Hi Guys,
I need some suggestions for choosing a car under $30K. I am after the best value for money (i.e longevity and the safety feature).
My choices in hatchbacks and small SUVs (2022 - 2023 model) are as follows:
1) Kia Cerato S with safety pack
2) Kia Stonic Sport Automatic
Which one would you buy and why?
Any other recommendations are welcome.
I really appreciate any help you can provide.
Thank you everyone in advance.
Kia. Why? Wife has a Cerato GT and it's a terrific car. Also own a Mazda 3, and have owned several Mazda's in the past.
Kia has great storage, good performance, long warranty and much better quality than Kia's of yesteryear.
I wouldn't consider the Nissan. Less practical.
Mazda CX3 is a lifted version of Mazda 2. Get the Mazda 3 hatchback much roomier and plenty of boot space plus comfortable to drive.
I own the Kia Cerato GT,
amazing car and crazy big in the back with the seats down.
I would t chose any of those options.. i think public transport even the worst ones would be a better selection than those u have narrowed your choices with
Kia
If it was me I would buy the Cerato because I have one that is 8 years old, it drives well and has been totally reliable. The 7 year warranty and fixed price servicing are quite competitive. Family have also had other Kias that have been good, reliable cars. I also think the new Ceratos look really good.
That said I can't really speak for Mazda or Nissan…other than to controversially say that the Juke to me is a bit of an ugly duckling.
Slightly different angle. This comment comes from having created many spreadsheets for novated leases. For any new'ish car in the same category running costs are roughly the same. They all need rego, fuel, maintenance, insurance etc. Based on that what I have seen is that the biggest variation in cost of ownership of a new'ish car over a few years is resell value. So maybe look at it slightly differently, instead of looking at the purchase price alone, consider looking at the difference between the purchase price and anticipated resell or trade-in value in say 3 years, and see where that leads. If you intend to drive it into the ground this comment is irrelevant.
I see more and more hire-car companies using Ceratos.
It might be availability related, but hire-car companies usually go for the mix of cheap and least amount of issues within the warranty / leasing period.
Yup, Cerato is cheap,for rental companies.Hertz especially have many of them.I avoid them like the plague.They are nothing special.
Nothing special, but solid and reliable. You wont find anything special for the price.
The fact they are used a lot by rental companies is indicative of qualities that an individual interested in value for money over time may also benefit from.
They get them for a reason, warranty is long,& they are usually gone in two odd years.They also get them very cheap.They purchase hundreds of the things.
Why not Hyundai i30? Good value + resale value on them
I would be getting a Mazda 3 over a CX3
I have a 2018 Mazda 3 SP25 Astina and absolutely love it.
Just regarding Kia/Hyundai - I don't know if this is still an issue but there was a recall happening on a few models in the states due to metal from the machining process getting into the oil and causing problems with oil flow to the motor.
The Theta motor was the version that had the original problem and I believe that the same motor (made from the same factory as the states) was being used here in Australia.
In any case, just adding a point to do some research on the models before buying.
A few years back I was going to pick up a Cerato that was cheap and had a full list of features, but came across this issue and opted to buy a corolla with the toyota and covid tax lumped on top.
Edit: Some information here: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/hyundai-and-kia-facing…
We experienced something like this and couldn’t be happier to have gotten rid of our Hyundai (only 70,000kms on the clock). Will never touch them again.
I bought a new Toyota Ascent Sport 6 months ago and am happy with the car so far. It was significantly better value buying new as the price is capped. I was lucky the dealer was able to track a new one down quickly as they were in low supply in the country at that time. I don't know if the used car market has improved recently, but dealers were selling older models with 70K on the clock for only a few thousand cheaper than the new price 6 months ago.
what is your annual salary
30k
how wide is your verge
Toyota Camry 2006
reading yesterday about psychological bias - e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
I'm liking here the Anchoring Bias of '$30,000' - so folks then discuss whether more or less seems good value
in other news I recently sold a perfectly good car for $2,000 - OK it could have benefited from $1-2K to fix it up good
but frankly, I balked at paying $1000pa for a rarely-driven car just for rego, greenslip, and TTP insurance to mostly sit in my garage unused, and then have to consider another $1000 in time-consuming trips back and forth to leave it at repair places
so now it's gone I'm receiving instead $50pw rental for my inner-city carspace
and walking instead and feeling frankly more healthy, and less stressed from driving in Sydney traffic. YMMV.
I have owned Kia Cerato S hatch with safety pack for 3 months:
- big space inside
- drives well
- lots of new cool features
- most features in GT or sport model are included in safety pack
- doesn't have leather seats, I prefer that especially in summers. That's why I picked this over sport.
Stonic had a long waiting time so I couldn't wait. Test drive both and decide.
Cerato has 2l engine. Stonic is 1.4 I think.
I like look of new Cerato.
They are both good choice.
Nearly bought a Cerato as a second car but really revvy - ended up getting an i30 instead
Aren't they on the same platform and engine?
Will i test drove them both and the i30’s engine sounded more refined and not needing to rev so high which was the main thing that put me off the Cerato - felt more under-powered
Korean cars and longevity don't go together
They have gone a long way and have lots of fancy features that Euro cars would only have before no doubt
But mechanical wise still ain't no Japanese car
If selling within warranty period won't be an issue
Korean cars and longevity don't go together
Beg to differ. Sure they aren’t as good as Japanese but there’s plenty of old crappy Hyundais still running out there. The bubble shaped excel was pretty indestructible.
That's why I said they gone a long way… the current ones that offer 7 year unlimited warranties would be way better than the classic Excel
Probably where you are still got a lot of old cars but most of them are gone here
But doesn't mean they don't have mechanical problems
I'd go Mazda3 2019+ Hatchback, I love that car. Wish I could have one.
Unpopular opinion, but I would go for a used Honda Jazz manual for cheap, get it a full pre-purchase inspection, then just mod a few things. Simple and practical.
yeah, nah. best looking car on the market today, at any price. sexy as.