Looking for Advice for a First Car (Camry Preferred, $10K Budget)

Lfhqhfhqh on 04/08/2021 - 00:16
Last edited 07/08/2021 - 15:57 by 1 other user

Hi OzB, I want to get my first car and seems to be the choice for OzB is used Toyota Camry. Feel free to validate or recommend other cars.

Budget: $10,000
Usage:
  • 60%: City - grocery, gym
  • 30%: Weekend trip
  • 10%: Camping
Requirements:
  • Automatic Transmission
  • Air Conditioning
  • Located in Perth, WA
  • No car Loan
  • Reliable
Good to have:
  • Less than 10 years old (MY 2011+)
  • Odo less than 150K km
  • Japanese Made
  • Mid-Large car (engine bigger than 2L)

The one I saw on carsales: 2012 Camry, $10K, 160K km
Or: Corolla: 2010 Corolla, $9K, 160K km
Stretch to 12K: 2011 Aurion, $12K, 130K km

I use motorcycle for my work travel so I'll use car for weekend and family use only.

Thanks a lot

Update 1

I'm more on to 2011 Toyota Aurion with 145K ODO for $10k. RAC Pre-purchase inspection is fully booked for 3 weeks so I'll find other mechanics.
I went today and it seems alright. Bit of scratches around the body and inside.

Update 2

I got 2012 Toyota Camry with 160k odo for 10k. Thanks everyone who commented here.

Automotive Car

Comments

  • YeemaiI on 04/08/2021 - 00:34
    +3

    choice for OzB is used Toyota Camry

    Yup, that's about it.
    /Thread

  • whitelie on 04/08/2021 - 00:34

    The Aurion for $12k would be worth a look.
    There's also this one for $10k but the seats look like they could do with a good detail/shampoo.
    At this price point, the Aurion will be a nicer car to drive. 200kW vs 133kW of the Camry. It's 2 seconds quicker to 100.

    You say "family use", do you have kids? I think the Corolla will be too small if you do and want to load it up to go camping. Camry/Aurion have a huge boot.

    • fhqhfhqh on 04/08/2021 - 01:34

      Thanks for your comment. Our first baby is coming soon. I think one baby chair will fit in any car. I'll go and have a look at Camry and Aurion.

      • whitelie on 04/08/2021 - 01:36

        It can just bear in mind you'll lose a bit of leg room in the Corolla if you get a tall seat and have it rear facing for a couple of years.
        The Camry/Aurion are a much longer vehicle.

        You'll also fill a Corolla boot pretty quick with a full sized pram, nappy bag, porta cot etc if you are planning on taking it camping/trips away which is supposedly 40% of your planned usage.

      • Jugganautx on 04/08/2021 - 13:57

        Camrys chew fuel just as bad if not more than an aurion also.

  • spackbace on 04/08/2021 - 01:32
    +1

    Aurion would be the nicer drive, plus can have a few more "nice to haves" (keyless entry/start, climate control etc)

    https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/kenwick/cars-vans-utes/2011-…

    Do your checks because it's at a small wholesale yard, but within budget

    • fhqhfhqh on 04/08/2021 - 01:51

      Thanks. I actually saw this ad few weeks ago and it seems to be an ok deal. I'll take your advice and bring mechanics to check for me (pre purchase) if I decide to buy it.

    • Wystri Warrick on 04/08/2021 - 11:55

      Helloooo spackbace! Thanks for your help on buying my first car. Looks like I underestimated how easy it is to drive, or underestimated my skills. So I've got a Corolla, and I'm 6.2 lol. Really am finding it too small lol

  • JonoEfthy on 04/08/2021 - 01:39
    +2

    Honestly with the current car market, I'd suggest waiting a year and look then if you can. There is no value deals right now, just tons of demand driving up the prices.

    Alternatively the last car I bought was a Toyota Corolla Levin ZR 2011 with 90,000 kms in Melbourne for $9750 and drove it back to Perth. Even with the driving and paying for a pits inspection to get a WA plate it was still wayyy cheaper than the Corolla's in WA (even cheaper than a base model Corolla which is all I wanted, but I'm not going to say no to the top model with less kms for less money lol), and this was back in Aug 2017. I haven't checked the market recently over there since covid but might still be an option. You can also get it trucked over but with the current logistics shortage that might be a bit pricey, it was around $600-700 from memory back then.

