I'm currently in the market looking for my first car. Budget is around $4000. Don't care for aesthetics, just need a car to get me from point a to point b.
My requirements:
*automatic
*needs to be a small car; preferably a hatch
*fuel efficient
*low maintenance cost
Any help or suggestions will be deeply appreciated! Thanks!
300k xcel
Hyundai Getz 1.6L
Damn, I read it as 4 Hundred Dollars instead of 4 Thousand…
An old yaris mazda2 nissan tiida
2001ish Toyota Corolla / Yaris / Starlet
2002ish Mitsubishi Lancer / Mirage
2000ish Honda Civic
Look for something around the 150K KMs mark, and any of these tick all the boxes
Jazz, in addition to the ones mentioned above.
FYI, you also need to consider transfer, registration, insurance and maintenance/service costs.
Nissan Tiida's must be getting close to that price point.
The only catch is to get a privately owned model, rather than an ex-rental.
It's the perfect budget car if you don't care about looks.
Reasonably modern, meaning decent safety features and possibly even nice to have's like Bluetooth, reliable and powerful enough, fairly simple, so easier to maintain, good size in and out.
And best of all, the Tiida killed off the good name of Pulsar in Australian buyers minds, so now Nissan have brought it back, Pulsar's have tanked too, putting further downward pressure on Tiida prices.
Corolla or Echo/Yaris. What town/city do you live in, OP, so we can throw some suggestions at you on carsales and the likes?
I'm located in Melbourne. Thanks for your help so far!
No worries. Just had a quick look…
Yaris YR at $5K here, make an offer. YR has 1.3 litre motor, and struggles a little with an auto, particularly on hills.
Yaris YRX also at $5K here. YRS and YRX had 1.5 litre motor, so a little more get up and go.
All Yaris from that era (NCP90R/NCP91R, 2005-2011) come with at least ABS and dual bags. Additional airbags (for a total of 7) were optional.
There's plenty of Corollas available down there, the ZZE-122R (2001-2007) is a bulletproof car and the 1.8 litre has a little more poke than the Yaris' 1.3/1.5. Good example here, top of the range Ultima with front/side airbags, ABS, and that super comfy luxurious beige interior trim. Ad caught my eye as the owner as posted photos of everything, service history, invoices, very honest by the looks of things. This one also at $5K, throw them an offer if you like it.
Let us know if you see any other examples.
Thank you so much! Your insight is really valuable and I really appreciated it!
Spend 2k on the lowest kms Jazz you can find, budget 1k for rego and 1k for a service, tires, and any little thing that might need to be fixed. Motoring sorted for years.
Source: I've owned a Jazz and numerous other cars. Best small used car there is honestly. More room inside than all the others, too.
That sounds too good to be true. Seems the only thing they aren’t offering is a free set of steak knives.
Check Carsales