Baja Wes wrote:Heck if the kid wants afforadable and fast then buy him a motorcycle.
I'd definitely agree with the above, but I hope he can ride because theirs plently of people who can't drive, use indicators etc.
ps- despite what many people think they know about new cars, not all parts are the same, a lot of things change on the same model cars......this too make sourcing second hand import parts a pain in the ass for the owner of the vehicle........
Moral of the story, don't buy parts from Nissan.
There are quite a few workshops around that specialise in jap import cars, and have good stocks of 2nd hand jap import parts for very reasonable prices.
Wes -
www.offroadvw.net - 200HP Quad Cam V6 in a VW Baja - with climate control...
🙂
www.taylorcycles.com.au - My DH MTB racing brothers shop.
yeah they're normally the best place to go if you got one but even then they can get stumped easily enough then ~dungdung~ car is off road for a while while they try to figure out why the second hand tps sensor doesnt work on this vehicle. its then they contact nissan to find out (as i said) the parts change due to chassis number or date and they'll have to keep searching around for another one.....i've got no first hand experience with these guys in the costing department though, i'd imagine they'd sting ya.....
it's a lot of trouble you can easily steer clear of by owning a vehicle that is made for the australian domestic market!! and another clue for ya's-->> think gaskets. how many have you changed on your car before?? now imagine how many a whiz bang import has-> usually millions->> between sensors and manifolds and what have you, and dont mention head gaskets!!! these things you cant buy second hand...............or make!!!
I have quite a few friends with imports, and my car runs an import motor. Most Australian gaskets fit my engine. By the time a jap import motor needs a head gasket you simply buy another jap import motor.
My brother has had a diff and a gearbox replaced in an overpowered Silvia which gets abused (drifting and burn-outs etc). The workshop replaced the diff with another for about $150, and the gearbox another time for less than $500. parts and labour. You'd have trouble getting that stuff done on a VW by a workshop for those prices.
Wes -
www.offroadvw.net - 200HP Quad Cam V6 in a VW Baja - with climate control...
🙂
www.taylorcycles.com.au - My DH MTB racing brothers shop.
if you wanna have a bit of attrition and destroy engine and box and diff one after another and outlay the dollars then go for it, but i'm sure for someone after their first car and others looking for something a little more reliable, serviceable and cheap then its a bit of a nightmare. if you got the dollars to burn then go for it!!! i'm just saying keep away from these things if you want reasonably hassle free motoring.........as opposed to buying an import with a 1 month warranty and watching it go bang 32 days later.....oh crap! head gasket!? another engine please.......
Buy him a 1980-88 Mitsubishi colt. They are reliable, Ok to drive, but crap. When he prangs it nobody will care, and it won't have cost the world.
If he write-offs a VW, it's a piece of history off the road.
If he write-offs a Colt, it's a piece of crap off the road.
And don't tell me he won't bingle it. Who here didn't bingle there first car, fail to check the oil, or do something else they regreted to it?
mitsubishi colt with gt stripes ought to get him some street cred eh???
Nah nah - get him the special model - the 'Colt 45' 🙂
with or wothout stripes??? hahahaha😉😀 "if you cant impress use duress" hahaha
I reckon a Matt Black hammered (low) Colt would have allot of street cred.
Get some cheap chromies from an importers.... mate he'd be set!
~air fooled~ wrote:if you wanna have a bit of attrition and destroy engine and box and diff one after another and outlay the dollars then go for it,
The car mentioned was being completed abused, had way too much HP and that is why it broke. The engine didn't.
If you thrash even a stock VW it will break more easily. If you thrash a 12second VW, expect it to live a very short life indeed.
Don't joke about hotting up a Colt guys, someone near me has already done it. 3" dump pipe, mags, lowered susp, spotties, and it's still as slow. :puke
Get him a Commodore, they're dispensable, and do good burnouts which is what a young fellow wants.
