I need my own car!!! I'm just a tad sick of catching public transport and bumming lifts.
First up I should probably state that my mechanical knowledge is that of a 15 year old girl. 
However my criteria is as below.
I have a budget of $3000.
Must be a van or wagon. (I want to be able to sleep in it for a night or two)
Needs to be half reliable
Cheapish on fuel.
Cheap easily found parts.
As you can tell I'm not really fussy. Just as long as it gets my from A to B. So far I'm thinking something along the lines of a Toyota camry wagon. However I'd really prefer a van , but with such a low budget I don't know if that's feasible.
Ideas?? Pointers??
Any Jap made diesel van with less than 200,000km on it.
Will be cheap and parts grow on trees.
If you want a wagon, have a look at VT / VX commodores. They are are pretty reliable, parts everywhere and can easily pick one up for 3-4K if you stretch the budget a little and low ball (make sure you do 
). Could be worse first cars!
Van wise, i see a few mitsubishi expresses for cheap on carsales in QLD? Alot of 4 cyl vans so thats quiet reasonable. Throw a single mattress in them, a portable fridge and life is pretty sweet.
Congrats on the first car and all. Its an exciting time 
dont discount a 2wd ute with a canopy on the back (for gear and sleeping). the commercial ones are very reliable (triton etc) 2wd petrol. I personally would stay away from diesels. uneconomical to repair should anything go wrong. Neither a ute or van will be good on fuel though (vans have a lot of windage) utes usually have biggish four cylinders which like to use fuel.
Had a van for my first car. great for pissups, girlfriends, etc sleeping in back. secure gear storage.. awesome. get a cheap inverter and you can deck out with tv, media player, esky, couch, bed, awesome
AU Wagon..
Cheap as chips to buy, decent feul range.. if it's on gas it's cheap as chips to run and parts can be found anywhere very very cheaply.
I've had 2 Au wagons, the first was written off (part of a 5 car pile up) and the second I traded in for a BFMk3 wagon.
My AU1 towed a caravan and a roof full of windsurf kit from Melbourne to Port Douglas then down the east coast with no issues. Even with the thing fully loaded I was still averaging 450 - 500 km per tank of petrol.
If your going solo the folded seats have enough room for a double mattress.
If you look around, they are becoming a very popular car for back packers.
Buy one with a service history and under 150 - 200 thousand kms.
There is a reason these cars were the most popular taxi. It's not uncommon to see AU ex taxi's around with over 750,000 km and still going. Lets see a commodore with that many kms on it's original engine.
This is hard to beat. It has dual fuel is a manual and if you look after it, could be worth a lot more money in a few years time.
www.carsales.com.au/?utm_source=carpoint/all-cars/dealer/details.aspx?R=AGC-AD-13592115&Cr=35
My first few cars were Subaru's. Greta economy, got me everywhere i ever wanted it to. Big enough to sleep girl, friend board and me..
No idea on price these days though..
I could probably stretch the budget to $4000. But that would be all I'd be willing to spend anyway.
When it comes to making an offer, what?s a fair lowball? I?m a pussy and always just pay what people are asking for stuff. Would knocking $500 of the price be considered fair or a piss take? (When it?s over $3000)
I just can?t get the idea of a van out of my head. As myusernam said ?great for pissups, girlfriends, etc sleeping in back. secure gear storage.. awesome. get a cheap inverter and you can deck out with tv, media player, esky, couch, bed? Hell yeah, nothing more is needed.
Love that panel van. I'm sure parents would love me picking up there daughters in that thing.
^ life certainly sounds pretty sweet eh
If you really want a van, get one. If you dont like it, you can always sell it.
The used car market is terrible so at a minimum i'd offer $500-$750 less. Loosing money is all part of owning a car!! See if you can find something that someones recently spent money on. Ie tyres, brakes, service etc. Maybe look around the $4500ish mark and see if they'll take 4k
Select to expand quoteSuperPoop said..
