Hi
My daughter is after a car so it needs to be reliable. We've seen a few new cars at the $12-14K including the new VW Up. Would be interested in hearing people's views on what is the best value small car and/or if better to get a used car like VW Golf etc at a similar price.
Thanks
Readily available parts, super reliable car (easily 200k km+ if you maintain it like a normal person), oh, and relatively cheap - really can't go wrong.
you mean the "up!", don't forget that exclamation mark
maybe try the suzuki swift or mazda 2
Nothing safer then a pre-owned golf.
Safe, maybe, but not all that reliable / cheap to run / cheap to service / cheap to repair / resale value.
Golfs actually hold their resale value quite well compared to other similar cars. Also they are quite cheap to run fuel wise as their fuel consumption is quite low.
They do while under warranty. Since the whole emissions thing, dealers are worried about the resale so trade-in prices have dropped as a result.
So they might be ok resale-wise within 3yrs, after that don't hold your breath.
That scandal only affected the diesel variants however, so it shouldn't too harshly affect the petrol variant.
Also let's not be silly, this is OzBargain, dealers are never going to give a decent prices for trade-ins, scandal or no, private sales are always the better option in terms of re-sale return.
so it shouldn't too harshly affect the petrol variant.
Shouldn't, but does. The stories/reputation affect the badge, not the engine.
private sales are always the better option in terms of re-sale return.
Obviously, but the private sell prices are dependent on dealer sell prices. One drops, so does the other.
I wouldn't say they have fallen too harshly according to this data, that's only about a $1200 drop which in the grand scheme of things isn't massive.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/07/volkswagen-resale-prices-drop…
Sorry I couldn't find any on Australia specifically as there doesn't seem to be any published like that, i would love to see it if you could find some.
Nothing safer then a pre-owned golf.
Nice car , but wouldn't bet my daughters life on one.
http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/death-prompts-vw-owners-t…
has a new one since October 2011 - after the initial DSG gearbox issues has not missed a beat.
every car has it downside.
Wow 15 people, out of hundreds of thousands, thats a pretty small margin for errors you are giving them. I'm not saying that it isn't bad that it happened to those people, but how many other countless golfs are out there that have never had any problems. My bet is quite a lot.
It is also horseshit pushed by the parents of a girl who died tragically, in a an accident which is not explained by the mode of failure claimed by the family.
Thank god someone said it, all the articles leave out that she was on her phone at the time of the accident as well…
But plenty of cars just as safe and cheaper to run
Vw are not some magical car that marketing is making you believe.
They aren't magical, but every single car on the market is going to have its problems/downsides. Especially if you are looking at used cars since you can never really be 100% sure of their history.
That's not what I meant the commenter said nothing is safer than Vw, there plenty as safe and cheaper to run (plus there are safer vehicles)
Oh I don't disagree at all, I have no doubt there are plenty of vehicles that are. Can you enlighten me to the safer vehicles? As far as I was aware they had 5 star safety ratings which is the highest available.
Get a used car. Going by most parents i've spoken to, cars bought for or by their children are never looked after, never appreciated. After the honeymoon they'll get dinged, dirtied and generally uncared for.
A reliable used Corolla will get the job done and can handle alot of abuse too.
Biased here, but a new Swift is $15,990 drive away for auto or manual.
Very good resale, economical, cheapest car to own and operate (besides our Celerio), 5yrs capped price servicing, 5yrs warranty.
Talking a brand new car that offers little maintenance costs (I highly doubt she'll need to worry about tyres before she upgrades to a bigger car), and bluetooth/cruise control etc
I could promote any Holden or Suzuki right now, but hands down it would be the Swift for an extra bit more on the budget.
I flinch every time someone tells me they're purchasing a "new vehicle"……..we all know the horror of "immediate purchase depreciation", plus there's no chance she'll be riding around in the same vehicle for many years.
If you're worried about safety then spend the extra money on frequent services (a brand new vehicle has just as much chance as faulting as a second hand vehicle)
Ps………if you're truly worried about safety then remove all passenger seats in her vehicle so it is used solely as a "commuting vehicle"……..not an option obviously
Done rambling……..get a swift (easy to handle/small/economical)…….but Holden's and Toyotas are more easily serviced
For a $15k car there are some gems but there are also a lot of cars that only support the argument for a good second hand car.
First up don't buy anything Indian made like a few of the $12,990 cars are. Up! is pretty cute but questionable value IMO, and really small.
In the tiddler class the guns really are the Mazda 2, Kia Rio, Toyota Yaris, but they are all PUSHING your budget.
The cars a size larger like Golf, i30, Corolla, Mazda 3 are very common and are excellent cars, and you'd think a really clean second-hand example would be very good.
