Daihatsu Terios

Daihatsu make a very well engineered little car. Maintenance is simple, genuine parts can be expensive but overall I havent heard of many problems especially if you look after it.

Terios has an average crash rating and strike me as being a fairly small and therfore vulnerable car. What's your daughter driving now?and how many crashes as she had ?

Get her a Commodore. Big solid and she wont get hurt

I've had one for a couple of years. Not sure about the level of protection it offers: yes, it does have the typical 4wd high driving position which is good, but it's a very narrow car and not very heavy. Mine was a later model (2001) which has a niftier engine but they are all pretty reliable (Japanese built, Daihatsu is part of the Toyota empire) and economical for a 4wd (about 8l/100km if driven sensibly).
As a 4wd, it lacks a transfer case but has a locking centre differential which makes it go much further in the bush than most people think. I took mine to all kinds of places (up to Cooktown through Daintree in the rain, the Stzelecki track etc) without any trouble. Of the tiny "Bonsai" 4wd, I prefereed it to a Suzuki Jimny because it's more comfortable for long road journeys and has four doors and more luggage space.
If your daughter wanted an economical city car with some real bush capacity, I'd recommend it. But it sounds like safety is the main concern, and there I'm not too sure: as Truckster says, a Commodore probably offers more metal allround, and there's also the stability issue - like many 4wd, it leans quite disconcertingly in sharp corners. Come to think of it, that might make your daughter drive more cautiously so perhaps it's a good thing :-)

I also suppose it depends on what sort of $ they are asking.

I wouldnt think (having looked at one in traffic today) they would give much protection at all....

Maybe look at a Suzuki Vitara, or a T112H, Good protection for only $25k

Russell

Have you condsidered buying her a volvo? One of those older models with the aerodynamics of a brick. She'll be too embarresed to drive anywhere. That'll keep her safe.

R.

Hi Russel B,
A friend hired one up north and was not impressed mainly coz it was too light.Dirt corrugated roads it wanted to skip over the top of the corrugations which meant cornering at lower speeds or loss of control.Not a lot of solidness about it.Would consider looking at a Suzuki Vitara instead.
Cheers Mark

Thanks all, I did buy it for her ($8999) and felt it was in pretty goog condition. It will never go off the road, just a city car thats a start to weaning her off small cars. Yes an old volvo would have been good but one step at a time. Its a sweet little car drives like its glued to the road I like it. (I'd never buy one for my self)

Thanks for all the input.

regards