I'm wondering if the 3rd gens are still a good way to get into a reliable trouble free car? It's been a few years now since I last looked at them and now that I need to replace my old TS I'm considering them again.

The deal is I am about to move to NZ, Christchurch in particular, and I'm finding it hard to find acceptable cars that can take my windsurfing gear. The marketplace is small and there's not a lot to choose from. There's stacks of Jap imported used cars, but these tend to be small, and, I am informed, are likely to have been poorly serviced by their Japanese owners. Ideally I'd like a big wagon. Petrol is over $2 per litre there and that along with poor build quality puts me off Falcon and Commodore (I don't really want to add the cost of constant repairs to my fuel bills). There are a limited number of Diamantes there all around the 110, 120,000 kms mark and asking $7k (about 5000 AUD). My thinking is they would be a better bet than Falcodores for reliability and a bit better on petrol. Is that a fair assumption? Are the third gens proving to be strong and reliable in general?

Cheers!

Any 3rd gen that is properly serviced will go for over 300,000km's. The best cars are with low km, a good service history and a sensible first owner. If you can find one with less that 100k on it for your price range then you have got yourself a good car. Try to also look for the a newer model such as a tl or tw. As for fuel the magna will drink less than the Commodore or the falcon. The diamante/verada adds a lot more luxury for very little more money. They would be a great car of you can find a good one. Hope this helps
Rob

I heard before that the GDI engined ones have a bit of trouble with the crapper fuel this side of the planet. NZ had aus built and jap built diamantes.

I heard before that the GDI engined ones have a bit of trouble with the crapper fuel this side of the planet. NZ had aus built and jap built diamantes.

I was wondering whether there were any jap import ones there. Does anyone know whether they were mechanically identical to the Aust ones?

Any "New Zeland New" Diamante is an aus import - anything else is a Jap.

Look on http://www.trademe.co.nz for cars, once identified go here http://www.carjam.co.nz and put in the rego number for instance here is mine : http://www.carjam.co.nz/car/?plate=Aqm269 - it says its from Aust which it is, on that page pay attention to the Odometer history, when you see dates in there that are only one or two days apart then it means it has failed a WOF - same for the ones that say no travel for 1 day. This will give a good indication if it has been looked after. Any car here has 12 month warrants for the first 5 years of life then goes to 6 monthly, I also look for overdue warrant tests (like more than a week or two) as that may indicate that the owner couldn't afford to get it done or forgot - both bad signs for a reliable maintenance history.

different.

there are the direct injection ones (steer clear, impossible to fix on the cheap) called gdi
then the jdm 30m mivec (200kw but would drink fuel) also have multi link front suspension, better brakes etc.

They are not the same, the JDM ones have DOHC motors I believe (some are 2.0L and 2.5L) and have double wishbone front suspension.
There may be other differences

My dad's auto 99 TH has barely ever been serviced, barely ever even has oil in it, has had no major issues and it is still going strong as it nears 330,000kms.
Based on that I can only imagine other ones can get to the 500,000km mark, and a properly serviced and cared for one with low-ish ks should have no problems...

3rd gen Wagons all come with the 4 speed auto, though the later cars have tippy as well (late TJs and onwards). Is it worth trying to get a car with a tippy or have they been more fragile that the older boxes? I ask because there are two TJs available in Christchurch at the moment with about the same ks; a 2001 with the standard box and a 2003 with tippy.

2011?, You mean 2001 I assume?

2011?, You mean 2001 I assume?

Umm yeah... edited. Thx.

3rd gen Wagons all come with the 4 speed auto, though the later cars have tippy as well (late TJs and onwards). Is it worth trying to get a car with a tippy or have they been more fragile that the older boxes? I ask because there are two TJs available in Christchurch at the moment with about the same ks; a 2001 with the standard box and a 2003 with tippy.

The Tippy was just a electronic upgrade. No change in gearboxes at all. Infact, you can turn any old 4sp into a tiptronic (provided you have the right wiring, bem, shifter, cluster & switches). The only real upgrade the 4sp boxes occured with the TL where they fixed the wave spring issue and lowered the gear ratio very slightly for fuel economy purposes.

Although slightly older, have you looked at the Mitsu Legnum's - do they fit your windsurfing gear?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/legnum/auction-435807100.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/vr4/auction-436748680.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/vr4/auction-440198013.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/auction-437207144.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/auction-436144245.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/auction-435047738.htm

Although slightly older, have you looked at the Mitsu Legnum's - do they fit your windsurfing gear?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/legnum/auction-435807100.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/vr4/auction-436748680.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/vr4/auction-440198013.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/auction-437207144.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/auction-436144245.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mitsubishi/auction-435047738.htm

I was interested in Legnums but I found they don't enjoy a great reputation. Also, the models I have seen so far have big strut towers in the cargoa area reaching all way up to the window line.

One of the really great thing about the Magnas is that there's just a small hump over the wheel well in the back. This allows you to lay your rolled up sails down the middle and the slide you board(s) over the top right up against the sidewall of the car. The only other car that comes close to this is the Commodore wagon and maybe the Legacy.