You haven't really given us what your priorities are, but the Corolla and Mazda 3 probably have the lowest running cost and best resale but their pretty uninteresting. Gutless engines and cheaper than taxi interiors.
The Golf 90TSI is a cracking car to drive but has amazing fuel economy, and the interior quality is better than all the others. On the other hand, if your daughter is going to do a reasonable amount of kilometers, the i30 Diesel is a really practical, punchy little goer which costs bugger all to run.
As a first car, my vote would be for a late 90's Toyota Corolla, they are cheap to run, super reliable, drive nicely, easy & cheap to get parts for & hold their resale value exceptionally well. Like others have stated, the car is probably not going to be treated amazingly & eventually she can buy herself a new car when the time is right.
No airbags though?
Airbags became standard in Corolla's after 1995, hence why I said late 90's corolla.
Excellent discussion. Keep it coming. My daughter will have to read this and we can go from there.
Very much appreciated.
I recommend Toyota Yaris. Mine has been with me almost 10 years now. Low fuel consumption , cheap service( I have it serviced once a year only). Tyres cost cheap. Nothing to worry.about. Still running like a new one.
I am seconding a late 90's Corolla. The last of the sub-frame small cars, strong and reliable.
Mum has a 1998 Camry, it's on the verge of dying ( does the losing power mid-drive/reversing thing) since last year July, but it's still going, just drinking crazy amount of petrol, but it still going…so I definitely would not argue with you how reliable Toyotas are. However I would avoid buying older Toyotas if safety is your top priority.
Yes, I did have once a 1998 Toyota Camry . It ran beautifully except as you said it drank petrol crazily . I tried to trade in then , but was offered a merge sum of $500.00. Later I found a used car dealer , lucky me he bought from me at $1,700.00. But the car in deed was perfect, never had any problem , serviced only once a year, and it ran smoothly . I simply replaced it with a small Yaris Sedan , a better car for senior, like me.
my ex-GF had a 90's corrolla that had done 632000 K's before trading it, she was a courier….. We've currety got a seca done 280K's and camry wagon with 260'K's, both cars bought for less than 1500, spent nothing except for oil since…
Im just glad the fickle pretentious public is so transfixed on out-jonesing the jones's, it makes cheap motoring…
New cars are an absolute waste of money. All you are really buying is a questionable expensive warranty.
Toyota.
I've had a Corolla & now a Camry— lovely cars.
I suggest you buy a new Toyota yaris for her.1300cc engine.Its powerful enough on road.
I just bought one for my kid and its really good drive and reliable car ( made in Japan with 90% parts are original. ).I paid only $17500 last month.
If you expect to pay over $15000. get a new one .
$17500 for a Yaris? That's insane! Did you look at any competitors?
I found the experience of driving a Yaris to be completely different. The engine was incredibly weak & while driving on a freeway to the airport with strong winds, it was a struggle to keep it in the right lane, it felt very unsafe & like I could be blown over at any moment.
I think that's a bit overly dramatic, but compared to the Mazda 2, i20 etc the rear suspension of the Yaris is primitive and it handles like a boat.
Think what you want, at the time I felt quite unsafe driving it. Feeling the wind moving a car doesn't really make you feel particularly comfortable on a freeway.
@Mixer:
I have to agree with what salbee28 said. Drove a 2008 Yaris for a while, it struggled to hit 110km/h and wobbled if I went faster than 80km/h, would not purchase one myself.
Dude if it struggled to get to 110km/h the engine was stuffed. If you never change spark plugs and air filter they struggle a bit…
If it wobbled it had cheap shit tyres that were out of balance.
I've done hundreds of thousands of kilometres in these cars thanks to Europcar and they will comfortably hit 150km/h and drive all day long with pretty good manners.
Not the best car in the category but well maintained, a good reliable car.
@Mixer:
I am not sure about the engine. At that point it had just had a major service done. I would be pretty disappointed if that was not picked up during the service.
Still, would not buy a Yaris, would not buy a car that size.
What I know for the new car Toyota made in Japan. If you look after it , they all will last more than 5 years without any problem.
To Brucet, very true. I use my 10 years old Yaris to border towns from time to time such as Albury and Moama , never encounter any such problems as wobbling , lack of power etc on those high way at 110 km p.h.
Well, I think for a new Yars made in Japan with a price tag of $17,500 is cheap, must be one with hatch back. The one I bought almost 10 years ago costs me $22,500.00 , made in Japan too, is sedan , auto, powered windows etc.
I just got my red p's less than a week ago. Honestly, if I was driving a spanking new car, I would be so stressed scratching it. I'm happy I'm driving a 12 yo Toyota sedan that was bought brand new by our family 12 years ago. With this old car, it's great practice and I'm less afraid with damaging it. Yeah it's not an Audi or Beamer, but I don't really care about brands and just want to fine tune my driving before getting s new car.
