Hi guys,
Need to buy a car for wifey as she’s driving an old (09) Hyundai and it’s time we upgrade it.
We were looking at getting a compact SUV luxury car for her but unsure which one is better and I hope you can give me some advise.
We went to have a look at BMW X1 sDrive 20i, Audi Q3 and Mercedes GLA250. We loved the infotainment of merc more than any others.
Edit: budget up to $70k
Need Help Choosing a Car for My Partner
bhunter101 on 17/05/2022 - 21:45
Last edited 18/05/2022 - 06:48
Last edited 18/05/2022 - 06:48
Poll Options
- 56Toyota Camry
- 1Maserati Levante
- 0Toyota RAV 4
- 2Tesla Model 3
- 0Toyota Corolla
closed Comments
Budget would help…
compact SUV luxury car
I assume a car that goes to the supermarket and back and is a high yield investment
Whichever one you can get your hands on
OP you need to define 'better'.
What's important to you & the wife? (apart from the obvious bling factor)
You will be waiting a while for the new car.
What does your wife want?
What can she reasonably handle?What other considerations? Cost, fuel efficiency, type, seats, driving preferences etc?
What is it with everyone wanting shitty base model euro trashwagens at the moment. These are not “luxury” nor “prestige” vehicles. They are entry level vehicles with envy badges on them.
For the same money you would pay for one of these shit boxes, you could get a high end/top of the line Japanese or Korean model with better warranty and dealerships that at least give the appearance that they care about your purchase.
with envy badges on them
+1, brilliantly defined.
This should be the only poll option.
Budget?
What features are you after eg. sportiness or comfort, off road or on road, infotainment, reliability?
What does she want?envy badge?
True, the most important luxury feature is the logo on the front and on the steering wheel
What about the ones on the back and wheels?
- Suggested Maserati Levante
At least you can tell people that the SUV shares engine with Ferrari, 99.9% of the population can't tell if it has a V8 twin turbo in there.
Just don't take it near a beach https://www.drive.com.au/news/maserati-levante-driver-gets-b….
Suggested Toyota RAV 4Roof racks?
For the kayak?
yep, for a compact SUV.
If you want a good compact SUV for around town then just get a mazda CX or a subaru XV or a Ford Puma. Slightly bigger and the RAV-4 (well, next year sometime for that to arrive) or the Tiguan
If you want 'luxury' then dump the germans and look at the Volvo XC40
We were looking at getting a compact SUV luxury car for her but unsure which one is better and I hope you can give me some advise.
There is no such thing as a "compact SUV luxury car". Luxury is a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Lexus LS, Audi A8, or similar. Luxury car is a car which prioritises the back seat because that's where you sit in a luxury car. If your car prioritises the drivers' seat, it is not a luxury car. It is a utility car.
We went to have a look at BMW X1 sDrive 20i, Audi Q3 and Mercedes GLA250.
None of these cars actually make any sense IMHO. They have all of the downsides of an SUV, but do not offer anything above what a standard hatchback will offer. Actually drive one around for a while, and I guarantee that you'll find them less comfortable than a standard hatchback since you're sitting higher (and hence, more susceptible to g-forces), and less comfortable than a standard sedan, as they have shorter wheelbases, so you don't get as much legroom. We're living in a world that produces way too much trash, cars that are bulked up and big for no reason, susceptible to breaking down, parts that will become landfill in a few years…etc. Buy something responsible.
If you're happy with the Hyundai, I would get an i30, it's a fantastic car. Or even a Kia Cerato would be a really good option as well.
This is not even beginning to mention the crazy stuff that SUV drivers do on the road. Whenever I see some idiot doing something completely hare-brained, it's always an SUV. Even more likely to be a "luxury" SUV. It's almost like people who buy these types of cars think that just because they drive a Merc / BMW /…etc. that they can just act in the most obnoxious ways possible. Even if I loved SUVs, I would be embarrassed to be a part of that group.
We loved the infotainment of merc more than any others.
Are you using your car to get places or to watch movies?
Keep calm and get an Audi S3 hatch. She will love you for it.
EV. Ioniq5, EV6, model 3 are within spitting distance of your budget and won’t take $2/l to fill up.
OP you asking this question from the wrong forum, but for the budget of 70k, for new small size suv, I would go for Q3.
Only downside is, almost 9 months wait unless you can find something.GLA250 is a great car, nice inside (something Toyata lovers only can dream of) drives well, handle well, but unfortunately you need to spend 80k-90k for car with decent features, even with that you don't get some of the features due to reduce in production numbers. Maybe, GLA200 for you.
BMW X1, new model coming next few months, unless you can find something.
And for @p1 ama if you really talking about that kind of luxury, I would go for Porsche Cayenne GTS/G Wag or go home, BMW X1 sDrive 20i, Audi Q3 and Mercedes GLA250 are entry level small luxury cars and still does have luxury feeling after driving mazda or toyota when you have $70k in the bank, for car loan, don't do it. :)
And if you have 90k, then go for C class, and its goes on.
Why hasn't there been a deluge of troll poll options yet? For shame!
Or does OP have to approve them?
