Hi Everyone,
Looking to finally buy my 1st car.
Budget : Under 15000
Use : Minimal
My workplace and home is 5 minutes walk from station so will not be using it frequently.
Need something low maintenance and for long drives on weekend say once or twice a month.
Thanks
I suppose this is a joke, but you can buy used v6 Commodores for peanuts, and the fuel cost for occasional use is not very much greater.
It would take hundreds of country drives before the price difference to an economical Honda or Toyota is made up.
And the Holden is nicer on a long drive.
no joke,
occasional use = no worries re fuel consumption and V8 much more fun to drive.
.
P plater can't have high performance
Mazda 2
A small reliable used car - I vote the Ozbargain favourite - a Toyota Corolla with low mileage and full service history. Just had a quick look at private seller used cars - looks like for $15k you can get a fairly recent model, eg this:
https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Toyota-Corolla-2…
I agree!
Spend less.
Get a corolla.
I'm looking for something similar but under 10K.
Need something low maintenance and for long drives on weekend say once or twice a month.
How long is long? GoGet/Carnextdoor/car shares are viable options/could work out cheaper if you really stick to only once or twice a month and there are some conveniently around you. We did it for about a year, but having 2 kids now makes it a bit more of a hassle.
Still, not as convenient as having your own car obviously.
Bike
Pushbike or Opal car, for 5min waste of money
It's for
for long drives on weekend.
so, longer than 5 minutes.
Wouldn't OP be better off hiring a car in those circumstances?
Nice reading comprehension
You'll be able to get a decent Corolla if you are patient and negotiate well.
Get a ute at your age you could be moving around or have mates moving soon and that could be a side income.
Utes do better burnouts than corolla.
You can stick a dirt bike in the back of a ute or small tinny.
You can't take the fat friend of the new hot date in the back of a ute.
You can be more romantic in the back of a ute than a corolla.
*Assumes OP is a bogan.
Absolutely hillarious
Try different car with Goget, car next door, and other leasing companies for your weekend drive & then decide on which car you like best.
How much is an A200 AMG worth these days?
Too much. They actually increase in price if they have been bought as an investment vehicle…
Corolla or i30
I'm not having a go at this OP specifically, but I've seen a number of these posts in the past where OP's ask everyone to "recommend me something" where there's literally hundreds of options for that item. The OP hasn't made much of an effort to narrow down the possible options or provided much other info for someone else to narrow down the options. What's worse is, the item that recommendations are being sort are subjective to personal taste and/or opinion.
How are the responses really useful to anyone? In this case, the responses will just end up being a whole list of cars that at least one user likes.
Yep.
I saw your comment shortly after you posted it, and I thought that should pretty much finish this posting, but still the opinions flow in.
Sometimes I wonder if it's just someone's excitement of having/getting something and the need to announce it to whole world (even though it's pretty much anonymous here)…
The OZB world?!
I was driving Honda Civic 2006 recently that I sold for $4000. Served me well and could still go strong another 10 years perhaps. Just wanted to upgrade to slightly newer car.
think about this way.
1, u need to pay insurance + Rego as 1.5k per year as minimum.
2. car depreciation 10-15% per year
3. petrol.
4. potential of insurance claim assume its once in 3 years.
If it is a minimum use, just spend those credits (almost 3k)for Uber or car rental for day trip.
Ye get an uber down the rd to woolworths and back 3-4 times a week.
Buy a Rexy bro!
Don't get a car, or get a Corolla.
Corolla is a great first car.
Once or twice per month? I was like that five years ago and what I did was rent a car when I needed it; if you get a 3 day weekend rental rate (pick up Friday, return Monday) it can work out for like $100/weekend.
Owning a car in NSW for example, registration is around $550 per year, CTP is like $550 per year, then you need at least third party property (or comprehensive), say, another $500 per year - that's close to $2,000 per year. Plus cleaning, maintenance, servicing, and depreciation.
With rentals, you pick it up clean, you return it dirty and not need to worry.
If you become a regular renter and with the same car group - you get status, and with higher status you can get complimentary car upgrades. I remember being a Hertz Presidents Circle member and I was often upgraded from like a basic Corolla to Ford GE6 or Mini Cooper.
Thank you guys for your help!
My analysis after reading all comments:
Expanses (if I buy car):
Rego : 800
Insurance : say 100/month means 1200/year
servicing etc. : atleast 500/year
Total : 2500 /year
Expanses(rent a car)
Rent 1 weekend /month = 1200 aud/year
2-4 extra weekends = max 400/year
Renting a car is looking good for me.
Good analysis, but it looks to be the answer to a different question
Yeah, discussion actually made me rethink if I need a car now or can wait. Thanks mate!
Don't forget depreciation on the purchased car.
And either interest on the loan (if financed) or opportunity cost of investing the money instead (if paying cash).
^this. Which means in your final equation, the cost savings with renting a car are likely to be even greater
Get a Toyota Corolla, whatever model you can buy with the budget.
Very reliable car, cheap to run, reasonable size. It's big enough on the road to be stable for some weekend road trips (i drove my back and forth to Melbourne from Adelaide every 2-3 months for almost 3 years).
Cheap to service/maintain, parts are cheap to if required.
2013+ Corolla would be a safe option, but you should also consider a 2014+ Mazda 3 SP25 — a reliable car with great fuel economy, sporty look, and an enjoyable drive.
Why not 2007+ models corollas? Not everyone needs the latest model and if OP finds one which has been meticulously serviced and maintained, it should provide them with many more years of trouble free motoring to come
If looking at 2007+, which is the ZRE152R and ran through to early 2012, go for September 2010 production onwards. This is when Toyota standardised safety (i.e. VSC/TC and all airbags) across the board for all variants in the Corolla range.
there is only one* choice. a series 2 or 3 mx5. you will never regret it. (buy before you have responsibilities/family etc.) *2012-14 toyota 86 or 2004-8 bmw z4, or series 2 audi TT are also almost comparable fun.
V8 commodore wagon
.