My suggestion is buy a second hand car whilst she is on her red and green ps. After that, you can upgrade her car
I cannot figure why anybody buys those crappy cars new, when you can get a really nice used car in good condition .
Who'd choose a new Up over a slightly used Corolla or Golf? There is no comparison.
I'm a convert for new cars! I thought they were never worth their price tag but after 4 cars in 5 years, I cannot fault my new Hyundai i30.
My only regret is not buying a new car from the start instead of wasting time & money on lemon second hand cars when all the checks were apparently done to ensure I was buying a good used car.
You can get a lemon new too. You just got luckier this time.
What were you buying before? There are more variables than just new-or-used.
Yes you can get a lemon too but new cars normally come with 5 year warranties so you should have a chance to fix the car without spending a fortune.
I had a 2001 Hyundai Lantra - which passed all the checks (RACV, Roadworthy etc) ended up having a bent chassis (which somehow still got a roadworthy cert) and alternator issues 3 months after buying. I only got scrap metal price as the car wouldn't pass a roadworthy again with the bent chassis (talk about a dodgy dealer!)
Second car was a 2010 Holden Astra which had mysterious electrical issues that neither Holden or any other auto elec could trace or fix - the car would completely shut off on the freeway (headlights and all) so that had to go.
Third car was a 2004 Honda CRV - this one was written off but it was before the time where it had to be noted on the transfer papers and the searches I did before buying never showed the previous status. It passed RACV too but there was transmission issues shortly after purchasing as the car had been flooded previously and all the electrical had been replaced (which I discovered after trying to install a new CD player).
Fourth car was a 2004 Mini cooper - again passed all the checks but had unexplained engine issues - BMW stung me for a new battery and then when that didn't fix the problem diagnosed it with transmission issues - they wanted $10k to fix that problem.
FIFTH car is my Hyundai i30 - loving the 5 year warranty and capped price servicing. fingers are crossed for no issues!!
OK, so you are comparing very old cars, and some questionable choices of model, to brand new.
To keep is simple, look at around 2yo, still under warranty, with service history. Some cars, especially small cheap ones, hold their value very well so buying new is not so bad.
Others depreciate like mad in the early years, so a bigger better quality car can be had for the same price or less.
And never buy older cars from a dealer. You don't know who had it, and they are very good at hiding problems.
I wouldn't say very old - the Astra was a 2010 model and was bought in 2013- that car had the most concerning problem and Holden took no responsibility in fixing the car at all.
all I was saying was if I personally had bought a brand new car from the get go - I would have a now 5 year old car that would probably still be under warranty or just out and would have saved me all the money and headaches over the years.
It really depends on how long you are keeping a car and what its purpose is- if you plan on keeping a car for 5-10 years you are going to see depreciation regardless of the model.
I will agree with you on the older cars from dealers - this particular dealer went out of business a year later due to dodgy dealings - When you're young and it's your first time buying a car it's easy to fall for the traps :(
ahh yes you are right! I always get thrown off because mine was first registered in 2010 for some reason…
New drivers often have small accidents like parking so the car gets dinged a bit. I have a 2008 Mazda 2 with 80 000 on the clock- can be bought for $7500. I've had no problems, servicing cheap, fuel dirt cheap, easy to drive, has 5 doors and a big boot (for a small car). Plus when I got it it had a good safety rating compared to other small cars. My Dad has driven Suzuki Swifts- a good easy car to drive, smaller boot. The Yaris is also good to drive, smaller again. And I also looked at the Ford Focus which was similar to the Mazda 2. Buy a new car in a few years when your daughter is more experienced and past the small accidents stage. And remember to check out the price on insurance- big variables for different cars, new cars obviously cost more to insure.
Not enough love for Fords in this thread. The Focus and Mondeo can be found reasonably new for pretty cheap.
Whirlpoolers seem to love the Lancer. Super reliable, apparently? And a decent drive.
2014 MY15 - 2015 MY15 Honda Jazz VTI is within your budget of $14K used.
Kia Rio 5 door 1.6 auto. 7 yr warranty. Full stop.
We drive a 2006 Yaris and it has had absolutely nothing wrong with it. Servicing is cheap, fuel consumption is low and tyres (13") are so damn cheap that I buy really good tyres because I think they are important to keep my family safe. I have no wobbling issues in high speeds but strong winds and fast oversize trucks do disturb the car but they affect most cars.
Only issue I have (which you might consider for your daughter) is that ours is a 2-door and we would prefer a 4-door due to practicality.
Used corolla. If it's here first car.