Looking for New Car Suggestions - Budget $25,000

JoeBogan on 21/09/2023 - 20:47
Last edited 22/09/2023 - 09:56 by 1 other user

Hi all,

Hope you are all doing well. I am in the market for a car after mine was written off for a bit at fault incident. My budget is $25,000 and I am looking for a hatch/compact SUV (baby on the way) for using it primarily for work where I’ll be driving on average 800 kms per week mainly on the highway.

I have looked at a Kia Stonic, Kia Cerato (over the budget) and a Hyundai i30 (over budget). Ideally I would prefer a new car for the warranty reasons.

I’m open to any and all suggestions on models and alternative types (hatch/sedan etc).

TIA!

Automotive Car

Comments

  • sumyungguy on 21/09/2023 - 20:54
    +1

    Try this: or many others that are online. I now see the linked one isn't that good but you get the general idea. Car magazine (UK) used to have a great one.

  • Brick Tamland on 21/09/2023 - 21:02
    +3

    I30 is a good buy and only a smidge over budget at $26,290 drive away. Under $25K you are looking at used cars

    • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 09:23

      This is definitely last the distance.

    • JoeBogan on 22/09/2023 - 21:41

      I spoke to a few dealers and the earliest I could get an i30 is 3 months from now, unfortunately I cant wait that long. Covid!!

  • bobokingdom on 21/09/2023 - 21:18
    +1

    MG ZS, I like the look but I don't like how it drives (rental experienced only). But the warranty is long (same as Kia = 7 years), slightly bigger car than Stonic and fits your budget. $23.999 DA (Auto)

    (I saw some dealership was advertising $1000 cash rebate last month, maybe you can try a few dealers and try your luck.)

    FYI, Kia Stonic is $25,999 DA for Auto.

    • seannami on 22/09/2023 - 07:54
      +1

      I was going to suggest this, but inly have experience with the EV which, by accounts from friends who have driven both, drives a million times better than the ICE version.

      HAVAL might also be an option?

  • omguleh on 21/09/2023 - 21:40
    +1

    We have the base level 2022 i30, its a nice car to drive. Fuel economy not as good even on the freeways. Was around 26k drive away when we bought it last year.

  • haroldmac on 21/09/2023 - 22:09
    +3

    Only advice I'll give is to take your chosen pram with you and go and try and put it in the boot of the car you are interested in .

    You might be surprised how big some folded prams are and how small (or poorly shaped ) SUV boots can be.

  • pao2x on 21/09/2023 - 22:47
    +7

    800km a week? thats $100-140/week on petrol alone. I would seriously consider electric or hybrid.

    • boomramada on 21/09/2023 - 22:50
      +1

      For $25k ?

      • Jaduqimon on 21/09/2023 - 23:07
        +2

        He obviously meant consider extending the budget with the view of saving money in the long run from cheaper fuel cost

        • [Deactivated] on 22/09/2023 - 07:51
          +1

          Ah yes, the old "spend twice as much to save money" fallacy.

          • pao2x on 22/09/2023 - 08:07

            @[Deactivated]: The only reason I am not in an electric car at the moment is it doesn't make economic sense driving 5000km a year vs my old camry. But if I were driving 40000km a year, lets just say I wouldnt be feeding my camry that much fuel.

            • Sinnerator on 22/09/2023 - 08:40

              @pao2x: how many $$$ to replace EV battery after 4 years?

              • pao2x on 22/09/2023 - 09:07

                @Sinnerator: None because warranty?

              • klaw81 on 22/09/2023 - 09:40

                @Sinnerator: Apart from the old defunct Nissan Leaf, which EV needs replacement batteries after 4 years?

                All of the EVs I can think of have a 7-8 year unlimited km warranty on the battery specifically.

          • Euphemistic on 22/09/2023 - 08:26
            +1

            @[Deactivated]: If you do your sums properly it may not be a fallacy. It’s not worth spending up big on an EV for low kms. But fuel is only going to get more expensive. Servicing for an EV has less requirements and at 40k km per year you’ll need to service pretty frequently.

