliable as a Corolla, better engineering, and more bells and whistles, and a much better looker

BlueRaven · 24-02-2006, 09:41 AM

For those that aren't in the know about the sherpa...check this out.

http://www.joh.net/sherpa/index2.html

I'll even go to the effort of quotes..

Quote:

my sherpa (1983) does close to 20 kilometres to the litre (any pockets of remaining imperialists - and americans - can work this out can't they?)

Then theres things ИИИИ funny story..

http://www.ozsupra.qld.org/web/stuff/stuff_sherpa.htm

TheSneakiness · 24-02-2006, 09:48 AM

Have to be the Rolla.

Mums one is an '87 model, 340,000 kays and still going strong.

**ebxr8240** · 24-02-2006, 09:58 AM

The 16 valve Excells are o/k at least you late model car for $5k...
BUT not the real early one..Small eco cars are at premium prices due to increase in petrol prices..$5k is approx 1/3 of new price and it could be 10 15 years old....
As much as I like Daihatsu they are not in Australia anymore, yes you can buy parts through some Toyota dealers but its a pita....

loxxr6 · 24-02-2006, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Corolla all the way. Reliability, unbreakable, and well, almost everybody had one as a First car. Stay away from the Koreans at that price. They will be the early, and awful Excells, and Holwoo Nubrias aren't any good either.

The corolla's are good.

However I wouldn't knock they Excel's tho. I had an X3 twin cam and it took a flogging and never broke. A mate of mine still has one and it's still copping punishment. It was always reliable.

Rev28K · 24-02-2006, 02:27 PM

Some versions of the Civics were great little cars. The common wisdom is that they have to be serviced by the book (but that they will last forever without owner abuse).
The early Hondamatics had only a 2 spd auto (but it was tough). Go for the later models and you start getting twin cams, vetc, double-wishbone suspension, Hondas own fuel injections and gearboxes.

How about a CRX or old Prelude. If they haven’t been flogged they are great little cars.