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BozzaFC

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Posts posted by BozzaFC

  2. Posted · Edited by BozzaFC
    Added photo     · Report reply

    Thanks, those are good points, but perhaps I should have been more clear. She’s a very competent driver. Her and I were brought up on a farm, and as such have driven from when we were about 5 years old around paddocks and so on. When I was 8 years old I was rolling dirt in my dad’s Kubota tractor by myself. My sister drives over the Saddle Road in the Manawatu in a manual Hilux with no issues. She has her licence, and currently drives the spare Ford Laser manual. Now, she wants her own car that is slightly more exciting.

    As I said in the initial post, I didn’t want to make this thread about her. Instead, I thought it would be a cool general discussion to have, about cheap, fun cars. After all, some of the most fun cars are the cheap and underpowered ones. 

    And for context, I bought both my NZ new Alfa 156 2.5 V6 24v manual (my first car) and my current NZ new E39 530i, both with less than 140kms, for less than $5k each. I would regard both as fun cars, and both were and are reliable. With the Alfa, rather than any young hoon writing it off, it was an elderly gentlemen who didn’t hook his trailer up properly that wrote it off!

    ?

     

    62093165-E8BE-47A9-AA7A-D47BC09B9ECD.jpeg

  3. Posted · Edited by BozzaFC · Report reply

    12 minutes ago, BlackrazorNZ said:

    Anyway. Serious option : late 90's MX-5?

    Fun, safe, easy to maintain, and a quick scan of TradeMe shows reasonable ones available for around her price bracket, e.g.

    1

    MX5s are always a good option. Will keep an eye open

  6. Posted · Report reply

    2 minutes ago, BlackrazorNZ said:

    I was 100% gonna recommend an MR2 but the lift-off oversteer can be horrific if not managed well and is probably not ideal for a beginner driver. Almost killed myself twice on the Hundalee's in mine and I wasn't even driving that aggressively.

    Surely you're not trying to tell me that oversteer is, in any case, a bad thing??? ;) 

    • Haha 2

  7. Posted · Report reply

    21 minutes ago, Jacko said:

    MR2s are one of the things that popped up in my brain, even a "dull" non turbo SW20 (2nd gen) are quiet fun and very reliable 3SGE camry underneath. Bit long in the tooth, but.. MR-S (3rd gen) is also an option, would meet more modern safety standards, and are convertible which gets girl bonus cool points. 1st gen AW11s are very rare in any condition that would be worth buying, unless you're an absolute enthusiast (they're awesome fun though) 

    I should have said, the one I saw was a 2nd gen. It was a pretty good looking car from what I saw. And being a Toyota, you would expect it to be reliable. Unfortunately, I text my mum and told her to look out for it but it hasn't been parked where I saw it again ? . Hopefully it pops back up so she can take it for a test drive! Can't find it on Trade Me either

    I have always found the MR-S to be a hideous automobile, usually driven by middle-aged men and women who think they're the king of the castle because their old Toyota's roof comes off

  8. Posted · Edited by BozzaFC
    Typo     · Report reply

    2 hours ago, Allanw said:

    My niece is getting her full license in a couple of months, and has a VW New Beetle, early 2000's.

    Her's is a 1.8 Turbo manual... but there are 2.slow ones too. They're a bit of fun, somewhat safe, but not really sporty.

    Thanks for that. I’d be keen to hear how she gets on with it. In my very limited experience with VW products I’ve heard some horror stories. But again, very limited experience

  9. Posted · Edited by BozzaFC
    Added photo     · Report reply

    12 hours ago, aja540i said:

    I think the e36 318is in manual is an underrated car, just enough power that you can actually use it all without dying, safe enough for a first car (airbag models) and reliable and cheap enough to keep on the road as a daily driver. Also a great car for someone who wants to learn a bit of DIY.

    I also really enjoyed my Honda City turbo but i really wouldn't recommend for a first car, complete death trap! and i doubt you can find a decent one anymore.

    Its been a while since i was looking but the early new minis must have fallen into this price range by now and there are a few manuals around.

    Thanks! My mum had a 1996 318i saloon in red that my sister and I were brought up with. She bought it in ‘05 with about 60,000 kms on it and it dutifully and reliably served us for just over 10 years when it finally had some oil issue that would have cost more than it was worth to fix. Had done 280,000 kms or so then. Apart from the terrible clear coat peeling off the bonnet, it was a great car. Man I miss that car.

    So our family knows about how safe and reliable those 318i E36s are. In saying that, there’s quite a few Bimmers in the family so definitely open to other recommendations.

    There was a tidy E30 on trade me that would have really suited and my sister LOVED the classic look of it, except it’s slightly out of the price range as seems to be so common with the E30s now 

     

    D3CFDECC-0995-441D-B3FD-D7CC26EE25BB.jpeg

  10. Posted · Report reply

    I was back home in Whanganui the other day and drove past what I think was a Toyota MR2. It was yellow (her favourite colour) and looked quite sporty. Any experience with these? I was in a rush so didn’t get a chance to stop and properly check it out, so not sure about the details. Certainly looked cool with pop up headlights I believe 

  11. Posted · Report reply

    3 hours ago, Jacko said:

    Safety a factor? I can think of a few but by modern standards they are death traps. 

    Probably, but still keen to hear any and all recommendations

     

    1 hour ago, str8_6 said:

    Boston, does this mean we can go car shopping? 

    You’re not selling another car are you? ?

  12. Posted · Edited by BozzaFC
    Forgot a bit     · Report reply

    Hey guys, 

    When I was back in high school (only a couple years ago) all my friends had the most mundane cars: old and tired Honda Civics, Suzuki Swifts, Nissan Marchs and the like, and nine times out of ten auto. Now that my sister has her licence and is approaching the need for her first car, I thought this would be an interesting discussion to be had. She's not a massive petrolhead, but my love for cars has rubbed off onto her to the extent that she cares somewhat about what she drives. 

    But I don't want to make this thread about her, so what are your best cars that are:

    • Under $5k
    • Fun-ish
    • Manual
    • Relatively reliable and cheap to run
    • At least marginally more exciting than a March
    • Not limited to Bimmers/Euro cars

    What cool cars have you guys owned, wanted to own or plan on owning? 

    Nissan March ew.jpg

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