            • boomramada on 22/09/2023 - 08:34

              @Euphemistic: Are we giving financial advice now? how do we know $25k is the max that OP can borrow? or can spend to live comfortably. Otherwise, most will be driving in shiny new EVs and the second hand car market will be dead.

              • Euphemistic on 22/09/2023 - 08:47

                @boomramada: The advice was ‘make sure you consider an EV because it may save a lot of running costs’. Yes they cost more, but the usual disclaimer of ‘do your own sums’ applies. If OP can’t afford it, they can’t afford it. We have no knowledge of how they’ve set their budget.

                Yea, it could be that is the absolute max they can borrow. It could also be a few $ of savings plus payout from their existing car with no loan and they hadn’t though of extending to reduce their high fuel bill.

                It’s not that different to someone else suggesting spending more to get a Toyota because rESaLe VaLUe!

                • boomramada on 22/09/2023 - 08:54

                  @Euphemistic: Your advice is good, if the budget is $25k and the cheapest EV is like a couple of grand more for something decent, not BYD Dolphin.
                  Then you also have to factor into the replacement of the battery based on all that crazy driving.

                  • Euphemistic on 22/09/2023 - 08:55
                    +1

                    @boomramada: Battery replacement is pretty unlikely to be required. Another furphy spread by fossil fuel lovers.

                    • boomramada on 22/09/2023 - 08:58

                      @Euphemistic: OP is driving at 40k per year lol

                      • Euphemistic on 22/09/2023 - 09:15

                        @boomramada: Modern batteries will last 100s of thousands of kms.

                        • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 09:30
                          +1

                          @Euphemistic: There is absolutely no evidence for this. Most Teslas over 10 years old have had battery replacements. Some of the cheaper electrics could lose massive range due to poor BMS. I would not trust an electric that you buy for 25K. This hardly covers for cost of battery let alone a car.

                • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 09:22

                  @Euphemistic: We do have knowledge about their budget. They said 25k. :)

                  • Euphemistic on 22/09/2023 - 11:33

                    @Naigrabzo: But we don’t know how they set their budget. They could have $200k in the bank and just decided the $25k is all they want to spend on a car that is going to rack up a lot of kms and not be worth much at the end of their ownership.

                    Yes, they could also be maxxed out too.

        • boomramada on 22/09/2023 - 08:03

          Shell we sell a kidney or two and buy the cheapest offering almost twice the savings/credits of the OP 😅

          • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 09:22

            @boomramada: Yeah just make him pay $65k for Tesla because his budget is 25k and "we don't know how he set his budget".

        • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 09:29

          Yeah just extend the budget no problems. :)

          • boomramada on 22/09/2023 - 09:33
            +1

            @Naigrabzo: I feel like I'm talking to an EV car sales person/real estate agent.
            Its like, I got a $800k budget for a house, and sales person, there is a nice house for $1.8M, near your work too. :)

            • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 09:35

              @boomramada: HAHA True. Just think about how amazing it would be to extend your budget of $25k to $65K. :)

              These EV warriors are unbelievable. I can understand if you have a youtube channel flogging evs and charging etc though. It's their career after all.

              If said EV is available for $25k I am all for it though. Please DM me the coupon code.

    • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 07:59

      Depends on his hourly rate and length of trips. If you buy an electric and wait for it to charge etc. Lets say 1 hour wasted on charging every week on average. His pay might be more than $140/hr in which case better to just get a petrol car and earn more moolah.

      Unless his whole career is based on charigng electric cars (like some youtubers) then pls ignore. He can get an Nissan leaf for 25K I guess. Maybe if he is lucky. He will get about 150km per charge. LOL.

      • Euphemistic on 22/09/2023 - 08:29
        +2

        If you can make charging work while the vehicle is otherwise idle, then you save time. If your destination has chargers or you can charge overnight at home then you’re in front time wise. Don’t need to spend time at the bowser waiting for it to fill.

        It’s a fallacy that you have to wait by the car for it to charge all the time. Most EV owners rarely actually wait for a charge. They plug in and go do something else.

      • freefall101 on 22/09/2023 - 09:00
        +1

        Charge at home overnight. I've owned an EV for 4-5 months now, I've used public chargers twice (both times on long drives seeing family, not day to day). How many times have you been to a petrol station during the past 4-5 months and how long did that take you?

