Best Value Hatch For Daily Driving.

[KezR33]

Hey guys,

My girlfriend is looking for a new car to replace her old Corolla. She wants a small, fuel efficient, good looking, 5dr car thats reliable to drive daily. She will probably keep this car for 10+ years. Her budget is $20,000-$30,000 but she'd be willing to spend more if the value for money is there.

We're looking at almost all Japanese and European hatches. We're also considering the CT200h Lexus Hybrid. Its $44k but my girlfriends brother works for Toyota/Lexus and gets a 21% discount on all cars. Does anyone have any experience with the Lexus or Hybrids in general? Is the Hybrid technology good enough to last 10 years and 200,000kms if maintained properly?

Of the other hatches avaliable, does anyone have any personal experience with any? Any you would or would not recommend?

Appreciate any feedback, cheers.

[ctjet]

cant see why the latest 'rolla wouldnt be a good buy

great build quality, excellent on fuel, CHEAP to service, looks great, and in manual its a hell of a lot of fun

totally worth the cash.

shit, even im thinking about it

[ctjet]

stay away from BMW's, those service costs might be reasonable for M3 and 7 seiries owners, but for what is meant to be a small cheap car they'll fcuking murder you

[10 4]

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/bncis/details.aspx?R=11512856&__Qpb=1&Cr=2&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&keywords=&__N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282%204294701258%20444&SearchAction=N&silo=1011&PriceTo=444&seot=1&__Nne=15&trecs=11&__sid=12CB54BF3AF7

[xALmoN]

http://www.carsales....id=12CB54BF3AF7

i guess reliability isn't a factor then?

[10 4]

Don't be hatin'

[GTR-N1]

Yesterday at Parramatta. $32K reduced from $39k is the Manual Citroën DS3 Sport. 1 left. Black. We looked Alfa Mito & Abarth too for another lady. The Auto DS3 isn't worth it since it drops the turbo.

[SKITTLES]

Ford Fiesta; 1000km to a tank apparently.

Don't get something like an alpha, parts are expensive.

[Cowboy1600]

Pretty much any of the small hatches from Ford, Holden or one of the Jap brands. Price wise/feature wise you could throw a hanky over the lot.

It's really a matter of which one does she like the look of better. Go test drive a few.

If I had to pick, however, it'd probably be a Festiva.

There's absolutely no need to spend upwards of $25k (in fact you should get change from $20k). I'd avoid the Euro brands.

Hybrid's are bullshit heavy and slow and not particularly fuel efficient. Lexus make great cars, but big money for a runabout, even with 21% off.

Recently I've driven an i30, Focus, Corolla, ix35, Dualis and a few others (Mrs is looking for a new car) and it's hard to find a bad one. The Focus was dynamically superior to the others, but cost more and in reality, for my wife, not really required.

Go test drive a metric shitload and buy the one which you gelled with the most.

[writeoff]

Can you give us some more information please Keiran?

Perhaps you can answer these questions to help narrow down the selection criteria for us. I am looking at a near new (2008 or later) 5-door hatchback to replace my Peugeot 205 GTI that I've had for 14 years so I have been studying some of these models in depth.

1. Does she want a brand new car or is she willing to get one that's a few years old and save thousands?
2. Can your sister drive a manual?
3. What size hatch does she want eg a Mini, VW Polo, Fiat 500, Citroen DS3 or the larger VW Golf, Ford Focus, Audi A3 size?
4. If she buys a European car from the 'premium' brands like BMW, Merc, Audi or even the Japanese Lexus will she be able to afford the (usually more expensive) maintenance?
5. Does she want a sports model like VW GTIs or Focus XR5 or is she happier with the more generic, better fuel economy models?

[Bunta]

Buy a 3 of some sort, they are amazingly good, lots of room, ample power, great on fuel and cheap to service. My Choice would be the SP20 skyactiv, more power and less fuel consumption!

[KezR33]

1. Does she want a brand new car or is she willing to get one that's a few years old and save thousands?

She's willing to buy a demo model, but needs a new car. Her dad is paying $20,000 towards whatever she gets, but he is flat out against anything second hand.

2. Can your sister drive a manual?

My sister can, my girlfriend can't

3. What size hatch does she want eg a Mini, VW Polo, Fiat 500, Citroen DS3 or the larger VW Golf, Ford Focus, Audi A3 size.

Probably the slightly larger. She prefers the Golf over the Polo, but she'll consider them all.

4. If she buys a European car from the 'premium' brands like BMW, Merc, Audi or even the Japanese Lexus will she be able to afford the (usually more expensive) maintenance?

She could afford it, but I think it would be more than she realizes.

5. Does she want a sports model like VW GTIs or Focus XR5 or is she happier with the more generic, better fuel economy models?

She doesn't give a shit about performance, so long as its not absolutely gutless.

[KezR33]

cant see why the latest 'rolla wouldnt be a good buy

great build quality, excellent on fuel, CHEAP to service, looks great, and in manual its a hell of a lot of fun

totally worth the cash.

shit, even im thinking about it

This is what I'm pushing her towards. That 21% discount on an already excellent value car is just too good to pass up. Her main issue is she has driven a Corolla for the last 7-8 years and would like something else.

She likes the the FT-86 though, if only it were released this year!

[Cowboy1600]

She doesn't give a shit about performance, so long as its not absolutely gutless.

Corolla, Focus, 3, i30, Tiida (f**king stupid name that I believe is soon to be replaced by Pulsar again [yay!]), Civic, Lancer.

There's not a bad one amongst them. Spend a weekend test driving them all then pick the one you (she) liked best. You can't go wrong with any of them. They are a lot cheaper than the Euros, have nearly as many features and will be cheaper to run and more reliable (noting 10+ years ownership).

[wlspn]

My pick would be VW Golf, preferably the Comfortline TSi (I think), 1.4l twin-charged unit anyway.

CHEAP on fuel, zippy, reliable & euro quality...

Only thing you would have to check out is servicing costs, etc

[Cowboy1600]

My pick would be VW Golf, preferably the Comfortline TSi (I think), 1.4l twin-charged unit anyway.

CHEAP on fuel, zippy, reliable & euro quality...

Only thing you would have to check out is servicing costs, etc

$35,000 later.

f**k that. It doesn't do anything one of the $22,000 japs won't do.

[10 4]

$35,000 later.

f**k that. It doesn't do anything one of the $22,000 japs won't do.

Get the 1.2L (i think?) gold brand spankers with DSG for 22, redbook says 77kw, 0-100 in 10.6 so not that bad.. Pretty economical...

[Cowboy1600]

Get the 1.2L (i think?) gold brand spankers with DSG for 22, redbook says 77kw, 0-100 in 10.6 so not that bad.. Pretty economical...

Or you could get a japper for the same price with more features and 100+kw and a few seconds quicker to 100.

[10 4]

But DSG!!

[Mayuri Krab]

= not better than regular auto for the intended purpose here (regular A-B driving).

Probably cost more for servicing too.

You said she is not interested in performance so I would just play it safe & get another Corolla.

Edited November 1, 2011 by Mayuri Krab