Hello everyone.
Looking to buy a new car (may be) and thinking about Kia Cerrato S coming in around 19K and Hyundai Accent at around 21K.
Which do you think is a good 1st time driver car to buy?
Please don't suggest about 2nd hand car. I'm just doing my piece of research about new cars.
Thank you in advance.
Actually, interesting comparison!
Both about $30k
Vitara - 103kw, Tiguan - 118kw
Vitara - 5.9L/100, Tiguan 7.3
I think the Vitara is lighter, but can't find kerb weight of the Tiguan
Vitara has a few more features, given that it's the entry level Tiguan
Very cool - I didn't know it even existed. I saw the torque figure is 220nm, which isn't too bad.
Really cool to see that it gets : 6 speed Sports Automatic. Not an annoying CVT. The Tiguan's DSG is pretty nice, but reliability isn't amazing.
Overall very cool car!
@Spackbace: You talk a lot about this model.
When can I test drive it, so that I can judge for myself?
@Spackbace: If its as good drive like you say, the buying decision might brought forward.
You have got me really intrigued about this model. So no test drive unless I am buying?
So no test drive unless I am buying?
Feel free to go to your local and see if they have a demo. Depends on how far away the purchase decision might be made.
Depends whether they sell the demo-ed car or not ;) I don't have a demo version of every vehicle in every configuration. If we did, we'd be losing money on registration etc for no reason. If we license a demo, then sell the car that week (for example) then hey presto, no demo!
@Spackbace: Thanks for that information.
If my local happens to be the one you're at, how will I know its you?
Cerato is more of an Elantra/i30 competitor.
I recently test drove the Mazda 3, i30, Corolla, and Honda Jazz, and ended up buying an i30 Active diesel with 7 speed DCT. Love the car and the way it effortlessly pulls up hills.
If you purchased a Cerato or Accent as a first car I think you'd be happy either way. The Corolla, and Mazda 3 all have their strengths and weaknesses too.
Have a look at the service interval. Toyota and Mazda require a service every 10,000km, while KIA and Hyundai will let you go 15,000. That's going to impact the overall ownership cost. Toyota requires a service every 6 months regardless of the kilometres traveled. That may effect you.
As to the old 'Japanese vs Korean' debate I think the Koreans have largely caught up to Japan in all categories except luxury vehicles and sports cars. Hyundai has moved well beyond the 1990s Excels but some opinions have yet to catch up with the times.
Don't forget about the Nissan Pulsar. A poor selling car with less power than its competitors and Nissan this week announced they're canning the model in Australia. That may allow you to get some very keen runout pricing from a dealer if you haggle hard. See if you like the car.
VT/VX executive/berlina/Calais cheap and last forever if taken care of!
I understand you are looking into new cars but I strongly advise a new solo driver to drive a s***box for a while.
Got the VT! Mines done 316,000kms but I reckon I can easily get another 150-200K out of it.
If you're really going to get either one, get the one that's the better deal. Get quotes from several dealers on both cars and haggle hard. Enjoy your first car!
When I was looking for a car about a year ago, I tried all the ~$20k hatches: Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla, Kia Cerato, Hyundai i30, Ford Focus, Nissan Pulsar and VW Golf. I found them all pretty much the same. The interior feels slightly nicer and a bit more modern in the Mazda and Golf, but not awesome enough for me to bother spending more money. I'm buying an A-B vehicle here, not a status symbol.
The deciding factor for me was cabin space, head room and visibility. The Corolla was the best and was around the same price as the others due to a promotion. But right now the Kia Cerato S is $19,990 driveaway with an automatic transmission & a $1,000 "gift card" applied at the time of purchase, making the price $18,990 all up - I'd be surprised if you couldn't haggle them down to at least $18,500 flat, even more if you were using finance. If I was buying now, that's what I'd get.
You found the Corolla roomy? My 6'9" fiancé could barely fit in the passenger seat let alone have any hope of driving it… It was the second least roomy car we looked at (the Nissan Pulsar was the least roomy because he couldn't fit in at all). On the other hand, he drives an i30 and has plenty of room.
6'9"….he/she won't fit in any car!