        Also OP might not know about novated leases, but that makes it a pretty straightforward choice to save a small fortune. Particularly if they're on $140/h, top tax bracket!

        • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 09:20
          -2

          Petrol station takes me 2-3 minutes per month. But I don't drive 800km per week. This fellow might be doing 200k in one day etc. He will have to seek out and make a career out of charging his car especially if he buys EV for 25k.

          This notion that you can buy a usable and practical EV for 25k (which is the given budget) for OPs purposes is ridiculous.

          • klaw81 on 22/09/2023 - 09:55
            +1

            @Naigrabzo: Anything less than 300km in one day is an easy overnight charge anywhere there's a normal power outlet, or 30 minutes max. at a public charger in the rare case where overnight charging isn't possible. Not exactly world-shattering.

            However, I agree that there's no good EV options in the OP's budget. The saving in running costs from an EV could probably add up to $5k per year, but requires spending an extra $20k minimum. It might not be financially possible.

            I'd probably recommend a Camry Hybrid - excellent fuel economy, solid drivetrain and good build quality. The Corolla Hybrid is a better fit with OP's preferences but probably not within price range for a decent example.

          • freefall101 on 22/09/2023 - 10:34
            +1

            @Naigrabzo: 2-3 minutes? To go to a petrol station, stop, fill it up, put the pump back, walk inside, pay and leave again? Unless you're only using 20L a month that seems pretty hard to believe, it usually takes a couple of minutes just to put the petrol in a 60L tank.

            The point is that the budget constraints should change when considering fuel expenditure, novated leases and the general lower cost to run. You're the only person to suggest buying an EV for 25k. Everyone else is suggesting to stretch the budget now (and I'm suggesting look into a novated lease) to save money in the long run. It might be possible but it's definitely worth considering.

            200km a day is pretty easy to do on any of the basic Chinese made EVs on the market. I do about 250-280km in a standard range Atto 3 doing highway driving, 350km+ when I'm doing city driving.

            • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 10:45
              -2

              @freefall101: I use 50L per month. Petrol station is handy to my house. Even if it's 5 minutes, I don't mind because my range is unaffected by cold weather and car milage (mine is currently at 310k at 19 years).

              Your Atto will lose range fast if you keep doing 800km per week; Battery will be shot! Besides Atto3 has piddly charging speeds at 80kw. Atto3 is also 51k which is vastly above the OP's budget. My guess is your Atto will need a major battery replacement in the next 3-4 years. It won't be covered under warranty until you go to ACCC or major headaches.

              The worst thing about EVs is owners trying their best to justify them with no real world evidence of their longevity. Buy an EV if you like it ( I love how the model 3 drives etc) but you won't be saving money in a hurry or at least it's a big gamble. No need to justify it with falsehoods.

              • Euphemistic on 22/09/2023 - 11:45
                +1

                @Naigrabzo: Just because it doesn’t suit you doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else. I’d gladly make the switch to never visiting a petrol station again and having the ability to start the day with a full range everyday.

                Unfortunately they don’t sell an EV in Aus that suits my uses yet.

                Long term EV use IS being experienced in other countries. If they were no good you wouldn’t be seeing 80% of new vehicles being sold as EV in Norway - where incidentally the cold weather range thing is real and they cope just fine.

                And before you carry on with Australia being different because ‘outback’ the vast majority of our vehicles never or rarely leave the city and when they do they travel to populated area with chargers available. Yes, EVs won’t work on the Gibb Rover Rd with a caravan but there are plenty heading up and down the east coast these days.

                • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 11:49

                  @Euphemistic: Yeah I agree. Norway has changed their public policy to favour EVs. Bring it on in Aus.

                  An EV will not work for OP because his budget is 25k, drives 800k per week which will rack on the miles or kilometers with unknown durability.

                  If all of those variables were to change, for example, OP gets a cash boost to 65k, drives only 200km per week and doesn't care about durability, then bring on Tesla!!

                  I agree with you on full range every morning if you are charging at home but we don't know whether the OP even has a garage let alone fast public charging whereever he is going when spending his 800km quota.

