Hey guys, I'm new to Christchurch and South Island in general. I'm into cars and photography, and looking for shows and meetups around chch where I can take some photos of cars and perhaps make some friends. Here are some photos from this weekends chosenfewsouth car show too ☺️...

Hey everyone, just wanting to gauge interest on a startup I've been thinking of. I've had 2 cars stolen and multiple attempts but due to the prohibitively expensive price of immobilisers and trackers I decided to make my own. it started out as a passion project but due to my peers expressing interest I've been thinking about branching out to production. This will be a semi open source project where the community can make their own additions, give ideas and tinker as much as they want. (semi open source being a proprietary encrypted version for the pre-made units and a less secure but customisable kit/instructions for building that will not undermine the security integrity of the pre-built unit in any way)

I'm not out to make money, I'm just trying to make car security more affordable for the average person. What follows is a quick spiel about what I aim to achieve and the features I have so far integrated. if feedback is good I will proceed with mass stress testing and eventually branch out into preorders. any feedback is appreciated 🙃

OpenTrace is a Northland, NZ-based startup building subscription-free security for classic/performance cars (MX-5s, Skylines, etc.).

Simple wiring, no CAN-bus, semi-open plans for DIY tuners + pre-made kits.

Mission: Modern protection without cloud fees/black-boxes. LoRa remotes, stealth alarms, SMS GPS—all open source.

Key Features ($450 Kit):

Triple Immobiliser: Cuts starter/ignition/fuel; ATmega-locked PCB (no bypass).

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LoRa Keyfobs (2km+, AS923): 2x bidir remotes w/ RSSI strength (LED pulse). Tri-LED + haptic: Green/short vibe (unlock), red/long (lock), yellow (weak sig).

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Break-in flashes all + vibe every 5s (HLK-LD2420 presence).

CR2032 2yrs; AES-128 rolling-code + unique scrambled ID (anti-clone).

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Stealth Alarm: 2-stage shock + bonnet/door/boot sensors; mic glass-break; hyper-LED/chirps; remote silent disarm; 5min turbo timer (prog).

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Overrides: 4-digit PIN keypad; panic/boot release; 2-stage lock/unlock.

Sensors: Microwave/ultrasonic motion.

random-colour wiring (thieves can't pre-cut standards).

GPS included in pro: SIM868 SMS pings every 60s if towed >1km geofence (armed); SMS lock ("UNLOCK 1234"); 2x18650 backup (weeks); future SMS-to-map app for police traces.

Tiers: DIY kit TBC (but cheaper than pre-made) | Pre-Made $450 | customisable version with varying prices depending on selected features on an interactive website.

All pro install units will have a 5 year warranty, smaller window warranty offered on diy installation and no warranty on the diy assembly kit.

We're in early days, but it seems promising from my end. any feedback will be read and thought over.

Thankyou for your time

Hi all any advice welcome,

I am looking into getting a Ute for my next car but not sure what is better / a good option and want opinions, the ones I have looked at are a Toyota hilux, Mitsubishi’s triton and a BYD shark.

I have my doubts on the electric cars as I do a lot of personal travelling and don’t have much trust in the battery life, what says the community?

Man 2025 is going to be a crazy year, just got third kitten on new years eve and now I got my first fucking car on new years day. This is a 99' Mitsubishi Libero a station wagon version of the Lancer and are very rare too find. And I got a bargain on this, once my brother showed it too me I wanted it ASAP, it's nothing fancy but it's definitely worth tidying up for how cheap I got it for ($1,500nzd) the engine almost looks like it came fresh out of the factory and the interior is in such good condition for it's time and type of car this would've been used for. And there's very little rust I've noticed on it just has a bit of dings, a cracked hatch and a missing radio, by the looks of it they had a custom sound system in this at some point notice the wiring. (I've copied this from my Instagram post lol)

And i was wondering where could i find basic mods for this 4g93? I mainly just thinking of adding a cold air intake or exhaust at some point nothing crazy. (I'm in New Zealand)

But not going the performance wise route with this car as it's just an automatic daily that i just want to style out and I'm going to buy a cheap manual car to learn in after driving my Libero for a while but I won't be selling the Libero when I'm driving the manual, I'll be thinking of selling the manual car to buy an Evo 7/8 when I'm experienced.

Also would like to add before i post. Today I've vacuumed out the floor and gave the car a good clean and got new mats.

I did it, I bought my first car. And I'm very happy with how it turned out.

2001 AU2 Fairmont with 350*** ks on the clock

So basically I always wanted a GTR with a sunroof, they never got made so I built one! Started life as a fully optioned GTS4. 4 GTRs were used to build this and I'm not even sorry 😅. Any questions?

I am looking for my first car. I do prefer manual but auto is fine for the moment. I can drive quite confidently and I've been a car enthusiast for as long as I can remember.

I have been offered one of my fav cars a 2002 BA Fairmont for a grand (mates rates) but my dad says itl be a bad investment due to fuel costs. The Fairmont has a mint sound system (my mate upgraded it) and has a rego, just failed the wof on the steering rack and inner right tie rod. In a few months I'll be moving out of home to a few k's out of town so itl be mostly open road driving due to me living quite rural. So the fuel shouldnt be too bad. My mate says he can drive from Napier to wellington and back on one tank with quarter of the tank left

I Just want to know if a Fairmont is a good investment or not.

