Good run around city car?

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lNomNoml

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Topic # 242169 14-Oct-2018 18:40

Looking for ideas for my partner who is a support worker and drives a lot, I bought her a Honda Fit 2006, it has around 77000km's on it at the moment, but looking at maybe getting something else until costs start piling up to maintain, thinking either newer Honda Fit, Suzuki Swift or Mazda 2. Keeping it is also an option if you think I am over reacting. Any recommendations? Looking for cheap to run but also safe.

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Reply # 2107724 14-Oct-2018 18:52

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what costs are you expecting? we have had our 2007 Honda jazz (same shape)since 80,000km and its up to 150,000km now.

I spent about $1200 at 120,000km as it got a full service at Honda, but everything else I have done myself, and its about a few hundred per year on consumables.

good wee car, and if you look after the CVT (if it had one) then it will last you a long time.

MadEngineer

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Reply # 2107731 14-Oct-2018 19:14

Toyota Vitz

Fred99

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Reply # 2107735 14-Oct-2018 19:33

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My pick would be a Mazda CX-3. I think it's based on the Mazda 2 platform, is a little higher so easier to get in and out of, really well specced with cameras that reads road speed signs and display this on the HUD, blind spot indicators on the mirrors, decent position screen with reversing camera etc, hatchback so good for chucking shopping in the back. Rear seat leg room is a bit cramped for tall adults. 2 litre motor - but very economical (about 6l/100km). Price is a bit higher than other Japanese/Korean alternatives. I've just really enjoyed driving them, they seem to have got everything sorted in an appealing and up to date manner, and managed to do "high tech" in an unobtrusive easy to use and uncluttered way.

alasta

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Reply # 2107778 14-Oct-2018 20:55

My picks in this segment would be:

Mazda 2 or CX3
Honda Jazz or HRV
Kia Rio or Picanto

Mechanically I think the Mazda is the probably the best of that bunch, but note that you may not get CarPlay as they are in the process of rolling it out to various models.

Linuxluver

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Reply # 2107793 14-Oct-2018 21:24

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lNomNoml:

Looking for ideas for my partner who is a support worker and drives a lot, I bought her a Honda Fit 2006, it has around 77000km's on it at the moment, but looking at maybe getting something else until costs start piling up to maintain, thinking either newer Honda Fit, Suzuki Swift or Mazda 2. Keeping it is also an option if you think I am over reacting. Any recommendations? Looking for cheap to run but also safe.

How much driving is "a lot"?

The more you drive, the more you spend on petrol.......

If you can afford $10k-$12k, you probably don't have to spend any money on petrol.....and that may save you big money per year and the bit extra for the car pays for itself quickly. Plus almost no servicing.

I talk about a cheap older Nissan LEAF. They can do 100km around town easily....and you can always give them a zap (often free in Auckland) to add more if you need it in the same day. It's a very comfy car... Rego is cheaper, too, I think.

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meesham

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Reply # 2107805 14-Oct-2018 21:46

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I have a 2016 Suzuki Swift Sport (with the bigger 1.6L engine) as my daily driver, it's a great car. Fun to drive, comfortable and even though I thrash the hell out of it cheap to run. The only downside with it if you're doing lots of k's in it is there's no spare tyre, just an inflator that connects to the cigarette lighter socket - and because of the low profile tyres it's a bit of a risk. If you go for the standard 1.4L models you get the spare tyre with it. The boot is also tiny, my wife had a 2009 Jazz and it makes much better use of space.

About 6 months ago I hit a big pothole doing 60km as I was coming around a sweeping bend (I saw it too late and it was raining hard), both rims on the right hand side got bent - luckily I was very close to a tyre place.

If you want to go brand new the gearbox in the Kia Rio has finally been upgraded which was my main problem with it and why I ended up getting the Swift. It's a pretty decent car to drive with lots of kit and the GT Line looks pretty awesome if your budget stretches that far. Our other car is a Kia Cerato and it's made me a big fan of the Kias.

lNomNoml

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Reply # 2107816 14-Oct-2018 22:10

Jase2985:

what costs are you expecting?

Mostly the old "the older it is the morte to maintain it" maintance and mechanicial.

Linuxluver:

How much driving is "a lot"?

The more you drive, the more you spend on petrol.......

If you can afford $10k-$12k, you probably don't have to spend any money on petrol.....and that may save you big money per year and the bit extra for the car pays for itself quickly. Plus almost no servicing.

