gjm

Bit OT, but it's my thread! Mercedes responded in 2000 with the OM628 - a 4.0 V8. This was superceded by the OM629 in 2010 which made up to 400hp and 900Nm of torque, and was developed further for use as an aircraft engine. Mercedes also produced V10, V12, V16 and V20 diesels.

I'm fortunate that I don't work in central Auckland and only have to go as far as Papatoetoe. That doesn't stop the 'trial by SH1' being particularly annoying, especially on the way home. It's bad in the morning, but seemingly regardless of time, it's worse in the evening. There's no way around it. The train would be good and I'd be keen to use it, but there's no train from the south into Manukau. I know of some people who live in Paeroa and work in the Auckland CBD. They leave Paeroa around 6.30, and get the train from Papakura into the CBD.

These days, I work to live. There was a time when extra hours at work, working weekends and so on were normal, and what I expected, but you soon realise no-one compliments you for doing it, and no-one goes to their retirement wishing they had worked more hours. It's trying to ensure that quality of life when not at work that is causing the problem. We simply can't do it without living further away. At least, not the sort of life we want (which I appreciate may well differ to what many other people would be looking for).

The reason for my asking is to do with our continued house hunt. House prices... Blah, blah, blah. We've been there, done that. The conventional way to move up the property ladder is to buy a house, live in it and add value for a few years, move on, and so on. That certainly works when you're in your 20s or 30s, but it's less practical when you're old and frail... Or even just in your late 40s. So, to get anything close to what we'd like to have, we need to look further afield and I could easily be looking at a 1.5 hour commute. I'm fortunate - my work means I can sometimes work from home, or possibly even just work 4 longer days each week. That journey time will come down a little once the SH1 work around Huntly and north of Te Kauwhata is completed, but that's obviously going to be a while yet. Not ideal. And I would love to be able to cycle to work! Can't see that happening. I might be able to buy the house, then change jobs and work somewhere a little closer to home though... For comparison, when in the UK I knew people who were travelling up to 3 hours each way to get to work. Why? Similar reasons... A combination of the (home) lifestyle they wanted, and the lack of availability of affordable housing close to where they worked.

6.58L/100km. Is this unusually economical?

Not a Touring. Lol. Like I could afford to buy one, let alone run it, anyway!

And... Sold.

This is a problem I'm sure a lot of people have to deal with - we have. It continues... Miss M starts Uni next month, but will want to come home at weekends or we might look at moving to Taranaki.

Distance, and time. How far is it? How long does it take? I currently drive 60km each way, with a Google maps estimated journey time of 45 minutes. Of course, it has taken me 40 minutes to get from Papatoetoe to Papakura on occasion... When discussing where we might move to, some people at work were shocked by the distance I currently travel. Then they realised that their journeys took at least as long, despite teh distance being very much shorter.

4 rims - 16x7 et34 with centre caps. Not perfect but not trash either. Was planning to fit them to Miss M's E36... If they don't sell, we may still do that. No real idea what they're worth... For the sake of putting up a price, $70 ? Or make me an offer. They look like this. (I'll get some pics of the actual rims if anyone really needs them!): Collect from Te Kauwhata, or I can get them to Papatoetoe.

It's a very kind thought... I have some 51s with progressive springs. No idea what the inserts are, though!

What's love got to do, got to do with it?

Sadly a 2006-on model is going to be out of budget. Worth noting for the future, though - thanks.

We had a drive in a 3-litre Outback a few years ago. Very impressed by just how smoooooth the engine was. Compared to the 320d it'll be like a turbine! I thought they were fairly thirsty though... Another one well worth a check. In fairness, the suggestion of a CR-V was based on reliability and popularity, and because I had all-but given up finding a sensibly suitable estate car. Sorry... Wagon. I'm getting all English-ified agan.

They do. Like on a Range Rover, the often-used solution is to replace with conventional (steel) suspension. You lose the ride height adjustability, but gain simplicity.

Makes the one Turners have in HB look very expensive! Thanks for the positive review. It's often the case (with any car, or anything for that matter) that reports tend to be where the writer has something to complain about - useful, but not necessarily telling the whole story. A4 B5 Quattros tend to rot out the upper rear suspension mounts, but they're not expensive and pretty easy to replace. (I did ours. ) A friend in the UK has a Mk1 A3 1.8T that's covered similar mileage on very little more than regular maintenance. Of course, there will be others that have had major issues.

I'm probably still thinking like an Englishman. Car prices here are huge by comparison to in Europe (and that goes for Japanese cars as well as European ones) and servicing for anything Euro is easily and cheaply found. Unfortunately our budget just won't let go after something that will genuinely fit the bill (in NZ). <sigh> After all the grief we had with a Mazda Tribute, I can't say I'm keen on the idea of a MPV: I drove our ex-landlords MPV, and that understeered like it was an Olympic sport. Could have been his car of course, as he wasn't exactly fastidious about servicing and maintenance, and was possibly too-good a friend of the guy at the local garage and WoF station.

That could work. I have looked at an Audi A$ (B5) 2.4V6 Quattro Avant in the past. Need to dig into reliability and so on.

Not too fussed about the turbo. They're typically a bit taller than a more ordinary road car, and that's what's going to make getting in and out easier. Curiously, I've not seen many of the 2.5 boxers around A Quattro wagon of some sort is definitely a consideration. The Allroad has the benefit of being a little taller, but they're heavier than the A6 and tend to guzzle fuel. Grand Cherokees are cheap now. Perhaps a little bigger than would be ideal, but I'll not write them off. We're going to have to do some car yard touring, just to get in and out of a few to see what constitutes too low.

Interesting... Not something I'd considered. We love a challenge around here, don't we? I'd need to think hard about what could be dropped off the list. 4WD is an obvious candidate, but if we do what we hope to, 4WD could prove to be indispensable on occasion. An alternative that I saw was the Subaru Forester. Again though, I know little to nothing about them.

They're under the house. I saw them. Behind your tool box? I hope you weren't storing them in the silver car...

Price is the problem. We drove an earlier, more boxy-shaped X-Trail a while back. It was OK... Just OK. Nice colour, though - a sort of pearl ice blue. Of course, we would have been comparing it to a BMW or Mercedes so it didn't really stand much chance. Just seems a shame that while the Germans made good cars 10 and 20 years ago, the Japanese don't appear to have done the same. At least, not in the genre that we're looking at.

I thought you were my friend! I'll still have other ex-Munich projects.

The Rav4 and Vitara had already been discarded from consideration! An XTrail is a possibility, but are typically regarded (from what I can find) as not being as reliable and possibly even less of a joy to drive than the CR-V. In all seriousness - are there any recommendations for anything reliable and reasonably economical in this style and the $5k-ish price bracket? It does seem that pretty much everything has one fundamental flaw or another. Requirements - safe transport for Mrs M and the dog(s), sensible driving position, economical, reliable, fairly simple, 4WD, ability to tow something (a car on a trailer isn't covered in this), easy to get in and out of, and (sadly) not a manual gearbox.