Help me choose a new wagon for the family (and me)

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Networkn
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#1220114 22-Jan-2015 14:11

joker97: Why did u get the bm and details of how does it compare

Imported it from the UK. I bought the BMW because I saved a MASSIVE amount of money.

The BMW is 7 years newer so obviously it's nicer in a lot of ways and has more bells and whistles. It handles better than the Audi on flat surfaces. but the Audi wipes the floor with it most other places. Fuel economy is better in the BMW but only about 15% around town. Open road maybe 25%.

The iDrive system is awesome in the BMW, but the car has entirely too much power and it's pretty easy to lose traction if you give it some accelerator. Disappointing for a sports car in this price range. It's also likely going up for sale very shortly as I am considering the purchase of another vehicle.

The 2014 Audi S4 is one of the most impressive cars I've driven. Sadly they have changed the boot capacity so it's smaller now like the BMW, a loss I really felt as the Audi is huge.

Wade

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#1220116 22-Jan-2015 14:15

surfisup1000:
scuwp:
Had no major trouble with my Territory, nearly 11 years old now, goes like a train...nothing stops it. Regularly see these 300K+ on the clock. They are after all just a Falcon with a larger body. The niggly bits and pieces let them down, just a lack of refinement when it comes to assembly, a trait of all Aussie assembled cars (soon to be a distant memory).

I have the opposite experience with my territory.

I bought it new in 2006, has been driven normally, no prangs or anything . Serviced according to fords requirements.Does about 15k per year so normal km.

Just about every year I must spend $1000 in unanticipated costs just to keep it on the road. A bush or ball joint is often needing replacing. The gear linkage cable just broke last week (requiring tow) which cost $800 to fix (I always use ford dealer which is prob a mistake). The starter motor failed a while ago, requiring tow . The seatbelt needed replacing @ $300 cost . The rear liftback window stopped opening. The rear electric windows sometimes work, sometimes not. There is a new water leak which developed recently as the 3rd row seatbelts get wet when raining.

And, the ball joints have probably been replaced 6 times. At one point after ford doing something, the car developed a knocking noise going around corners which ford said was not their fault. But, mysteriously it disappeared the next time they did some suspension work.

The wiper stalk failed, $700 to replace. i think there is something else wrong too, as a few weeks back the ETC light came on and the car was idling very roughly. It went away when restarting the car so hope it was a one-off ignition issue.

oh yes, and the remote control fails every 2 or 3 years. they are not cheap either, although we buy from trademe rather than ford now.

Our other car, has had no unanticipated problems since we owned the ford.

Anyway , decided it is time to buy a new car so will consider options . One thing is disappointing, is that new car prices did not seem to fall much with the high kiwi dollar.

This is an age old problem with Falconodores, You don't want one made on a Monday or a Friday :P

Handle9

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#1220121 22-Jan-2015 14:27

Wade:
surfisup1000:
scuwp:
Had no major trouble with my Territory, nearly 11 years old now, goes like a train...nothing stops it. Regularly see these 300K+ on the clock. They are after all just a Falcon with a larger body. The niggly bits and pieces let them down, just a lack of refinement when it comes to assembly, a trait of all Aussie assembled cars (soon to be a distant memory).

I have the opposite experience with my territory.

I bought it new in 2006, has been driven normally, no prangs or anything . Serviced according to fords requirements.Does about 15k per year so normal km.

Just about every year I must spend $1000 in unanticipated costs just to keep it on the road. A bush or ball joint is often needing replacing. The gear linkage cable just broke last week (requiring tow) which cost $800 to fix (I always use ford dealer which is prob a mistake). The starter motor failed a while ago, requiring tow . The seatbelt needed replacing @ $300 cost . The rear liftback window stopped opening. The rear electric windows sometimes work, sometimes not. There is a new water leak which developed recently as the 3rd row seatbelts get wet when raining.

And, the ball joints have probably been replaced 6 times. At one point after ford doing something, the car developed a knocking noise going around corners which ford said was not their fault. But, mysteriously it disappeared the next time they did some suspension work.

