Buying A New Small Car

[Ghiadude]

Ok so we are buying a new small car to get me to work, carry family and the occassional large load.At the moment we have a mitsibishi mirage but it has no air conditioning and no back doors which makes getting bub in and out of the back a C&*T of an act BUT HAS OTHERWISE BEEN AN EXCELLENT CAR!! it carrys more than my EL in the back.. it just cant carry 5 people when doing it!! it doesnt go very well, but is VERY economical
It now has to go as baby Lili has arrived and mum needs EL GHIA to travel with baby in climate control leather clad comfort!!!

CRITERIA FOR NEW CAR
1.must be economical
as i drive wollongong to sydney for work 35-40000kms a year
2 must have 4 doors
3 must have air conditioning
4 must have ABS(i refuse to drive a car without it in this day and age)
5 must have cruise control(lots of freeway kms)
6 must go OK ish(big hills on the way)
7 must cost less than 20k hopefullly 16-18k
8 if its 4 cylinder must be manual trans(auto would be 5h17!!)

cars we have looked at so far
toyota corolla new and used(100kw!!)
these are good and i can buy a 04 mod for exactly my price range and if i stretch the extra i can get a brand spanker
but....most dont have ABS!!! (optional) and dont have cruise control in this price range



ford focus current model
no used ones around
new are too expensive
dont have ABS!!!(optional)
but look very nice when optioned up :-(


ford falcon BA (LPG)
this is what im stuck on... a used example xt would tick all the boxes on gas!!! but may require me to stretch budget and also requires me to by 2002 model which could require repairs-thus needing a warranty of some sort


WHAT ELSE IS THERE THAT YOU GUYS CAN THINK OF??
im pretty open to suggestions although KOREANS (incl new holden badged ones are strictly out)

[Redrum]

Corrollas would be my bet if Focus not an option.

[b2tf]

Fiesta an option?

[MISTA FIESTA]

Originally Posted by back2thefutura

Fiesta an option?

Dam right it should be!!!

Its got all u want except for the cruise control.

A 5 door lx with air con, manual is definitly under 18k. :eclipsee_

[Smoke Pursuit]

Or mazda 3!

[SSBUB]

i would say Echo but i might get bashed heehee
2nd hand Rav4?

[Ghiadude]

fiesta is out . no cruise and lil bit tooo small, as is the mazda 3 - too expensive
and echo/yaris is the same as fiesta in size if not smaller...

rav 4 used....too expensive

[b2tf]

laser? the last generation were quite good.

[Ghiadude]

Originally Posted by back2thefutura

laser? the last generation were quite good.

YEAH ESPECIALLY THE 4WD 92 MODEL ONES...LOL
in all honestly they would be a bit too old and therefore potentially unreliable. hence why the BA on gas is slightly out of favour with the missus.

keep em coming though. ive had a look at brand new lancer.... base+air+onroad=too much

then i loooked at honda civic and 19900 buys you everything in a sedan except on roads... hatch is 5k more!!! so that is out...

man i always wondered why so many corollas were being sold and at the prices today and for what you get they are very good value..

[SSBUB]

hyundai getz?
Tiburon for that sporty feel?
ok enuff hyundai

Barina?
Astra?
Camry?
2nd hand subaru of some sort like a forrester or liberty? Or even an RX?
Nissan pulsar?

[Ghiadude]

Originally Posted by SSBUB

hyundai getz?
Tiburon for that sporty feel?
ok enuff hyundai

Barina?
Astra?
Camry?
2nd hand subaru of some sort like a forrester or liberty? Or even an RX?
Nissan pulsar?

barina too small
astra hmmmm
camry (i cant do it...seriously i cant)
impreza rx...hmmm
nissan pulsar has a beam rear end and drum rear brakes.....nuf sed

[SSBUB]

believe it or not, the worlds best selling car is the corolla...considering the amount and type of cars on the road globally, it tells you something about them.
My mate went looking at Hondas and was also suprised to see the hatch more expensive than the sedan...that suited them though and they picked it up for 20k i think

[Charliewool]

I'd go the Mazda 3... I bought the other 1/2 a brand newie 18months ago and it was 24k on road back then (full electrics, cruise), great little car! 2nd hand market would suggest a low K one would be in your price range?

[Ghiadude]

Originally Posted by charliewool

I'd go the Mazda 3... I bought the other 1/2 a brand newie 18months ago and it was 24k on road back then (full electrics, cruise), great little car! 2nd hand market would suggest a low K one would be in your price range?

just did a quick search cos i do like the three!!
but CLICK HERE
waaaay out of my price range!! 24k on road you say???

