[Captain_Sensible]

Dear All,
I want to buy a cheap, reliable little car for commuting. I know these things are mutually exclusive for most vehicles. But it's really the only choice I have at the moment.

This is a "doing my homework" inquiry. I used to drive a Landcruiser for many years until rust killed her, and I don't want to spend that much money on fuel and initial outlay. I don't have that much money at present. I do like to get out of town on the weekends and I also need a reliable commuter. Hence the Sierra option over, say, a runabout Corolla.

I know from reading this forum for a few weeks that Sierras are bouncy little things that are slow on the highway and that jazz. What I'd like is some opinions on the virtues of Sierras as a commuting vehicle. I will be driving at least 60km each way on my commute, mostly under 80kmph.

What would you do if you had under $5k to spend on a runabout? Bear in mind that I am mechanically inept, but with all the info on this forum there's a chance I could learn a thing or two.

Thanks for your replies!
Scott

[Vash]

They are fun to drive to work, not comfy, but fun. I had to sell mine for more comforts to keep the GF happy, as it would leak way too much if it rained.
I miss having the top off and exposed to the elements

[Scrawny]

I really hate to say this but a better choice might be a Vitara. Air con, power steering and coil springs go a long way when travelling 120+klms each day. Still very capable off road with minimal to no mods. Option of LWB if you want to carry more people or gear on occasion.

[Choppy]

or even an old jimny, pre 2000's are quite cheap and more comfy then a sierra.

[monley]

Or a jimny

[atari4x4]

Scrawn wrote:

I really hate to say this but a better choice might be a Vitara. Air con, power steering and coil springs go a long way when travelling 120+klms each day. Still very capable off road with minimal to no mods. Option of LWB if you want to carry more people or gear on occasion.

x2

[SSSIERA]

id look at a vitara if i were you mate. faster comfier. there a little more pricey but you should still get a half decent one over east under that and still have a bit for modding. on the negative side vits are a little more expensive to mod. and a little less capable offroad (aparently).

[Nagz]

My zook uses more fuel than my 2.5 turbo forester. Love the zook but not the best commuter when you want to be somewhere. Id say get a gv or a gti swift, they are good on fuel keep up with traffic and are also more fun to drive on road

[Captain_Sensible]

Cheers guys. But I have a Subaru already and would rather something that isn't going to fall apart off road. The Subaru is my partners car but it is not good for getting out bush. Perhaps it is a better idea to buy an old bomb and save up for a hilux or something? The thing is I think Sierras are the cheapest, capable 4wd to be had, and are easy to repair and cheap to run (compared to other old 4wd's).

Certainly no disrespect intended but I couldn't bear to drive a Vitara, sorry! I don't care for coil springs or air conditioning or non-functional "SUV" type vehicles. Especially coming from a raised 'cruiser with diff locks. I do go hard offroad, and am a biologist by trade. For me it is a 4wd or a sedan, not a less-functional version of both. Thanks for all the comments; more food for thought! (plus Sierras are kinda cute and my partner reckons she would drive it, unlike the "scary" cruiser)

[FullyZooked]

Captain_Sensible wrote:

Cheers guys. But I have a Subaru already and would rather something that isn't going to fall apart off road. The Subaru is my partners car but it is not good for getting out bush. Perhaps it is a better idea to buy an old bomb and save up for a hilux or something? The thing is I think Sierras are the cheapest, capable 4wd to be had, and are easy to repair and cheap to run (compared to other old 4wd's).

Certainly no disrespect intended but I couldn't bear to drive a Vitara, sorry! I don't care for coil springs or air conditioning or non-functional "SUV" type vehicles. Especially coming from a raised 'cruiser with diff locks. I do go hard offroad, and am a biologist by trade. For me it is a 4wd or a sedan, not a less-functional version of both. Thanks for all the comments; more food for thought! (plus Sierras are kinda cute and my partner reckons she would drive it, unlike the "scary" cruiser)

I think you'll find your the only one who would class a Vitara as an SUV.
I think you will also find with a little more research that Vitaras are indeed a very worthy offroad vehicle. My Vit has has always gone where Pootrols, cruiser go on 33" and 35"s.

