Is this AU worth considering?

[Chamelion]

Hello, new member here. Caught a link to this site at http://www.overclockers.com.au

I'm currently searching for an AU and recently gave one a drive. Said drive was fantastic and I honestly couldn't pick a lot bad about the vehicle or the way it drove. I am however not the most car savvy, so my blind ignorance may have masked issues that exist.
What I did notice was a very light vibration when at idle. It happened at regular intervals, approximately every 3 seconds, lasting for 1 second, or thereabouts.
There was also a clunky feeling as the steering wheel passed centre. It felt like something, perhaps a joint of some sort? Was loose.
It had been raining for days previous to my inspection and after driving it I noticed there was water (mainly under) around the carpet in the boot and had also made the rear seat damp where the back cussion meets the seat.
The water was very clear and clean, if that makes any difference.
The dealer said he would get these issues looked into.

The vehicle was an ex fleet car owned by Pauls LTD (the milk mob). It has records of servicing every 10,000km like clock work until the book ran out of pages at 170,000km. However, unfortunately those records are not detailed. So I have no idea what was done to it in that time.

The paint work is fantastic, interior clean as a whistle. There was no noticeable rust that I could find asides from a pin head sized bit of surface rust on the boot and around where one of the boot gas struts (which is missing) connects.
There was only minor sag when I pushed down on the boot and it leveled quickly and accurately with no bounce, unlike my clapped out shitbox 1989 Toyota Camry. All in all the suspension seemed rather stiff, but made for a comfortable ride.

It will need new tyres extremely soon as they're borderline illegal, perhaps he'll correct that when the road worthy is done.

Here is a link to it, for reference including pictures.
http://carsrus.com.au/ (gold one, second from the bottom) I should note that he is now asking $6000 for it.

It currently has 244,000km on the ODO and not the 242,000 as claimed as the dealer has been using it for trips to the auctions in Brisbane 100km away.

Any thoughts greatfully appreciated.

Cheers,

Matt.

[P6LTD351]

My opinion mate is that you can get better for $6000 than that. You can get lower k examples, maybe even a series II for that money. Don't forget, it's a Forte, so it's the basic package and there are thousands out there, so don't rush.

However, at the end of the day, you have to buy what YOU are happy with as it is your money. If I was given 6 grand and told to find an AU, I believe I could track down something better. Feel free to ask questions.

[Chamelion]

Cheers mate, all replies are good replies.

These two I'm also considering looking at.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=012
http://www.search4cars.com.au/index....dvertID=527481

I'm not in a major rush as finance is still being sorted. I would like to have a car by the end of the month though, my Camry hasn't got much life left in it.

Cheers

Matt.

[EX-Y494]

Mate also go and have a look in the sales yard there a few nice au for sale.

[EX-Y494]

Out of those three au's I would go for the white au because it's a S2.

[InfernoSR]

I spent 4 weeks finding my car... and i still got a dud... so be careful. I also suggest that the bot rubbers on the first car mentioned are gone... if not that, then it can be far worse.

[private9]

Personally mate, I'd give that first car a miss - 6k for an AU1 forte with 250k on the clock is way too expensive. For that money you can be getting into a decent AU2 or even AU3 if you shop around, with lower kays and in better condition.

[Jokular]

I have a very high opinion of carsrus in nambour but make sure you get a very thorough inspection by a mechanic on any car you get from there or any yard for that matter.
If Andrew says he'll get things fixed he will.
That said though they are not the cheapest car yard and like said above you could surely
get an au a lot better with less k's, probably even a s1 fairmont for around the 6000 or a bit more.

[FGII-XR6]

if the Ks are right the white one would be the go as it's a S2

[V8falcons]

Yep if you can ,go for series 2 they are an all round better car,brakes, NVH ,fit and finish, and looks.
Theres plenty around

[Chamelion]

Howdy

I've been looking my heart out and honestly, the AUII I've noted is the only AUII I could find (4 car sales sites) below 7k.

The boot seals look fine in the first one I noted, so god knows where the water was coming from.

The white one I emailed about. It has 197,000km on the ODO. He said it was purchased by his wife 12 months ago for $9900 in Bundaberg and "the only issue is that it's a ford". :
Anyway, if it's still available when our finance comes through I'll go and look at it. If it looks the goods I'll organise to get it to my mechanic, as I will do with any car we're interested in enough to do so.

We're keeping the gold one in mind, but it's rather obvious that I can get better for the money. Even if it runs well and the body/interior are fine I shudder to think about how bad the dereciation will hit in a couple of years when it passes 300,000km.

Cheers

Matt.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Chamelion

Howdy

I've been looking my heart out and honestly, the AUII I've noted is the only AUII I could find (4 car sales sites) below 7k.

The boot seals look fine in the first one I noted, so god knows where the water was coming from.

The white one I emailed about. It has 197,000km on the ODO. He said it was purchased by his wife 12 months ago for $9900 in Bundaberg and "the only issue is that it's a ford". :
Anyway, if it's still available when our finance comes through I'll go and look at it. If it looks the goods I'll organise to get it to my mechanic, as I will do with any car we're interested in enough to do so.

We're keeping the gold one in mind, but it's rather obvious that I can get better for the money. Even if it runs well and the body/interior are fine I shudder to think about how bad the dereciation will hit in a couple of years when it passes 300,000km.

Cheers

Matt.

There's not much depreciation left in it at that price. Even in 5 years time, the car will be wroth around 2 or 3K, so to drop only 3K in that time is nothing - most new cars drop that the moment they are used as a demo car, and double that at least the first time you drive it after you've bought it.

The first one for $6k is not actually too bad. Yes, you could get it cheaper through private sale, but if the delaer's going to fix any issues with it before you buy it, and they put 4 new tyres on it, then to me, that's as good as getting one for $5k and having to get new tyres and fixing issues yourself.

But as also said previously, the AU2 is a better car - mostly because it has better brakes, but also little things like better NVH (noise, vibration etc) suppression etc. If you can get an AU2 anything for $7k from a dealer, then it's well worth a look. Remember that as long as the car you buy has less than 160,000km on it, you should get 3 months statutory warranty, which is worth the piece of mind, but of course it's usually reflected in the additional cost too.

[falzoony]

yep white series 2's are the best:P
197k's isn't too bad, but as JC said they are a better car.

[Chamelion]

Cheers lads, much appreciated.

The AUII is first on the list, along with one or two others if they're still available. After that there is a few 98-99 AUI's that I'll be having a look at.

I've been re-visiting this vehicle a bit (http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars...id=79&trecs=68)... But hesitant to look at it in the flesh as it's an hour away (which means my regular mechanic cant look over it) and I'm not ultra confident in driving my old Camry that far. :-/

Matt.

[Chamelion]

http://www.queenslandscheapestcars.c....aspx?ID=NO364

I think that could be worth a look too, even if it's not a series II.