SO YOU WANT A NEW CAR

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31123, 28 July 1966, Page 10

SO YOU WANT A NEW CAR

QO you want to buy a new car?. Well then, unless you have already made up your mind as to the make and model you require, you must now decide exactly what car you want —and this supplement is designed to help you do just that Buying a new car can be fun, and there is no feeling quite like that of walking into your dealer’s showrooms, and having a salesman hand you the keys and say “There you are sir, she’s all yours.”

Imagine yourself getting into that still-unfamiliar seat smelling that distinctive smell of a new car, and driving slowly out into the sunshine.

But before ail this comes to pass you have to decide what car you are going to buy. To do this you must first decide what you want your car for—what sort of vehicle you require. You must also decide how much you want to pay for it

Obviously, if you are ,a person who normally drives about by yourself or with one passenger it is hardly going to be worth while to buy a large American model. Similarly, if you have a family of six, a very small car is not going to be what you want On the other hand, you may wish to have a vehicle which combines the virtues of a large saloon and a load-carrier, in which case your obvious choice will be one of the station waggons that are at present available on the market. But even having decided this, you must then decide whether you want a large waggon or a small one, and how much you want to pay. The prices of station waggons range from less than £lOOO up to considerably more than £2OOO.

The first thing, then, is to decide what you want your car for. Most persons require a car for family use, in other words they want a vehicle that will be used both for trips to and in and around town, and for the occasional long trip at weekends and at holidays. They want to be able to carry their family in comfort on long trips, together with a reasonable amount of luggage. Therefore, if you have two children, obviously a fourseater is going to be required, unless of course the children are very young and you do not intend to keep the car for more than a few years, in which case, if you are so minded, you will be able to

make do with one of the larger sports cars, which will seat very young children in the back. However, assuming you want a family model, you must then decide how much you want to pay, for instance less than £lOOO, less than £l5OO, or up to £2OOO. You must also decide how much power you really want. It is wise to keep in mind that, speaking generally, a car with a large engine is going to last somewhat longer before overhaul than a car with a small engine. Also, a more powerful car does not always use a great amount more petrol, and it should not be forgotten that plenty of power is a safety feature in emergencies. Further, of course, if you intend to use your car for towing a boat, trailer or caravan, you want a vehicle with plenty of power in reserve for tackling the steepest hills, as well as for dealing with any emergency situations.

Do not be afraid of getting a car with too much power. Far more drivers buy a car and find that it has less power than they would wish, than buy a powerful car and find it is too powerful for them. In truth, finding a car is too powerful for you is rare—at first it may seem far more powerful than you are used to, but you will quickly become accustomed to this.

You will then appreciate the very considerable benefits that a large amount of power provide. As mentioned before petrol consumption of a powerful engine compared with a less powerful one need not always be greatly different, and as a powerful engine is, for most of the time, working much more within its limits you will find that not only will it last longer and provide quieter, more pleasant running, but it will also use less oil less soon. These comments are, of course, general, and there can be exceptions to them. Having decided, therefore, how much you are prepared to pay, you must decide the power of the car you want, and to a certain extent this will govern whether you choose a four-cylinder or a six - cylinder. Six - cylinder engines are bigger, generally more powerful, use more fuel, but usually last longer. Other benefits are that they are smoother and quieter than most four-cylinders and generally provide more pleasant running. In your case you may find that a six-cylinder is well worth the extra money.

In this country six-cylinder cars are very popular, and a six will almost certainly keep its resale value very well.

Of course you can go into a really big engine and get a VB, but generally speaking any car with a V 8 engine—and there are not a great number of them on the market—will cost you in excess of £l5OO. A typical example is the Chrysler Valiant V 8 which is available in both station waggon forms—the Valiant Safari V 8 —and as a saloon. In both cases it is available with either manual or automatic transmission, and the prices range up to slightly more than £lBOO for the automatic transmission Safari V 8 model.

This raises ' another point: what sort of transmission do you want? Automatic transmissions are becoming much more popular, and it is generally recognised that the modern automatic transmission is less likely to give mechanical trouble than a manual gearbox and clutch arrangement. An automatic transmission can add up to 10 per cent to the price of your new car, its benefits include very much easier driving, with very much smoother gear-changes, and

also automatic-transmission is popular with many secondhand car buyers when the time comes to sell. The disadvantages of an automatic transmission can mainly be summarised as slightly increased fuel consumption, a slight loss in power, and of course the increased initial cost.

A typical increase in fuel consumption for a car with automatic transmission compared to the same vehicle with a manual transmission would be of the order of two miles a gallon. But even more than with a manual transmission fuel consumption depends very greatly on the manner on which the car is driven, and careful drivers may often return better fuel mileage figures in an automatic transmission car than less careful drivers in the comparable manual transmission model.

