Craig.

Ha ha ha! If I walked in with the ute and $5k in $50 notes and traded to a car with roughly the same klms, I would be in the ball park?

MAybe its time you sold it on then...........and bought mine!! Ha ha ha.

Thanks mate. We are over the moon. Have been trying for a couple of years so to finally get the news was that we were all systems go was a bit of a shock! I realise that dealers need to make money, but I also reckon they would ba able to sell a second hand ute for the same sort of dollars as a sedan ( asuming same level of specs with options). It just depends on where their head is at. Yes. I only got a tune done about 1500klm ago! I plan on doing this so that I have the cappa box for the new car!

I am hoping that someone here may have done this before, or perhaps someone who works in a Ford dealership as a car salesman can chime in. I have a 2007 BFII XR6T Rip curl ute which I purchased new 10 months ago. I am going to have to get rid of my beloved ute as my wife and I are expecting twins later in the year. I would like to replace the ute with a 2007 XR6T sedan with around the same klms, or even a demo with a couple of thousand less than the ute. In other words a car built around the same time. I just need to swap my two door for a four door! What sort of money do you guys think I should allow to do a swap like this with a dealership? I am thinking along these lines. The ute costs less to buy new initially, but they also seem to hold their value better than a sedan. Am I right in thinking that I should be able to get out of this without too much pain to the wallet, or am I dreaming! I know I will have to fork out something as dealerships aren't charities last time I checked! Just wondering how bad the loss of $$ is going to be considering that I am not looking to upgrade anything other than number of doors ( with the exception of a couple of different options possibly). Would it depend more on what the difference in options is? The ute is a manual and has all of the ripcurl options fitted, like 18s, etc. For a family car an auto might be the go. I would also like climate control which I didn't get in the ute. Of course this all depends on what is out there in used car land at the time I do this too. Any advice or previous experiences would be most welcomed guys, particularly if you work in the industry.

How did you go about this? Through the Dept of Transport?

I didn't take it as a shot at me Scotty. Its all good mate! I reckon Mackay is one of those pockets that you speak of. Artificially high pricing due to the mining industry. Everything costs more here, even basic things like food. I travelled 900klm to buy my new T ute and saved $8K. Local dealer wouldnt budge. If I didnt buy off him the next fella through the door would. We have a similar thing happening to what is going on in WA with the mining driving everything up. It will all keep increasing in value too, until there is no more coal left. Almost all of the local industry revolves around the mining industry. Once its gone this place is in danger of becoming a ghost town. We plan to buy elsewhere too ( on the sunny coast) but have decided to double our deposit before we commit . Just cant afford to have a mortgage on an investment property in the SE of QLD and pay the high rents in the place we live in here as well, particularly on one wage.

I earn quite a bit more than what I would in the army and I reckon my wife might have something to say about me going off and marrying the first fat chick I come across. I'm not complaining guys. I am just trying to highlight the fact that in some areas of Aus, housing affordability is out of reach for many. Some here may never have actually travelled out of there area to realise this so I am just trying to highlight it. I really feel for the guys I mentioned earlier who work at the Dept of Transport or Harvey Normans. If they are on what is considered an average wage, they just cant afford to own a home here. Personally, I could afford to buy a house, even here! I have a deposit saved up ready to go. I choose not to though because we aren't going to be here forever and if/when the coal price dives so will the local real estate market IMO. It is the wrong time to buy as the market is at its peak. I can see people losing money rather than doubling it in 10 years. So instead I put money into an investment portfolio (which is not doing so great lately either but that's only an issue if I sell and it will recover) and rent. The size of mortgage required to own here would stretch me a little though, particularly when my wife leaves work to have kids ( twins expected later this year). The thought of having that much debt also hangs heavily on my mind. Its depressing me just thinking about it! The thing on my mind is what if I lose my high paying mine based job and have to settle for a lower paid one in town? Bye bye house and we got nowhere!

Reduce your expectations to the point where you accept you will always be renting? So that's why it is a good thing that there is so many shipping containers available?

Dont borrow so much? What , buy a cardboard box instead! Mate houses are overly expensive here and the prices are really inflated for a couple of reasons. In fact it was recognized as one of the top 40 places of unaffordability in the world for real estate just last month. House values have grown 35% PA over the last 3 years. We have people living in converted shipping containers up here because they cant afford a real house. the average price is dearer than the state capital Brisbane! Unlike you I cant go a couple of suburbs away. The next main town south is 330klm. The next town north 150klm. If I move there, what I save on the mortgage, I use up on fuel and car running costs! 1) Everything has to be cyclone rated, so houses are more expensive to build. 2) There is no land being released for building 3) Building materials are 25% more expensive than Brisbane due to transport costs 4) The local mining industry has an influx of people coming into town with no accomadation available. Wherever there is mining, prices shhot through the roof. You can buy an old house here for $350K. Then by the time you spend more money on it to make it inhabitable, and at the same time uprate it to meet the cyclone rating ( which you have to do as you renovate) you are at the same price point anyway!

