Best vehicle for bikes

[MORNE]

Might not look it, but these are some of the biggest small cars you get. Perfect student car imo. Yes its a bicycle with doors and two airbags but we like bikes right?  We have a 2door one we use for work.
I have put things inside this that you cant fit in the back of a double cab bakkie. When the Rav and bike rack is not available, I use this to put my bikes in and even though i have to take the wheels off, it fits my huge bikes fine.
 

And…20km/L. I get 700km on its 35L tank. I remember the days it cost us R220 to fill. It costs close to 800 now. Thats how long we have had it. 
 

 I call ours the cockroach. It just doesnt want to die. It has 180k km on it, has been driven with no oil or water in it by the office numpties. Still going without skipping a beat. It never gets serviced. Felt bad for it at 160k km so took it to toyota for the first time since 100k km and expected them to tell me its scrap. They literally changed oil and filter and said it was still golden haha. 
and at the coast its 3cyl 1liter engine has plenty because it weighs nothing. Sounds lekker to for that reason…especially above 5k rpm👀

Edited February 9, 2023 by MORNE

[patches]

14 hours ago, Shebeen said:

2 seats and 4 bikes. did the other two guys squeeze on the roof?

What other guys? Those bikes were all for me!

but yeah, it's not a people mover, a Caddy Maxi is better for that (but was out of my budget back then).

The little Berlingo did work well for JHB - KZN downhill & enduro weekend events. A buddy and myself would each pack our 2 bikes and head on down after work on a Friday.

My current setup has space for more friends but fewer bikes.

[BaGearA]

If my sx4 ever dies I'll seriously by looking at the jazz because of this thread

 

247k km going strong , 2009 model and still getting 12km/l on the highway and pulls out from 90% on the hills 

[Eugene]

Don't be afraid of a small car. My daughter has a Hyundai i10. She has made numerous trips from PE to varsity in Bloem and it handles the road well. 

She folds down tbe seats and packs her bike in whenever she wants to transport it somewhere. Just removes the front wheel. 

[eala]

20 hours ago, Showtime said:

There was a guy in my first year who had a Ford Fairlane. Coolest car in res by a mile.

Both my two daughters used a 2001 prado 90 series as a student car .It was paid for ,insurance is R300 a moth for 3 party and they could park anywhere they want to .Away weekends the friends all shared petrol and they used it as a comfortable long trip car .It is also saver than these modern tin cans that sell for double what that car was worth 

[Showtime]

3 hours ago, eala said:

Both my two daughters used a 2001 prado 90 series as a student car .It was paid for ,insurance is R300 a moth for 3 party and they could park anywhere they want to .Away weekends the friends all shared petrol and they used it as a comfortable long trip car .It is also saver than these modern tin cans that sell for double what that car was worth 

That is a very sensible decision made all the more sensible by not being boring.

I had a rare limited edition Ford Sierra 3.0i RS as my uncle was a clay modeler working at the factory. Now none of the other students thought the car was special but every painter in town was in awe and wanted to buy it from me. 

[Eddy Gordo]

27 minutes ago, Showtime said:

That is a very sensible decision made all the more sensible by not being boring.

I had a rare limited edition Ford Sierra 3.0i RS as my uncle was a clay modeler working at the factory. Now none of the other students thought the car was special but every painter in town was in awe and wanted to buy it from me. 

I had a friend at tech who travelled everyday from grabouw with his courtina intercepto and another one who only drove MG's. I was looking for a courtina recently, but gave up

[eala]

Edited February 10, 2023 by eala
double

[eala]

6 minutes ago, eala said:

2003 model R6900 .25000km .These cars were built to do 700000km .Lexus USA reputation is built on this model .Best selling SUV in North America .Same 3L petrol engine as the Toyota Camry 

Edited February 10, 2023 by eala

[Me rida my bicycle]

The Suzuki Swift is a great little car, we just got another one for my wife after the last one was destroyed by drunk driver.

They are fun to drive and I don't think you will find something lighter on fuel. We got over 20km/L on open road and she got 15+ in standing traffic.

Safety is excellent my wife had no pain or problems after the accident.

Maintenance is cheap the other one we had from new and the only thing to break was the glovebox lever. 

But I had to load a bike into it today because she was driving my Jazz and it was a major pain in the @ss and definitely not something I would want to do with a dirty bike. 

 

[buckstopper]

Maybe it'd be worth the OP defining what he needs in a 'student car'. I would start with, in order,

1. Affordability 

2. Reliability 

3. Economy

4. Practicality 

5. Safety 

6. Risk to own (affordable cover)

7. Parts availability and price

8. Size, (bigger not always better in campus or res parking situations)

9. Resaleability

10. Colour, boring white probably best

Maybe OP could award points on the above criteria and then let the aggregate score be the rationale. 

