Buying a Banger vs Long Term Rental

mikey72

lfc321 wrote: »

In your position I would be buying used, but maybe something a little newer. You're talking about a 22 year old car here - an awful lot of things can go wrong with a car that old = potential big bills.

For $3000 you should be able to get something from the mid-90s. Still no spring chicken, but not quite so ancient and perhaps a slightly lower chance of breakdowns.

Whatever, buying is definitely the way to go. These cars have been through the worst of their depreciation: you will be able to sell it for not that much less than you bought it for. I reckon you could buy, run and sell two cars and still not be anywhere near the $9000 cost of a hire car.

Where are they advertised?

Even on ebay most 90's cars under $3000 are non runners, or not rego.

forgotmyname

Buy an old classic, 3 spanners and 2 screwdrivers = a full toolkit to replace most things.

vikingaero

Depends on what you plan to do? Outback driving, driving long distances to remote places (of which there are a lot - my brother lives in Oz) then rent. Local driving in towns and cities; get a banger as you have public transport as backup.

Weird_Nev

banger and breakdown cover.
Those Mi6 Pugs are legendary! Put a note up in hostels/backpacers places in your last month and you'll get people buying it for their aussie road trip.

$9000 renting is $9000 you've thrown away. Especially a big car. If you feel renting gives you the peace of mind you want, rent the cheapest car possible at least.

MaximumFish

mikey72 wrote: »

Where are they advertised?

Even on ebay most 90's cars under $3000 are non runners, or not rego.

Yeah that's the problem I'm running into. There's plenty of 90's cars around at that price, but they tend to have a month's worth of rego at most, with the vast majority already expired.

Those with longer rego tend to have other issues (like a Peugeot 306 we looked at this week that had an intermittent engine cut out at low speeds). Beyond the most basic maintenance I'm a bit clueless, although I did do a few things with the help of a Haynes manual on our old car.

The 405 we looked at this morning seemed in pretty good nick from the outside. The engine bay was a tad... mucky, but a bunch of things have apparently been replaced very recently and I couldn't see any obvious rust. Took it for a drive, and a few hundred yards down the road the middle of the exhaust broke off from the back! And then the screen wash reservoir started leaking all over the engine bay and through the wheel arch. Aside from that it drove well.

It's frustrating to say the least.

blue_haddock

I'd go for the MI16 but thats because i'm a pug nut!

If you do buy it there is a good forum called Aussie frogs if you need help and advice.


Oh and one day i really want to go back to oz and do a big tour of highway one in something like a pug 505 estate!

MaximumFish

Well, in the end we bought a 1990 Mazda 323, for probably a little over the odds considering the complete lack of any mod cons. On the flip side it was owned by a guy who's Dad is a mechanic and he himself fixes up old cars for a hobby, so we figured it must be pretty well cared for.

As it is, it drives nicely but has an odd smell that I can't quite track down...