So... what car do you guys drive when not flying?

[jb747]

Has anyone in general noticed the second hand car market is quite expensive at the moment? A friend in new car sales said international supply jam of new cars is jammed up hence good second hand cars are getting good prices....

The supply of new is certainly very restricted. I was at the local JLR dealer the other day, and they’re virtually out of stock, and have no idea when any of their orders might appear.

 

[kookaburra75]

Has anyone in general noticed the second hand car market is quite expensive at the moment? A friend in new car sales said international supply jam of new cars is jammed up hence good second hand cars are getting good prices....

As nearly 40,000 cars were written off in Canberra during the hail storm in Feb, I imagine that has put pressure on the markets for new and used cars. Talking with one of the dealers when we were looking for a replacement for MrsK, he said they had sold four months' worth of cars in four weeks. Even MrsK's replacement from Honda took six months to arrive.

 

[bPeteb]

Just saw this thread in the right side panel.

We have a 2018 Skoda Karoq launch edition. Both of us love getting in it and driving it as much today as we did the day we took delivery two years ago.

 

[jb747]

QF had a large number of cars that were leased to staff. Right across the range of price. I know of a Telsa 3 Performance, and a Jaguar E-Pace, that had been in the staff members' hands for less than a week before being returned to the company. After a few months, a buyout was offered, though from what I heard, most either considered it too expensive, or were not in a position to take it up. So, presumably, they all disappeared into the second hand trade.

 

[tgh]

Was there some kind of a car buying process for QF high value staff Jb ?
The first Wolfsburg edition Touareg I saw was on a dealers floor pre sold to QANTAS..

 

[Dr Bob]

For those of us who can still remember carburettor induction cars do you ever think that you suffered an instance of carb icing?
I believe that a Renault 16TS I was driving around 40 years ago suffered this one cold wet and misty day in the SE of SA. I was just trundling along at the 110 kph speed limit and noticed that the car was slowing. More right wellie applied and then more slowing until the best I could do was about 80. Stopped and had a look under the bonnet but nothing seemed amiss. Continued further and as we exited those weather conditions engine went back to normality. Can't think of anything else that may have caused this and left no evidence.

Had 2 of these in the early 70's. What fun cars to drive & they could be driven hard. Had the icing in the second one that had a different designed air intake. Would just pull over for 5 mins until the ice melted but would often recur in 10 to 15 mins. My mechanic modified the air intake for winter driving to take it off the engine block - solved the problem.

 

[Muppet501st]

See my avatar for my favorite car: 1967 Pontiac Parisienne. Now I drive a Kia Sportage, a heaps better car but not nearly as much fun as the Pontiac.

Not the same year, but saw this last weekend at a car show, looked a bit rough in person, but price seemed reasonable.

 

[jakeseven7]

The supply of new is certainly very restricted. I was at the local JLR dealer the other day, and they’re virtually out of stock, and have no idea when any of their orders might appear.

Yea..... I'm thinking about offloading our BMW and got some quotes and was very very pleasantly surpised with the amount of money I have been offered.

 

[bPeteb]

Not the same year, but saw this last weekend at a car show, looked a bit rough in person, but price seemed reasonable.

The local Jannali real estate agents had either Parisiennes, or Chev Impalas. As a little kid I loved seeing those cars cruising around the area, or parked outside their office.

 

[rogerkambah]

Had 2 of these in the early 70's. What fun cars to drive & they could be driven hard. Had the icing in the second one that had a different designed air intake. Would just pull over for 5 mins until the ice melted but would often recur in 10 to 15 mins. My mechanic modified the air intake for winter driving to take it off the engine block - solved the problem.

The TS had a cross flow head so the carbie was on the 'cold' side of the engine rather than above the exhaust manifold. The icing only happened to me once so I wasn't particularly concerned when I worked out what it was.
They could certainly be driven quickly once you realised that the body roll didn't mean that the car was going to fall over.

 

[jb747]

Was there some kind of a car buying process for QF high value staff Jb ?
The first Wolfsburg edition Touareg I saw was on a dealers floor pre sold to QANTAS..

There were a number of car leasing deals offered. There was an 'executive deal' that was extended to include the Captains (and I have no idea who else) back around 2010. A later EBA added all pilots. I assume the executives then generated a super exec deal that we knew nothing about. There was also a novated deal that existed from at least the early 2000s. I had two cars through that (a RAV4 and an R32). I looked a number of times, but could never make the supposedly much better exec deal work for me, and simply purchased my cars instead. I guess I must have been doing the maths wrong.

As best I recall you could lease whatever you wanted, up to a maximum % payment on your salary. I expect that I could have had a 911 if I'd wanted. Touaregs, Range Rovers, Cayennes would have been on many shopping lists. Many simply went for much more mundane vehicles. BMWs were not allowed for quite a long period of time...something to do with Geoff Dixon, but I don't know the details.

 

[JessicaTam]

The supply of new is certainly very restricted. I was at the local JLR dealer the other day, and they’re virtually out of stock, and have no idea when any of their orders might appear.

My local Toyota dealer is also looking pretty empty.

 

[Cossie]

Possible new car, or should I say another one!


one of his other cars!

 

[rogerkambah]

Possible new car, or should I say another one!

View attachment 232568View attachment 232569
one of his other cars!

I'd like to see you drive that on the road - is it road registerable?

 

[Cossie]

Technically yes, it's just got the stickers on it, no cage in it. It came from Japan 10 years ago. Has only 30,000 miles on it and every piece of paperwork, I hope he sells it, I just have to convince the boss and promise to offload something else. The owner has used it for sprints, hillclimbs and the like. He has several other interesting things, cars and planes, a GT Porsche Cup car and a YAK-50 plane!

 

[rogerkambah]

Big boy toys then.

I suppose it would be an idiot magnet if you parked it anywhere.

 

[Fifa]

We've just taken delivery of a new Toyota RAV4 AWD Hybrid Cruiser and are very happy with our purchase.

Now to sell our very well maintained 2005 Nissan Pathfinder which only has 144,000kms on the clock!

 

[Maca44]

With the re-start of (safe) international travel unknown, two months ago I ordered a new Jayco campervan on a Fiat chassis model FD.19-1, so for the next 18 months or so will be travelling around Australia, when all the boarders open of course. Looking forward to it also. Have seen most of the world and hardly nothing of my own country. Pick it up mid December. Deliveries put back due to covid-19.

 

[bPeteb]

With the re-start of (safe) international travel unknown, two months ago I ordered a new Jayco campervan on a Fiat chassis model FD.19-1, so for the next 18 months or so will be travelling around Australia, when all the boarders open of course. Looking forward to it also. Have seen most of the world and hardly nothing of my own country. Pick it up mid December. Deliveries put back due to covid-19.View attachment 232610

Hey Maca, does this have a fixed bed at the back? We’re off to Tassie next year and choice for hire is Fiat like this, with fixed rear bed, or the standard MB or VW with dining area at back that you convert to bed. I’m going you know about these things so my question is which would you recommend for a two week hire?

 

[Maca44]

Hey Maca, does this have a fixed bed at the back? We’re off to Tassie next year and choice for hire is Fiat like this, with fixed rear bed, or the standard MB or VW with dining area at back that you convert to bed. I’m going you know about these things so my question is which would you recommend for a two week hire?

With the Mercedes Sprinter you have to make up dining area into a bed, meaning you only get the thickness of the cushion as a mattress. However, the Fiat is slightly wider, and has a permanent double bed in the back with an 8" inner spring mattress as hereunder. The majority of cooking and eating is done outside the van, and I like the idea of walking from the driver's seat several paces and falling into bed.