Haha. It's actually surprising what he can and can't fit in. He fits great (he has plenty of room in the front passenger seat and would be able to drive comfortably) in Suzuki Swifts and Mini Coopers, but doesn't fit well in a Toyota Hilux or a Honda CR-V (his knees would be pressed up against the dash, head hitting the roof and wouldn't be able to drive because his knees wouldn't fit around the steering wheel). Overall he seemed to fit better in smaller cars than larger cars!
Accent. I'm biased cause i have one and it hasnt missed a beat. $21k? i paid $15k
I assume you are getting a much superior model?
Im looking at Sedan. May be 15K is Hatch!
mine is a sedan.
Write to Paul Gover at the Melbourne Herald Sun. He will answer you even if the answer doesn't get published in the paper.
No need. He's on ozbargain.
I bought a Cerato sedan 12 months ago $20000 with metallic paint. Couldn't be happier with it. My work car is a Hyundai I30. For my work I cover a fair few country Kms. The I30 has been good, but does not match the the Cerato for power and ride.
For me (I've owned a lot of cars in my time), the 7 year warranty is a clincher. Whether I wish to sell after 5 years or hold on to it, the extra 2 years is a benefit no other maker ( in this price range) is giving at the moment.
Having said that, if your driving skills are similar to my 18 yr old daughter ( scratches and dents all over the old family magna), I would not recommend a new car. I would also counsel against borrowing to buy a depreciating asset.
Out of those two I'd go the Cerato… make sure you bargain hard. If they won't drop from the list price then bargain for accessories.
The cerato will be lightly more expensive to service than the elantra, but the extra engine and interior room will be welcome. Both are decent inside and under the bonnet now, buying Korean isn't the stigma it once was (except for ssyangyong).
Kia Sportage Premium 2WD - Avoid Hyundai like the plague… Car was OK, but the service centres are ridiculous with price gouging. I know that's common with most cars but I had to double check we hadn't bought an Audi with the price of some services.
On the car, the Kia is head and shoulders above anything else in the category. Comfortable to drive, tonnes of room without feeling massive in the city. Great Car
Kia Sportage Premium 2WD - Avoid Hyundai like the plague
You should know Hyundai is the parent company of Kia. They don't offer identical cars but platforms are shared, meaning the powertrains/suspensions/brakes etc. should be the same.
Capped service price now for the life of the car, so they may have changed since you had one?
CPS for life is so hidden with terms and conditions. Holden were the first to do that. Plus extra for this, plus extra for that, plus extra if part prices go up.
Yeah, it's meaningless!
Thanks.
I will be getting an on-line quote before each one, and watch for extras.
i bought a brand new kia cerato S premium for 22.5 (non metalic white) last October. I looked at a lot of cars before i purchased the kia. I am very happy with my purchase. I needed a car to get to work and back every day (2 hour in round trip) and i do about 500 kms per week. im already on 13,500 kms. So far so good. Nothing has gone wrong. The car itself is quite roomy for its size. It goes alright. It has decent pick but do not expect miracles. Its enough for city driving and the gearbox smoothly downshifts whhen going up hills with full car + aircon. Hyundai accent is a class smaller than Kia Cerato. However also look at the new elantra if your budget allows. I would prefer that over the Kia cerato.
OP, I was in your shoes many years ago. I decided I could afford and needed a new car. I tried to keep an open mind, and simply went around to dealerships trying to test drive everything in my price range. Think I drove 10 different cars and learned a lot; cars I thought I would love were uncomfortable and cars I hated the looks of were actually very good to drive.
I don't remember why, but after narrowing it down to either a VW Fox or Mazda 323, I went to look at a very slightly used VW Jetta. It was half the price and drove better than either of my new car choices. I sold it 10 years later with over 300000 km added.
I realize you don't want to hear the used car argument but take my advice about new cars. Try to test drive absolutely everything; it's the most important part of car shopping.
VW Fox - didn't know we had this in Aus.
IIRC, was not in Oz at that time.
I would do test drive of 6 cars as mentioned by autoexpert and see which I'm conformable while driving and falls in my budget. If nothing falls, will look at demos and seconds..
