UPDATE - bought a new Kia Seltos sports+ I think it’s a little overpriced for what it is and was only able to negotiate $1000 off. But decent feature set, smaller external dimensions but very similar internal dimensions to a cx-5 which was our next favourite. I added some detailed thoughts on the other cars we test drove in comments below, if of interest.
Hi,
I'm looking for a car, incidentally my first car. I'm 34, but have travelled a lot, and have tended to live near public transport and close to the city, so I've never needed to own a car before. But, do borrow family and friends cars from time to time, or rent them on holiday. Quite enjoy an interstate drive but no interest in anything off road.
Well my wife has just given birth, 4 weeks old, and suddenly, a car has gone from, how the hell would we ever justify owning a car when we can walk to everything (IGA 7 min walk, larger shopping strip 20ish mins) to how can 1 of us justify leaving the other for 90 mins to go to supermarket. We've been borrowing my mothers Hyundai Kona Highlander for the last month and a bit, but with restrictions easing in Melbourne, my mother is keen to get her car back. However, we still have appointments and things to go to, so we are kind of keen to get a car soon. However, given the pandemic, this seems a bit tricky given used car prices have really shot up and there isnt a lot of stock in Melbourne, and new car shipments seem down so not necessarily easy to get a new car either.
While, we did toy with the idea of getting a used $15k ish hatch, like an i30 or cerato, or an older corolla, the truth is we just liked some of the more modern tech they have been putting in the last 2-3 years (in particularly rear cross traffic, blind spot monitoring) and much prefer the ride height of an SUV on trips. Although I understand it is somewhat psychological.
So what we are looking for is:
- under $34,000 drive away
- Small/compact SUV (between 4-4.4m in length)
- Reasonable boot space for the size (330L+)
- Not super wide (around 1.8, smaller is better) - Our parking spot is really unpleasant
- Rear parking camera and sensor (front sensor a bonus with our spot)
- Blind spot and Rear Cross traffic (just note this is a very very strong preference, we would be reluctant to chose a car with out it). AEB and other related tech seems to be pretty standard, particularly if car has these.
- reasonably reliable brand with a future in this country (please dont recommend me a holden, alfa romeo, citreon)
- preference for Japanese /Korean, but open to cheaper european I guess.
We live in a 2 bedroom apartment, we dont have a lot of stuff, our pram is a travel pram -it'd fit in a mazda 2. So not really looking for recommendations on something insane like a 7 seater SUV.
Currently, we are looking at the following:
- Mazda CX-5 new, base model 2wd, has the safety, we like the look, but a bit on the large size. CX-3 seems too small in
boot size to make sense to us. - Kia Seltos Sport+, 7 year warranty, like the look, decent all-round package, but right at the top end of our budget and
seems like getting stock in next few months might be difficult (although 1 dealer we called had 2 in stock) - Suzuki Vitara Turbo - wife likes the look, reviews generally seem positive, fit out inside seems perhaps poor from a few
reviews.
- Mitsubishi ASX ES ADAS - Seems like you can get it for around 27/28 drive away, has basically teh safety tech we want.
But the car is boring af, and doesnt seem to excel in any one area. But the price is compelling as is the upto 10 year
warranty as long as you service at the dealer (which we probably would given the capped price). Dont like the new look
front end, but could live with it.
- Mitsubishi ASX ES ADAS - Seems like you can get it for around 27/28 drive away, has basically teh safety tech we want.
- Nissan Qashqai ST+ - generally seems to meet criteria
- VW T-Cross - not keen on the brand, but it looks nice, seems to ahve a decent feature set for the price even if the
optional packs do drive it up. Smaller than alternatives which is attractive.
- Skoda Kamiq - also seems to have a pretty decent offering, but to get rear cross traffic really drives the price up. Also not
as keen on the brand. Smaller than alternatives which is attractive.
- Skoda Kamiq - also seems to have a pretty decent offering, but to get rear cross traffic really drives the price up. Also not
We like the Kona, and theoretical a Kona Elite is just within our budget as well, But for the money the Seltos seems a better fit for us and not sure we need 2 in the family given mum has one. Subarus have been highly recommended to us by many people, but we dont need AWD and then to get the features we want is well out of our prices range on their smaller SUVs.
I'm asking for help as basically, im going around in circles. Not being able to test drive for another 1-2 weeks due to restrictions isnt helping.
Anyway, any recommendations including used cars would be appreciated. Used we'd ideally want something under 4 years old and under 50,000kms. But might consider something sub $15/16k (the saving might be too good to pass up) if its reliable and an SUV.
By (somewhat) popular demand TL;DR - Looking for compact SUV with rear cross traffic alert under 34k in Melbourne
I drive Kia and love it. Try to go for GT version