Wes -
www.offroadvw.net - 200HP Quad Cam V6 in a VW Baja - with climate control...
🙂
www.taylorcycles.com.au - My DH MTB racing brothers shop.
its ryan here borrowing danielle's nick, and I havent read all of the thread but I'm giving my opinion anyways.
if its his first car, he doesnt want a supra, or any turbo japanese rocket for that matter, not because they are complicated (which isnt really an issue as they dont often die) but because that m,uch power, even non-turbo will make a new driver have an accident.
and I'm not going to suggest he buy/build an old bug either, or any aircooled VW. they are so basic and low tech, to get it as fast as a new small car, it takes alot of effort.
I suggest maybe he buy a 80s/90s japanese car, as they are cheap, reliable, have a few more creature comforst a beetle wont have, and are alot easier to find in decent condition.
just for the record, its very silly assuming that because a car has alot of high tech gadgets in it that they will break down. remember they have to be built to last out the 100,000km/3 year warranty, with minimal maintenance. I wokr at a toyota dealer, and it is unusual to see a major issue with anything new, even when it only gets oil and filter changed every 10,000km
sorry for babbling a bit.
1968 pearl white beetle:kiss
1600 engine😉
soon to be supercharged 🤘🤘
1970 and 72 Squarebacks 70 soon to be rotor powered
workshop across the road from work built a colt that does 12sec quarters 🙂 (still looks like crap)
If it aint broke,
Make it go faster!!
300zx :P
What can I say but I am overwhelmed by the input from all. Thanks for the comments and especially for contrubuting without feeling the need to resort to flaming each other.
On a personal note...in order to get into Vdubs Split Screens (with the hope a 23 window needing resto would pass my way), I sold my Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV. It was one of the earliest RHD 1750's built and hence in the country...chassis number 432! mine had the 2 litre motor. My son loved the Alfa. He loved the sound and the precision feel of it around the corners and the seemingly endless torque. The quality of the gearbox and ratio's is something that can only be experienced and dreamt about by those who have had the pleasure to drive a good and sorted 105 series.
I guess the Alfa would be trashed by a modern jap sports car but there was that undefinable thing, engineering, feel of the road thru the steering wheel, torque at low revs, engine induction sounds, raspy exhaust....these could not be replicated by many moderns.....and even he knew that. He begged me not to sell the Alfa and sighed on the day it went.
I guess I am hoping that sometime he will come back to owning a vehicle that gave driving pleasure without the need to go flat out all the time to get just the thrill of speed.
Driving pleasure is more than speed. My past ownership of beetles gave me that kind of pleasure. Taking a favourite corner in a precise and as quick a way without losing control and feeling the chassis and motor work even though the ultimate speed was not that high.
Two of the lovliest cars I have driven were a Fiat Bambino....every journey was an adventure with go-kart precision, and a Borgward isabella...Precise steering and great engineering...
Long live you guys that restore your vdubs and improve them and keep them going for sons like mine to one day discover and drive!!!
bump
who needs a 300hp jap rocket when you can buy a 50hp beetle that feels like you're driving a porsche? 🙂 it is all a matter of his tastes i guess. a year ago I wouldn't go near a beetle, i thought they were stupid and slow... then my dad took me for a blast in a little 1600cc superbug and i fell in love, so you never know
I have to agree with your almost final word... It's the quality of the driving experience, not the speed you travel at. It's what it feels like in your hands and your butt that matters. It's a bonus when your car also has character, as old VWs have. My two favourite cars to drive so far have been my old Peugeot 205GTI, and my current Beetle. Completely different experiences but enjoyable in different ways. There are plenty of French cars that your son would enjoy driving too (like a Clio 172 sport). I loved my alfasud too... 1.2 litres of howling noise and fun, but not too fast... I've driven a few exotic cars, but none necessarily better to drive than the Pug or VW... perhaps more mystifying and surreal though, and terrifying if you hit something.
"Tell him 'We've already got one'"