Hi,
Keen to hear peoples thoughts on what car to buy at the moment, between wait times, technologies (electric), the shift to SUV's I feel it's a really odd time to be in the need of a car. I've always driven 'hot hatches', I've found that the balance of these provide the practicality and enjoyment that suit my lifestyle and needs. 85% of the time it's just me in the car, to and from work (that's not much highways) 10% of the time its +1 passenger and 5% of the time it's + 3 passengers.
I'm a little conscious that world is progressing to electric/hybrid powertrains but I personally feel that the options that exist in Australia are not worthy of going fully electric/PHEV yet, the lack of charging, excessive price tags (for range/performance) makes me hesitant to make the switch, even then, it appears a lot of this tech is going into larger cars, which I really don't have the need for.
As odd as this sounds; I find myself juggling between a Civic LX e:HEV vs a WRX rs manual; I KNOW they're two completely different types of cars and I think its a head/heart battle. I feel the rex lacks a bit on the tech/feature side, when you look at things like larger sunroof, digital dash, front sensors, rear air vents, but you do get the performance and high petrol use. On the other hand, the Civic is quite frugal, but dont think i'll have much enjoyment from its whiny CVT, its quite advance it its tech things like Honda Connect (Maybe gimmicky?)
First and foremost my key priorities are reliability and safety, I feel the Australian market has really killed off any decent options in the warm / hot hatch space, I feel items such as a Focus ST, Megane RS are completely gone, US models such as a Civic SI just dont exist….
I have test drove a i30n (manual), and personally felt that the vehicle was just 'always on', even when adjusting settings to be off and the harsh plastics just made it feel cheap. I did drive a 22 Focus ST and loved it, and a tad spewy (still till this day, that Ford culled my order) I felt this was a good balance between 'performance' and maturity.
Keen to hear peoples thoughts.
Ideally id like:
- Manual (Don't really feel they exist much anymore)
- New preferably.
- 150-200KW
- Sunroof
- Tech, I like 'tech'.
Budget is approx. $60k which I feel is more than reasonable, although these days, it seems like a crap budget.
I feel I'd like to stay away from any Euro product as I don't feel the reliability is there.
Edit:
I just wanted to edit to assist in clarifying some of the questions raised in the comments section:
- I have done my research…. a tad insulted with the comments that mention I haven't, hence why I provided the two comparisons
Focus range culled from Australia - https://www.drive.com.au/news/ford-focus-st-and-fiesta-st-ax…
Megane production finished - https://www.carscoops.com/2022/07/renault-megane-reportedly-… (yes… you can technically still get one for now, but not for long, also euro) - I do approx 10k - 15k kms per year
- On the point of warranty my opinion, on a new car, even though there is warranty, trips to dealerships should NOT be required.
- I've been very very privileged, I acknowledge that, and have been able to swap my cars regularly in the past and also drive various products through work. Dual Clutch transmissions any from any manufacturer, at low speeds frankly dont work well (at least ive found), I'm actually really disappointed that traditional torque converters are disappearing and can only be found in some manufacturers. Anywhooo Im ranting a little, Im now not in the same position and need this car to last at least 5-10 years.
- The reason why I'm insistent on manual, is is I feel the engagement, as well as you being in control, what I mean by this is, there's one route in particular (near my home) where, in a traditional auto its 2>3>4>5(sometimes), as they're designed for efficiency within seconds im back in 2nd. The car doesn't know I'm about to slow again! I'm finding time and time again, autos cant make the prediction well…. (paddles dont help) - But I also acknowledge that in higher spec models, manuals dont exist (https://www.whichcar.com.au/advice/every-new-manual-you-can-…)
- Why new? I just feel like buying used, id be going backwards…. I've had a new car in 2015, 18 and 22….. to go back at year a get a used car to me, doesn't make sense.
-On the elect front…… I'm not going to comment tooo much here, but this is personal opinion and circumstances (yes, maybe a little bit lack of research, and fear, i.e fires, replacement batteries, charging etc) and take it as you will.. and selfish as this sounds, I don't care about emissions as a factor when purchasing
Hopefully this helps apologies for poor English
is there a tldr; version?
60K budget for a car and rough time seems at odds with each other….