What to buy?

[Capin-Neemo]

I currently have a 97 sprinter 1.5. This little car witch i picked up for $4000 at 85000kms has done me very well but now pushing 100000kms im looking at upgrading to a wagon seeing as my new Ms has a baby.

Any sugestions of a good wagon looking for good open road comfort and reasonible fuel econimy of course any sugestions would be welcomed!

Neemo out

[TURCEL]

A Ford Escort Panel Van

[Capin-Neemo]

Lol very helpfull can always rely on the toyspeed forums to make a boring day funny!

I would like to aviod being called a pedo or pulled up at the kids playgrounds lol.

[TURCEL]

Perhaps you should put up what you would like.... for example, how big an engine, how many seats, how much to spend etc etc

[method]

Mitsi airtreck turbo

Little ugly but they sure move!
Reliable cars and very very easy to get nice power from too. Have a evo7 engine with smaller turbo.

Caldina GTT
...its a toyota..

[Leon]

Carib? So basically the Sprinter, but the wagon version. Should be stupidly economical etc, which is good with gas @ $2/litre.

[strx7]

Mitsi airtreck turbo

Little ugly but they sure move!
Reliable cars...........

You realise there's a badge on those cars that says MITSUBISHI, which when translated to true english means - i keep the automotive trade in buisness

[method]

Id say the 4g63 is a pretty reliable jap engine.
I would rate them up with the 4agze engine. They put down a shit load more power too.

I always thought it was the 13b that kept the automotive trade in business

[Capin-Neemo]

1. Mitsi how dare you tell me to buy a mitsi on a toyota forum lol!

2. Carib i find them horridly ugly

3. Caldina been think about these was looking at a GT-T turbo and 4WD the newer ones look nice and are comfy aparently.

Would like to get an opion of anyone that has one.

Price is yet to be decided just thinking about upgrading really.

[Heylin]

Ive test driven a Caldina GTT and my friend owned one for 4 years. Fuel economy about the same as a stock MR2 Turbo.

10L per 100 Km (as low as 9L if no hills).

Good power, a bit more weighty than an MR2 but still great overtaking power.

Very roomy

Nice comfortable seats and has all the mod cons (AC, Electric Windows etc).

Things to check, definately make sure the turbo is in good nick (ie not blowing oil, doesnt smoke under boost), if the Kms are approaching the 180k mark expect a turbo rebuild in the next 20,000kms.

Turbo models last I checked were $8000 - $13000, non turbos $6000 - $8000, white seems to be a very common colour, but you can get them in silver and have seen the odd one in Metallic blue.

[dirty1]

depending on your budget and what age car you are looking for, i would reccomend a non turbo caldina. there is starting to be a few 96/97 tz-g 'dinas around the $4000-6000 mark.
the tz-g are 4wd and have the 3s-ge twin cam engine. i would only get one if it is a manual as the autos seem a bit sluggish. look for one with low k's on the clock.

[Capin-Neemo]

Sounds like so good info here guys.

Was looking at getting a turbo because i've never owned a turbo and would like one lol.

Was thinking around the 10 grand mark so that sounds promising and hopefully late 90's was looking on some Jap auction sites the new shape ones look really good....



So gonna start looking at trade me and turners and hopefully find something.

One last question, How hard / costly is it to import yourself? Some of the Jap sales these GT-T's are going cheap as

[xsspeed]

Let someone else deal with the hassle of importing it. There are loads of caldina gtt's on trademe ffor around 8k. We paid more for our gt (non turbo) model! cos there are so many gtt's on trademe

[Capin-Neemo]

Was just asking was interested in the processes seeing as ive seen 2002 GT-T's selling in japan for around $2000 i was just wondering how costly it really is to import cert etc.

[xsspeed]

From what I understand you will be looking at:

(cost of car) + (cost of someone to source it for you) + (shipping) + (port costs) + (gst of price of car) + (orc) + (compliance check?)

Yen/77 ~= NZD

Someone to source car - 45000yen = 590
Shipping = 2000
Port costs = ?
ORC = 400(?)
Compliance = ?
GST of car = 250 (based on 2k car)
cost of car = 2000

total = 5240+port costs+compliance costs

Not bad I guess (better than I thought it would be for a GTT - mainly due to the cheapness of the car) so long as port costs and compliance dont cost much, as I dont know how much they are.

If you know someone in Japan they could cut out the cost of getting someone to buy for you too.

[strx7]

Id say the 4g63 is a pretty reliable jap engine.
I would rate them up with the 4agze engine. They put down a sh*t load more power too.

I always thought it was the 13b that kept the automotive trade in business

you realise you're comparing a 1600 to a 2 litre?

You also realise there is probably 9 dead 4g63's out there for every 1 still going 1? as they are prone for spitting the balance shaft and or balance shaft belt and then everything colides and hay presto you've now got a new anchor for your launch...........

[solitaire]

hay presto you've now got a new anchor for your launch...........

lol of the day

[flygt4]

if the insurance/fuel cost/maintenance cost/practicality rules out a turbo caldina then i would suggest a Caldina GT.
mine has been a great car for me, it has the same everything the GT-T has except the turbo engine/drivetrain .you still get decent seats/interior/AC/electrics and a decent bodykit , as well as 4wd.
you also still get a decent amount of power , with the beams 2L at 191hp , the engine is basically a single VVTI version of the altezza engine. they are a little slow off the line due to the auto only option box , but on the open road they are comfortable, quiet, and return some unbelievable economy, up to 14km/L if you believe the trip computer. they can also swallow a huge amount of gear in the back and comfortably carry 4 adults a good distance.

GT models often sell for more than the GTT as there is a lot less of them around, and they are holding value pretty well due to crazy petrol prices.

[Dell'Orto]

Id say the 4g63 is a pretty reliable jap engine.
I would rate them up with the 4agze engine. They put down a sh*t load more power too.

I always thought it was the 13b that kept the automotive trade in business

you realise you're comparing a 1600 to a 2 litre?

You also realise there is probably 9 dead 4g63's out there for every 1 still going 1? as they are prone for spitting the balance shaft and or balance shaft belt and then everything colides and hay presto you've now got a new anchor for your launch...........

Reasonably common aftermath of a snapped cambelt on a 4G63.

Also plus 1 for a Caldina GT, would be a good family wagon. Corolla BZ-T's arent bad, much better looking than the Carib.

[Mr Revhead]

airtrek?! NO NO NO NO!

as far as toyota options, i just picked up a NZ new ae111 wagon for $4k
shop around deals to be had.
101 wagons are quite nice, but very hard to find a good priced one that hasnt been to the moon and back.