r/NZcarfix

Family Car, Rav 4 alternative

Need an honest opinion, the rav 4 is top pick. Yet the toyota Tax has me looking for alternatives. Young family of 4, One Car to rule them all 40k budget.

Muddy kids, dog, bikes and boards has me considering a ute but something Hybrid and compact would make the wife happier.

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u/brotibread — 6 hours ago

Is this reasonable

Got a quote from my local shop to do a full service and inspection, as my car just hit 200k kms, specifically engine/gearbox/diff oils

u/Huhhh204 — 15 hours ago

car hunt tips - what to avoid and general recommendations

edit: budget is about 15k!

Hi!

I am 29yrs F looking to upgrade my car.
I am feeling a little lost on how to align my car dreams with a specific model.

I am looking for:

  1. boot space - trying for a baby! wanting room for all baby essentials and groceries etc
  2. fuel efficient. i am not super keen on diesel. currently interested in petrol or hybrid.
  3. reliability!!! sometimes things are going to go wrong. however i’d like something reputable for reliability where repairs are reasonable (ie, nothing european?)
  4. i like SUV style vehicles aesthetically?
  5. bluetooth built in hehe

is there anything else that i should be aware of? i’d appreciate absolutely and insight or recommendations at all. thanks guys

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u/spencenerd — 20 hours ago

Clear truck oil.

How come my 2014 4T trucks oil is pretty much clear (like oliviani olive oil) after a year and my Mrs new bt50s oil is jet black after a week?
I use the same oil in both

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u/colombian-neck-tie — 22 hours ago

Turbo damaged by screwdriver bit by mechanic, they claim it isnt their tool what are our options?

Unsure if this question is in the scope of the sub. Long story short our vehicle suddenly had massive power issues uphill. We took it to our regular mechanic who scanned the vehicle and advised it was electrical and to take it to an auto electrician.

This auto electrician diagnosed no boost from turbo was the issue and took the intercooler hosing off to diagnose turbo where they found the fins of the turbo are completely destroyed and retrieved a screwdriver bit.

Our vehicle is only worked on mechanically by one auto repair shop and when we contacted them they are obviously playing the 'dunno how that got there' card. Does anyone have any experience with this? What are our options. The vehicle is covered with insurance if that gives us any additional options. Its a shit situation to be in with money so tight and worried that people won't do the right thing.

Thanks in advanced for any guidance

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u/Hurrakane — 3 days ago

Looking for a 1 child family car recommendation - $20k~

My wife and I recently had our first child and we thought we'd wait and see how it went with our Mazda6 2007. Safe to say it's not been the best experience, limited space and low down making it harder for my wife, etc.

We want to move to something like a small to mid size SUV, thinking Rav4/CX-5 which we could get a 2016ish model for $20k.

Or potentially a Hyundai Tuscon, because it's cheaper we could maybe get something newer.

I also saw that Mitsubishi ASXs brand new are $28k which is a bit above budget but wondering if it's worth maybe trying to make that work given it would have a 5 year warranty. We're not too worried about having the latest bells and whistles, just a safe and reliable car.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be welcomed.

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u/MSwitch222 — 5 days ago

Can this be patched or does it have to be replaced..

I’ve taken it to a tyre place and they told me that I have to get this tyre replaced but my mates tell me that it can just be patched… I just wanted to know you guys’ opinion

u/terry-the-platypus — 6 days ago

Battery Maintainer for Car

I don't drive often anymore and the trips I do make are all under 5km total. Yes I do need the vehicle, can't swap to a bike or bus.

So as you can imagine the battery doesn't get charged properly, in summer it's not an issue but I notice when the colder weather comes, it doesn't crank as well. Not where it's winding heaps..I'd buy a new battery if that was the case, but that hesitation thing they do..before starting up.

So I was thinking a battery trickle charger? I think it's called?
Except I have no idea what to buy.

Budget matters. A lot. If someone can recommend something pref under $200?

Vehicle is a Toyota Rush, so nothing big or fancy.

I see all sorts of stuff on Repco (preferred) or Supercheap, but no idea what is good, suitable or junk.
Doesn't have to be either store either, online other stores is fine...