The loss in power, similarly, is small and as automatics are most frequently fitted to larger cars this is not going to be a very significant factor. Automatics are particularly good when towing, because of the smooth and rapid gearchanges. As far as acceleration is concerned, an automatic vehicle will often beat the same model with manual transmission away from the lights simply because the automatic makes a perfect start every time: something that can certainly not be said

about the average driver using a manual transmission. A change which has recently come about is the fitting of automatics to smaller cars, the two outstanding examples in recent months being the announcement of an automatic Mini, and the announcement of automatic Morris and Austin 1100*s. Another medium-sized car, the Cortina, is also available with automatic transmission, as is the Hillman Super Minx. Overseas reports show these smaller automatic transmission cars are proving extremely popular. Of course another factor in your choice of vehicle will be the type of use—apart from the number of persons to be carried—to which you will put it For instance, what is going to comprise most of your running? Short trips around town, or long journeys? If you do a large number of comparatively long journeys even with only two or three persons in the car, you will often find a large car may be more suitable, because of the more comfortable ride, the extra power, and the better performance which it provides. Also, of course, larger cars are generally quieter than smaller models, and the amount of noise which can be heard inside a car can make a very great difference to just how tired the occupants are at the end of a long journey. Therefore, quite obviously, you should not decide on your size of car purely and simply from the aspect of what or how many people you intend to carry; the type of journey you will be making must also be taken into account.

Again, the types of road you will be using must be considered. If you are a fanner and intend to use your car both on back-country roads and also on some rough tracks you would obviously be ill-advised to buy a car of very low ground clearance, or a vehicle which is of lighter construction than some comparable makes—not that this is to suggest some are so lightly constructed they will come apart, but it is a fact that some models, because of their light construction, are far more prone than others to develop rattles, and when used frequently over rough roads.

Very well, let us assume you have decided roughly what type of car you want, basing this decision on the number of people you will carry, the amount of goods or luggage you intend to carry, the type of journey you will be undertaking, the amount of power you want, and so on. Already you win have

narrowed the field to perhaps two or three different makes. At this point it is time to particularise. Firstly, price. How much do you want to pay and what makers produce models which fail within this price range? This may narrow the field yet further, indeed it may decide for you just which vehicle you will buy. On the other hand the application of the next rule—what features you want—may do this for you. For Instance, on your short list, one model may be available with automatic transmission, a feature you want, whereas others are not The choice is then obvious. Similarly you may require a manual transmission, one model has a four-speed gearbox with synchromesh on all forward gears, a most desirable feature, while another may have only three gears, or no synchromesh on first. Other items such as disc brakes, will also influence your decision in this way. Having decided your model do not be in too much of a hurry to compute the price as list price, because once you have paid for the car itself, there are undoubtedly other! expenses to be met For instance, the car you have selected may not have a heater as standard equipment, although these days the number of makers who do not offer a heater as standard equipment has declined greatly. If the car of choice has no heater this may add more than £25 to th. price. Screenwashers could add another £5, wing mirrors yet another £5, seat belts will add about £lO, registration will cost about £7, insurance will cost £2O to £3O for many models, and then there may

be other items such as undersealing—which can cost about £ls—and one or two other fittings, like a tow-bar for instance. With some new cars, if you are going to equip them completely, you can add nearly £lOO on to the list price if you want to know the sum you will eventually pay. Looked at this way, this could mean you will have to cut your coat to suit your cloth,” and choose between a more expensive but more poorly-equipped car, or the cheaper model completely equipped. Most people in such a case will settle for the cheaper model, although one can, of course, install the extras at a later date.

Having decided on the ear you want, and one of your most immediate guides to the types of car available and their prices are the advertisements in this supplement, you should contact the dealer for the make of your choice. He will help you all he can. Your dealer will be glad to take you for a test drive, provide full specifications of the vehicle, and give you full information on the moves necessary to obtain a car If you have three or four models on your list and are doubtful as to which to choose, you would be wise to contact the dealers for each make, get more information, and arrange for test drives. In any case you would be well-advised to arrange for a test drive, just to make sure. Most will find it convenient to arrange this through the dealer but should insist on a drive of reasonable length —just around the block is not enough. There are other ways of doing it, of course. You may have a friend with a car similar to the one you hope to buy, or similar cars may be available from car hire firms, in which case there is >a lot to be said for hiring a car for two or three days—you will learn a great deal more about the vehicle than from just looking at it in the showrom or taking it around the block. The dealer can give you advice and guidance on overseas funds and the regulations governing their use and make arrangements with customs for the issue of an import licence. Once this licence has been obtained it generally takes anywhere from about two months to three months for the car to arrive, although in some cases this may be less. The delivery time depends on whether the car is assembled in New Zealand or imported fully built-up. At present waiting time for fully builtup cars has been Increased to up to five months by the recent British seamen’s strike, which has disrupted shipping. If you want a new car for the summer do not leave it too long before ordering—in fact start today by looking through the advertisements in this supplement. If you order a car in the next two or three weeks you will probably have it for Christmas.