The best advice I can give you is not to trust any single website, especially one as openly biased & hyper-opinionated as autoexpert…Cadogan is a loudmouthed halfwit; his recommendation criteria seem to be childishly specious, what he calls objective facts are mostly a mish-mash of marketing hyperbole & utter nonsense…he just comes across as a poor man's Clarkson, minus the wit. If you're going to believe any site, just don't make it that one…
Darron65 has nailed it, you need to test drive everything you can get your hands on. Once you narrow down the list, many good dealers will even let you have key prospects for 24hrs to be sure of your choice. You very well could find you dislike what has been recommended by the so-called "expert", and find yourself liking something you never expected.
It was a test drive in a Kia Cerato that immediately culled it from our list when shopping for the wife's car; on paper (yup, even I read the biased, over-inflated reviews too) it looked great, whereas in the flesh nothing could be further from the truth IMHO. Luckily, we both have driven a range of Hyundais through work, so we knew they weren't what we were looking for.
it seems like there's a significant amount of ozbargainer having Kia or Hyundai. I am currently looking to purchase one, however it must be a SUV. Can I get some thoughts on the TUCSON and the SPORTAGE please?
On the topic, only if I can convince my wife to keep her yaris I will get myself the new Camry SX as I can get 20-25% of the brand new one, brings it down to 27-28k. It just looks amazing, I am a Honda head though.
Op funnily enough I had a Hyundai accent 2005 while I was living in England and had it since it was 6 months (second hand as new) and kept it until 2015. Now we own a Kia cerato (second hand 2 years old very low mileage). Both very reliable cars, if I could have afforded I would had bought another Hyundai, they seem to retain more value and also having had one for 9 years and no faults has convinced me that Hyundai it's superior (only time will tell though about the Kia)
21k is a lot, bargain hard for the corolla or pulsar (pulsar is quite new model might be harder to bargain it down)
was looking at similar cars but ended up getting second hand
2011 bmw 118d for 28k with 30,000 on the odo
no regrets
Zero warranty.
Let's see how those regrets go ;)
oh sorry forgot to add 5 years premium warranty with the dealer
that seems expensive for a 5 year old 1 series car. but hey if you like it and happy thats cool.
avoid the BMW altogether lol. 1 series are horrid. Get a 2013 Audi and buy a Swann extended warranty.
How much is extended warranty? Its probably worth not having it and pay the $$ if something goes wrong.
no, you'll definitely need it. eg a transmission on a VW Golf can go up to $7K and that's if things aren't too bad.
New electrics in an Audi, Merc or Beemer are an easy $8-10k.
Extended warranties that replicate the factory warranty can be had on cars that are up to 3 or 4 years old and that have been regularly serviced/maintained.
Eg an extended factory warranty on a Mercedes SLK 350 is about $5500 for 3 years of coverage. That's an absolute bargain considering what you could be looking at in year 5 or 6 if something unluckily goes wrong.
In general I wouldn't want my worst enemy driving a 1 series- absolute trash.
Go for an audi a4 or 3 series. If you can afford it then get a C or E class Merc (but stay away from the A and B classes- just as bad as 1 series lol).
A little overpriced, and risky for an entry level, out of warranty bmw, good luck!
6km a year?
Nah.
both very good cars.
I have worked in the auto industry for many years for a dealership group that has multiple Hyundai dealerships and a Kia dealership and know both cars and they are both built like tanks with excellent chassis, build quality and warranty.
As a side note, we also own Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Mercedes, Honda, Ford, Holden, Jeep and multiple used yards.
Of all those brands the only one I would avoid are Jeep.
People who are saying 'stay away from Korean' are idiots and simply don't know what they're talking about.
Kia and Hyundai are the same company and the cars are made in the same factory.
Personally I would buy the Cerato- they are brilliant cars and the warranty is unparalleled.
I have worked in the auto industry for many years for a dealership group that has multiple Hyundai dealerships and a Kia dealership
Since you have disclosed a clear fiduciary interest in one side of the debate, your bias makes the objectivity of your opinion somewhat questionable IMHO.
Calling those who do not have such an interest; and as such are merely offering their own opinion based on direct personal experience; 'idiots', simply because their experience differs from yours, doesn't strengthen your argument one little bit, it just makes you look like an ass!
Just FYI…
I have sold all major car brands in Australia. The OP is asking specifically about two models/makes.