Thanks.

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u/ClimateTraditional40 — 3 days ago

mouse repairs in progress if anyone's interested....

borrowed my Mum's garage for the weekend....spent the past three days reeking of mouse piss and Handy Andy pine flavour, got a bit hung up on figuring out where they'd got into the car. One thing led to another & I just stripped out the interior fully since literally everything bar the roof lining needed to be scrubbed.

Figured I could leave the dashboard and just wash it in place....seemed to be fine, so carefully dried and reassembled everything, armour-all'ed all rhe plastics, vacuumed the floor and cleaned the windows. took the heater blower out and vacuumed the housing, seemed to be okay at first.

till I switched it to demist. it switched to aircon @ full fan and blew a huge cloud of chewed up white plastic, paper, foam and mouse shit everywhere. I'll be honest, I kinda lost my shit at this point. 8hrs of detailing and it gets ruined in a second - I sat there, I was so angry I couldn't even swear. just opening and closing my mouth like a fish for a few minutes...haven't fucked myself over like that in a long time tbh. my own dumbass fault for not cycling the functions when I was vacuuming inside it.

Seems the little bastards were living inside the a/c condenser, chewing up all the polystyrene insulation and pissing everywhere. and when the a/c is off the diverter for that box is held shut so I didn't notice while I was under there. Followed their trail backwards down the floorpan under the carpet and found they had chewed a couple of body plugs out under the back seat to get into the rocker panel and behind the boot trim to the air vents inside the back bumper....pissing all along the way and chewing on the sound deadner and seat foams.

This morning I set about accessing the whole heater/a/c & blower housing to clean it properly. Quickly established I wasnt prepared to get it de-gassed and refilled so started trying to get the housing off the firewall and from around the condenser with it still connected, while the housings on both sides are still in place and I'm unable to get the passenger airbag removed so have to get the dashboard itself out with it still attached.

I mean, it's not too unsafe even if it feels like it at the time...I just don't like putting myself that close to an explosive device inside a confined space...I've been doing this shit since my teens and I'm still yet to accidentally detonate one while I'm messing with it.

Got as many fingers as I started with 😇

But you hear stories of mechanics getting nailed by one whole they're fixing it, there must be some truth in it. I'd rather not find out.

I've set plenty of them of deliberately over the years. perfect shed entertainment when scrapping cars. turns out its possible to launch a 75kg bogan onto a 2nd floor roof, if you stack a whole bunch of them under the chilly bin he's standing on at the time 😁

So yeah, finally got all of the interior out & had had enough. it's tomorrow's problem now, I'm over it. and I can't smell anything oxcept n pine o kleen and steamed mouse piss 🤢🤢🤮

u/sarah_puku — 4 days ago

Month-long car storage suggestions/recommendations [2007 Toyota Blade Master]

Hello! As the title suggests, since me and my family will be travelling overseas for about 6 weeks during the winter season, I need some suggestions and/or recommendations for storing my car.

Given circumstances, I cannot have anybody turn on the car every now and then while we're gone. So I plan to just park the car in the garage (locked), unplug the negative terminal (will wrap it with some plastic or rubber glove), and put an unemptied litter box under the bumper area (to discourage rodents from seeking shelter in the car).

Aside from what I mentioned, what other preparations do I need to do so I don't have to potentially deal with a non-running car when we get back?

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u/MachBrn — 22 hours ago

"Anti-bacterial & sanitisation" Dealer service option

Took in my car for a service, when i got a text msg stating "Our technicians have inspected your vehicle and have made some recommendations. Please click on the link below to review",

I was granted this, I had a laugh at it and obviously I skipped this, but it's the first time I have ever seen this.

Wonder what they actually do

u/_Cherios — 3 days ago

So I have a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which is comfy to drive and ridiculously economical at low speeds, especially when charged at home. I've had 960km on 35ltr of fuel which is 3.6ltr/100km. However when I'm doing longer drives at highway speed and haven't been able to chare it, it's more like 450kms to a tank or 7.8ltr/100km. When you add on PHEV RUCs, it's not great.

