New Car - Old Car - Decisions, Decisions

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#1312533 27-May-2015 10:34

nzkiwiman: ....
Budget - max $20k,
I want to get a car that lasts me a long time (like my current car) rather than going in an upgrade ever xx year cycle as I see that as money wasted.

Fresh imported Prius 2013 for 17K with around 60000km - are common.
Budget in couple of grands for the battery upgrade in perhaps 5-7 years.

sep11guy

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#1312548 27-May-2015 10:46

I would recommend spend 15k on a < 50kms run car, and put 5k in the bank for possibly a holiday or emergency cash.

5k can get you a decent holiday in asia, or for a couple with kid a good holiday in Oz, / islands

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#1312666 27-May-2015 12:48

dclegg: Quite interested in this thread, as we're in a similar place as the OP.

Currently considering an ex-lease 2013 Mondeo. These seem very easy to get for under $20K, with less than 50K KMs on the clock. They seem like quite a popular car. Is this popularity justified?

It's certainly available at better prices than equivalent models from other brands (eg Mazda6, Honda Accord Euro...), but the model's fairly old in the tooth, having initially been released in 2007. That said, I'm assuming the 2013 examples come with modern-day essentials such as ESC?

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#1312794 27-May-2015 14:57

jonathan18:
dclegg: Quite interested in this thread, as we're in a similar place as the OP.

Currently considering an ex-lease 2013 Mondeo. These seem very easy to get for under $20K, with less than 50K KMs on the clock. They seem like quite a popular car. Is this popularity justified?

It's certainly available at better prices than equivalent models from other brands (eg Mazda6, Honda Accord Euro...), but the model's fairly old in the tooth, having initially been released in 2007. That said, I'm assuming the 2013 examples come with modern-day essentials such as ESC?

I bought a ex-lease 2005 mondeo at 3yrs old, 96k etc for $11k, was incredible value at the time, i owned it for 6 years, did 75k over this time and it was essentially trouble free and a damned good car, sold it for something under 4k so while it cost maybe a grand over that time it depreciated fairly significantly

You do need to be prepared to take a whack on resale as cheap buy-in usually equals saturated resale market at the other end which tends to drive down prices

nzkiwiman

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#1313620 28-May-2015 17:11

Looking at the differences of body shape, I love the 2015 Mazda 3 but not so keen on the 2014 (and earlier)

Hopefully this weekend I can get out and actually sit in some cars to see if any make a short list

jonb

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#1314351 29-May-2015 21:53

Have a look at the Volkswagons too. We were all set for a new Mazda 2, but went for the Polo in the end. Felt like you were in the next size up of car - Mazda 3, Hyundai Accent etc but for the price of the Mazda 2. Favourite of all the ones we tried, and cheaper and more efficient. Manual at 4.7l/100km with a nippy 1.2l engine for low twenty thousands all up.
Previous motor is a 1999 Mazda demio.

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#1314363 29-May-2015 22:05

jonb: Have a look at the Volkswagons too. We were all set for a new Mazda 2, but went for the Polo in the end. Felt like you were in the next size up of car - Mazda 3, Hyundai Accent etc but for the price of the Mazda 2. Favourite of all the ones we tried, and cheaper and more efficient. Manual at 4.7l/100km with a nippy 1.2l engine for low twenty thousands all up.
Previous motor is a 1999 Mazda demio.

I would buy a Japanese made car anyday, simply due to reliability, and they tend to be cheaper to service/repair in NZ.

nzkiwiman

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#1316286 2-Jun-2015 16:04

A few family members (aunts/uncles/cousins) have said get European, but after seeing my fathers bills for servicing of his Mini - I am sticking with Japanese

While I didn't get to test drive anything this weekend, I managed to narrow it down to a few models

late 2014-2015 Mazda3 (Skyactive branding, new grill) - price vs features seems to be the best and gets glowing reviews
Kia Cerato
Hyundai i30
Ford Focus
Honda Civic Euro

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#1316336 2-Jun-2015 16:51

what's the servicing bill for a Mini?

nzkiwiman

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#1316586 3-Jun-2015 09:09

Decided that maybe spending $28-30k on a car was a bit silly, so last night/early morning as I couldn't sleep I looked up what cars were available
Minimum requirement was 2010 or newer, located in the South and up to $15k

The result was very depressing - combination of low power "shopping carts", imported and high km's

Adjusting the result to $20k gave me some more options, but I guess I have been spoilt by looking at the Mazda 3 and if I stuck to a $20k limit then I would just keep my current car

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#1316615 3-Jun-2015 09:47

trouble with a bargain is..

right place
right time

they do come around, but otherwise it's seasonal. when NZD->USD was 1.2 ... cars were so cheap ;p now it's 1.4+ !

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#1316861 3-Jun-2015 15:35

nzkiwiman: Decided that maybe spending $28-30k on a car was a bit silly, so last night/early morning as I couldn't sleep I looked up what cars were available
Minimum requirement was 2010 or newer, located in the South and up to $15k

The result was very depressing - combination of low power "shopping carts", imported and high km's

Adjusting the result to $20k gave me some more options, but I guess I have been spoilt by looking at the Mazda 3 and if I stuck to a $20k limit then I would just keep my current car

Again why get hung up so much on year ?

Something like a 2005-2008 Subaru Legacy 3.0R is going to tick your boxes

- $15-16K price
- safe ANCAP 5
- chain driven (no cambelt
- great power
- good economy
- good resale
- spacious

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/subaru/auction-866789861.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/subaru/auction-886618248.htm

Id say take a 3.0R or a low km GT Spec B for a test drive. Youll never look at a Mazda 3 again.

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#1316880 3-Jun-2015 16:33

heylinb4nz:

Again why get hung up so much on year ?

Something like a 2005-2008 Subaru Legacy 3.0R is going to tick your boxes

- good economy

How many litres per 100km is that? Mazda 3s are around the 6 mark, which is very economic to run considering size.

heylinb4nz

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#1316899 3-Jun-2015 17:08

mattwnz:
heylinb4nz:

Again why get hung up so much on year ?

Something like a 2005-2008 Subaru Legacy 3.0R is going to tick your boxes

- good economy

How many litres per 100km is that? Mazda 3s are around the 6 mark, which is very economic to run considering size.

Cant have it both ways , hence the OPs comment about finding underpowered shopping carts, and is that 6L per 100 km in the brochure ? or actually use ? town/highway/mixed ?

In saying that I run a 2004 GT Spec B putting out around 230KW (ECU tune, intake, front pipe...<$2k worth of modifications..$18k all in with 63,000 on clock) and I get 7.9L per 100km open road (actual use when driving nice).

A 3.0R stock should get that and closer to 7.5L with an ECU remap.

nzkiwiman

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#1317272 4-Jun-2015 11:08

I can't speak for others, but the age of the vehicle matters to me as it is one of the primary reasons for upgrading.

My current car is very close to being 20 years old which is getting a bit old.
At the moment it is a very good solid car and I have zero concern that I do not currently have ABS, Airbags, Crumple Zone protection etc
It also does around 8L per 100km

I can also see myself having any new car for at least 10 more years, before another upgrade.

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