Looking to purchase a near new midsize car. We have a LWB Pajero for towing and family trips, and a tiny under powered car for the kids to use around town.
The 'new' car would be for everyday use or longer trips with just the two of us.
Have narrowed it to the following.
Mazda 3 2.0L Petrol
Hyundai i30 1.8L Petrol
Mitsi Lancer 2.0L Petrol
In each case we would be going for the mid-range variant.
I'd value any useful comments about or experiences of the above cars. Particularly interested in reliability, economy, overtaking slow vehicles, handling, practicality.
Doing road tests this week.
Already rejected the list below. I'm taller than average and a lot of my height comes from my upper body, so headroom/line of sight is an important issue for me. This rules two thirds of the cars in this size range out immediately. I'm not intersted in a European car, due to the higher cost of servicing, parts etc.
VW Golf (headroom)
Ford Focus and Mondeo (headroom)
Honda Civic (headroom)
Honda Accord (cost, too big)
Toyota Corolla (have hired, poor handling, disliked)
Holden Cruze and Epica (have hired both, really disliked)
Subaru anything (price)