I have also worked for the largest wwarranty brand in Melbourne and see the reports on a monthly basis of what cars are the biggest shitboxes and have the most claims.
So it's with experience and actual knowledge that i can give advice that helps the OP.
To say that Korean cars are crap is something an uneducated/uninformed idiot would say because it's simply not true-it's actually completely false and the opposite is true that they are just as good, if not better than japanese builds and they are certainly better than our local counterparts.
People used to say Toyotas were snot boxes 30 years ago. 15 years ago people said the same thing about Hyundais and times have changed. They wouldn't be the 3rd largest car maker in the world ifntheir product was crap.
I have also worked for the largest wwarranty brand in Melbourne and see the reports on a monthly basis of what cars are the biggest shitboxes and have the most claims.
Ok, so what are they??? List the key stats for us please, with references if you don't mind. If you're going to make grandiose claims like that you really need to back them up.
To say that Korean cars are crap is something an uneducated/uninformed idiot would say…
That's a gross oversimplification of what is being discussed here, you need to read everyone's comments a little more closely to understand the larger picture.
Please bear in mind that you're only making yourself look more foolish by continuing the personal attacks on people whose experience is different to yours, calling those who have not had glowing reports of Hyundai & Kia cars uneducated idiots for merely voicing their own personal anecdotes is just childish. Is that how you behave at your "major brand" jobs???
@StewBalls:
The adtrans automotive group and Swann warranties.
What's your 'experience' that gives you the right to crap on the Cerato and the Accent? A cousin or a mate who only buys Toyotas?
Funny fact:
Toyota have had the largest number of warranty claims with us in the past 2 years on extended new car warranties. Jeep are #2.
I'm not posting references or stats. I don't care if you believe me. Anyone in the auto industry will back up what I'm saying.
What's your 'experience' that gives you the right to crap on the Cerato and the Accent?
Again, you haven't read all of the comments…that info is all there. I'm not claiming to be an expert, just sharing my anecdotes…which, surprise, surprise, also happen to be in common with some other users as well.
Toyota have had the largest number of warranty claims with us in the past 2 years on extended new car warranties.
I'll wager they also had the highest number of sales too…see where I'm going with this??? Stats can be fun…
I'm not posting references or stats.
Yer, I didn't think we'd see them… ;)
I don't care if you believe me. Anyone in the auto industry will back up what I'm saying.
Oh snap, that's it, you just won the whole damn internet, right there! :)
I'm seeing numerous spouts/ooinions/stories by you but no evidence of anything.
Should i ask you to post proof of your claims with these brands?
Please do so and justify everything you've said about the cars so far.
Or are you a hypocrite?
you are completely clueless.
Yep, he didn't know what he is talking about. Maybe just waked up from a dream he started in 1985
I'd avoid this person's comments, clearly has no idea.
4 comments in 5 years? Really?
But none about his BMX :-)
It's a Mountain Bike, brah…
@StewBalls: Hmm, didn't mean to strike a nerve guys. Sorry about that. Yes I would also avoid my advice of burning $25k.
I had a Hyundai Accent for a little over 10 years. No problems, cheap to run, cheap to insure, servicing was a breeze, 160,000kms, no complaints.
I decided to 'upgrade' to a Honda Accord. Honda is apparently supposed to mean quality these days, I kept the car for 2 years and got rid of it as it was a lemon, problems non stop.
My 2 cents
I work on quite a few cars and am no stranger to buying them. I know you dont want second hand but Hyundai's are fantastic cars they have extremely good build quality these days and hold up for huge amount of Km's (ever wonder why a large percentage of hire cars are Hyundai). However as you have seen peoples view of them is somewhat archaic…. hence they depreciate quicker than most Japanese brands. Hyundai are the most underrated cars in my humble opinion, buy a year old one for a fraction of the price and enjoy many cheap and painless hundred thousand Kms. As you said though you dont want second hand so please disregard what I am saying.
This is only an economic perspective though and does not take into account marketing coolness or sexiness of different new cars, just depends on how much weight you give each factor, if economic it is a used hyundai hands down (yes this is taking into account perceived tax offset, warranty, service ect ect of new car)
Regardless of all the impressive hype of tax, service, leasing ect ect on buying new cars only buy a new car if being the sole owner means more to you than 40% of the price.
hence they depreciate quicker than most Japanese brands.