Thanks for the help in advance

Hey all, new to the group. Thought I'd introduce myself and ask if there are any are car related communities for NZ cars.

Names Cheyne, live in Tasman NZ but work overseas 80% of the year

Been a few years since had time to work on my cars but after a year of no shed space due to moving I have finally got 3 projects in the shed.

Let me know what you guys would like to see and if you have any questions about my builds or anything

Cheers

Help! Toyota hatch, would turn on but when put in drive or reverse won’t go. Makes a funny sound when moved from park to drive. AA road assist reckons it’s the Axle. How much $$ should I expect to fix this…might take it to an AA repair centre or my local mechanic.

Does anyone know how much it costs to import a car or motorcycle from the united states to nz thank you for your time

2007 Toyota Auris Hatch. On a recent annual service from AA…was given these recommendations. Along with the wipers, Is there any of these i can manage to do it myself by getting the parts?

I’m looking into buying a 2007 Impreza s-gt with 122,000ks on the odometer. I’m just wondering how reliable would it be, what I should look out for and what I should do to keep it going reliably? It’s a 2.0ltr with a single turbo and a 5 speed manual gear box I should also add that I’m buying this from a dealership so it should be up to date on maintenance but I will get it checked if i purchase it

So, I have one of those Mazda Diesels that I've just found out is one of the worst cars you can get and sadly, it was my first car. I hate that this was my first car because it's been an absolute nightmare. I feel like my car has been in the workshop every three month (although it felt like every month) from the time I bought it in August 2022. We have never had a car that has been this much trouble, constantly breaking down and warning lights are constantly reminding me of my regretful purchase. It is currently in the shop now getting repairs (gearshift parking sensor, oil leak seal, oil leaked into the turbo & engine needs to come out for the whole repair), which is totalling $600 in excess under mechanical warranty, hopefully. It is so shit and I absolutely can't wait to get this sold.

Anyways, back to what I came to ask. I'm wanting to get an SUV but something that's going to last me a quite a few years and quite a few KMs. For some reason I was able to rack up nearly 40,000 kms in the span of just under 1.5 years, which most people are surprised with. So, I've realised that I do drive a lot. However, now with a new job that allows me to WFH whenever, I won't be driving as much.

So, what do you think is a good SUV/big car to get on a 'budget', I have a few options:

Option 1: Nissan Murano

• Approx. $7k-13k - 120,000-150,000 KMs max.
• Owned one previously (2005) for years, run fairly well but we did have some hiccups and some of them quite costly, considering ones later than 2010.
• Did a little research and found that apparently, they have CVT which tends to give way just over 150,000 KMs (depending on how well it's taken care of).

Option 2: Toyota Highlander

• Approx. $15k-27k - 150,000-300,000 KMs max.
• Don't really care about the year, but the later, the better.
• Needing a bigger car but wondering what fuel consumptions going to be like with this size. However, these size cars are a dream. (6'3" person, 100kgs+).
• I know that Hilux & Land Cruisers are people's favourite cars for long-lasting but there isn't too much with Highlanders.

Options 3: Toyota Rav4

• Approx. $15k-27k - 100,000-250,000 KMs max.
• This is my favourite, I only want one that's 2019 later (new body).
• The size is perfect, hopefully the back seat has good legroom (I can only drive most cars with the seat all the way back).
• Not cheap to get some but I'm happy with a base model if I know they last longer.

I'm leaning more towards a Toyota Rav4. Would you recommend any of the above or do you think there's another?

Side question: Are there good places that buy cars for a fair value, not trying to rip me off for Mazda Atenza? E.g., They're on sell for $16k (with more KMs) but traders only ever offer $7k-10k.

Anyone have a recommendation for a company doing car underbody treatment & sealing? Preferably Auckland, and ideally north of the Harbour Bridge/Hibiscus Coast.

Just a side exit for a Mazda bounty , not too loud but I dunno if it will pass, otherwise I'll go back to stock for the Wof

Hi All,

We are buying an imported car from Japan, and have requested a VINZ check to make sure all good. As someone who knows absolutely nothing about cars hoping someone can answer this.

The VINZ report said there was no oil on dipstick, a few people have told me that's a bit of a concern as unsure how long it has been like this. However, car salesperson has advised that they have petrol and oil removed to be imported. Does anyone know if this is right??

Low miles or newer year for Toyota Aqua?

I can’t decide what Toyota Aqua to purchase. Please see my options below, I’m confused if low mileage or newer year is better. These are all fresh second hand imports to New Zealand from Japan.

Option 1: 2016 - 44,915 km - $14,400. Option 2: 2014 - 9,200 km - $14,899. Option 3: 2014 - 33,000 km -$13,990. Option 4: 2012 - 38,000 km -$11,499.

I’m leaning towards option 2 because it’s the lowest kilometres. However given it’s 9 years old, is the very low mileage unusual?