                  • Euphemistic on 22/09/2023 - 14:14

                    @Naigrabzo:

                    we don't know whether the OP …

                    This part of the thread is offering an alternate suggestion for OP that maybe they didn’t consider. Quite often people are set in their ways and don’t think out of the box unless prompted.

                    It is entirely plausible that OP cannot deviate from what they first posted. Or maybe they’ve set the vehicle budget at $25k to allow for a crap load of petrol in their weekly budget. We don’t know but maybe they are now considering this alternative. We don’t know if they can charge at home, but maybe they can. We don’t know and simply repeating ‘they can’t get an EV for $25k’ does nothing for a thorough consideration of what an EV might do for them.

                    The comments here aren’t ‘you have to buy a Tesla’ they are pointing out

              • freefall101 on 22/09/2023 - 12:54
                +2

                @Naigrabzo: https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/2022-tesla-impact-report.pdf - except it's not a gamble at all, you're just spewing FUD.

                "Even after 200,000 miles of usage, our batteries lose just 12% of their capacity on average"

                So who do we believe, Tesla and BYD, who run multibillion dollar battery companies, have done extensive real world testing on batteries showing they can cycle thousands of times and provide hundreds of thousands of miles of range, along with real teslas that have done hundreds of thousands of km of driving…

                Or you, who has a "guess" on how long batteries will last and has decided that no one will support battery warranties based on your gut feel? My guess is your car that has done 310k km (which at 50L a month gives it a fuel economy of about 3L/100km, truly outstanding) goes 20km through the snow, uphill both ways each day too?

                And why do you keep repeating yourself on the budget? No one but you is saying buy an EV for $25k, we understand that.

                • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 14:37
                  -2

                  @freefall101: How did you know I drive 20km through snow? :) Yes my petrol car has proven itself with no loss range through any weather condition. I do not have range anxiety because I can jsut fill up in 3 minutes or so.

                  All good man. Great option for the OP exactly as you suggested. Hope he get an EV for his budget and drives his 800km.

                  Also I commend you for cherry picking the data to suit your argument of some sort of dream where EV batteries last more than 160k km. There is high probabability you will run into troubles like this.
                  https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/has-anyone-ever-gott…

                  https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/is-there-an-update-o…

                  The out of warranty battery replacement cost will exceed your BYD atto3 and will be about 30k (plus maybe more depending on Aus tax) for Tesla.

    • JoeBogan on 22/09/2023 - 21:36

      If I were to consider an EV, what options would you recommend. I would love one compared to the cost of the the fuel alone that I would be using. Would a hybrid be possible for my budget?

      • pao2x on 22/09/2023 - 22:10
        +1

        MG4 51 for less than $40k = for the 350km model ( I wouldnt trust it for more than 250km highway). Would probably save you 60-80% of fuel costs if you use solar/ off peak elec

        A yaris cross hybrid would set you back 35K and probably a significant wait. It would probably save you 30% off fuel costs or more

      • Euphemistic on 24/09/2023 - 11:29
        +1

        One this to note about hybrids is that they lose the fuel efficiency edge if you do a lot of highway driving.

        The fuel savings aren’t as much on the highway when compared with stop start traffic in stop start heavy traffic there is good opportunity to generate power when slowing down and the use it up on acceleration. On the highway they rely more on the petrol motor which effectively runs very similar consumption to a non-hybrid model.

      • seannami on 26/09/2023 - 12:56

        I have a ZSEV, would recommend, or MG4- the 51 as mentioned if you want cheap, but a Essence 64 gives you all the same features as the ZSEV without it being an SUV (360 cams, lane keep etc) and I think slightly cheaper? Nice to drive too. If you do want an SUV, the ZSEV is a good car (I honestly don't understand why people are claiming its a crap drive, I've had mine a couple of months and it is going great- drives smooth, can be as heavy-feeling or light-feeling as you like with some setting switches and no petrol). The 4 is slightly nicer (after my one test drive) but not enough to be a deal breaker on the ZS if you wanted something a bit higher or something. Though now the 4 is out you might be able to score an ex-demo ZSEV a bit cheaper as well.

