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Thread ID: 76662	2007-02-08 09:28:00	4WD vs Passenger vehicle.	Sweep (90)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
523885	2007-02-14 11:02:00	Should I buy two vehicles and go to work on a motor bike? This will mean two registrations, WOF and insurance. well, now i understand that those RAV4 things have 1300cc engines in them, but believe it or not, it IS cheaper to buy a bike rather than commute in a car. cars are safer, for you and those around you i hear bull bars actually decrease safety of the 4WD, like a towbar all the impact goes straight to the chassis bikes/scooters are cheaper to buy, insure, and warrant. rego is a few bucks more and you'll need a helmet. bikes pay for themselves purely in the petrol saved, plus hours saved for us jaffas. my dad went from well over $100 dollars in gas a week to less than $10, he rides a 600cc fuel injected super-sport bike (an '03 R6 for those who care). his 'car' is one of those double-cab mitsubishi V6 utes which he bought for towing/offroading on our farm and for scouts (was a scout leader at the time of purchase, the old FWD mazda sedan couldn't make it's warrant after we stretched the chassis towing the scout trailer up a steep gravel accessway) myself i can either spend $40 bucks a week, $6 per day parking and well over 2 hours driving per day, which at my pay rate equates to $20+, OR i ride my bike for $10 a week and spend an hour per day on the road. (my car is a 1300 starlet) so my bike saves me over $100 per week, ignoring the insurance costs which again work in favour of my bike. hell the bike even cost less than the car did. so to conclude, if you commute in/around auckland, sure, buy a bike, but it sounds like you do not so i cannot guarantee anything but speeding tickets:rolleyes:	motorbyclist (188)
523886	2007-02-14 19:46:00	Introduce a 4WD endorsement on the driver's license compulsory, obtained by passing a special driving and handling test. *Cough* I may have overstepped the mark a little here! There are many very nice 4WD cars around that are not Remuera tractors, and my intentions were to require a competency-tested endorsement to drive the current Kenworth sized lumps. That would exclude dinky toys like the RAV4 or the Terios, which are really just squished up cars, though their handling does suffer from the raised centre of gravity. Re the Holden vs towbar Metla, if it hit you hard enough to be written off, it must have shunted you forward some distance and must also have folded around enough to contact your bodywork, or was your towbar defensively mounted well out from the bumper line? Towbar impact damage isn't usually enough to write a newish vehicle off, not when they can weld a secondhand front section onto the remains. Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
523887	2007-02-14 21:15:00	You guys have convinced me to leave my 4X4 parked up, only to come out for towing and weekend off road use. Yes... one less on the road (unless you are towing). :thumbs: Now 249,999 to go. :D	dolby digital (5073)
523888	2007-02-14 21:21:00	I'm hooking the boat up, I will tow it around everywhere, so people don't think I'm a bad person. Has it come down to this, I cannot drive my 4X4 around unless I'm off road or towing something, guess it will be handy having the boat on the back, the kids will like riding in it on the way to school.	Rob99 (151)
523889	2007-02-14 21:35:00	Oh dear, what a lot of anti-4WD tosh . 1 . No-one suggests banning trucks, utes, and vans all of which present the same risks . 2 . They are strong comfortable vehicles . 3 . The fact that some people don't go off-road is a red-herring . We live in an open democracy and people can drive what they choose . 4 . 4WDs have great vision for the driver being high above the road . Passengers, especially children don't get carsick because they can see the horizon better . 5 . They are spacious and capable of carrying heavy loads and often more people than a standard car . This is important when you start ferrying kids and their friends around . 6 . Good safe towing vehicles . 7 . I agree that bull-bars are dangerous and unnecessary . Thank you Winston! Well said .	johcar (6283)
523890	2007-02-14 21:41:00	Re the Holden vs towbar Metla, if it hit you hard enough to be written off, it must have shunted you forward some distance and must also have folded around enough to contact your bodywork, or was your towbar defensively mounted well out from the bumper line? Towbar impact damage isn't usually enough to write a newish vehicle off, not when they can weld a secondhand front section onto the remains. Cheers Billy 8-{) Nope, he was sucked under the back of my car, The front crush panels on his car of course folded like paper, and most if not all the rest of his panels had ripples in them, add in a few thousand more for damage done to to the fancy bits in the motor bay and things weren't looking good. I saw the guy coming and as I was already sitting still in traffic I stood hard on my brakes. I was shunted foward a few feet and into the next car, It broke my headlights and grill, and knocked the plastic back surround off a Toyota, Pretty sure they tried to sue me for a few grand to fix that....	Metla (12)
523891	2007-02-14 23:51:00	Four-wheel drive "trucks" are great fun when using as they were designed to be used: off-road . Our Nissan Terrano has served us very well over the past nine or ten years, providing us with a lifestyle that a car could not possibly handle . It's great on metal/dirt roads, getting through riverbeds and crossing rivers, towing our dirtbikes across slippery grass or muddy paddocks, launching our boat off sandy or shingly beaches and slippery boat ramps, towing said heavy boat, caravan, trailer, etc etc . Over the past two weeks or so the "truck" has done around 2000km on trips and a tour around the South Island, much of that off-road . We got to see some stunning back country scenery that we would have missed if we had taken the car . It saved 5km hard slogs each way with a very heavy pack by being able to cross a river and park closer to our destination . It gets us to untold places that we wouldn't dream of going with the car . They are, however, a bit of a pig to drive around "town" . They are big, bulky and cumbersome things to manoevre through the traffic and shopping malls . The lack of good rear vision is not a myth and I would certainly hate to hit anyone with ours . Consequently I only drive the Terrano when I have to, which isn't often, thankfully . Why someone would choose to drive one full time around town when they never used it elsewhere or for its other attributes such as towing, is beyond me .	FoxyMX (5)
523892	2007-02-15 02:04:00	I'm hooking the boat up, I will tow it around everywhere, so people don't think I'm a bad person . . You could just get it really dirty so that people think you do take it off road . Fake stick on mud anyone ;)	dolby digital (5073)
523893	2007-02-15 02:17:00	You can buy spray on mud, comes in a can.	Metla (12)
523894	2007-02-15 11:31:00	You can buy spray on mud, comes in a can . yeah, add it to the bullet hole stickers:groan: Four-wheel drive "trucks" are great fun when using as they were designed to be used: off-road . Our Nissan Terrano has served us very well over the past nine or ten years, providing us with a lifestyle that a car could not possibly handle . It's great on metal/dirt roads, getting through riverbeds and crossing rivers, towing our dirtbikes across slippery grass or muddy paddocks, launching our boat off sandy or shingly beaches and slippery boat ramps, towing said heavy boat, caravan, trailer, etc etc . Over the past two weeks or so the "truck" has done around 2000km on trips and a tour around the South Island, much of that off-road . We got to see some stunning back country scenery that we would have missed if we had taken the car . It saved 5km hard slogs each way with a very heavy pack by being able to cross a river and park closer to our destination . It gets us to untold places that we wouldn't dream of going with the car . They are, however, a bit of a pig to drive around "town" . They are big, bulky and cumbersome things to manoevre through the traffic and shopping malls . The lack of good rear vision is not a myth and I would certainly hate to hit anyone with ours . Consequently I only drive the Terrano when I have to, which isn't often, thankfully . Why someone would choose to drive one full time around town when they never used it elsewhere or for its other attributes such as towing, is beyond me . now that is exactly what i'm trying to say: they're great if you use one for what it was designed, but downright stupid if you buy a yuppie one for the school/shopping run	motorbyclist (188)
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