Sierra as a commuter...hmmm I don't know how Long the fun will last.
But if your like me and truely love offroad for what it is you will learn to live with the harsh ride, slow engine and ensemble of squeeks and rattles.

Just some more food for thought.

[Captain_Sensible]

So how do the Jimny Crickets go offroad? They look a little bit plastic, like many of the newer 4wd's compared to the previously capable offroad versions. I feel it's a symptom of modern culture that many good 4wd vehicles have been dumbed-down to appeal to a mass market. Is this the case with the Jimny or do they go well?

One thing that attracts me to a Sierra is the availability of parts, which are sure to be needed in an older vehicle.

EDIT: FullyZooked, I am very forgiving of a harsh ride. My beefed-up leaf spring Cruiser didn't go over 90kmph with her 2H diesel and didn't like driving straight lines, but I loved her. I went from the Cape to South Oz several times and it was always pleasant, although slow. If I wanted speed I'd be getting a fast car. I want reliability and offroad capability.

Perhaps I was a little ignorant of the capabilities of a Vitara, I'll look into them too. No offence intended!

[alien]

you'll most likely find that jimnys are becomming the new sierra - theyre pretty much the same price as a sierra to buy and modify now (almost).

Given what you've described i'd prolly go a jimny.. however sierras are very fun to drive because of their agriculturalness =)

[Captain_Sensible]

Alien, I've not heard a car described as "agricultural" in its capabilities...

...intrigued...
Scott

[FullyZooked]

Just to add,

Both carburettored Sierras and Vitaras are not in the 4cyl class of fuel consumbtion. Figures of 8-14lt per 100km are typical.

There is one main setback with my Vitara that I guess would be the same for Sierras that I have noted while the heavier cruisers and such breeze through. On very steep hillclimbs the low weight of the car can be a pain. Leaving you bouncing around spinning all 4's. I have even dropped tyres to 8psi with no luck. But hey, that's why we have winches.

[joel]

Vash wrote:

They are fun to drive to work, not comfy, but fun. I had to sell mine for more comforts to keep the GF happy, as it would leak way too much if it rained.
I miss having the top off and exposed to the elements

grow some lol. my poor wife sat in the passenger seat all the way from brissy to darwin in a terribly leaky soft top (had to take the floor bungs out every hour or so otherwise when you slowed down a wave of water sloshed in the foot well.

[alien]

Captain_Sensible wrote:

Alien, I've not heard a car described as "agricultural" in its capabilities...

...intrigued...
Scott

leaf sprung suspension and very little creature comforts, all you really get is a crappy seat and a heater =) theyre also incredibly noisy. But, they seldom break down...

the best way to describe driving a sierra would be to imagine driving an old tractor... great fun if you're prepared for what it doesnt have to offer, but also knowing what it does have to offer =P haha

[Captain_Sensible]

Ooooh, that's some decent fuel consumption there, FullZooked. Now I'm frightened. I was expecting a bit less fuel consumption. That's a full tank every two days with the distance I need to cover!

[Captain_Sensible]

Alien, I like agricultural, in that case. In fact, I want agricultural. I'm not a "Skyline" kind of guy, by any standard. I'd kill myself, or worse someone else, in a fast car due to a lack of self-control.

[alien]

stockish sierras usually get around 300km to 30L of fuel. My uncle's jimny gets around 400-450km to 30L.

best i ever did with my sierra on a long drive was around 480km to 30L - but that was doing 80km/hr the whole way (i was seeing how good economy i could get). That was running 2" lift and 215/75r15 highway tyres.

[Captain_Sensible]

Would I be wasting my money spending $3000 on a Sierra or Vitara? The currently advertised Vitaras are newer and cheaper than the Sierras. Apologies for my ignorance. You blokes are mighty helpful.

[alien]

$3k is good for a sierra in good condition... do a search on here for "what to look for" or something... theres tips on where to check the sierra for rust n stuff other than the basics of testing the 4wd works etc.

the reason the sierra price is "higher" is because good ones are fast becomming harder to find. most have extensive body damage (through rust or abuse) and tired engines.

its wouldnt be uncommon to pay around $5000 in perth for a good example of a sierra that needed only minor work.

oh yeah, and look for pre-1996 (leaf sprung).. theyre cheaper and easier to modify than their coil sprung cousins.

