Subaru Crew Cafe

14566 messages, Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 3:59 PM

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#13602 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [grahampeters] by lucien2 Nov 21, 2008 (2:06 pm)
Replying to: grahampeters (Nov 21, 2008 2:03 pm) cash flow is okay, there is some debt we were going to pay off first....but $3500 would dampen that! Replies to this message: grahampeters (Nov 21, 2008 2:27 pm) xwesx (Nov 21, 2008 4:59 pm) lucien2 (Nov 21, 2008 8:52 pm) ladywclass (Nov 22, 2008 11:36 am)
#13603 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [lucien2] by grahampeters Nov 21, 2008 (2:27 pm)
Replying to: lucien2 (Nov 21, 2008 2:06 pm) G'day Its awfully tempting to replace at the moment. The new car trade here is stuck with a big problem. Toyota are trying to shift 40,000 excess cars. The Australian car market is usually about 1,000,000 per annum of which Toyota sell maybe 25% (largest market share). So they are carrying about 2 months excess stock. Other makers have similar problems. The Australian Dollar has slipped a long way in the past few months, devaluing about one third against US Dollar) and most hedging will run out in about March or April 2009. That means that the stock of vehicles on dealers lost and at distribution centres has been bought with a strong currency . Fabulous deals are around right now but come April next year, virtually all car prices will skyrocket. Even the local manufacturers are having to cut prices dramatically, in order to compete with importers. Toyota, Ford and GM (Holden) have manufacturing plants here but a lot of cars are imported, often from Japan, Korea or Thailand (where Honda have manufacturing plants). Toyota have a fold out sheet advert, measuring about six feet by two in today's newspapers, pushing the massive deals they are offering. Whilst some of it is orphan stock (a lot of manual transmission models) the prices look very competitive. Here in Melbourne it is a cold rainy day (decent snow forecast on the Australian Alps and Storm force winds) near the end of the month with sales reps getting increasing desperate to shift stock. Could be a lovely day for car buying! Cheers Graham
#13604 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [lucien2] by xwesx Nov 21, 2008 (4:59 pm)
Replying to: lucien2 (Nov 21, 2008 2:06 pm) Well, were you not practically a half-world away, I would come get that bugger from you and fix it myself. But, as that is simply a pipe dream, Graham presents a strong argument. Fixing that car is still cheaper than buying a new one, but the question is whether you want to dump your money into an old car or not. Replies to this message: lucien2 (Nov 21, 2008 8:52 pm) ladywclass (Nov 22, 2008 11:36 am)
#13605 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [xwesx] by lucien2 Nov 21, 2008 (8:52 pm)
Replying to: xwesx (Nov 21, 2008 4:59 pm) you speak the truth...most of the $$ is labor. I have not the tools nor the space, myself. Still, I am leaning toward fixing it. We could easily keep it in frontline service for another 2 years, buy a car, and put this one out to pasture as the winter/vacation hauler. Fixing it now means crossing the point of no return...where more than 50% of the major late-life repairs have been made. Plus, it has a brand new butt thanks to that PA driver who rear-ended us in August. A new car right now.....oof. I'm not sure I'm ready. I wouldn't have much of a down payment, and the prospect of more monthly expense isnt my favorite thing to contemplate in this time of job uncertainty.. Still, a new car means no maintenance, more airbags, LATCH, probably better economy (unless we stay in the subie fold), etc. Replies to this message: ladywclass (Nov 22, 2008 11:36 am)
#13606 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [lucien2] by rsholland Nov 22, 2008 (9:05 am)
Replying to: lucien2 (Nov 21, 2008 1:49 pm) Bail. Once you get well past 100K, you can expect a bunch of expensive repairs. That's been our experience. I say look at a new Impreza 2.5i 5-door or Forester X. There are ton of new Foresters on dealer lots, so getting a good deal should be pretty easy. I think Imprezas can be had for $16K. Bob Replies to this message: paisan (Nov 23, 2008 6:00 am) lucien2 (Nov 23, 2008 8:29 am) lucien2 (Nov 23, 2008 8:42 am) rsholland (Nov 23, 2008 8:49 am) and 7 more... lucien2 (Nov 23, 2008 10:04 am) paisan (Nov 23, 2008 12:43 pm)
#13607 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [lucien2] by ladywclass Nov 22, 2008 (11:36 am)
Replying to: lucien2 (Nov 21, 2008 8:52 pm) but then again .... we put about $2500 into a car that was already over 10 years old, figuring if we got another 18 months out of it we were still ahead .... daughter drove it as her only car until about 2 years ago, and we are still using it as an occasional driver ... but I agree ... it's a tough decision ...
#13608 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [rsholland] by paisan Nov 23, 2008 (6:00 am)
Replying to: rsholland (Nov 22, 2008 9:05 am) I'm gonna have to agree with Bob. Near the 150k mile range you are talking about other items that can pop up that will be costly to repair. -mike Replies to this message: lucien2 (Nov 23, 2008 8:29 am) lucien2 (Nov 23, 2008 8:42 am) rsholland (Nov 23, 2008 8:49 am) paisan (Nov 23, 2008 9:10 am) and 6 more... lucien2 (Nov 23, 2008 10:04 am) paisan (Nov 23, 2008 12:43 pm)
#13609 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [paisan] by lucien2 Nov 23, 2008 (8:29 am)
Replying to: paisan (Nov 23, 2008 6:00 am) but would $3500 hold it long enough for an Outback or Impreza diesel to be an option? Totally on the fence here. The car is sound, ya know? it isn't beat up, it's pretty clean for 130K+ and it's a lifelong member of the family. Like Juice saying goodbye to SAndy
#13610 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [paisan] by lucien2 Nov 23, 2008 (8:42 am)
Replying to: paisan (Nov 23, 2008 6:00 am) options: fix now. Drive till next thing breaks. Buy new car park it. Buy new car. Fix BG later, keep as winter beater Buy new car. Sell BG for whatever we can get for it. Cars under consideration? Well, this would be Kirsten's ride, since I have the company Camry. She wants something no bigger than the BG. Must be efficient, must be MT. Must be an engaging drive. So far: MINI Clubman (her current fave- big enough for one kid, even 2. Good EPA, hoot to drive, 6MT, loads of style) Honda Fit (she doesn't like the cheapness of the interior) Prius (hurt by no MT, no fun, and definitely no deals. Lucien sez, "and it's getting old") Impreza (hurt by fuel economy, but is a compact package and has AWD. Must be 2009 to avoid bland driving experience of 2008. Keeps us in the Subie fold.) Outback (also hurt by economy, blandest color choice in automobiledom) I guess I should add Mazda3 wagon to this list. Haven't really looked at one in a while. Replies to this message: rsholland (Nov 23, 2008 8:49 am) paisan (Nov 23, 2008 9:10 am) rsholland (Nov 23, 2008 9:23 am) and 5 more...
#13611 of 14566 Re: What Would Crew Do? [lucien2] by rsholland Nov 23, 2008 (8:49 am)
Replying to: lucien2 (Nov 23, 2008 8:42 am) Minis drink premium gas if I'm not mistaken. Bob Replies to this message: paisan (Nov 23, 2008 9:10 am) rsholland (Nov 23, 2008 9:23 am) lucien2 (Nov 23, 2008 4:40 pm) and 4 more...