Yes in theory it is still the same. Theory is a wonderful thing! So in 2008, in theory can you still live comfortably on whats left of your pay packet after paying $900 a week on mortgage repayments? Maybe you could! I don't know your sutuation. What about the average guy in the street earning an average wage?

You are only looking at it from a local point of view though. In Melbourne you can go out to Hoppers Crossing and buy a house for $250Kand you are only 30klm from the CBD. Where I live the average cost of a house that isn't in bad need of repair is approachng $500K. Places like Sydney and Perth are the same if not worse. With a 20% deposit that means a $400K mortgage which means repayments of somewhere approaching $900 a week. Now in 10 years that mortgage will still be $900 (give or take depending on interest rates) but how does the average bloke on the street afford $900 a week repayments in 2008?

Where do you live mate? Sounds like it is somewhere where land is relatively cheap if you can pay off a house and a block of land. No cyclone rating so houses are also relatively cheap to build. I reckon you are in Adelaide! Either that, or you are on $200k a year.

Yeah definitely. If you have the discipline to invest the money that would be going into a mortgage while you are renting, there isn't much difference in where you will end up financially in 30 years. Unfortunately I have never met anyone who has that discipline. Buying a house and having a mortgage is a great way to build wealth as it is literally a compulsory saving scheme, particularly if you buy at the right time and in the right area. Look at what house prices have done in the last 10 years for evidence of this. Straughsberry and many like him have hit the jackpot! It can be hard to see that in the first decade as you are walking around with your arse out of your pants while your renting mates are living the high life though!

How soon?

Welcome to last month mate! Sorry you didnt get my attempt at humour last month. For the record I am old enough to remember when Sigmas were new vehicles. Please dont bother replying to this.........at least not until May.

My trip to Dave was a little shorter. About 15klm round trip!

I would second that suggestion! Dave knows these cars pretty damm well. Lots of guys from as far away as you travel to him to get their cars tuned. Dont be fooled by the name either. He isn't in Collinsville. He's in Mackay.

Just wondering where you bought these tyres. Was it one of the major tyre retailers ( Bob Jane or tyrepower) or a smaller independant shop. After a quick little bit of looking around my local area, I haven't come across anyone who actually stocks them.

Its all about the journey my friend, not how fast you get to the destination. Horse for courses. If all I wanted from my car was awesome qtr mile times, I could have bought a VL!

Up until the T56 I would have agreed with you about the manual tranny being Fords weak link. The T56 is the exception to the rule I reckon. Maybe I'm wrong, but this box is built to handle pretty big numbers. And you are right about the stock clutch, which is why anyone who has modded their manual usually has an aftermarket clutch fitted. As for lag between gears, it depends on how you drive, your shift points, shift speed, whether or not you are flat shifting. Unless you are trying real hard, the car does fall off boost between gears. This can be got around a little bit with the right technique. Of course as an auto driver, you are yet to work that out in your dads manual!

Same here for me. The manual is a ball to drive which is why I bought a 6SP manual. The auto just doesnt do it for me. I did test drive a 6sp auto xr6t twice before I purchased, just to make sure! It is an impressive box but doesnt have what the manual has in regard to driver involvement and smile factor. Perhaps if I lived in an area with lots of stop/start traffic and I also had drag racing high up on my list of things to do with my car, the auto would be a better choice. But these things aren't an issue for me.

Thanks guys. I will give the small blips as I'm taking off a try. I am hoping that one I have a few klms on it, that the shudder will subside somewhat. At present it literally has less than 100klm. According to the guy that I bought the clutch off, it should. Another option might be to get some organic plates for it. I know that they are available. I cant see my wife driving it in its current state.

I have just had a brand new twin plate ceramic clutch fitted to my ute which shudders pretty bad. I can vary the severity of the shudder by modifying how I take off but cant get rid of it completely. I am wondering if bleeding the clutch has helped those who have had these issues. Any other ideas on how to prevent or lessen this would be hewlpful guys. It cant stay like it is. I cant live with it. It is no longer a joy to drive, more like a chore!

Dont sweat it turboknapp. This reminds me of a very old chineese proverb. 'He who never f$%k up, never do f$%k all'! Which translates into Aussie ocker as 'You had a go so you were bound to f$%k it'! Hope this makes you feel better mate!

Thems fightin' words mate. You insult me! Maybe we need to organize an arm wrestle. When I beat you, you can just give me the car and maybe your woman ( if she cleans fish and can cook and puts out and looks OK) Cheers, Craig.