[monley]

You can pick a good jimny up for about 5k to

[FullyZooked]

joel wrote:

Vash wrote:

They are fun to drive to work, not comfy, but fun. I had to sell mine for more comforts to keep the GF happy, as it would leak way too much if it rained.
I miss having the top off and exposed to the elements

grow some lol. my poor wife sat in the passenger seat all the way from brissy to darwin in a terribly leaky soft top (had to take the floor bungs out every hour or so otherwise when you slowed down a wave of water sloshed in the foot well.

Now that takes agricultural to a new level! From memory even tractors have roofs!! Hahaha!!!

[alien]

haha theres no such thing as as soft top sierra that doesnt leak water... mines pretty well water tight, but still if theres a storm overnight there will be around 10-20mm of water in the footwells if i leave the plugs in. it also drips water from the window corners (front) between the frame and the soft top when doing above 80km/hr in the rain =)

in winter you just get used to having wet hands and damp shoes... lol

[shep]

my sierra uses more fuel then my troopcarrier.

[bohuler]

I have an 85 lwb, its the only car that I drive to work and i've had it now not quite 3 years. In under 3 years I've done 85,000k's and I have no worries about using it as a commuter. I used to own a hilux but after spending about 6 grand to keep it running in about a 6 month period it was far to expensive to keep running. My sierra is awsome, keep on chugging along, gets ups and boggies when you give it to it (see rev the tits out of it ) and the speedo is out by 10k's and yes its a bit noisy but its so damn easy to keep running and so bloody cheap to get bits for. I'm currently doing over 130k a day running into east melbourne and back each day, thats almost 2 hours a day driving and no worries about it (it was a 2 hour drive home on friday, but thats why I have a fridge in the car, keeps the beer flowing even when the traffic isn't )
Yes you can get a car that goes faster, yes you can get a car that has fancy useless shit on the inside (like floor coverings, door trims, roof lining, radio) but why would you bother when you can drive a sierra and LOVE IT!
Just my rambling 2c worth.
Dsve

[Captain_Sensible]

Dave, I'm a bit like you, I like the simple things in life. I prefer older, simple cars with no electrics, like my old Kombi and my old cruiser. Some older cars don't keep up up with time though. It sounds like Sierras are a good, robust choice. I also tend to "fall in love" with my cars and Sierra owners speak highly of theirs (mostly).

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've searched for "what to look for" over the past week or so and it seems like it's easy to fix stuff so long as you get a good body. I want a car that runs well for a while and eventually I'll have the dosh to buy something more complex. My partner can then drive the new thing and I'll stick with the prehistoric, simple vehicle. Given the choice between a brand new Cruiser and an old 40 series, I'll take the old 40 series one any day, for example. That's just my preference. I'm a simple fella.

[mondo]

i've had a sierra for a daily now for about 4yrs. the only thing that annoyed me a little was i found it a little underpowered, when my motor blew up, people told me to buy a new car, but that simply wasn't an option for me, after having owned a 4x4, i didnt want to go back, i didnt want to buy an anormous 4x4 with huge fuel consumption, so i put the hard work into the sierra and love it. fuel consumption stock was about 9l/100km, i put some 235/75's bighorns on it, and that made it come closer to 10l/100km. put a bigger motor in it and that drops to 7.5l/100km

[Teracis]

mondo wrote:

i've had a sierra for a daily now for about 4yrs. the only thing that annoyed me a little was i found it a little underpowered, when my motor blew up, people told me to buy a new car, but that simply wasn't an option for me, after having owned a 4x4, i didnt want to go back, i didnt want to buy an anormous 4x4 with huge fuel consumption, so i put the hard work into the sierra and love it. fuel consumption stock was about 9l/100km, i put some 235/75's bighorns on it, and that made it come closer to 10l/100km. put a bigger motor in it and that drops to 7.5l/100km

EFI 1.6?

If so, that low fuel usage has made me really want to do the conversion instead of rebuilding my 12+L/100km 40:1 oil burning 1.3 litre engine...

[kirstyandgrace]

Where will the car be parked while you're at work ?

Sierra's aren't exactly the most secure car on the road.