Buying Used or New (Looking to Buy a Small Car in Perth WA)

Landydonaldson on 15/01/2015 - 20:27

Hi there,

I'm looking to buy a small and efficient car here in Perth WA.

The sorts of cars that have been suggested and the ones that seem to fit the bill are as follows:

Volkswagen Golf
Ford Focus
Hyundai i30

Not 100% sure whether to buy New or Used as I'm sure there are benefits of going both ways. From what I understand, with a New car there's going to be less issues with maintenance, there may be a warranty and I may be able to obtain good rates if I use finance to help purchase the car (I was told that Defence Bank are a good one to go with).

On the other hand, buying Used looks like a good option too as I wouldn't lose out too much on the initial depreciation of the car and older models may be cheaper / may be able to get a good deal from an auctioneers or online.

Would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions on where to pick up a good value and efficient car in Perth (either New or Used). Any suggestions on the car models would be really appreciated too.

Thanks,

Andy

Automotive

Comments

  • toristo on 15/01/2015 - 20:41

    There's a reasonable difference in quality between the Golf and the i30. Personally, I'd opt for a good second hand Golf over an i30, however that's not to say the i30 is bad. I've had them as rental cars twice and both times been suitably impressed.

    I wouldn't personally rate the Ford Focus and would substitute it with a Toyota Corolla (a little more expensive but they hold their value well and have proven to be a reliable car with very reasonable running costs) or a Mazda 3. I've got a 2000 model 323 which I bought as a temporary car years ago and decided to keep it as it's been a dream vehicle. Mechanically, zero complaints from me. It's cheap and easy and I'd buy a Mazda 3 tomorrow if anything happened to this one.

    Shop around for finance, you'll find a lot of places will do a secured car loan around the 9-10% rate for used cars as long as they aren't too old (3-5 years). I love the new car smell but can't justify that for the value that disappears the moment you drive it off the lot. Pay a mechanic you trust to look over any used cars though.

  • WalterPPK on 15/01/2015 - 21:13
    +2

    I'd recommend a second-hand Corolla, Focus, Mazda3 or similar Japanese popular brand over a new car any day. They're popular for a reason, as they're very reliable and convenient, and when something does get broken or damaged it'll be really easy to get a replacement piece with these options.

    The Mazda3, Focus and Volvo S40 all run on the same chassis which was engineered by Volvo. I personally think the Mazda is the pick of those, though.

    Personally I think the Golf is over-rated. And plenty of drivers will tell you about "Golf Ball Syndrome".

    I've never liked a Hyundai. Have you ever seen one that is more than 5 years old that still has all its paint and electrics intact? If you want to see how well a car stands up to real life, just look at the high-milage bargain basement examples. An 10-20 year old Corolla will still have most of it's paint lustre and will even still be kind of cool and fun. A Hyundai of that age will be a wreck.

    • inherentchoice on 16/01/2015 - 02:11

      My 06 Hyundai is working great. Still has most (or all?) of it's paint lustre. Looked at replacing it with a newer model but but the cheapskate in me says it's not worth the money.

      The owner of all those Jim's franchises still drives his beat up station Wagon even though he is a multi-millionaire.

  • trex on 15/01/2015 - 23:33

    I agree with WalterPPK on a Corolla since Toyotas are built to last and cheap to run. In getting a used car, get something less than 3 years old and less than 50,000km and you won't be dogged by used car issues while enjoying a lower purchase cost.

  • pennae on 15/01/2015 - 23:43

    I'm also in Perth and just bought a new Mazda 2 and very happy with it - worth checking out :) There's a lot of run-out deals on the old model as well, but the fuel efficiency on the new one is amazing. I hit 400km today and haven't even used half a tank. The little computer thingy tells me I'm getting about 6.5L/100km (city driving, auto transmission).

    If I had to do it again, though, I'd use a broker to do all of the hard work for me. I was trading in a car and it was a major pain trying to get a good deal. I ended up getting really "over it" and car salespeople sense weakness! I did not do my fellow Ozbargainers proud, I'm afraid. If you're in a union, many of them are linked up with "ShopRite" as one of the member benefits. They'll ring around and negotiate for you and get back with the best deal. It's then up to you to go with it or not :) Lots of brokers around like that. Next time, Gadget…

  • andydonaldson on 16/01/2015 - 23:13

    Thanks for your responses guys, some terrific advice.

    Have heard good things about the Mazda 2 (and 3) and the reliability of Toyotas.

    Did a bit more research into finance and it looks like it's 6-7% rates with Defence Bank on both new and used cars (used being within 4 years old).

    I think my frame of mind is to go for a used car around the $10-15k bracket and going to buy something that'll last / efficient. That Mazda 2 sounds like it has great fuel efficiency pennae.

    Are sites such as Gumtree worth investigating for cars or are dealerships perhaps more reliable?

    Once again many thanks for the feedback guys

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