SUV Choice for a Noob

wau2 on 05/11/2019 - 22:37
Last edited 09/11/2019 - 17:36 by 1 other user

So upgrading to an SUV (currently on 2008 civic) due to the following reasons:

  • height
  • wife wants one
  • easier to put kid (plus another one on the way) into car without bending and breaking back
  • high boot space

  • did i say wife wants one

  • budget of 30 to max max 40k

  • prefer a balance between practical and comfort. if i had to choose one - practicality
  • prefer demo (1-2 year) old car but may consider new. sorry won’t consider private market (bad experiences)

thanks heaps

Edit: wow rav4. Would ppl recommend the non hybrid model or the 18 or 19 model? (More for time purposes)

Poll Options expired

  • 1
    honda crv
  • 1
    hyundai kona
  • 8
    hyundai tucson
  • 4
    Kia Seltos
  • 1
    mitsubishi asx
  • 24
    toyota rav4
Automotive Car SUV

Comments

  • Ryanek on 05/11/2019 - 22:46
    +2

    RAV4 hybrid my good man.

    • slick7 on 06/11/2019 - 00:32
      +1

      This is a league of its own at the moment - only downside is the waiting time - maybe try to find a weird colour demo so you dont have to wait as long

      • spackbace on 06/11/2019 - 00:37
        +2

        No dealer will be selling demos, coz they can't replace them

    • wau2 on 06/11/2019 - 06:30

      Would you recommend non hybrid rav4(cause of wait)

  • John Kimble on 05/11/2019 - 23:04
    +2

    Those are all different sized SUVs…what do you want/need???

  • pegaxs on 05/11/2019 - 23:10

    Tucson or new Rav. The Kona is nice, but a bit smaller than the Tucson. The Kona felt more like a jacked up i30 than an SUV.

    And Kia, you should have put up Sportage or Sorento over the Seltzer

    InB4: all the butt hurt Mazda/Subaru/VW fanbois turn up and moan about their choice not being on your list…

    • spackbace on 05/11/2019 - 23:18

      Yeah I doubt Kona or Seltos will be fun with 2 kids in back!

    • inherentchoice on 06/11/2019 - 11:57

      Kona felt more like a jacked up i30

      I thought it is a jacked up i30 with the same engine and lots of other bits?

  • justaperson on 05/11/2019 - 23:15
    +3

    If you want value for money you can't go past the new Renault Koleos Formula Edition for $36990. It's basically a Nissan X-Trail mechanically and electrically, so it can be serviced and maintained cheaply at any mechanic, but has much better styling, safety features and interior finish/features. For the price, nothing beats it in the combination of size, features and build quality and it has a 7 year warranty.

    • spackbace on 05/11/2019 - 23:20
      +2

      7 year warranty is great and all, except it'll be worth about $1 in 7 years time.

      Kia has 7 years, everyone has 5, Toyota has 7 on the engine/drive train. It's really not a major point now to talk 5 vs 7yrs warranty. Not like the old 3yrs vs 7 debate

      • justaperson on 05/11/2019 - 23:32
        +1

        They're cheap to buy new (10k cheaper than an equiv. RAV4) so consequently will depreciate faster. If we look at 7 year old examples currently, they're worth about 10-12k, while a XA30 RAV4 is worth about 14-16k. Not a bad loss considering the car was 10k cheaper to buy new (actually IIRC in 2012 a RAV4 cruiser was around 40k while you could buy a Bose edition Koleos with the same equipment for around 12k cheaper due to dealer discounts) and they likely cost the same to maintain over the same period. Toyota tax in the used market will always be a thing putting it against any equivalent car of the same vintage, and that's part of the reason why new, it's 10k more comparatively. I'm sure you'd give far more on trade-in for a Yaris than you would on a Micra of the same age too.

        • spackbace on 05/11/2019 - 23:36

          Brand new Toyotas have a very good CPS that makes it hard to go past. First 5yrs/75,000km services on the RAV4 total $1050 ($210 every 12m/15,000kms). Not to mention, the recommendations for hybrid mean fuel economy at around 5L/100km on regular fuel. Going forward, economical cars will be more sought after, just gotta see the wait times for hybrid now as a reflection.

          For a family car that you just want to service and not have it break on you, and not break the bank over the course of ownership, the hybrid RAV4 is perfect :)

          • justaperson on 05/11/2019 - 23:52

            @spackbace: Economical cars are already highly sought after from what I can see in the used market even now. 4 year old Kia Rios are worth about the same 4 year old Ceratos even though the Rios were much cheaper to buy new. The Prius C and V hold their value extremely well, a used Honda Jazz Hybrid is about 3k more than it's petrol engine equivalent, you used to be able to buy the last of the Daihatsu Sirions for around 2k now you can't really find one under 4. Of course I agree there are a lot of changes coming in the used market and that hybrids will be the norm, but is that extra residual later on really worth an extra 14k now over the Koleos (RAV4 Hybrid Cruiser is around 50k) I'm not so sure.