I think you'll find that's the rental cars fault. Too many flooding the market at a cheap price mean the resale plummets. Privately owned vehicles have to be sold for close to the price of the ex-rentals otherwise they won't sell. Look at VF Commodore, great car, popular. Ex-rentals flood the market at a ridiculously cheap price, resale plummets.
Taking an example that's close to me, Suzuki Swift - Japanese built and reliable as all buggery, 1 of the strongest resale of it's segment. Guess what, no ex-rentals out there.
I totally agree! Another reason why they are a great buy (post depreciation) and why I love the used Hyundai's for great value and reliability.
A good point, but another thing you should consider is japanese cars have a higher resale value partly also because theres a tuners market out there for them.
Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, Mitsubishi, all boast their flagship sport cars (i.e. Type R, Supra/celica/86, STi wrx/liberty/forester, Lancer Evo/mirage/colt). Even if you dont have one of these, you can convert some standard cars (civics, wrx, lancers) by adding aftermarket parts that enable it to perform on par if not better than the flagships.
Because of this "tuner demand", you will find that some very old japanese cars (i.e Integra Type R, VTi-R civic and Integras, '99 WRX) can still fetch around 3-5K for a decent one, even though its like 17 years old. You dont get this with any of the korean cars.
Yeah was referring to something like a Swift.
I'm not sure of your nationality, but performance modification is a very small part of the automotive industry here. Like tiny. Minuscule.
Ability to tune and modify means close to zero when it comes to resale.
@Spackbace: Im asian and im australian. It may not be as big as in the US but it definitely is not as small as you think. Being someone who keeps feelers in the car scene (esp with hondas) there are active facebook groups such as "Recycle that JDM Part", "Perth Honda Community", "JDM Rims" with hundreds (some thousands) of members who patrol the forums every day looking for second hand parts. Others do conversions of their AUDM cars to make their cars look more JDM. People are buying and selling second hand (and new) JDM rims all the time (e.g. enkei, works, RAY'S/VOLKS, ADVAN, Buddyclub, BBS, Lenso, Mugen, Nismo, TRD, OZ Racing, list goes on)
With the local manufacturing of cars in australia ending in 2017, performance and cosmetic modification will only go up as more JDM parts will become more accessible to those who need it.
Ability to tune and modify definitely means something when it comes to resale. Its all supply and demand. If there is a demand (i.e. people want to buy it to tune it, put in a different engine, turn it into a race car), then it will hold its value much longer. That is the reason why a 1993 honda civic hatchback with an integra type R engine in it (in good paint condition) still gets sold for above 5K. If there was no demand for that, they wouldnt be able to sell it for that much.
I get what you're saying, but you are coming from an enthusiast view. You look at a car, and you see what else you can do to it. You don't just see it for what it is.
I'm coming from the fact I sell new and used cars to Joe Public. I've seen what they care about. Most don't even care about the size of an alloy wheel, let alone what else can be done.
Suzuki? I briefly considered a few when looking for a cheap (< $1000) daily.
Liana/Baleno, if you can find any still running…problems with transmissions, cooling systems and head gaskets is what I saw much of.
So how is it that my Hyundai of similar age is still intact, even with patchy service history?!
I have reservations with Suzuki as a long-term ownership prospect.
Less than a grand?
Yeah… go base your opinions on 20yo cars. Well done.
2002-2005 models with the Suzis under 200K. Not that old to consider longevity, is it?
You have $20k, why do you need to spend that on a FIRST car? I spent $3.5k on a BMW 318i, E46 (2001) 1.9L - which still gets going and uses less fuel in the long term. I have spent $400 on parts and now it is working perfectly.
All I am saying is that you don't need to spend more than probably $10k on a car especially your first one since you can always find good deals such as I did and look around for a while before jumping on something.
Would I recommend my car? probably to an enthusiastic person who is willing to do repairs themselves (not saying all repairs, such as brakes, and other critical parts) but I have repaired my radiator and a radiator to thermostat hose by myself and learnt a lot through doing so.
