Yep, I'm getting old. I remember when a "top 5" list for first cars under $5000 only had 4 cars on it: An old Holden in terrible condition. An old Falcon in terrible condition. An old VW Beetle in terrible condition and your neighbours' grandfather's Chrysler Valiant in absolutely perfect condition with low kilometres, full service history, one owner, garaged, never crashed, no rust, perfect interior and for a bargain price of $500. And we always bought the bloody Holden. I don't know, the youth of yesterday...
Love the Alto making the list. You can never overstate the fun in taking an under-powered automotive shopping cart and putting it on the limit. I had a G100 Daihatsu Charade many years ago with a tiny yet raspy 1 litre 3 cylinder engine and it was a hoot. Putting that car around a corner (whilst dialing in a tad of hand brake) with a back wheel off the road like a crazy little pup cocking its leg will make you grin. Kinda the same result as doing similar in a Skyline or Supra without breaking the law.
A cool list would be best tuner cars for different price ranges and car types. Could say what types of mods can be done and for what price, and then what the gain is for those mods. Would take a bit of research but would be a hell of a list!
I owned a 1994 JDM Honda Prelude with the 2.2L VTEC and that thing reached just over 400k KMs. I loved every bit of it. It wasnt a fast car but it was cool :) My missis owned that Suzuki Alto 3cyl thing at the time as well and everytime we went to the Gold Coast, I would take the back roads through Mt. Tamborine and fang it through the corners 😂. It's hilarious, I called it "Bluey, the Alto that could." Love this video it relates to me so much, great work RD!
The fix for Subaru head gaskets is to use the MLS (multi Layered Steel) gaskets instead of the coated single layered gaskets. Its the coating that fails over time.
God I miss my ‘92 Honda Prelude. Bought it for $3,300 in 2012. 2.2L F22A1 non-VTEC motor. I bought it at 270,000kms and when I sold it, the tachometer read 350,000kms and had stopped working for 12 months (I sold it unregistered). In that time I replaced a water pump and a battery. I would buy another one in a heart beat.
I have a 2002 Crown Vic with over 200,000 miles as a daily driver. It's been in the family since new. I wouldn't call it 'fun' by any means but it's built like a tank and has had no major problems in the 20 years it's been with us. I've also had one of those SLKs you mentioned which was great fun to drive but was riddled with expensive electrical gremlins.
I'd argue the funnest first car is something as cheap as possible that you don't feel bad beating on mercilessly. A lot can be learned in a car by doing stuff you wouldn't want to do had it been something more special
I am surprised that they recommended the H6. It is known to be fragile. It's recommended service schedule was every 3 months or 5000km. I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot barge pole!
@@MrBenHaynes It's not 3 months/5k. That was just the first Service, and may have only been a requirement on 3.6r's. They're also absolutely not fragile. They have their own issues and things they wont tolerate like just about any engine out there. All they really ask for is good oil, changed at a reasonable timeframe, and 95ron minimum. Iv'e had two without issue. the oldest is 320k 04 model and counting
The biggest suprise on this list for myself was the Alto as didn't think you'd put the little 1L Suzuki on the list of best 1st car that are fun but on the small hatch list lol. Plus I had to laugh at the way you described the Alto's hip sway and comfort levels. Got way too many top 5 suggestions for you guys and I can't remember what I have amd haven't suggested already lol 😆. Looking forward to Friday's video guy's and good work on today's video guys and the first car series as a whole as it wouldn't of been easy to whittle the lists down too just 5 for each and trying not to overlap cars in different categories so props to you there guys 👍
@@MartinJones123 you talking Australia specifically? There is still a big difference between 90s JDM Altos and an international market Alto pictured on the video. A good 200-250kg of metal too!
For the love of god can someone please lend this man their F Type, I’m looking at 2 this week and need to know if they are money pitts before I fall in love with them. Nice list btw.
Alto, yesssss! No power No refinement No handling The way cars used to be, forget car of the year, just get some Altos, rent a race track with your mates, an have driver of the year instead, yeee haaaaa.
I have a few possible ideas for a show or a series of... Best engines across the sizes and worst.. best and worst gearboxes manual and automatic ... Buying a used car that either the manufacturer has gone like ford and holden or the car(s) have just been discontinued. Like the ford Mondeo.. Worst lemon cars ever built that still exist.. so no the Leyland p76..
The TSX/Euro is a seriously fun car; massive community & support; one of the highest outputs in its class that can be easily modded or heavily depending on the budget, get some wonderful results!! Suspension and handling on these cars are ridiculously good!