Tesla 3 my man
- Suggested Tesla Model 3
Surprised no one has suggested the new default suggestion of Model 3
Edit: beaten by a few seconds 😂
Why not EV? Beaten again :D
- Suggested Toyota Corolla
Corolla is a good option. A top spec model has all the bells and whistles.
Except parking sensors (they’re optional)
If you have that much money available for a car, I’d get an electric car.
I don’t want to wait around while the car gets charged. If it was quick 1-2 min or on-road charging while driving then I would but I don’t think the EV tech is there yet for me.
Then you are doing it wrong.
Fueling a regular car does not take 1~2 mins and you certainly cannot do it "on the road".
One thing you can do though, is fill your car up at home every night so it has a full tank in the morning, every morning. And I am sure your wife does not drive your current car from full to empty every single day. EVs need to be treated like smart phones. Plug it in at the end of each day and unplug it when you leave for work.
Install a battery at home for $10k? Then when She needs to drive for say 1000km then stop and wait for it to charge?
I’m actually curious what people do.@bhunter101: What? What are you talking about "install a battery at home". What for? You don't need a battery at home to charge an EV. I know a lot of people who don't even have a dedicated EV wall charger and just top up every day from their wall sockets over night.
And how often does she do 1000km? That is literally further than Brisbane to Sydney. And I can assure you, there are more than enough fast chargers on the way (especially if you own a Tesla). That is literally a 10+ hour trip in a car. You have never pulled over and had a break from driving for more than 1~2 mins in a 1000km trip?
My bet is that she does mostly work trips from home and/or school drop off trips. So maybe 40ish km/day for 95% of her trips.
People need to get over this fear of charging or their need to only charge the car once it is empty. That mentality works fine if you have to drive a few km just to get your fuel, fuel up once it's empty. But when your fuel comes right out of the wall in your house, just top it off after every day and it's full the next morning.
Install a battery at home for $10k?
The EV is the battery.
Also wait until Labor are elected and then you'll get cashback on your car too.
You don’t normally ‘wait around’ for an ev to charge like you do filling a petrol car. You plan your charging around where you are going to stop anyway. Mostly at home. Occasionally at work or shopping centre.
Long trips start with a full charge and plan a 30min stop for lunch at a fast charger.
There are very few people who will actually drive 1000km without stopping for a few hours total over the trip.
Lexus UX.
Ahhh. The Lexu Sux. Not a brilliant name for a car. Isn’t it just a RAV4 with a flash badge?
Toyota never does their homework when choosing names, eg. Toyota United States Racing Development [T.U.R.D.]
You're correct about the UX being little more than a rebadged RAV4
also, ES rebadged Camry, LX rebadged Land Cruiser
As a second car, if you have >$50 to spend you should 100% seriously look at EVs:
- every new car will have similar delays in delivery
- range anxiety is unlikely to be any issue as most drivers overwhelmingly don't drive more than 50km/day, and your other car can fill the need for a car to driver interstate / country drives if that a concern
- fuel prices are up and pushing ever higher (Porsche is currently predicting Premium fuel prices at ~US$5/litre by 2026 and are investing heavily in synthetic fuel to meet that expected price); even if pump prices hold at the current AU$2-2.50/litre the EV is going to save you $1000s in fuel each year and on servicing costs
- model sizes are limited here currently, but by 2023-24 Ford, GM, Rivian, BYD, Nissan, and VW should begin rolling out new family-sized fully electric SUVs.They are euro SUVs not luxury cars. Don’t get hooked up with manufacturers and their marketing, try all around the price you like.
If you are keeping a car a long time like the one you have maybe something like a rav4 is better (rav4 hybrid is a great and comfortable car/suv)Why does she need an SUV? Do you have 4 kids? If not why are you wasting so much money and also wasting money on fuel as it will be inefficient? If you have that much money to spend it is so obvious to get an EV. And any money left over also install solar panels.
It is actually seriously difficult to fit >2 children's car seats in anything smaller than a large vehicle (large sedan, wagon, SUV) these days. Which makes it pretty tricky for people who have >2 children, and don't want to be driving a tank.
All that said, valid questions and points made :)
It is actually seriously difficult to fit >2 children's car seats in anything smaller than a large vehicle (large sedan, wagon, SUV) these days.
That's ridiculous. I can fit two child car seats perfectly fine into a Kia Cerato.
I've also no idea why SUVs have a reputation for being more spacious. They are just made to look bigger. If you actually measure the dimensions, a Mazda CX-5 is basically the same size as a Mazda 3 hatchback, which is actually more spacious than a CX-3. The more you know, right?
">" means "greater than"
Only when they are all 3 and under, a booster seat isn't as hard to fit. Oldest can sit in the middle. If it were me, say I had twins very quickly after having a single, I would get a second hand older large car and sell it again as soon as the oldest was tall enough to just need a booster. I wouldn't buy a brand new one and commit myself for 15-20 years of a huge car or losing lots of money when selling it at 1-2 years old.
When are you going to list the luxury cars you are interested in? I can only see base model badge buying.
Go flex on Instagram and buy a Camry.