Also my advice would be to stay away from Chinese made cars (European cars can be a lot more expensive to repair, maintain, etc. but they usually have more advanced technologies and are built a LOT better). Do your research in terms of part failure rates, etc, and how much it will cost to maintain - it's usually worth spending less money on a car you can afford to repair than a newer car that needs repairs in the future you cannot afford. You still need to take into account the amount of fuel, brakes, oil, etc the car goes through when it is working optimally.
Do yourself a favour and use unleaded 95 or 98 in a petrol car, it helps keep the engine a lot more cleaner, lasts longer and costs less in the LONGER term, additives in e10 can ruin your car's engine over time.
I have sat in a Hyundai Getz a few times, they feel like they are zippy enough, but the engine noise for a small car is quite loud.
Build quality in my experience is nothing like a Honda or other japanese cars.
Examples: 3rd tail brake light (mounted inside) rattles at certain rpms when accelerating, obnoxious engine roar.The rattling got annoying that while i was a passenger i would hold it to stop it from rattling.
Ill leave out firsthand and second hand experiences from older cars for the same of fairness.
Been in a Kia Optima a few times, they seem better built.
Want better resell value? definitely buy japanese.
Consider a Suzuki Swift, theyre supposed to be brilliant.
My opinion is to buy second hand for your first car so you get a better idea of what is good and what isnt. if you dent it, scratch it, bump it, you wont feel as much pain. Also as soon as you drive a car out of a showroom you lose 2-3k on it. Buy a good second hand car and if you need to sell it in one year, youll only have lost a hundred or two tops. Buy a second hand car that will last you 3-4 years (when you get a job youll probably think about buying another)
I do hope you didn't just base your opinion on Korean cars on the Hyundai Getz…!
I have had second hand experiences shared with me who would tell me not to buy one. Cars built in Japan irrespective of how much they costed dont do odd rattles like this. A Honda Jazz or Toyota yaris feels like its better built than a Getz
Getz was sold for about $14k, Jazz/Yaris closer to $20k.
Get why I mean it's not a fair comparison?
@Spackbace: Current RRP of Jazz is $17K, Easily able to knock off about 3-4K depending on if youre willing to negotiate. Not sure if the margin on the Getz is as high that you can easily knock off that much.
Granted there is a price difference but with cars typically it is a case of WYPIWYG. For that reason is why certain Kia cars are no longer substantially less than their other european rivals (in the UK).
Cost of living in Japan is substantially higher than the cost of living in Korea, therefore you would expect the price to be higher. However nobody is going to buy the exact same performing car if one costs more than the other (even factoring in different area costs of living). Therefore the japanese car companies need to make their cars "worth" the extra cost.
With cars its very simple, you can only add value in a few ways:
Performance
Materials & build quality
service (parts, warranties)
aesthetics and customisation
Lets just put it this way, when i pop the hood of my 2000 Honda Civic, i find components made by Honda (obviously), Stanley (plastics, housings, lights), Denso (alternators, air conditioning parts), NISIN (brake calipers, suspension, other componentry im not familiar with), Enkei (rims. Some not all).
These manufacturers make some of the best parts available, that enthusiasts go out and buy aftermarket parts for. Some of these companies have highly sought after products in motorsport (esp NISIN, enkei, and Denso).
The only way you cut costs on these components is to buy cheaper parts. And with automotive parts WYPIWYG definitely
@nairdajun: Yeah I did read a comment that Korean parts are very costly and there isn't much of a 2nd hand market with parts that last.
Thanks for this in depth post, will stick to Japanese only.
We recently hired a car through Thrifty and it was a brand new Hyundai Accent only had like 500km on the clock. We had it for 7 days and it was fantastic. Easy to drive, plenty of space and good features. Boot had plenty of space for our luggage and foldable pram too. Great car. Cant comment on the Kia as I haven't driven that particular model. We do own a 2015 KIA Sportage in our family and also has been very reliable, very happy with that too.
Seriously dude, don't buy a Korean car, have some self respect.
Oh Thorton I do enjoy your comments.
You tell it like it is.
Well yeah, same as CVT vs 4/5/6 speed gearbox affects the drive
But I'm currently driving (demo) a 1.4L SUV and it's fun as hell.
It's a 1.4T (petrol), 103kw in a car that weighs 1170kg. But people like the above comment would just go "oh no, 1.4L, no that can't be a good drive!" :)