  • Euphemistic on 04/08/2021 - 06:50
    +1

    While there’s nothing wrong with a Camry, if you want to go camping and have a child coming along a wagon may be a better choice. Unfortunately Camry wagon doesn’t exist, and not much else is a wagon either which leaves SUVs.

    You say it’s your first car, but what do you have experience with in terms of space and usage?

    I’m not saying buy an SUV. Quite a few SUVs don’t really have much extra space in the boot either so it pays to investigate what suits you.

    Another advantage of an SUV is if you are tall, putting bub in and out of a seat isn’t as hard on your back with a taller vehicle. A lower vehicle (sedan or hatch) you need to either reach in with your arms while head outside so can’t see, or duck your head inside and end up with no room for your arms to work.

    We bought a Camry as first family car, but I had a company falcon wagon at the time for holidays and stuff and the extra space as worth it. Upgraded to a 2nd gen RAV4 which was great, but too small in the boot for holidays once I left eh company car job.

    Before anyone else comes in your budget is fine for a first car.

    • fhqhfhqh on 04/08/2021 - 10:19

      Thanks. In terms of space, I had few rental cars so I have very short experience.
      I'm around 5'11 so not too tall. I've been checking SUVs but they are 50% more expensive than similar sized sedans.

  • pegaxs on 04/08/2021 - 09:23
    +1

    Well, the use of "advise" in the title certainly didn't disappoint.

    A bit unsettled that there isn't more "yOu'Se aRe aLL JuSt tOyOta bOOtLiCkErZ" and a smattering of "have you considered *insert dubious Euro brand here*". Maybe I'm too early?

    Camry is a great car. After a nuclear holocaust, there are only 3 survival certainties… Cockroachs, Camrys and cockroaches driving Camrys.

    Don't get the Corolla if you have or are having small children in the foreseeable future. They are a great get around car, but a pain for getting families into and out of.

    And to offer an off the cuff suggestion, Holden Commodore VF~VE. (InB4: HoLdEn iS dEaD) Large sedan. Plenty of room. Heaps of them were sold, plenty of parts, reasonably cheap to repair, almost anyone who can hold a spanner can work on them.

    • MS Paint on 04/08/2021 - 09:25

      Cockroachs, Camrys and cockroaches driving Camrys.

      Actually 4
      Cockroaches driving Camry's talking on Nokia 5110s

      +1 for the commy and reasonably economical on highway cycle too

    • fhqhfhqh on 04/08/2021 - 10:36

      "BuT My WIFE LiKEs TOYOta" I'll do some research on commy if they are better than Captiva

      • Wystri Warrick on 04/08/2021 - 11:45
        +3

        Avoid Holden's if you can, especially the Holden Cruze, and then Holden Commodore.
        The Cruze is manufactured in a notorious South Korea plant, then assembled in Australia. The Cruze's look good and come with a lot of tech but they are unreliable shit boxes.
        Avoid the Commodore's as they have poor lubrication of the timing chain, this results in the timing chain stretching and need replacing every 40-60k kilometres. If not replaced the whole engine will be destroyed, so you'll have to buy a new engine.

        Imo your wife is definitely right, get a Toyota, or at the least a Japanese car.

        I recently put a lot of research into buying my first car to learn to drive in. I was worried that a Camry or Aurion would be to big to drive, and so I bought a Corolla. I can say that after having only a couple of driving lessons I really did underestimate just how easy it is to learn to drive, and so now I have a small sedan and I'm 6.2 lol.

        You might want to look through my forum post on buying a car.

        • Euphemistic on 04/08/2021 - 11:53
          +3

          Commodores aren’t terrible. The only real reasons to avoid them is because you don’t want to look like a bogan and if they are too big for your needs.

