Buying a new car - HELP please!

cynvero on 14/08/2016 - 20:07

Hi guys,
We would need to buy a new car soon, as our loved Renault Scenic is getting old and costing us too much money in mechanics :(
Our search is around the following:

  • SUV or similar
  • 2013+
  • No more than 40.000 Km
  • Budget… preferably no more than $20K
  • No European brands (spare parts are so expensive!)

Our options seem to be Holden Captiva, Holden Trax or maybe some Hyundai ix35.

What do you think/recommend? Any other model which is worth to increase our budget a little bit?

Any help will be much appreciated! :)

Automotive

Comments

        • alucard147 on 18/08/2016 - 19:33

          @Spackbace:
          …..made and designed are two different concepts, where is iphone made? china. But you can't say iphone is Chinese phone right?All the beautiful and amazing function of the phone is designed overseas.
          tons of money put in R&D to make a good reliable car, assembling is just a basic process to put things together. even bridgestone and Michelin tyres made in china and sell overseas, the tyre will mark as made in china designed by XXXXXX. the formula to make that tyre could worth billions of dollar.
          Thailand just got even lower labour cost so they build over there.

          but anyway we can stop here because don't really care about holden and Colorado and this little sub-discussion won't help anyone but only we are arguing an almost dead brand-holden, a dead brand anyway. few years later there will be no Australia made holden anymore since they will all moved to Thai, and sell re branded cars back to Australia, who cares about reliability XD

        • spackbace on 18/08/2016 - 19:37

          @alucard147:

          You still haven't found any proof that a 2012 onwards Colorado has any ties with Japan!

          • Vehicle is built in Thailand by GM
          • 2.8TD engine is made in Thailand by GM

          So what, because the body is partly Isuzu you think the vehicle has ties to Japan…?! No, it doesn't!

          And epic backtrack btw, with statements like these:

          Thailand just got even lower labour cost so they build over there.

          Face it, once again,

          No Holden cars have anything to do with Japan!

          I really hope you don't actually work on any cars…

    • enzioFirenze on 18/08/2016 - 14:40
      +1

      Greatwall? I wouldn't touch that crap with a stick!

  • HeWhoKnows on 15/08/2016 - 20:58
    +1

    When it comes to used cars you are rather limited by choice. Buy the best one you can find within your budget. Maybe drive them all and see if you prefer one over the other. I'd also recommend the Nissan X-trail. High reliability. Cheap to run. Well built. You also need to specify what you use it for. Eg 3 young kids or tradesman's vehicle????

  • loropy9 on 15/08/2016 - 21:27
    +2

    You are right about staying away from European cars. I lived in Europe for 30 years and since migrating to Australia I wouldn't touch a European car with a 10-metre poll. They are marketed to people who obviously believe that the sun rises from Europe. Well it doesn't. It truly rises from Japan when it comes to car makers.
    For your budget, you would be looking at a new Mitsubishi ASX when it's on sale for 25K's. I've driven the ASX a few times as rental and cannot fault it. I regret I bought the Camry this year instead of the ASX, thinking I'd get more size for the money.

    Camry's build quality is poor, they have saved in so many places in that car, I bet it still sells only because of the low price and people fall for the toyota badge. Some of the issues: The seats are absurdly uncomfortable and hot even in autumn. The steering is rudimentary - the steering wheel provides too little feedback in roundabouts. If you use your wiper-wash your windshield while your right hand side window is open, you'll get water from the windshield through the drivers window and directly onto the window power switch.

    This being said, the Rav 4 is a great car, but out of your price range.

    Also I bought a new car for peace of mind. Too bad it was a Camry :)

  • coolhead on 15/08/2016 - 21:34
    +1

    where are you located?
    i went to werribee mitsubishi over the weekend and they have fullyt loaded ASX 2015, 30,000kms for $21,888.
    5 years factory warranty. pretty good deal

    • cynvero on 17/08/2016 - 11:19

      NSW, Hills area, but I will have a look at them definitely. Thanks!

  • cushydeskjob on 15/08/2016 - 21:46
    +2

    Subaru Forester. Bulletproof, made in Japan, excellent resale so lower total cost of ownership given depreciation will be your largest expense. A far greater car than the sum of its parts. My $0.02 worth.

    • spackbace on 16/08/2016 - 10:24

      Not a bad choice too :) Roof mounted anchor points suck, both otherwise good cars. CVT can be pretty thirsty

  • 2Cents on 15/08/2016 - 23:48
    +1

    You might want to try checking out:
    http://spendlikeaboss.com

  • nxllson on 16/08/2016 - 12:08
    +1

    http://www.carsales.com.au/cars/results?sortby=TopDeal&limit…

    All that has the settings just for you :)

  • Derrick Crane on 16/08/2016 - 16:59
    +1

    If you can find another 5k you could consider a brand new Mitsubishi ASX. Took delivery of one on Saturday,cannot believe how much comes as standard in the base model.

  • UNO on 16/08/2016 - 18:53
    +1

    So many options… I am in a similar position to you, but with a it higher budget. I am looking at the Ford Kuga, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota Rav4. I quite like the Sunday are Forester too.

    I looked at the Kia and Hyundai suvs but they aren't for me. I wouldn't even look at the Holden Captiva.

    • spackbace on 16/08/2016 - 18:54
      +2

      With those on your list, please look at the Suzuki Vitara.

      I've made my associations known already, and I won't go into a sales speech over it, just look at and drive the S-Turbo :)

      • Matt P on 16/08/2016 - 19:34

        Isnt the vitara a size down though? Perhaps not from the kuga but def from the cx/rav

        • spackbace on 16/08/2016 - 19:37
          +1

          You'd be surprised about it up against the Rav

          Depends what you want out of the car. Drive & features wise, I can say with hand on heart that the S-Turbo kills an entry level Rav, and for the same selling price too

        • Matt P on 16/08/2016 - 19:38

          @Spackbace: by all means, i was just talking size. The Rav are a typical toyota anyway, completely soulless.

