Got a new ute :)
September 13th, 2007
Brief update – I got a new vehicle today.
I’ve been driving around an ancient vehicle with 300K+ km’s for the last 5 years – and finally I decided it wasn’t really worth spending any more money on.. so today I purchased a new old ute at auction.
For those of you who aren’t from Australia, a ‘ute’ is like a pickup – it’s a uniquely Australian invention that was designed to allow farmers to have a vehicle that they could use during the week on their farm, and still be ‘beautiful’ enough to take the wife or significant other to church on Sunday without causing embarassment.
The fact they only have two seats and a v6 engine is a bit of a problem in this modern world of high fuel prices and environmental conscience though – and on that matter I feel a little guilty. There was a Prius that went for about $5K more, and I did consider it (momentarily).
If it weren’t for the fact that utes were made for dogs and dogs were made for utes and dogs aren’t allowed in ‘family cars’ and I have a dog, I’m sure I wouldn’t have got a ute – but I have horses and dogs and love the country – so i’ll stay with the ute for the moment and ride my bicycle around town to help limit global warming and waist expansion 🙂
Photo below… M
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6 Comments Add your own
1. shambhavi | September 13th, 2007 at 3:59 am
Kee-ute!
But we do have these vehicles here in the U.S. They usually have names such as “El Camino” and “Grand Toro.” (Big Bull) They seem to be favorite cars of farmers from the California Central Valley. So, here too, dogs and horses are a factor.
Enjoy!
2. JohnMu | September 13th, 2007 at 5:58 am
Can you fit a Prius in the back?
3. theDuck | September 13th, 2007 at 9:56 am
John – it came with one in the glove box 😀
M
4. Gnoll110 | September 13th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Utes are great. For the non-aussies, the name is a shortening of Utility.
My old set of wheels was a ute. Got it in the 90’s, at auction, with 23K km on the clock. Got stolen and written off in March 06, the bastards! I was 15K km short of 500K.
When I got the ute, some friends asked when I was getting the dog installed 😉
5. theDuck | September 13th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Hi Gnoll!
Thanks for dropping by – mine was a VP, 1992 – unfortunately nobody stole it as it was insured 😀
I picked it up with considerable km on the clock back in 2002 for $4500 – the new ute (2003 BA XLS – unfortunately it’s a Ford Falcon and they start with F for a reason) is a considerable step up 😀
I’m considering converting it to LP Gas – it costs a bit of dough (in Brisbane an LP Gas conversion with liquid injection costs $4,100) but with the kind of km’s that I do I think it may be worth it.
cheers
Matt
6. theDuck | September 13th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Oh – and they gave me $400 for the old one 😀 haha…
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