@@Lazy_Tim Higher compression engine I guess; thankfully there is widely available flash tunes for these; but still reccomend 95/98. 91 is shit anyways.
I will tell you exactly why that generation of Prelude has terrible resale, it was tarnished by the horrible 4 wheel steering types that were hideously unreliable and expensive to repair, if it is even possible today, and the digital dashes. That is why your advice to go for a lower spec is so prescient, but even still there aren’t many left that are decent.
@@MrFister84 I worked as a mechanic at Honda in the early 2000s the untold grief this model visited on myself and my colleagues was palpable. Definitely a low point for the manufacturer, was too ambitious. Honda as a company does that sporadically, think oval pistons.
I Love that "when they work ! " a tag line that could easily be attached to anything French, Italian or German !, sorry folks, this is not a Racist thing !!!, it's just a fact of life thing !
Hey Team, any chance of reviewing the Merc CLS 2013-2016 series? Looking to buy one in the not too distant future, but the offshore channels don't do nearly as good a job as you guys do with regards to subjectivity and having mechanics input. Cheers.
Absolutely love my 2003 outback h6. Unfortunately an auto and my god is that transmission dreadful, but these things are absolute weapons when you get them offroad.
I’ve had an SP 23 for about 6 years with 150k kms on it currently, can’t recommend it enough. Runs like a dream with admittedly pretty lax maintenance, only real work done to it is an engine mount last year. Biggest drawback for me is the somewhat annoying little rattles it’s developed from some loose plastic fittings in the cabin and the cracked dash that I’ve just noticed today 😢
I love the Mazda 1st gen still a nice car to look at. But the weather in Australië is more sunny;) so the rust problems won't be so extreme as here in europe. Here the mazda 3 1st gen are rust buckets. 2nd gen are better in my opinion
Good on ya mate! Like the way you presenting. Few things that could make it even better: 1. Add contact information like email on your channel and website.otherwise only way is eternal comments. 2. Analyze Previous videos transcription for common cliché. On every second review you using pitch "bla-bla it could take hours going through specs details..."It delivers original idea only first time, it's either cliché you don't see or laziness going through specs. And cheatsheet- why you putting it Always in same back right pocket? Dunno, put in other storage places..Or your "glossy black piano plastic"- not all ot them are piano for sure, it's very specific appearance, nor they same black. 3. After all, you want your videos look different, I feel that when you using really nice induction or different voice for general info, or. jokes. 4 Easy upgrades. shoot your car in Different places- beaches, Blue mountains, in front of good landscape. Go back 4 videos transcripts, don't use phrases you noticed more than twice. Jokes, more jokes, aussie preferred! 5 Hard upgrades. While you don't have to mention all details, especially standard ABS, ESP, note only those that stand out of other trims/other cars. For instance different generation, auto/cvt, standart/air suspension, 4wd realization, aircon/ climate/ ?zones 6. Personal question. You know well bout depreciation rates, so you know it's not linear function (2022 Range Rover that lose 40% in first 3 years while RR 2010 will not lose same percentage. Question is at what year of owning let's say Disco4/ mondeo/Touareg/ whatever they gonna lose same % as thing like prado/camry? Thank you and keep going
Thanks so much Timur. 1. It's in our about section on RU-vid and on our website. 2. There's a fine line between cliché and serialised hooks. However, we are changing up the format as we speak. 3. We're still trying to find a balance between offering serialised and consistent content that still remains engaging each week. 4. We wish we could but we are extremely limited due to the locations of the cars we borrow. Some owners are happy for us to go hours away, others prefer we stay close to their homes. Plus we have extremely limited time to film so the logistics dictate locations. 5. I thought we did that? 6. That's a how long is a piece of string question and one no one knows the answer too, especially in the current used car market mate. Cheers mate, we will. - AK
The Prelude has a design flaw where it can split in half if it is hit side on near the door jam area. They can also roll if driven too fast around a corner as they have a weird centre of gravity for a sporty car. I've actually witnessed both of these things first hand sadly.
Hope AK/Jim can answer this, what’s more important age or mileage when buying a used car? Which is a bigger factor for you guys as well as from what you’ve seen as reviewers?
It depends on many factors mate. For example a well cared for 2001 Corolla with 400,000kms can be a solid little nugget of a car. However a 2015 Golf showing 120,000kms but zero service history and clear signs of neglect can be a complete nightmare. It really depends on the car and its history. - AK
@@ReDriven that makes sense. Would you recommend the Carly OBD reader or CarVertical to check its history etc? Thanks for the answer, just weighing up a 2015 M240i with 45k miles vs a 2018 with 70k - I do need to see them in person I guess.