The wiper stalk failed, $700 to replace. i think there is something else wrong too, as a few weeks back the ETC light came on and the car was idling very roughly. It went away when restarting the car so hope it was a one-off ignition issue.

oh yes, and the remote control fails every 2 or 3 years. they are not cheap either, although we buy from trademe rather than ford now.

Our other car, has had no unanticipated problems since we owned the ford.

Anyway , decided it is time to buy a new car so will consider options . One thing is disappointing, is that new car prices did not seem to fall much with the high kiwi dollar.

This is an age old problem with Falconodores, You don't want one made on a Monday or a Friday :P

Yep. I had a Commodore as a work car a few years ago. I was pulling out of a hotel one morning when it started making a hideous noise. It turned out that the cir clips on the power steering lines had never been tightened up at the factory.

Aussie quality control at it's best!

Regs

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#1220164 22-Jan-2015 15:16

scuwp:
Had no major trouble with my Territory, nearly 11 years old now, goes like a train...nothing stops it.

Auckland Train, Wellington Train, or overseas Train ? :P

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#1220308 22-Jan-2015 18:40

Handle9:
Wade:
surfisup1000:
scuwp:
Had no major trouble with my Territory, nearly 11 years old now, goes like a train...nothing stops it. Regularly see these 300K+ on the clock. They are after all just a Falcon with a larger body. The niggly bits and pieces let them down, just a lack of refinement when it comes to assembly, a trait of all Aussie assembled cars (soon to be a distant memory).

I have the opposite experience with my territory.

I bought it new in 2006, has been driven normally, no prangs or anything . Serviced according to fords requirements.Does about 15k per year so normal km.

Just about every year I must spend $1000 in unanticipated costs just to keep it on the road. A bush or ball joint is often needing replacing. The gear linkage cable just broke last week (requiring tow) which cost $800 to fix (I always use ford dealer which is prob a mistake). The starter motor failed a while ago, requiring tow . The seatbelt needed replacing @ $300 cost . The rear liftback window stopped opening. The rear electric windows sometimes work, sometimes not. There is a new water leak which developed recently as the 3rd row seatbelts get wet when raining.

And, the ball joints have probably been replaced 6 times. At one point after ford doing something, the car developed a knocking noise going around corners which ford said was not their fault. But, mysteriously it disappeared the next time they did some suspension work.

The wiper stalk failed, $700 to replace. i think there is something else wrong too, as a few weeks back the ETC light came on and the car was idling very roughly. It went away when restarting the car so hope it was a one-off ignition issue.

oh yes, and the remote control fails every 2 or 3 years. they are not cheap either, although we buy from trademe rather than ford now.

Our other car, has had no unanticipated problems since we owned the ford.

Anyway , decided it is time to buy a new car so will consider options . One thing is disappointing, is that new car prices did not seem to fall much with the high kiwi dollar.

This is an age old problem with Falconodores, You don't want one made on a Monday or a Friday :P

Yep. I had a Commodore as a work car a few years ago. I was pulling out of a hotel one morning when it started making a hideous noise. It turned out that the cir clips on the power steering lines had never been tightened up at the factory.

Aussie quality control at it's best!

the workers (and bosses) must have a different attitude at Altona and the rest of Australia ... Camrys seem to be ok?

MattR

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#1220652 23-Jan-2015 11:19

lxsw20: The flat 6 3L Legacy are supposed to go pretty well too, plus more reliable than the turbo ones historically.

I have a 2008 Legacy 3.0R Spec B wagon, love it. Just don't take it to Winger for servicing. They tell me it needs a new timing chain after 120,000km. Both subtech and my local mechanic say its fine.

My previous car was a 2001 Impreza GX, sold it with 250,000km on it when I moved to NZ - never had a problem.

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#1220677 23-Jan-2015 12:03

Huh they're trying to protect you from catastrophe if the timing belt goes.

Or do you mean it's chain driven instead of belt

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MattR

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#1220698 23-Jan-2015 12:24

joker97: Huh they're trying to protect you from catastrophe if the timing belt goes.