[rodderz]

I can just imagine you charlie terrorising laverton in that little beast charlie! (with avatar sheep in passenger seat?)

Fiesta's are a great little car. For such a small car they seem big inside and go quite well

[Charliewool]

Originally Posted by rodderz

I can just imagine you charlie terrorising laverton in that little beast charlie! (with avatar sheep in passenger seat?)

Fiesta's are a great little car. For such a small car they seem big inside and go quite well

Mate.... And to think she gave the XR6T the **** for the 3! ... AND has NO regrets. (Although I have a few after taking over the T for the Pursuit!)

[Dave_au]

Corollas have a stupidly high resale - just have a look and you will see 96 models with 100000 on the clock can still fetch 8000-9000.

Get the Corolla, you can't go wrong. Plus the indicator stalk is on the right side, unlike the euro focus.

[Charliewool]

Those were all SD23's (on your click here)... Mine is a 2 litre manual sedan (not hatch) though they are both the same price. The sedan has more legroom, and... I have just dug out the paperwork, I paid exactly $24,000 in July 04 to Essendon Mazda.

[Charliewool]

This one is identicle, same colour even!... I cannot believe how they've held their price!http://www.drive.com.au/used_cars/ma...&pp=1&d=0&nv=1

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by charliewool

This one is identicle, same colour even!... I cannot believe how they've held their price!http://www.drive.com.au/used_cars/ma...&pp=1&d=0&nv=1

What they ask for and what they fetch are usually two seperate things. If thats worth 24k and they want 22.5k, I'd just spend the extra 1-2k and get a new one

[Ghiadude]

although a -hot car the three is a little bit out of our league... @ over 20k

[benoxr]

My missus has just put a deposit on a 1997 Mitsubishi Nimbus. Private sale. It has everything you require EXCEPT ABS. It has the cruise which is aftermarket plus alarm, immobiliser, power windows. 2.4ltr 5 sp man and goes real well. They reportedly are very reliable and have a high resale value. 187,000km and we are paying $10,200
They can actually seat 7 people but will seat 5 easily with plenty of room for stuff in the back. Has a rear hatch door but is actually a wagon.

[42.57lb]

Get a current body turbo diesel golf. 5.5L/100Km

They are pretty HUGE inside too. Picked up some friends from the airport in the previous one, got 1 set of golf clubs plus 3 average size bags (soft bags) in the boot no troubles.

check this place out if you don't know it: www.theredbook.com.au car prices and all sorts of info about features and techinical facts...

[merlin]

I was recently looking at small cars under $20K as well, until I decided to get a BA ute. Hit list was:

'98 Audi A3 turbo approx $17K
'01 Alfa Romeo 147 - look hard enough and you will find one for under $20K
Focuses also seemed OK...bargain hard and you can get an ST170 for about $22K in Sydney.

Edit: BTW Instead of going for a pov pack late model hatch i reckon you get much better value going for something a couple of years older with all the fruit (read only buy top of the model range) and low kms. Its a buyers market :

[Polyal]

Mate do what I want to do.

A mondeo ST24!!! 2000MY

Good on fuel, enough space, very good power, looks hot, and its a ford!!

Most are going for ~10-13k.

A VERY under rated car, and one that I hope to own sometime next year.

OR...another cool car that handles well and has good economy, a Peugoet 405 Mi16. 205 GTi engine in a sedan thats not much bigger, they have got good reviews but when something goes wrong I think its costly.

[smoo]

Used Falcon on gas. AU Fairmont maybe. Try and find a run out Astra. Better than the Koren crap that it's being replaced by.

[Ghiadude]

so far...
the ute ... i have to carry a newborn and a wife...nup
mondeo too old and will possibly be expensive to maintain
golf, pug and other non mainstream cars are expensive to maintain
it looks like a corolla will be the go..04 model with some fruit should do the trick, unless someone has a BA on gas in sydney/wollongong area??

[Polyal]

mondeo to old? its only 5 years..

a corrola...you might as well get a camry, or a run out magna for more room. How many kids do you have?

Go the Focus.

www.tradingpost.com.au

Search for Focus. There is at least one LX with ABS for 18g's

[CarBroker]

Astra runouts are getting scarce, but they're built in Belgium, have ABS and are brand new. $20,000 or very close.