When it comes to making an offer, what?s a fair lowball? I?m a pussy and always just pay what people are asking for stuff. Would knocking $500 of the price be considered fair or a piss take? (When it?s over $3000)quote]
It's a hard one to judge, it all depends on how reasonable the offer is to begin with. If you've done a bit of research and have a rough idea of what it's worth you'll know how much to offer. If it's priced high I reckon there is nothing wrong with offering a $1000 off a $3000 - $4000, if it's priced well offering $500 less would still be what the seller will be expecting. Whatever you decide to offer as long as you're respectful and not a prick about it no one is going to get offended. I'm a big fan of just making the one offer and if they say no just telling them no worries and to let me know if it doesn't sell and they change their minds, no bartering or hassling just making a fair offer and sticking with it. The trick is to never care that much about a car until you actually own it.
Been carsalesing for you! Cars in QLD of course. Does RWC include a mechanic check (no idea as we dont have them in WA)?
Cars I reckon you could get for 3.5-4K. Maybe spend a few $ and a bit of time over the next few months and finish off the inside. Build up a bed with some storage underneath or something. If insurance is an issue (cant afford insurance, cant afford the car remember) but possibly 3rd party would be dirt cheap and just make sure you drive safely,http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/mitsubishi-express-1996-14469882?base=1216&vertical=Car&cr=13&page=2&eapi=2&__N=1282%204294680272%20900%201216&num=15&silo=Stock&Range=Price%3a2500%2c5000~0.5&sort=default
These are supposedly OK but i'd imagine Citroen parts might be hard / pricey?
www.carsales.com.au/private/details/citroen-berlingo-2004-14882943?base=1216&vertical=Car&cr=15&page=2&eapi=2&__N=1282%204294680272%20900%201216&num=15&silo=Stock&Range=Price%3a2500%2c5000~0.5&sort=default
www.carsales.com.au/private/details/suzuki-carry-2000-14853402?base=1216&vertical=Car&cr=3&eapi=2&__N=1282%204294680272%20900%201216&num=15&silo=Stock&Range=Price%3a2500%2c5000~0.5&sort=default
These sort of wagons are easy. Heaps of spare parts from wreckers and they go forever.
www.carsales.com.au/private/details/holden-commodore-2002-14753931?base=1216&vertical=Car&cr=6&eapi=2&__N=1282%204294680280%20900%201216&num=15&silo=Stock&Range=Price%3a2500%2c5000~0.5&sort=default
First thing you'd do is rip out the rear seats 
www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/toyota-tarago-1984-14870996?base=1216&vertical=Car&cr=16&page=2&eapi=2&__N=1246%201247%201252%201282%20900%20939&num=15&silo=Stock&Range=Price%3a2500%2c5000~0.5&sort=default
Doesn't look like there's too many decent single cab utes FS at the moment
DONT BUY A FORD peice of **** AU will be full of corrosion problems in the coolant. You can tell when you look at the coolant resivour that discoloration is your motor corroding to pieces.. Buy a jap car dude
this one sounds quite nicehttp://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/margaret-river/cars-vans-utes/1991-subaru-brumby-ute-must-read-ad-/1007827310
might be just out of your price range tho
"PRICE:
$5,000 or 6.5kg of freshly minted Swiss gold bullion
Reasonable offers accepted.
(Example of a reasonable offer: $10,000 +) "
Buy for $3000 if thats your budget
and keep the $1000 aside cause you will need it to fix some problems.
Select to expand quoteSuperPoop said..
I just can?t get the idea of a van out of my head. As myusernam said ?great for pissups, girlfriends, etc sleeping in back. secure gear storage.. awesome. get a cheap inverter and you can deck out with tv, media player, esky, couch, bed? Hell yeah, nothing more is needed.
Love that panel van. I'm sure parents would love me picking up there daughters in that thing.
I owned a L300 (mitsubishi express) kitted out as a camper when I met my wife. We would go away for weekends and holidays. It was awesome, lots of happy memories. I paid 2k from a backpacker. It came with sink(hand pump) primus stove/gas/bed, matress, sheets,/cooking gear, cutlery, 12v fridge, mozzie screens and curtains all round inc sunroof, could lie in bed watching stars straight up. Even came with boogie board and fins, and 2 boxes of assorted crap as backpacker was leaving country, couldn't take anything.