Or do you mean it's chain driven instead of belt

the 3 litre flat 6 has a chain, which is meant to last a lot more than 100,000km.

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#1220700 23-Jan-2015 12:25

At least 300,000ks I would think

MikeAqua

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#1220704 23-Jan-2015 12:29

European cars are generally more expensive to maintain. They require more frequent servicing and parts can be expensive, although aftermarket parts are increasingly available.

Wagon: Mazda 6. Reliable (it's a Mazda). Performance. Economy. Space

SUV: Hyundai Diesel Elite with R type engine. R is variable angle turbo, which provides suitable boost at any rpm = longevity and economy.

If the Hyundai isn't big enough get a Pajero. Tonnes of room. Comfortable and highly capable vehicles. Quite a premium for leather though.

Mike

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#1220705 23-Jan-2015 12:32

He doesn't want am suv so unlikely to want a pajero but might convince him on the Hyundai but that thing is big and heavy, but massively award winning and economical

MikeAqua

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#1220729 23-Jan-2015 13:00

I thought OP was unsure about car vs SUV?

SUV's are great for getting kids in and out of car seats

Santa Fe doesn't feel big at all to drive. More like a wagon car than an SUV really. My criticism of the Santa Fe is lack of boot space.

The mighty Paj has that in spades in 5 seat mode.

Mike

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#1220915 23-Jan-2015 16:53

And fuel consumption is ?

Disrespective

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#1221328 24-Jan-2015 12:24

I went and had a look at a few cars this morning... Didn't take any for a drive as my boy wasn't in the mood but got to see the feature sets in person which helped.

Wagons are definitely our preference. None of the SUV's in our price range either look good or have any benefit over a wagon.

The BMW 525i/530i feels like a damn fine option. It's specc'd up and has the interior space we would need. The VW Passat is also good for similar reasons but is definitely the little brother to the BMW all around. The Volvo V70 might be OK, but not as good as the BMW which is priced similarly. Plus the V70 I looked at had a tan interior throughout... not ideal with kids who like to make mess.

The Mazda 6 is also decent but arguably not as good as the Subaru. Both would be very competent so will test drive them with the whole family buckled in to confirm space.

In an ideal world we'd get the BMW and not expect reliability issues but i'm wary of maintenance costs on them...

Camden

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#1223017 27-Jan-2015 10:12

I have owned some of the cars you have mentioned.

Started with 2001 Volvo XC70. Bought at 70k and sold five years later at 170k. Lovely car. Ex Japan import. Full leather and all the toys and sunroof. More than enough room for family of four for holidays with bikes on the roof rack and towing a 16 foot boat. It was a 5 cylinder turbo 2.4l petrol that drank at 19 mpg round town and 27mpg on a trip. Not a sports car in the handling department but very comfortable ride.

Next up for two years a Volvo V50. same engine with out turbo. Quite hard riding car and not as luxurious. Bought at 70k and sold it at 115k. Only just slightly more economical than the XC70.

Both cars quite expensive to service at the agents but a bit cheaper at the local garage. The parts are the expensive bit.

Just over a year ago I bought a VW Passat V6 4x4 wagon. The full works with all the toys. Again an ex Japan import. Bought at 90k and now done 108k and going beautifully. The seat comfort is good, the ride is good, plenty of room, tows the boat well and is all round a really nice car. Mine has the beige leather and wood trim. It gets used as a truck carting gear around and I fill it up to take stuff to the tip etc and the interior stays nice and tidy. Only had serviced at agents so far and they know how to charge but I put that down to piece of mind that the work has been done properly. Also that had the original build sheats in their computer and also the service history from VW Japan. Most suprising is the great full acconomy for such a big car. I get on average about 25 to 26mpg round town and about 34 mpg on a trip. I'm happy with that. I think the 6 speed twin clutch gearbox has a lot to do with that. I don't drive it like an old fossal either as I chased my sons Skyline GT round Ruapuna the other day geting it up to 180k per hour on the main straight.

Have fun choosing a new car.

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