          • Wystri Warrick on 04/08/2021 - 11:57

            @Euphemistic: I agree. Commodore's are good cars, however they have very poor timing chains.
            I personally don't care what people think of me, that's their own business, in saying that if like 90% percent of the population thinks Commodore's are driven by bogans then I'd probably be avoiding them lol.

        • pegaxs on 04/08/2021 - 14:39
          +2

          this results in the timing chain stretching and need replacing every 40-60k kilometres.

          Yeah, that's not correct. While there is some truth to it, it wasn't all commodore engines and they don't need new timing chains every 40~60,000km. And it didn't destroy engines, it made them rattle and run like shit and throw error codes long before the cam chain failed.

          My old VE work Ute was in the range for affected engines and it never had to be done and it was traded in with 290,000km on the clock. That being said, it was always serviced on time. Most of the timing chain issues on these cars can be traced back to piss poor maintenance.

          • Wystri Warrick on 04/08/2021 - 19:07

            @pegaxs: You know now about cars than me pegaxs, so I'll take your word for it!

            • pegaxs on 04/08/2021 - 19:46
              +1

              @Wystri Warrick: I think it is a valid point to be wary of if someone was buying an early VE, (06 to about 09MY) but later VE and VF engines were fine. If I remember, it was only the LE0, LW2 and LY7 engines. I still have the service bulletin buried somewhere at work.

              It wasn’t that the chains “stretched” but they suffered abnormal wear on the rollers that caused them to have excessive clearance which would give the impression that the chain was loose, like it had been stretched.

              I never replaced any, but diagnosed a few cars that came my way. Biggest customer complaint was MIL (engine check light) on and running like trash. Plug in, scan codes and you know in about 2 mins if it was a cam chain issue or not.

        • brendanm on 04/08/2021 - 21:03
          +1

          Avoid the Commodore's as they have poor lubrication of the timing chain, this results in the timing chain stretching and need replacing every 40-60k kilometres.

          Just flat out incorrect.

          • Wystri Warrick on 04/08/2021 - 21:30

            @brendanm: Um ok…

            • brendanm on 04/08/2021 - 22:15

              @Wystri Warrick: Pegaxs has explained to you above I see. I used to work on cars. Have replaced plenty of commodore timing chains. They do not need to be done every 40k. Some chains were just rubbish, others were the result of poor servicing. Plenty running around, still on their original chains, plenty that have had the chains replaced and will now be ok.

  • slick7 on 04/08/2021 - 10:02
    +1

    If I had a dollar for each time I heard of someone upgrading a perfectly suitable car to something way bigger before their first child arrived…. I've even had a work colleague who had a large sedan and sold it to buy a mini SUV :) Ended up having less cargo space :)

    A 1 child family would be perfectly fine in a hatchback - I have 2 kids and have upgraded to a wagon only when the youngest turned 3 - the hatchback is still in use and a perfectly suitable second car around town (wagon is obviously the better choice for road trips/camping etc).

    The problem with the older corolla hatchback in your price range is that it's got a small boot but a decent car otherwise… Mazda 3 is the same. It's almost like it was a design consideration to provide a small boot in order to increase sales of their SUV range

  • Oz8argain on 04/08/2021 - 11:01
    +1

    https://www.ppsr.gov.au/
    + get a pre purchase inspection

    • fhqhfhqh on 04/08/2021 - 11:27

      I'm thinking to get from Airtaskers (around $150)

      • Euphemistic on 04/08/2021 - 11:46
        +1

        Only get from a reputable mechanical service. Airtasker could be anybody

      • Wystri Warrick on 04/08/2021 - 11:52
        +1

        As Oz8argain get the vin number and to a check on the car, this will tell you if the car has had significant damage, or was written off.

        IMO get the RAA to do a vehicle inspection it'll cost $275, but the RAA employes highly experienced people to carry out car inspections, they aren't doing car inspections as a side job, it's their main job. I wouldn't risk saving $125 to end up with a lemon.

  • Jugganautx on 04/08/2021 - 14:01

    Covid prices have really skewed the market or i got a fantastic deal in 2019 with my Aurion.

    16k for a 2014 with 18,500km ODO, from a toyota dealership no less. Crazy times we live in.

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