I sold it a few years later for 2k, with RWC, by putting ads up at local backpacker places.
I had to put a new head gasket in, fix the diff, and a few other things while I owned it. Had no air con, and in a van you sit on the motor, so it was very hot in summer.
We still have a very strong soft spot for that van. So many good times.
If you want a van, get a van not a panel van. Get one kitted out already as it costs money to assemble all the crap yourself. Look at backpacker notice boards, find backpackers down to a few days before leaving country, the price drops as they get desperate. Make sure it has RWC or go with them and get one and take repair quote off purchase price.
Don't go Mitsubishi!! The L300 is also called a Delica. They need a 'te'.
Vans: Hot, even in winter; Very bad in an accident; Noisy in cabin. Good camp mobiles though. Still, buy a PV, save for a camper trailer which you can then keep whenever you up/downgrade.
Make sure it has a roadworthy before you buy valid for the 2 months most cars in Qld around the $2500 mark don't have the roadworthy.
Select to expand quoteBuster fin said..
Don't go Mitsubishi!! The L300 is also called a Delica. They need a 'te'. Vans: Hot, even in winter; Very bad in an accident; Noisy in cabin. Good camp mobiles though. Still, buy a PV, save for a camper trailer which you can then keep whenever you up/downgrade.
Nah ur wrong. Not all delicas are L300, only the old ones.
I had a L400 series delica.
She was a real work horse and sered me well. I got mine for $2500 and did her up. A few of my mates did the same things.
The delica was certainly luxury compared to my Modern VW transporter. She had climate control, electric everything, untra comfey seats and was quite quiet until I put big offroad tyres on her! The Turbo diesel is the only one worth buying!
She cost me a bit to run on fuel and when the head went but over the 3 years I had her, she served me well!
The L400 Delicas are very good inside. I have a 96 one. You sort of get used to the cabin when you are in it. However a few months ago I had my GoPro on inside the front of the van. When I watched the footage afterwards I thought thats are very nice cabin.
My Delica has issues with its engine, I'm pretty sure the head gasket is blown. Its a diesel 2800 engine and this is a common issue. If any are for sale under $3000 then they probably have a blown head gasket and a cracked head.
I'm not sure if I'll fix mine or not. If I could get a new engine for a reasonable price I'd go for that.
Delicas are essentially an early model Pajero with a people mover body, so they are mostly 2.8L turbo diesels and are 4WD. They are a good thing if that's what you're after, carry lots of gear and reliable if looked after. The L300 Express vans are very basic with the lowest safety rating but were by far the cheapest van when new so their resale reflects that.
They are cheap because we live in a materialistic world were we want the latest and greatesr FPV, X5, landcruiser tt v8 etc. Hence the value of "undesireable" cars drop. Combine that with more people selling them (to upgrade) and its often good buying for people who cant or wont spend to much on a car.
Good luck if you go for the commode. I had a VT from close to new. Okay for surfcar as long as you don't have to take over pits - all sorts of bits falling off by the time I sold it. Steering, fuel leaks, windows, locks,
For a young fella, who will get pulled up by cops, maybe get something a bit easier to keep roadworthy. I am not car savvy, but Jap cars seem to be better made, better able to be maintained.
Select to expand quoteRadmac said..
For a young fella, who will get pulled up by cops, maybe get something a bit easier to keep roadworthy. I am not car savvy, but Jap cars seem to be better made, better able to be maintained.
Don't drive like a tool, don't draw attention to yourself and be respectful, keep the obvious stuff like tyres, seat belts, windscreen and lighting all in good order and you've generally got nothing to worry about. It's the nail that sticks up that gets hammered the hardest.
A mate has a Honda Jazz, he can fit a 9.2 allwave inside it.
And still drive, but passangers have to sit on his roof racks.