        • spackbace on 16/08/2016 - 19:38

          @Matt P:

          Yeah :) But just compare, the Vitara might have just enough room

        • UNO on 16/08/2016 - 21:09
          +1

          @Spackbace: I am actually looking for two cars, a family SUV for two kids under 5 plus a dog, and then a small city runaround.

          I plan to trade in my VW Golf wagon. I was hoping to do a deal, but I am struggling to find one manufacturer with a car in each class/size that I like!

          I like the Swift Sport, but not so much the Vitra.

        • Soluble on 17/08/2016 - 13:24

          Had a rav and now have a Kuga, size is pretty much identical.

  • Speckled Jim on 16/08/2016 - 19:57
    +1

    Well, I've surprised myself by seeing many VW Tiguans comfortably within the 20K budget. They're pre-2013 though.
    Personally, I'd only consider it on the condition that the dealer offered a fair warranty.

    Otherwise if a jacked-up Golf doesn't appeal, how about a jacked-up Tiida (Dualis)?

    • [Deactivated] on 16/08/2016 - 21:44

      A CVT? I don't think so. A Tig is a much better car than a Dualis.

      • Speckled Jim on 17/08/2016 - 09:37

        They also did manuals. I never consider auto but CVT seems acceptable to many.

  • frostman on 17/08/2016 - 09:39
    +1

    Funnily, I recently test drove the Nissan XTrail TI as i'm a bit of a car nut

    here are my observations:

    Internal Camera view is shit. I said that verbose to the sales man. The car has 4 cameras and the internal display shows all 4 camera angles at the same time which can make you more confused. I think it was meant for shit drivers but lets keep that a secret.

    Engine lacks balls, I test drove the 2.5L CX5 and it feels 50% more responsive than the XTrails' 2.4L

    Interior, particularly the dash and steering wheel feel very much out dated

    now the positives

    • Its a solid built car, i.e you wont have to worry about issues post warranty

    • Has some extras that you'd get in more expensive cars like the driving lights and adaptive headlights

    • Looks nice from the outside, the Koleos looks horrible

    • cynvero on 17/08/2016 - 11:27

      Don't you like the Koleos? It's a beauty! :)) Different tastes definitely…
      Thanks for your reply :)

      • frostman on 17/08/2016 - 12:29
        +1

        Don't you like the Koleos? It's a beauty! :)) Different tastes definitely

        The new ones are nice,

        the older style 2012+ looks bad, IMO

    • Matt P on 17/08/2016 - 19:00

      Funnily enough i have a brand new koleos on loan in my driveway right now. To look at its a great car. Good size, comfortable etc.. Power is very pedestrian but the stereo/button gear in the centre console is INFURIATING. Touch screen that is pretty much unusable in direct sunlight.

  • activ8newbs on 17/08/2016 - 17:07
    +1

    Mazda CX Series…You may need to increase your budget ever so slightly… but the CX 5, 7 and 9 are where the gold is at.

    Hands down value for money. Features, looks, decent price, decent brand name, and easy to find spare parts (Cheap too).

    Someone please correct me if I'm wrong in recommending the CX range.

    • Matt P on 17/08/2016 - 19:02

      I agree that the new gen CX9 is great but the earlier models were too thirsty IMO. The CX7 is just as thirsty but smaller. IMO give the CX7 a pass

      • activ8newbs on 18/08/2016 - 15:41

        Thirsty?

        Do you mean literally…like fuel consumption? Or you mean too many features packed in a somewhat small car?

        Sorry for noob question, I'm honestly not sure waht you mean.

        • Matt P on 18/08/2016 - 19:27
          +1

          High fuel consumption. Mostly metro driving i had clients averaging 18l/100kms in cx7/9. Worst was 21L/100kms in a CX7

        • PVA on 18/08/2016 - 19:35
          +1

          yes, cx7 is terrible for fuel use. thats the one big complaint my sister had with hers. friends with a cx9 said the same. worse than their jeep six cylinder.

        • PinzVidz on 19/08/2016 - 07:38

          @Matt P:

          Just to clarify here, this will be referring to the CX-7 with the 2.3 litre turbo petrol engine. The CX-7 late in its life got the 2.5 litre naturally aspirated petrol engine from the Mazda6/Mazda3 SP25 just for the base model Classic FWD, which is definitely nowhere near as thirsty as the 2.3 litre turbo that continued in the upper grade variants.

        • Matt P on 19/08/2016 - 18:38

          @PinzVidz: i am referring to the 2.3t but both are thirsty as cx7 is quite heavy

  • moza on 19/08/2016 - 09:23

    We purchased a Mitsubishi Outlander 2014 Ed. and are really, really happy with it. Basic car, big boot, does everything we need it to. Fine off road as well, and ok clearance for creek crossings etc in weekends away.

  • Hyder on 19/08/2016 - 09:25

    Get a Subaru Forrester. It has the top reliability rating on consumer reports. A rare honor.
    You can get one cheap from Auctions (look for full service history). Ex-Govt. or ex-lease vehicles are the ones to go for.

    • Matt P on 19/08/2016 - 18:39

      yeah most ex lease vehicles have a good service history (because its prepaid and their fleet managers harass them if they dont service them) and have usually had a UWT report done (unfair wear and tear) which charges the costs of the repairs back to the company who leased them so often no major scratches etc..

  • Brainwhacker on 25/08/2016 - 19:02

    You would definitely benefit from evaluating the Mitsubishi Outlander ,

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