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MG MGA - Help please from Australian friends (noMGA content

Hi
Sorry to post here but thought some Australian MGA friends may be able to help.
My son has just emigrated to Melbourne on a tight budget and needs to buy a car (second hand). I was shocked by the high prices he has told me about for oldish cars with high mileage.
Over here you can buy a reasonable 4 year old run-about with say 35,000 miles on the clock for about £6,000. He tells me in Oz he has been recommended a BMW for $10k that is about 14 years old with about 130k km on the clock. And that, he says, is a very good deal.

Does that sound right? I realize you dont have the same problem with rust as we do in the UK, and without rust a car should go on for ever. So I guess the comparative cost of repairs is very relevant to price for a particular car?

Do you have any tips or pearls of wisdom? Any cars that should be avoided or are a good deal?

Many thanks for your help
Graham M V

Graham have a look on this site which will give you an idea of values. Certainly rust is much less a problem here especially if you get a car that has been inland. European cars are fairly expensive to repair and probably a Toyota Corolla or Holden or Ford or similar would fit the bill. They are basic designs, usually cheap to repair and seem to take abuse and go on for ever based on my observations of some of the young people at our University and their cars and driving habits. Not so cool as a BMW though!
www.carpoint.com.au

John.
John McMaster

Graham, I recently found a locally made Ford Falcon for a group of backpackers for $2500. They drove it 18,000 km right around Aus. and then back to me to on-sell it for them! It was still running sweetly!

I'm happy to talk to your son, have him contact/email me as above.
Barry.
Barry Gannon

Graham..agree with what the guys above say and the site recommended is a very good one. The price you mention is very high indeed . Buy a Japanese or Australian car..luxury cars ( and that applies to BMW,Merc etc ) collect extra tax/duty. The actual car depends on his needs..for long legs a corolla,ford falcon,holden commodore.toyato pt the corolla together here with some Oz parts and they get tax concessions.They have primitive engines ,running gear etc and often zero rust.
For town a susuki swift or similar honda etc...
and all much much cheaper than the fig you quoted.
Cars last a very long time here..except in the hands of hoons ( these are usually prematurely retired with their owners still in situ!)
Neil Ferguson

Thanks guys for all your feed back - sounds sensible advice. I wil pass it on - very grateful
Graham M V

Graham, a v6 Vr or Vs holden commodore (1993-1997) is bullet proof and cheap to run. I bought one for $3000 after my scimitaqr was badly damaged. Petrol and parked out on street with no servicing and it has not missed a beat after 15 months. Common as chips here and parts available everywhere
regards
mark
Mark Mathiesen

This thread was discussed between 12/12/2010 and 14/12/2010

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