    • whooah1979 on 06/11/2019 - 04:53

      It's basically a Nissan X-Trail mechanically and electrically,

      French vehicles are not known for their reliability. Why not buy an Xtrail then?

      • pegaxs on 06/11/2019 - 07:29

        Exactly… Why buy an X-Trail and ruin it by putting Renault badges on it. That has just killed any potential resale value the vehicle had.

      • nubzy on 06/11/2019 - 08:44
        +2

        Current day French cars are just reliable as the rest. Infact Peugeot is ranked number 1 most reliable brand in the UK. Now that Renault and Nissan share parts there is no concern about buying one either, and I agree with justaperson that the overall feel of the car is better than X-Trail. Who cares about resale if you're going to keep the car 5+ years.

      • justaperson on 06/11/2019 - 10:45
        +1

        Because they're the same car, with one being significantly cheaper for an equivalent specification of the same car. LOL 'French cars are not known for their reliability' That statement might hold true if it was a French car but it's a Japanese car, built in South Korea, with a French badge. At this point that's like calling the Mercedes X-Class a German car, which is laughable.

        • spackbace on 06/11/2019 - 13:09
          +2

          but it's a Japanese car, built in South Korea

          That makes it a Korean car, not a Japanese car…

          • justaperson on 06/11/2019 - 19:59

            @spackbace: Yeah my mistake from this morning, I meant Japanese components. Either way it’s not a French car besides the badge on the front.

            • pegaxs on 06/11/2019 - 21:16

              @justaperson: It’s still a French company that has a track record or not giving a shit about their customers and charging obscene prices for their parts, regardless of where they are made.

              It doesn’t matter where the cars come from if the parent company still have the same attitude towards their customers and after sales service.

              The only thing that comes of putting french badges on Japanese/Korean cars is that it breeds distrust in Japanese/Korean cars and just about doubles the depreciation…

              • justaperson on 06/11/2019 - 22:00

                @pegaxs: Part costs aren’t an issue due to the parts sharing between the two companies. I’ll agree that servicing a Renault after warranty is rubbish. Case in point the oil filter for a Koleos is made in the same factory same 15208 part number with the Renault badge is $30 on trade. It’s $17 at Nissan with the exact same part numbers. It’s not hard to do research and it certainly isn’t hard to get genuine parts from alternate sources, in this case, the Nissan dealer. The same applies to suspension parts and various chassis parts - basically anything on the car that will eventually fail. Would interior parts and body parts be expensive? Absolutely. But then they’re not the bits of the car you’re routinely replacing unless you abuse it.

        • whooah1979 on 06/11/2019 - 20:07

          Dedbny isn’t laughing.

  • spackbace on 05/11/2019 - 23:17
    +2

    Spend the money and get a hybrid RAV4 for $40k, if you can afford to wait up to 6 months. That's a car you can have for years, and room for the 2nd kid

  • Richardc on 06/11/2019 - 03:28

    for your reasons, why not try Honda odyssey?

    • whooah1979 on 06/11/2019 - 04:57

      It’s a MPV and not an SUV.

  • Bourb on 06/11/2019 - 05:03

    Kia Seltos looks like a 'value for money' option. The Koreans are manufacturing reliable and economical cars these days, so the Seltos could be worth a look.

  • Euphemistic on 06/11/2019 - 05:44
    +3

    Go and drive all of them. Pick the one YOU like most. They will all do the job. If you want, come back and ask again after your test drives and have narrowed it down to two.

    Only other comment is that Seltos, ASX, Kona are smaller than the others. IMO they are a cross over between hatchback and SUV. The market has so many different variations of SUV now that asking for an SUV leaves it open for too many choices. From hatchback with a tiny lift kit (seltos, asx) to 7 seat off road monster (prado, Pajero) with lots in between. You need to think what size SUV you want.

  • Queue2Queue on 06/11/2019 - 08:52
    +1

    Personally looking in to the Seltos and waiting for the CX-30.
    Kona is too small
    CRV apparently is a pain to pull kids in and out
    ASX is on an old platform

    Given you will have 2 kids, I would suggest to look in to the Mazda CX-5 as well

  • John Kimble on 06/11/2019 - 09:03

    CRV apparently is a pain to pull kids in and out

    How so?

    • Queue2Queue on 06/11/2019 - 10:45
      +1

      My mistake, I was thinking of the HRV with the low sweeping door making it tough to pull kids in and out.

  • dogboy on 06/11/2019 - 09:20
    +1

    Nissan X-Trail would be my pick.

  • navyskies on 06/11/2019 - 10:48
    +2

    Any reason no Mazda CX-5s?

    They'd be my choice TBH.

  • Archi on 06/11/2019 - 11:19
    +1

    base model 7 seat santa fe would be heaps of room and in budget

    as an example
    https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2018-hyundai-santa-…

    MY19 under 40k

    bucket loads more boot space than any of your options when used as a 5 seater then you have an option to have 7 seats
    middle row can still fit an adult with 2 car seats, I doubt any of your options can do that maybe the rav4

  • ShortyX on 07/11/2019 - 10:24

    Other considerations for the future:

    • large SUV?
    • 4WD for off road/beach?
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