The Car Shopping Round (Round 64): Tears in Heaven

Come on man those are basic geometric, quadratic and trigonometric identities :joy: not even close to leaving high school.

Edit: oops I totally forgot I just posted sorry for double post!!!

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You cant start yet?

Maybe he can but doesn’t want to! :laughing:

Sorry everybody, I’m just tinkering with the math a bit more. The balance is still off and I don’t want people submitting something that’ll end up costing an entirely inappropriate amount of money :joy:

But it’ll definitely be up before I go to bed.

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Lmfao. A real aussie challenge. Incidently the luxury car tax starts under 100k so landcruisers, the old fpv utes and hsv and the like are effected by this. Keep in mind to that a ford f series ute or chev silverado is over $150000 aud after importing and putting the steering wheel on the right side. So please please can you somehow replicate how expensive american cars are here in Australia.I will be entering. On my way to France as we speak flying out tomorrow and my first alfa will be purchased…less than half the price than down under

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@Darkshine5 What I can say is that I’ve put in a lot of effort to replicate the foibles of the Australian market. I won’t penalise imports just because they aren’t Australian based because that’d really skew the game, but let’s just say that no matter the age of your car, everything will be Australia 2017 expensive (as in, mad stupid). Note also that this round will be played in the form of Classified Ads (GumTree, like Craigslist etc.), as you will have the option of selling a car new, demo model, or used.

Ok with that said, sorry about the wait. And apologies for all the double posting. It’s time for:

#CSR38: About The Era of an Aussie Icon

https://www.streetmachine.com.au/media/1713158/_5CT5617.jpg

Homage to the Sandman legacy: Ute, Beach, Water… the only way to make it more iconic is to have a girl in a bikini or a bloke with a surfboard or a combination of any or all of the above, except maybe a bloke in a bikini

The Land Down Under is unique in its variety, but also in the defiant insistence on celebrating its laidback take on life. Yet at the same time the backbone of the Aussie is getting things done when they need doing. Thus it was, back in 1932, that Ford designer Lew Bandt took on the brief given to him by an unnamed Victorian farmer, to create a vehicle that could combine work (the farm), and recreation (going to Church). The result:

We’re now a far cry from both those values being the norm, and throughout history, Australia’s culture has morphed from bush to beach to city, and with it, so too has the rise and fall of the Ute. Sadly, like many products from a stubborn local manufacturer sector, these trusty vehicles have been largely replaced by larger trucks and overseas competitors, reflecting the demise of our own local branches of Ford and Holden. Many utes have thus been consigned to the ignominious fate of being thrashed silly or shunted into a telegraph pole by many a bogan who consumed one too many Jim Beams. Because, you know, those unladen trays on the back are really light and it’s a rare ute that wasn’t driven by the rear wheels…

I mean, utes are really fucking popular on the Summernats Burnout Competition circuit for a reason.

But anyway, our client isn’t like that. Actually, this is where I apologise for the third time. I haven’t finished the dossier on our client. But let me assure you, she’s looking only for well-maintained, roadworthy utes in good condition, because she’s going to be working it hard and doing as much as it can do, and possibly more. You’ll find out the exact details tomorrow.

First, you’re going to need to know how to make a legit ute that you can buy and run in Australia (with some liberties of interpretation taken).

