Car for the missus

[255-LS1]

H all,

The missus needs a new / used car?

Criteria for selection:
- less than 100000km
- max price 12k
- less than 1o years old
- must have a proven track record of reliabiltiy
- parts reasonably cheap
- maintenance scedule not exceesive e.g timing belt every 60000km
- not excessive fuel consumption

I know this sounds like a lot lol but its what she wants. She is not keen on the smallest cars like echo, yaris etc, doesnt feel safe on the open roads

So, short list is a follows

- 2006 on holden astra
- 2002 on toyota corrola
- 2006 on suzuki swift
- hyundai i30 at a stretch

At this stage toyota is looking the prefered candidate. But looking for other options aswell.

Any feedback / experiences welcomed.

Cheers

[Forbz]

Subaru impreza

[VY19]

The Swift's popularity is rising a fair bit over the past couple of years, especially with the younger girls. I have a friend with a Swift and she hasn't had any issues. Plus they look okay as well.

But Toyota do have a good name in terms of reliability, both would be fine.

[Hi Octane]

Go the swift, sportier than the rest, reliable, better loking, my thoughts anyway.

[aratic]

If you looked around you could probably get a 2005 Mazda3 for 10K. Mrs has one, very good cars

[whitels1ss]

Go the Hyundai i30 mate, it is a nice modern car and will have 5 year warranty still current.
It will also look like a latest model.

[PhatAs]

+1 for the Mazda 3!
Mrs has a SP23. Looks great and is reasonably quick/handles well
Really good interior too

[SSVHM2.5]

My missus has a 07 Astra turbo diesal and it is awesome. 110kw and 360nm, 6 speed, black and for sale.... gets 6l/100

Car is in Melbourne. If you want to have a squiz PM me.

[hotbox]

i30 if you can there a great little car

[SUZUKI MALISHA]

although its not a local car id maybe suggest a hyundai i30. Hyundai has had the least recalls of any make in aus for ten years with only about 10 recalls in the last ten years. Not one last year at all. hyundai also has well into the high 70% of new car customers with no complaints...again sadly better then all the locals....so for your wife id be thinking about hyundais...no pressure haha

[awesome _vzss]

My missus has a Hyundai i30 and so far its been a great car,good features,reliable,nice to drive and 5 year warranty.

[QldKev]

We're a corolla family. We've got a 1996 seca back in about 1999 and it has been the most reliable car ever, my son drives it now. The wife has an 08 model (ZRE). For 12K I think you could get a lot newer model than an 02 corolla. We paid 15K from a car yard for a 6 speed manual 08 over a year ago with low k's and still under factory warrenty. Driving to work and back she gets around 7.2L/100 (easy drive). When we go away we find we take the corolla and not the commodore these days, and get around 6.5L/100 on the open road, and it is pretty good at over taking.

We did look at a yaris, but they were under powered and would not recommend taking them country. Also had a look at the Hyundai i20 and i30. I didn't like the road feel and they had more road noise from the front, since they are asking basically corolla price anyway we went to the car with the long term proven track record.

Just my opinion


QldKev

[iloveholden]

My brother owns a 2005 auto corrolla and i HATE driving it. Compared to other small cars here are things that are wrong with it;

- It rides hard
- The seats are like sitting on some rocks
- It rolls everywhere
- It's incredible slow
- the gearbox is woeful, just doesnt stay in a gear, always jumping between gears especially if want to increase speed by 10km quickly
- The steering is heavy and very snatchy to center all the time
- Rear vision mirrors are too small
- The lights are pathetic
- It ain't good looking inside or out
- The stereo is rubbish
- ohh because you need to put your put down hard all the time its bloody noisy

I've proly missed some there.

Good things??

- Well its reliable, doesn't seem to go wrong even though no one services it

Cheers.

[255-LS1]

Cheers for the feedback guys.

Probably going to test drive some vehicles this weekend so will focus on the rolla, swift and i30.

Is there any swift models / years which are the best / worst?

Same for the i30' any that should be avoided or focused on? Is the turbo desiel model worth the premium over the petrol model? Auto transmission junk? I do like the balance of 5 year warranty that comes with late model i30s thou

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

[whitels1ss]

Cheers for the feedback guys.

Probably going to test drive some vehicles this weekend so will focus on the rolla, swift and i30.

Is there any swift models / years which are the best / worst?

