Looking for A Used Car ~5 Years Old

Hi all,

My car has most likely been written off due to hail damage. It was a 2011 Toyota Aurion with 180KM on the clock.

I'm not sure what my payout figure will be, but I'll have some savings to put towards a replacement car.

If it happened pre covid, when used car prices were more reasonable, I probably would have purchased a Cerato, Corolla, i30 etc. But I've only got the one younger kid now, so I could probably get away with something smaller. I would ideally keep the car for 5 years and then hand it down to the youngest when they start driving.

Would you recommend a Honda Jazz or Suzuki Swift? 2016 era with under 80,000KM on the clock?

Comments

  • +16

    Buy the Aurion back and drive it to death.

    • Yeah, that's another option. I've heard some people are offered a payout and keep the car. It just needs to be insured with existing damage at a low market value.

      • +1

        That happened to my partner with her 2010 Subaru Impreza. All lights and glass were fine. It also looked fine from a distance, but up close you could see dozens of hail dents. We bought it back for $800, and just insured it with third party property damage (to be clear, this was in addition to your third party public liability). We did the bare minimum to keep it safe and working, and once my partner got a job that required her to have a half hour commute (as opposed to five minutes) we upgraded it (replaced with a RAV 4 Hybrid).

        As someone else alluded to, you could buy back the Aurion, and then use the proceeds to upgrade once the second hand market stabilises.

        • I know I am deviating from OP's post, but can I ask how long it took you to get your RAV4 Hybrid? Did you buy it this year or earlier?

          • +1

            @upended: We purchased it August last year so we waited less than a month. Very lucky!

            • @redvaldez: Nice one! I can't wait to get mine. I am told that I will now most likely get upgraded to the 2022 model.

    • I up-voted for the Aurion, but tbh if it's just a runabout and you want to save a little on maintenance and fuel costs, I'd definitely go with your idea of a smaller japanese vehicle.

  • -1

    I'm not sure what my payout figure will be

    Agreed value? or Come in sucker value?

    • +1

      Your only a sucker on market value if you take their first offer and don’t fight.

      Btw op personally, I’d do as mskegs suggested.
      Get that badboy back and ride it into the ground.

      • This. Agreed value is the sucker bet at the moment. There is no negotiation on agreed value.

        At least with market value you can say "well, a like for like replacement is this price." On agreed value they just cut you a cheque for the agreed amount that could be thousands of dollars off the like for like replacement cost.

        • Covid pricing has definitely changed the game in many ways.

  • I agree with mskeggs also if a reasonable deal is made, but also worth taking into account difference in running costs over the 5 years. Just the fuel savings between a thirsty Aurion and a Jazz/Swift could be significant.

    • Aurions aren't thirsty.

      • +1

        Pretty much 10L/100km unless I do a lot of highway driving. Then it can drop to the mid 7's.

        • +1

          Not what I would call thirsty.

    • +3

      Might be significant in terms of actual fuel use. Ie 10l/100km down to 6l/100km but when you take into account the actual $ it may still be worth running the old banger. At 10,000km per year and $1.50/l it’s $600 for a 4l/100 difference. Could almost save that in going from comprehensive down to third party. Then depreciation on an older, hail damaged car will also be virtually nil.

  • See if you can wait another 2 years - the second hand market may come back, but still who knows

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