Fri 16 Jun 2006
A 1989 Ford Telstar can travel 357800km before it becomes uneconomical to repair. My car of the last 7 year has died. It’s soul has gone. It’s body is on the organ donor list.
There is more value in its parts than as a whole. Unfortunately that means I give it away for nearly nothing, or have a immovable steel lump parked on my lawn while vultures scavenge. I could probably sell it for $50 as it is. If I took the mags of I could probably get $150-$200 for them, but have the problem of disposing of a car.
Now I’m shopping around. I’m traditionally a Holden guy, but I’ve whittled down the list of cars in my price range with the specs I want (Station wagon, European or Australian, bigger than 2.0L) and it’s come to a decision between 2 Fords: An AUIII Falcon (4L Straight 6) or a MkII Mondeo (2.5L V6).
There are advantages and disadvantages to both: The Falcon is newer (2002) and bigger, but will be quite thirsty, which is why they are considerably cheaper at the moment given the current price of fuel. Also it’s the base model: it only has a single CD and electric front windows. The Mondeo is older (1997) and smaller, but will use less petrol. It is the Ghia, which is fully electric, even the seat adjustments and has a 6 disk CD player and full leather upholstry.
Given that the price of each is similar, what would you choose? Why?
Being a gadget guy, I’d go for the Mondeo with all the bells and whistles. But my luddite mate would say the complete opposite. He goes out of his way to find cars with wind-down front windows, arguing that it’s one less electric system to break/blow a fuse/wear out.
Are you planning to tow anything more than a trailer of junk every now and then?
No, probably not. May have to tow a boat short distances (<5km), so towing strength is not a huge factor in the decision.The biggest hesitation I have with the Mondeo is the age. With the falcon it’s the running cost.