  • A ute with a wheelbase of over 3m is not a ute, it’s a fucking truck. Utes are family sedan sized. So [color=yellow]keep the wheelbase strictly <3m.[/color]
  • [color=yellow]It must have a cab and tray[/color]. The cab is almost invariably a coupe, i.e. 2 doors and 2-3 seats. We don’t need any more than this, though if you really want to compromise and go with a 4 door cab and a smaller tray be my guest. It just won’t be considered as strongly.
  • There is a side point that [color=cyan]you may optionally wish to go for the classic Sandman Wagon type entry[/color]. This is a wildcard approach and will only work under exceptional circumstances, but Sandman Wagons were hotter than a frill-necked lizard in Alice Springs at noon in January, so who knows.
  • Regular use cars [color=yellow]must have a cat and emissions ratings of <500[/color], which means running on unleaded. If they don’t, they need a special use or Historical permit and those limit how much and when and where you drive and it’s a pain in the ass unless you drive a real classic. We’re not interested in buying one of those.
  • The emissions regs aren’t particularly strong here but we suspect they’ll come into action soon, so assume Gasmean style taxation structure.
  • Petrol stations here will always stock 91RON. They will almost always stock 95. Many of them stock 98. But petrol down under is also pricey. For 91, it’s $1.70/L, 95, $1.90/L and 98, $2.10/L (it’s actually not this bad but to make the dynamic realistic to Automation I had to make it like this). Also our client, like many Australians who divide time between the city, the country, and work, drive more than average, so calculate your costs based on a yearly travel of 18000km and disregard any bonuses for fuel availability. In short, [color=yellow]fuel cost comes to 180 * fuel price * L/100km per year.[/color]
  • There is a luxury car tax. In AUD it applies to cars over 60 something thousand dollars, but that’s in AUD. Most utes made in real life would at best approach but never reach this figure (there’d be no point, especially since people who shell out for that much car would probably also buy bigger dick compensation, like a Ford Raptor or some shit). But let’s just say you want to keep this in mind, for when I tell you how the purchase price of the vehicle is calculated. [color=yellow]As a golden rule, keep your zero markup base price below 20k or it’ll be suddenly unaffordable.[/color]
  • [color=yellow]Safety must be at a minimum 35.[/color] All cars sold that were built since 2010 require this, but our client will not be interested in older vehicles that fall short either.

##Warning: TL;DR section begins

  • As I said earlier, the purchase price of a vehicle will depend on a few things: its engineering time (longer it takes the more money it needs to recoup), its production units (gotta pay the workers somehow), its age (depreciation), and its prestige, relative to its age. The latter applies because utes are frankly a dying breed and are increasingly sought after at all ages, especially if they’re good examples and the right trim. Pay attention, this will be very important:

A vehicle with trim 2017 will have an age of 0. This means depreciation is 0. I’ve waived the stupid stamp duty because this class of vehicle is tax-deductible if you write it up just so on your returns. Without the prestige modifier, assume that the vehicle depreciates by 7% of its previous value each year for the first 5 years, and then 1% per year for each year after that (yes, I am nesting IF() functions into my Excel spreadsheet like a motherfucker).

However there’s a prestige modifier that will alter this. It depends on a reverse linear relationship between the vehicle’s prestige, and the age of the vehicle. Basically, the older the vehicle, the lower the overall prestige required for it to gain desirability and therefore offset the depreciation. In 2017, this value is 45. In 1987, it’s 25, and so on and so forth. The formula to calculate the purchasing price of the vehicle therefore is:

=(2base price((1+(engine + trim engineering time)/400))+(engine + trim prod units)* 20)*Depreciation Modifier

Where the Depreciation Modifier is:

For Cars with Trim 2013 or later, =(0.93+(prestige-45+(age of trim)/1.5)/100)^(age of trim)
For Cars with Trim 2012 or earlier, =(0.93+(prestige-45+(age of trim)/1.5)/100)^5-0.01*(age of trim)

In this way I’ve largely been able to replicate the AUD price of Australian built utes, across a range of times, as well as make the more classic trims more valuable, but also let the shitboxes become really cheap. A new top of the line 500+bhp with premium trim Holden/Ford ute (bought mainly be tradies with way too much money who can’t think of anything they’d rather get) sets one back around 55K here. A 10 year old low to mid end ute here would set you back about 13-15k. But a classic from the 80s will cost you around 30 grand.

  • However, that’s not the real issue here. The real issue is the cost to maintain the damn thing for ten years. As I said, registration, fuel etc. are quite expensive in Australia. It costs me 800 bucks to register my Honda Civic each year (in Victoria, where this challenge is set), and nearly 1200 bucks to insure it. So the formula to determine total service costs is:

=(Emissions Tax + Insurance + Fuel Cost)* 30+((Trim and Engine Service Costs)* ((1-1.05^(Trim Age + 11)/(-0.05)/10)* 70/Reliability))

A few notes here: I added the bills and multiplied them by 3 to get the approximate scale of cost here. The next bit is the service costs, using the formula for a simple geometric exponential series, which is then proportional to reliability. In short you should be aiming for an average reliability of at least 70. Older cars can’t do this, so they’re going to get slugged in service costs, as is the case in real life when you work your car hard, all the time.