If he's a student he should aspire to being smart rather than clever, and he's already shown he is, by coming to the hub veluminati for advice

PS As a student parent I made point 5 on my list a starting eliminator for cars to pick from, that I chose for my offspring and surprised them with when they reached milestones. I bought a Renault Clio 3 1.6 in 2012, a Jazz in 2013, a Renault Megane in 2015. All 3 proved bought used proved to be sensible IMHO 

[Frosty]

Did anyone mention getting a car that costs less than the bike?

it’s a joke, and not advice.

[eala]

7 hours ago, buckstopper said:

Maybe it'd be worth the OP defining what he needs in a 'student car'. I would start with, in order,

1. Affordability 

2. Reliability 

3. Economy

4. Practicality 

5. Safety 

6. Risk to own (affordable cover)

7. Parts availability and price

8. Size, (bigger not always better in campus or res parking situations)

9. Resaleability

10. Colour, boring white probably best

Maybe OP could award points on the above criteria and then let the aggregate score be the rationale. 

If he's a student he should aspire to being smart rather than clever, and he's already shown he is, by coming to the hub veluminati for advice

PS As a student parent I made point 5 on my list a starting eliminator for cars to pick from, that I chose for my offspring and surprised them with when they reached milestones. I bought a Renault Clio 3 1.6 in 2012, a Jazz in 2013, a Renault Megane in 2015. All 3 proved bought used proved to be sensible IMHO 

I see you avoid VW and Toyota like me. First priority is safety for me to .Too many noob drivers have either been killed or have been in accident,s . I don,t want my child to be a carjack victim either ,the reason i avoid above mentioned makes .Student,s don,t drive that much if they live on or near campus so economy is not that important to me ,reliability is .They often have to park outside and they will bump the car at some point .You don,t want a high insurance premium either .

[justinafrika]

On 2/9/2023 at 10:02 AM, Showtime said:

There was a guy in my first year who had a Ford Fairlane. Coolest car in res by a mile.

My modest role during early 80’s national service was in rations accounting of Eastern Cape military units.  A black Fairlane was one of the cars assigned to my unit for staff use.  After the first few trips with the WO, he preferred that I do the trips.  Frequent site visits and I favoured coastal units.  Nah not those units, I mean Seal's and Bruce’s and Supers and Tubes and Lookout and Loch Ness and Noncom and Rincon and Fence and Nahoon and Gonubie and Beachview.  I don’t think anyone asked about my schedule or absence.  My shortboard easily fitted in and was covered over the huge back bench seat.

A troep, a surfing obsession, a Ford Fairlane, and a loose schedule = LOADS of surfing.  I can hardly believe that I got away with all that, but we all got away with stuff that in hindsight seems nuts.

Edited February 11, 2023 by justinafrika

[buckstopper]

2 hours ago, eala said:

I see you avoid VW and Toyota like me. First priority is safety for me to .Too many noob drivers have either been killed or have been in accident,s . I don,t want my child to be a carjack victim either ,the reason i avoid above mentioned makes .Student,s don,t drive that much if they live on or near campus so economy is not that important to me ,reliability is .They often have to park outside and they will bump the car at some point .You don,t want a high insurance premium either .

My primary criterion was 4 airbags, so no citigolfs or tazzes (back 2010-2015) for safety and theft risk, no Civics or Unos either. 2 of my kids went to Rhodes, so for trips like to the beach, Oxbraai at Bathurst, boatraces at Port Alfred, economy was an issue. Also for the home loop to Joeys. My son put 100000km on his clock during his 10 years at RU. The car a 1.6 2012 Megane has lasted him into his first job and has averaged less than 7l/100 in total.

One other piece of advice.  Check what wheels are on the cars. Avoid low profile tyres if possible and high-speed rated tyres. They wear so much faster. Do some research...I would never fit a higher speed rating than H (I don't drive a sports car). My son had tyres fitted with price being the main concern. The tyre place put W rated tyres (safe to 270kmh or something) on a car that maybe saw 160 on a quiet road on a Sunday once or twice. They lasted about 10 000 kays. I'm a stickler for good tyres on a car. I put A set of good value H rated Kumhos  on the car and they're still on the car after nearly 50000kays.

[KatjieStewels]

Mazda 323 Sting is my suggestion. Extremely cheap to run, fun to drive and I transported 3 riders and bikes to the 99er yesterday.