As I currently live out of town and am doing a high percentage of my driving at or around 100kph, I'm trying to work out what (if anything) can better this economy whilst still being nice to drive within a $20k budget.

I'm looking at things like a BMW 330e / 335i Active Hybrid, Merc C350e, Lexus IS 300h / GS 450h / RX 450h, Nissan Fuga / Skyline 350GT hybrid or a VW Golf GTE as sadly a Lexus LC 500h is both out of budget and not practical enough...

Would these cars deliver noticeably better economy on the open road than the Outlander? I want to believe they will but suspect they won't. Does anyone own one of my list and want to share any experiences or info?

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u/mrteas_nz — 8 days ago
▲ 29 r/NZcarfix+1 crossposts

I work in finance and work closely with our sales team who administer the car fleet for about 60 sales reps across NZ. This financial year is the first one where the whole fleet will be HEV as diesels have rolled off contract. Our work parking building has priority spaces for BEVs and we also have 2 MGs lined up as BEV pool cars. When you combine the fuel crisis with increase in hybrids (65% of new Toyotas are hybrid), cheaper and nicer Chinese BEVs and longer range PHEVs and what will be a really strong second hard market to come what do you think the car landscape in NZ will look like? I think there will always be be a place for a diesel tow car and a cheaper petrol run about but do you see ICE/ diesel cars depreciating rapidly? I also think that BEVs will become like phones and TVs where the new tech comes out cheaper so the old tech loses its resale value. Thoughts?

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u/deTille — 11 days ago

New favourite mechanical rust removal tool

The right angle die grinder + roloc disc combo is such a good system. I am a masochist and love owning old cars that need love and this tool is a must have.

The first part of the video shows a scotch brite 50mm bristle disc which I use for getting into corners and hard to reach spots. The second half is a 70mm regular scotch brite disc on a 50mm backer which is great for curves and quick removal. The roloc backing plates also make changing between discs instant.

Also excuse the Hercules die grinder, it was a gift from my partner who is from the US :)

u/Phylaxx — 5 days ago

Car part

I want to buy some parts of cars, toyota rav4 2023.
Where big pick a part yard in auckland do you recommend?
I search online car model but it seems to be not updated so i can not find my model.
I just asked a yard about the wireless charging pad of rav4 and it costs $450+ gst. Is that normal price for a parts from broken cars?

Thank you

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u/nvk_91 — 1 day ago

As the title, we are looking at getting a PHEV to replace our diesel truck. One of the reasons is fuel prices and we looked at our usual trips as long as the PHEV is rated to run 100km on a charge it would suit us well as we dont go over that. We can charge in the garage at nights.

Our main options are the toyota rav4, Haval H6 GT, BYD Sealion 6 and maybe the mitsubishi outlander(last option due to price). Options are limited to our location being in the far south as I have rang some brands and they would like to have their cars serviced at their own dealers, so brands like Chery we would need to make a yearly drive to Christchurch to get a service done which doesnt seem practical. Budget is mid 60k.

Looking at insight from anyone who has these(well except the rav as its still in production) on its real world perfromance, issues and things that surprised you(good and bad!)

cheers in advance

EDIT; what about omoda jaecoo? good or bad?

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u/christian-sheen — 7 days ago

Carb troubles

Have recently brought a 96 l200 with the 4g64 2.6 carbureted, putts round town fine, starts fine but when I give her the beans or go up a hill it bucks and backfires until I let off the throttle. Guy before me spent 1200 on getting the carb redone, sprayed carb cleaner around to check for vacuum leaks, couldn't find any, the ute does run cold so I thought it could be an issue with the auto choke but it starts fine and drops to hot idle fine. Any ideas, I know my way round an engine but have fuck all experience with carbs.

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u/herbviking666 — 4 days ago

Diesel car owner here. Between the fuel price spikes and the RUC costs, my weekly commute is becoming unaffordable. Given the cost of living crisis, why hasn't there been any talk of a temporary RUC discount? Surely the "National Land Transport Fund" can survive a small hit to help regular people get to work?

They did a "RUC holiday" back in 2022 to help with the cost of living—why can't they do it again now?

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u/Free_Airport_5939 — 14 days ago