##End TL;DR

That’s probably a bit too complicated for some of you. I’ll summarise it into a single statement, and some actual value guidelines:

As I said there’s a very good reason I’m setting the challenge up against old cars. The client’s going to be strongly discouraged from buying old cars despite the fact she would quite like to, because it’s currently an old ute that’s sending her broke.

The world of the Ute is highly varied. It ranges from the stock horse that just has to keep going, to the preening show pony with gloss and mad cunt bodykits.

Like, from these


like, couldn’t do this post without summin from the fucken Denny Ute Muster, could I now?

to this

fuckin beaut innit?

Our client’s got a little bit of everything in her, so she’s looking for something that can haul stuff first of all. But it may also be good to be able to get to the beach, go camping, look pretty, go like a cut snake, but of course, only if it’s actually worth it. I mean, over 10 years we’re talking like an investment of anywhere from 130-200 grand and potentially a lot of elbow grease. It’s not a decision to take lightly.

To make it easier, here are the values to keep in mind:

  • Any trim year up to 2017 but I warn that this is not really one of those times when acceptable in the 80s is really acceptable at this time. The servicing costs will be horrendous. You’re welcome to try but… our client’s trying to sell a ute from the 80s because it’s killing her wallet, yeah?
  • Strictly wheelbase <3m
  • Seats 2-3, 4-5 or more is strictly optional and not considered a big advantage
  • Strictly safety >35
  • Aim overall reliability of at least 70
  • Base price with 0 markup ideally not higher than 20k
  • Strictly emissions <500 but really try to get them <175
  • Try not to go too high above 12L/100km if even that, fuel is a massive part of the budget. Less is good.
  • Power outputs for a modern ute can range from 240bhp to somewhere around 600.
  • Even if you want to build a 600bhp ute that runs faster than an emu with its tail on fire, the narks give you the stink-eye if they see semi-slicks, so, please, none of that yeah?
  • Practicality and Utility should ideally be at least 40

Every other stat will be considered but in context of the entire ute, and also subjectively. Also try not to make it buttfuck ugly, please? Cheers.

###This should get you started. A client dossier will arrive tomorrow, after which I will set the deadline.

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That post is sorely lacking in proper Sandman Utes ᵉˢᵖᵉᶜᶦᵃᶫᶫʸ ᵗʰᵒˢᵉ ˢᵉˣʸ ᴴᑫˢ


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I there anything against creating a modern trim with a quite old body?

I’ve got something I can make work. Will build an all-new variant of it, but everyone’s going to have something unpleasant to compete with…

I just need to decide whether it’ll look better in Red, or Orange, keeping in mind that those colors have meaning in Storm Automotive lore…

Which fuel should I choose to emulate diesel in terms of price?

is dizel ute even a thing?

I have absolutely no idea :smile:

is flatplane v8 in a ute a thing?

I have never heard of car-based utes which offer flat-crank V8s and/or diesel engines.

And I just cooked up a wildcard that may spring a surprise or two…

I mean generally speaking and as far as the rule set goes the term ute in Australia pretty much means any light commercial vehicle…that isn’t a massive huge American thing. So think Hilux aka the best-selling vehicle in Australia at the moment rather than just only Holden and Ford utes.

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Ohh it’s on! I have thought about a line of light trucks. Did have the Hilux in mind. Already have a name in mind.

“Don’t blame the Ruck, Johnson! It’s a solid Ruck!”

As soon as Australia was mentioned yesterday, I knew what I had to make. Now to find the perfect body in Automation.
What mods are allowed, High Quality Essentials I assume, but can we use others? I may need to find a particular body…

Apparently the body I am looking for hasn’t been made :cry:
Time to find a suitable body…

Soo this time around, should I know something about her not liking…I don’t know…car shape that looks like a mexican or maybe she really hates quad light and it’s obvious because…stuff?

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My biggest difficulty right now is whether to go Jackal or Starfire. Some of you might recognize the first name. Most, if not all of you, won’t know the second.

Either way, it’s going to be… Interesting.

I’m going all out and building a ute with the internals of the LS400 :stuck_out_tongue:

Scratch that, I’m making it a twinturbo V8 while I’m at it

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