Looking For Yet Another Car

[jdnet]

Hey Guys,

First of all, thank you to everyone who helped me decide on the first car I bought. The Galant seems like an excellent piece of machinery. Well now i'm looking at selling off my diesel cr-41 and replacing it with a petrol car/suv as I do not have the need for two diesels. Looking at 2000-2003 VWs, Audi etc. Would like your suggestions on a car that would fit my new budget of 2.5 million. Would prefer a european car to a jap car in this instance. Would 2.5 for a european car in the present market be farfetched?

Thanks.

Edited August 24, 2010 by jdnet

[jdnet]

BTW this car needs to be an automatic.

[Sifaan]

  jdnet said:

Looking at 2000-2003 VWs, Audi etc. Would like your suggestions on a car that would fit my new budget of 2.5 million. Would prefer a european car to a jap car in this instance. Would 2.5 for a european car in the present market be farfetched?

Dunno about Audis, but 2000-2003 Passats with about 80000 on the clock, tiptronic, agent maintained, are gettable for 1.9~2.0 (saw two cars). There was an ad in hit-ad few weeks back asking for 2.2, but I think that was even lower mileage.

406 D9's are also available < 2.0m (depending on trim, etc) but not advisable if you want Auto.

[jdnet]

  Sifaan said:

Dunno about Audis, but 2000-2003 Passats with about 80000 on the clock, tiptronic, agent maintained, are gettable for 1.9~2.0 (saw two cars). There was an ad in hit-ad few weeks back asking for 2.2, but I think that was even lower mileage.

406 D9's are also available < 2.0m (depending on trim, etc) but not advisable if you want Auto.

Yeah the D9 would not work since I really need an auto. Didn't know the Passats were listed so low. I guess I should take a look at that. BTW do you know if the fuel consumption on them is bad or not?

Thanks for all the info.

[Sifaan]

  jdnet said:

Yeah the D9 would not work since I really need an auto. Didn't know the Passats were listed so low. I guess I should take a look at that. BTW do you know if the fuel consumption on them is bad or not?

Thanks for all the info.

One car I looked at had ~10l/100km on the trip computer but it was just after a trip from Matara. I think that's actually a bit on the low side for outstation, but maybe due to driving patterns (looking at the bumpers, it's evident that the owner was not the most careful of drivers!) or maybe just due for tuneup etc.

Around 80k you'll probably be looking to get the timing belt++ replaced, and maybe the door locks are sticky a bit. I'll PM you contacts for the two cars, maybe they're still available.

[jdnet]

  Sifaan said:

One car I looked at had ~10l/100km on the trip computer but it was just after a trip from Matara. I think that's actually a bit on the low side for outstation, but maybe due to driving patterns (looking at the bumpers, it's evident that the owner was not the most careful of drivers!) or maybe just due for tuneup etc.

Around 80k you'll probably be looking to get the timing belt++ replaced, and maybe the door locks are sticky a bit. I'll PM you contacts for the two cars, maybe they're still available.

That will be great if you can PM me some contacts. Searched all over online but couldn't find any.

[AL998]

If you are looking to buy VW auto then make sure to buy a car with JATCO box, which is a Japanese gearbox. There are cars with VW own auto box as well but them boxes are not reliable as jatco.

in Passat VW own box comes with 4 FW comparing to JATCO is 5 FW, if I can remember correctly.

[heavyD]

I distinctly remember seeing a '99 Audi A4 on AL a few months back for 1.8 mil. If that's the going rate, you should be able to find one for your budget.

[Killer-B]

  Big_D said:

I distinctly remember seeing a '99 Audi A4 on AL a few months back for 1.8 mil. If that's the going rate, you should be able to find one for your budget.

A4 has a 1.9TDI (turbo diesel) doesn't it?

[jdnet]

  Big_D said:

I distinctly remember seeing a '99 Audi A4 on AL a few months back for 1.8 mil. If that's the going rate, you should be able to find one for your budget.

There is a 99 Diesel on there right now but it's a manual.

[MasterDon]

volvo s40 or s60?...If you are brave enough.

[jdnet]

  MasterDon said:

volvo s40 or s60?...If you are brave enough.

brave but not a hero. Lol.

[MasterDon]

  jdnet said:

brave but not a hero. Lol.

haha...understandably so

Then I vote for an A4.

[Sifaan]

  Sifaan said:

406 D9's are also available < 2.0m (depending on trim, etc) but not advisable if you want Auto.

Just to dig up the AL4 gearbox issue; what did the guys who had the problem locally end up doing? Did they replace the gearbox?

Because if they did, I think it should be fine because the replacement should've fixed the solenoid issue that caused the failure in the first place? (Resident 406 expert, where art thou?)

In that case, there might be some good deals on auto 406s cos the general advice is to stay away from them, and even a guy who has replaced the gear box may not be able to command a good price ??

[jdnet]

Yeah so I bought the second car yesterday. Had to invest my money in some property so my budget was cut pretty short. Anyway I ended up buyying a Honda civic EK3. It's a 99 model and was bought brand new. It's in excellent condition and has the original paint. The only problem is with the motor for the antenna. The antenna dos not retract and the motor sounds like putting a grinder into a concrete pillar. I guess I would need to replace it along with the stereo as it still has the original setup. Other than that it's pretty well maintained with all the records from stafford. BTW it cost me 1.5 million.