Hi everyone,
As the title suggests I am currently looking for a manual TH magna 3.5 in Victoria. Have been watching the usual haunts - autotrader, carsales, fowles etc. but it seems to be slim pickings for a manual model in decent nick.

Just wondering what experience other members had with buying their cars? i.e where from, how long did it take? Also if anyone on the forums is wanting to sell at the moment would definitely be interested in a chat with them.

Any advice would be appreciated as I have limited time in which to find a car and I dont want to settle for something Im not happy with.

Lastly, to all the active members congratulations on a really informative resource for prospective or current magna drivers! I wish id known about it when I still had my beaut 2.6 TR magna (recently rear ended while parked grrr).

cheers

welcome to the forums dude..

First of all, you could be looking a while for a manual magna in good nick.. I was hunting for one in victoria for about 2 months or so and had little to no luck.

I was being picky tho, i wanted a TH 3.5 manual, with power windows and decent k's.. as well as being in good condition and little overall wear..

I eventually found what i wanted, private sale, but it was in Sydney! and it was a wagon. So i flew up there, and drove it down.. Im glad the wagon now tho, its something different. And got a decent deal to


Depending on what model TH u are after, the price range you should be lookin to spend is within $6500 - $8000.. The lower end being a base executive and the higher end with more options on the car and lower k's.
definately try and find something with close or less than 150k's

As for searching, keep usin the usual websites.. I personally find dealers to be alot more expensive than private deals. Plus private sellers are usually more friendly and able to haggle the prices down alot from what they are asking..

Also do a search on the for sale threads for "manual th".. ive seen a few floating around.

above all, keep looking till you find what you really want..

good luck!

Howdy,

It took me nearly three months to find a 3.5 TH manual in SA. Perhaps I wasn't looking hard enough, but they definitely seemed rare. I ended up finding one at a dealer for 7500 with fairly highish Km's tho. Good luck with the search mate and welcome to the club.

:D Ben

hey gerard, i almost did exactly the same thing, cept i got a tf and it wasnt a wagon. its a long drive back from sydney!

hey gerard, i almost did exactly the same thing, cept i got a tf and it wasnt a wagon. its a long drive back from sydney!
Long drive but the perfect opertunity to cruise in your new vehicle :D.

thanks for the replies guys. Going up to Sydney is one of the things I have been thinking about doing - its a long way to go though unless I was absolutely convinced car was A-ok. Will keep looking I guess:D

thanks for the replies guys. Going up to Sydney is one of the things I have been thinking about doing - its a long way to go though unless I was absolutely convinced car was A-ok. Will keep looking I guess:D
You can get checks done by companies up there that will give you some indication, racv do it down here in vic, maybe nrma do it in nsw as well?

You can get checks done by companies up there that will give you some indication, racv do it down here in vic, maybe nrma do it in nsw as well?

Yeah NRMA will do it, $239 or $199 for members.

http://www.mynrma.com.au/inspection.asp

nah, i went thru this group called state roads.
they charged roughly 155, and the guy musta been the most stuck up dude in the world(read: very thorough). he even checked the thickness of the paint on the panels with a micrometer. yeah got like a 7 or so page report from them too.

PM sent.

Been there, done that. I waited 4 months trying to find a TH Sports 3.5 Manual. I found four, two were duds and had triptonic boxes. One was sold 20 minutes before I arrived after a 3 hour drive and then finally I found a decent one for 10 grand with under 150ks. Chuffed to bits with it. My pride and joy !!!:bowrofl:

yeah its tough waiting, lucky i have transport - glad you found it eventually tho... gives me motivation.

Don't rush it or you will settle for something you'll regret.

I was looking for a White TH 3.5L Manual with Cruise and under 100k's. (fussy bastard :D )

After 3 mths, found one in Brisbane with 62,000k's( I'm in Vic)

Heydude, a QLD member, went and checked it out. He gave a good report, so got the local truck company to bring it down.

Got it lowered, rims and tint.

2 years later, I'm still stoked. :D

Sounds like a sweet ride Mulga - can I ask how much it cost you to bring it down from QLD on truck? Might be something Id consider in future if the right one comes along in the sunny state

Cost $500. :)

I've been playing with the idea of buying another magna but I am after pretty much the same car I have in black. I already have a Black TJ SII but wish I had a manual. Been looknig in WA in the usual places and even checking out other states for Black TJs that are Manual in exec + vrx, rarer than hens teeth.

Anyways, welcome to the club mate and I'm sure you will enjoy your stay. good luck with your car hunt.

as said before RACV or their affiliates can do the check for you. think they also offer a service where you state what you want and they will source it wherever it is and get it checked for you and all that jazz. also there are individual "brokers" that will search for you and negotiate prices from car yards and stuff. apparently they save you a bit of money on the initial price but they do cost about $500 i think. just some food for thought.

p.s. ever lived in northern N.S.W. mate? had a mate nicknamed ducky that moved to victoria. just curious...

thanks guys for all the posts - really appreciate them

bitsofmystery - would def get an RACV check done on it - interesting to hear that they can source cars for you havent heard about that before. Have considered brokers but would hate to lose $500 to search for something that I can do myself. And sorry to tell you not the ducky you know :D

i owna th 3.5 man, i got it with 170k on it the yard wanted 13 4 it i laughed when i saw the price 2mths later they droped it down to 10 i walked in took it 4 a road test offered 7 as a open figure ended up getting it for 7500 bargin from a yard
the cars a dream to drive and it being a manual ive had offers 4 it

pm sent aswell