I talk about a cheap older Nissan LEAF. They can do 100km around town easily....and you can always give them a zap (often free in Auckland) to add more if you need it in the same day. It's a very comfy car... Rego is cheaper, too, I think.

33000KMs give or take in 9 months

Looking around the $10-12 mark yeah, sounds like a plan might start looking into these.

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raytaylor

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Reply # 2107839 14-Oct-2018 23:17

Wow thats a lot.

I do 50,000kms each year and find its cheaper to go with diesel once you hit about 35,000kms per year for a compact SUV, or Van. I havent checked the numbers on a new hatchback yet though.

BUT

If you are happy with a standard hatchback vehicle then I would suggest you should be going with a plug-in hybrid / PHEV.
And at this point it might be worth waiting a few months as I suspect the govt is going to announce some incentives for going electric very soon.

You wont be able to go fully EV on that kind of mileage - thats 183kms per working day and typical range between charges is about 120-170kms (though a tesla can do 300kms)
As you say support worker, I imagine the nurse that visited my grandfather every few days to replace his bandages. Its not practable to plug in at clients houses and public charging stations are usually out of the way and require you to wait for some time for the recharge.

Hence why a plug in hybrid would be much better.
You get about 20kms of full electric mode in a prius, with the hybrid advantages taking over for the rest of the day. If you are driving in the city you will find this to be very advantageous over petrol-only. The stop/start of intersections where regenerative braking and electric-only take-off will save a massive amount of fuel.

In a city, the prius example is rated for ~3.5L/100kms and highway is ~3.6L/100kms

Most petrol vehicles are rated for 7L/100kms highway and are much, much worse in urban.
The prius is better in urban and worse on highway due to the electric takeoff and more regular regenerative braking in urban areas where as on the highway there is less braking and less opportunity for fuel savings with electric-only mode.

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ilovemusic

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Reply # 2107854 14-Oct-2018 23:28

nomnom;

what's your budget ?

ANglEAUT

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Reply # 2107858 14-Oct-2018 23:49

lNomNoml: ... 33000KMs give or take in 9 months ...

That's ±275 days at 120km every day.

As an Uber / taxi driver, it is very easy to do more than that within eight hours. With my 2015 Nissan Leaf @ 24KW, I can drive 3.5hrs (winter) to 4.5hrs (summer) non-stop. Anything longer will require a top-up at the fast charger. At that stage, the GOM is anywhere between 15km-40km remaining. Enough for a slow limp home and too empty for a full nights charge (single phase, 8A aka wall socket). At a cost of $20 000, the fuel savings are paying for the car. So far, every 10 000km service has cost me less than $70.

YMMV. For me, B (regen) mode is always on, ECO mode is always on, not to many rushes & <=4 dots at pull away.

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raytaylor

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Reply # 2107859 15-Oct-2018 00:06

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Ive been quackulating some figures and I reckon a brand new prius could be financed purely on the fuel savings of this user.

Petrol only typical 1.6L car 180kms of urban driving at 8.5L per 100kms = 14.4L per day or $33.12
$165 per week.

Hybrid prius 2018 model 180kms of urban driving at 3.5L per 100kms = 6.3L per day or $14.49
$72.45 per week

Difference of $92 per week in fuel savings if petrol stays at $2.30 per litre.

A new prius starts at about $28k - i havent looked into other options
@10% over 5 years thats $136.95 per week ($35,608 total paid)

$44.95 weekly payment for the cost of the vehicle itself remains after fuel savings ($11,687 total paid)

220,000kms would be on the clock after 5 years, havent checked out the expected life of them but I suspect they are higher than the usual 300,000kms of a petrol car, though at that time I would be selling it for $3k-$5k and avoid a battery replacement which would be coming due. Then use that as the deposit on the next car.

So i think its pretty easy to build a case for a plug in hybrid as possibly being better than a $12k second hand petrol vehicle.

I recently bought my mother a Yaris, she only drives about 20kms a day of urban so couldnt justify the hybrid as she only spends $20 per week on petrol which wouldnt offset the increased repayments.

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Aredwood

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Reply # 2108135 15-Oct-2018 12:47

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Another option. Keep the Honda Fit for now. But plan to replace it with an EV in a year or 2. Possibly when 60KW Leafs and Konas become available secondhand.

Otherwise replace it with a hybrid as mentioned above. But also have a look at the Toyota prius C and Toyota Aqua. Same car, just NZ new and import versions respectively.

I think you would struggle to save enough money on fuel / maintenance by buying a replacement ICE only car. To offset the extra finance costs.