        Standard range ZSEV from 25% battery takes about 14ish hours to charge on a 10amp power point (I usually did that over two nights, or avoided getting that low before an overnight plug in), 4-5 on a type 2 7kw wallbox, 3-4 on a 22kw (depends if you want to get one installed at home, or if you have a BYO one near you or your work, if you have 1 or 3 phase etc). 1-1.5 on a fast charger if you want to go for plug in and shop. I charge about once a week generally, twice on a busy work week, but would also do really well if you just plugged it into the 10amp when you get home and treat it like a phone. Has added maybe $5/charge to the power bill.

        Can't tell you how it'd go with kids, but plenty of ZS ICE models on the local school run, so looks to be pretty good. Also does a solid Bunnings run if you need to load her up. Only foible I have is you need to train yourself to wait til it says "ready" before you put her in drive. The 4 won't let you leave neutral, but the ZS hadn't got that far yet, and can cause little bugs if you take off too quick.

    • Rob-4x4 on 27/09/2023 - 08:28

      At the moment your are lucky to get a EV for $40K and if you want one with decent range it is more like $60K to $70K
      Great if you can afford one (I would buy one tomorrow if I could afford one) but unfortunately there are an awful lot of people who cannot afford so spend that much on a sedan .

      As for governments doing something to lower the cost of them how about the car companies do something as well. I have done work for major vehicle importers and have seen 100 percent and more markups from the landed price including all taxes, freight etc and the dealer retail prices. Some of the markup is justifiable, local transport etc but there is also a awful lot of fat there just going into the pockets of Sales, Marketing and advertising types.

      So I would prefer to see car importers cut the fat before tax payers are expected to subsidies car importer profit margins

      Governments should focus on ensuing infrastructure to support EVs charging networks is available so we can get a decent network of fast chargers in Australia including all regional, rural towns and small communities as many currently do not have power grid connections with sufficient capacity for fast chargers.

    • PinzVidz on 22/09/2023 - 06:41
      +3

      An Euro with 250+K km on it? Yeah right…

      • [Deactivated] on 22/09/2023 - 07:54

        Whats more it's a 9 year old Euro car with, lets be fair, 260K km on it.

  • Euphemistic on 22/09/2023 - 06:01
    +1

    With that many kms don’t worry about resale value. Get the cheapest with a long warranty and one that uses the least fuel.

    As much as I wouldn’t normally say it, Chinese brands offer decent warranty and a lower sticker price and because it’ll have a lot of kms on it when it’s time to move it on it will have a massive hit on resale and the brand resale hit won’t hurt as much. Possible exception being if you are going to turn it over at around 3 years.

    As above, if you can charge overnight at home (ie have a driveway) getting into an EV could save you more than the extra costs of purchase over the long run.

    • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 08:02
      +1

      This is true to an extent. A reasonable brand is still suggested though. Especially when running 40k per year! A cheap brand will fall apart requiring lengthy repairs and potentially costing you money in lost work etc.

      I would say MG petrol SUV is a good or only option in this category.

  • Rob-4x4 on 22/09/2023 - 09:10
    +2

    This might help choosing a manufacturer, or better still the ones to avoid ..

    https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2023-us-vehi…

    • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 11:50
      +1

      Very interesting list indeed. Thanks. Avoid Range Rover pls.

  • Naigrabzo on 22/09/2023 - 11:50
    +1

    Also consider Corolla hybrid used. But won't have enough space like SUV though.

  • Broke-Ken on 22/09/2023 - 13:16
    +1

    I am looking for a hatch/compact SUV (baby on the way)
    I have looked at a Kia Stonic, Kia Cerato (over the budget) and a Hyundai i30 (over budget). Ideally I would prefer a new car for the warranty reasons.

    Baby will probably arrive before the car!

  • dkwon10 on 24/09/2023 - 09:46
    +1

    Kia stonic, mg zs or Mitsubishi ASx
    Or you can stretch your budget

  • JoeBogan on 24/09/2023 - 19:01
    +4

    Hey guys I ended up deciding that it was not worth it at this time to buy a new car. Im instead going for a cheaper used hatchback and will get an EV once were in a better financial position. Thanks for all the input, it really helped my decision!

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