Same for the i30' any that should be avoided or focused on? Is the turbo desiel model worth the premium over the petrol model? Auto transmission junk? I do like the balance of 5 year warranty that comes with late model i30s thou

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

The i30 is a certainly great little car, personally I would rather drive a petrol, I don't like ANY desease-all motors,
(not picking at the Hyundai.... I mean ANY desease-all in any car, I reckon they belong in trucks,)
I don't like the way they drive, the noise they make, the exhaust smell
or the slimey smelly pumps when you fill up at the fuel pump, and I certainly can't see the point in paying extra money for one.
There is nothing wrong with the auto or the manual either,
but normally if you do the maths you might find you will get newer lower kilometers in a manual for the same money than you will in an auto. :cheers:

[Marco]

Haven't driven a petrol i30, but drove the diesel when they first came out and it was a Good Thing.

[Phillshz]

Just bought a 2004 Corolla Conquest auto wagon 158k for $10,400 (was asking 11k) after the Mrs`s twin cam excel auto trans died, lost 1st,4th and reverse and slams the 2/3 change. Trans guy said needs a rebuild at $1500 and rego was a month away at $1000, so started hunting a replacement car.

Could not find a 2000 (zze122r) onwards corolla under 10k, with most average ones hovering around 12-15k. They hold their value immensely! Even with 150k plus on them.

Found plenty of Mazda 323`s in the 8-10k range but these are cars that look good in pics but are rubbish in person, dents in panels,gouged bars etc, rust around windscreens, stained/thrashed interiors or obviously water affected (smells of wet carpet). Actual good cars are holding value in the 12-15k range.

Nissan Pulsar N16 models were the same, plenty of wasted trips/time looking at so called "Immaculate/Excellant Condition" cars. My Arse! People lie immensely in the ads!

Mazda 3`s nothing starts under 15k and they are all base models with high k`s, These also hold their value!

You will need to set a budget with a mid point of 15k and go up or down from there given your requirements or lower some of the requirements. People want big money for little cars now.

Cheers Phill

[Swordie]

I'd be more influenced by the safest model.

[HazzaHSV]

Gees I wouldn't go over 15k for a well used car. You can get a brand new Mazda 3 drive away with 12 months rego for 21,500, and a brand new Cruze for 20,500!

[Swordie]

Advantage i30 there could be factory warranty remaining. The were rated quite good when first released.

[LS Kernal]

Gees I wouldn't go over 15k for a well used car. You can get a brand new Mazda 3 drive away with 12 months rego for 21,500, and a brand new Cruze for 20,500!

brand new cars are the biggest waste of money man. You can buy something with a few kms on it (50k = still a baby) and save a ton of money.

[whitels1ss]

brand new cars are the biggest waste of money man. You can buy something with a few kms on it (50k = still a baby) and save a ton of money.
I could not agree more :goodjob:

[ti0350]

I've driven a brand new I30 I thought it wasn't a had car at all but it was a little gutless for my liking although in saying that it was the base model 1.6l I would go the 2.0L one if i was looking at an I30 petrol.

[LS Kernal]

My late girlfriend had a Mazda 3 SP23. I think its a great car. It was pretty zippy, went quite well for a small car. It was good on fuel and maintenance costs were low. In fact the only money she ever spent on maintenance was service parts (i serviced it) and suspension checks. Never had any problems at all.

Interior was nice and comfy, had ipod connectivity, bluetooth, reverse sensors.

[HazzaHSV]

brand new cars are the biggest waste of money man.Not when you pay 15k for a early 2000 model car with 100,000-150,000k's on it, it isn't. :confused: That's what I was replying to. You can buy brand new with 3-5 year warranty for 5k more. That's a no brainer as who knows what problems the 8+ year old car has. Even better, lease it on salary sacrifice and sometimes you can get the brand new one for the same 15k.

[duke5700]

You can get an Astra Turbo for those dollars.

[255-LS1]

Righto. Test drove the following, all new models.

2011 rolla hatch auto, went alright well equiped (conquest model) , pricey thou.
2011 i30, great car, 2 litre plenty of power, felt safe, handled well, good seats, stereo good, transmission and shifter is slick, pedel relationship also good, jus has a good feel about it. 5 year factory warranty, 19k on the road is tempting. Can see why it won coty 3 years in a row.
2011 swift 1.4 , ok , smallish, small boot, engine power only adequate. Nothing special.

Cheers

Missus really likes the i30 so thats the go i think. I thought it felt good from passenger seat too.