New cars for grandparent age group

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#2650443 9-Feb-2021 15:50

What's the budget?

I used to have a BMW i3 which was an amazing car, and would be great for this demographic.

Tiny exterior dimensions, for example 3,999mm long (for comparison a Mazda 2 is 4065mm), Tight turning circle (9.86m). Yet the persence and interior space of a much larger car. Great amounts of space for the front seat occupants (more than the Lexus SUV I am currently driving). Relatively high seating position. No 360deg camera's, but mine had sensors on every corner and a birds eye view would come up on the screen showing how close things were to the corners etc. Current one gets adaptive cruise, autonomous breaking, parking assist etc.

Plus having 125kW in a small RWD makes it quite go cart like. Downside are the small boot, fairly high price, and unusual sized tires.

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#2650447 9-Feb-2021 15:55

Scott3:

What's the budget?

I used to have a BMW i3 which was an amazing car, and would be great for this demographic.

Tiny exterior dimensions, for example 3,999mm long (for comparison a Mazda 2 is 4065mm), Tight turning circle (9.86m). Yet the persence and interior space of a much larger car. Great amounts of space for the front seat occupants (more than the Lexus SUV I am currently driving). Relatively high seating position. No 360deg camera's, but mine had sensors on every corner and a birds eye view would come up on the screen showing how close things were to the corners etc. Current one gets adaptive cruise, autonomous breaking, parking assist etc.

Plus having 125kW in a small RWD makes it quite go cart like. Downside are the small boot, fairly high price, and unusual sized tires.

I saw what you did there :)

But yes, my in-laws have one and its a great shopping trolley, + its great for racing off the lights :)

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#2650454 9-Feb-2021 16:15

Jaxson:

Yes I was leaning towards a Yaris to replace their current Japanese Ractis model.

If they have a Ractis, then they prefer a higher seat position, but probably don't want the ridiculous clamber up & down that feature in so many SUVs. On the other hand, they don't want to sit down into a low-slung car and then fight to get vertical again when getting out.
It's a bugger getting old. I'm the same way inclined, and I am too in the 'grandparents' age group.

Have you tried a Honda Jazz? They look somewhat similar as far as "shorter but taller" goes

Looks like the Ractis was replaced by the Sienta in Japan. There are fairly new used imports available, but Toyota NZ don't appear to be bringing them in new

Jaxson:

Are the wipers / indicator - light controls etc on the same size as a standard Japanese car, or are they still reversed when coming from Europe?

All European cars have their indicators on the other side compared to Japanese cars.
Your oldsters may find this a nearly-insuperable obstacle

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#2650473 9-Feb-2021 16:31

Scott3:

What's the budget?

I used to have a BMW i3 which was an amazing car, and would be great for this demographic.

Plus having 125kW in a small RWD makes it quite go cart like. Downside are the small boot, fairly high price, and unusual sized tires.

Ah RWD, they just don't make it like that commonly anymore. Far our I prefer that approach so much, that separation of duties just makes a connection to the car for me, like I feel much more involved and connected to the whole experience. That's just my preference and I'm drifting off topic here...

Budget is not an issue, just small and safe with all the best safety tools available to them.

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#2650478 9-Feb-2021 16:38

PolicyGuy:

If they have a Ractis, then they prefer a higher seat position, but probably don't want the ridiculous clamber up & down that feature in so many SUVs. On the other hand, they don't want to sit down into a low-slung car and then fight to get vertical again when getting out.
It's a bugger getting old. I'm the same way inclined, and I am too in the 'grandparents' age group.

Have you tried a Honda Jazz? They look somewhat similar as far as "shorter but taller" goes

I'd looked at the Jazz. Online at least they're not able to supply at the moment.

Safety wise they don't appear to be as sophisticated as the Suzuki Swift / Toyota Yaris / Peugeot 208 / VW Polo etc.

PolicyGuy:

All European cars have their indicators on the other side compared to Japanese cars.
Your oldsters may find this a nearly-insuperable obstacle

Yep, this would be unnecessarily cruel. They're moving to a new town and a new car, so want to smooth that as much as possible.

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#2650504 9-Feb-2021 17:25

Jaxson:

I'll check out the VW T-Cross R-Line, thanks for the heads up.

Are the wipers / indicator - light controls etc on the same size as a standard Japanese car, or are they still reversed when coming from Europe?

yes, the indicator and wipers are the opposite side to the Japanese standard...through didn’t take my wife too long to get used to it moving from the Mazda.

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#2650505 9-Feb-2021 17:25

Double post

mclean

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#2650770 10-Feb-2021 09:24

Posting as a grandparent many times over, my preferences are: reversing camera, rear wheel drive, maximum 2 seats, minimum 250 kW, not in that order.

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#2650815 10-Feb-2021 09:36

mclean:

maximum 2 seats.

Yep, with one of vehicles having "only" 2 seats, common opinion that this must be a huge inconvenience can be 100% wrong, sometimes it's a blessing.

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#2650817 10-Feb-2021 09:37

mclean:
Posting as a grandparent many times over, my preferences are: reversing camera, rear wheel drive, maximum 2 seats, minimum 250 kW, not in that order.

250kW RWD...

Good for drifting

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#2650821 10-Feb-2021 09:48

Fred99: Yep, with one of vehicles having "only" 2 seats, common opinion that this must be a huge inconvenience can be 100% wrong, sometimes it's a blessing.

You are so right!

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#2651965 10-Feb-2021 12:46

Looking around I get the feeling the car they need isn't available yet.

The new Mazda 3 is too long and the current Mazda 2 is an old model with a facelift change.

I'd expect a new Mazda 2 would be perfect, but that may be several years away.

The current 2 does not feature the birds eye video option unfortunately.

Nissan looks ideal with their around body cameras, but they don't seem to do anything small anymore.

I remember them from years ago with cars like the pulsar and micra etc, but they're all quite big/wide now unless you want full EV with the leaf.

Am keen on the hybrid, and like the idea of the self charge options - rather than cables across the garage to plug in etc.

Working on the theory that half way eco is better than full ICE.

Going to limit to Japanese cars to keep indicators on the 'right' side for them.
Toyota Yaris looking likely, will certainly test drive these. They look quite plastic though, with smaller screens than the competition and low res images, but will see how they go with the 360deg aerial view on the cross model. They're well spec'd on the safety front, although others do driver 'dozing off' checks as well.

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#2653026 10-Feb-2021 13:46

Re stalks on the right side: there are also the Korean options, eg Kia Picanto/Rio; Hyundai i20/i30 - though it looks like some of these are really behind the times re safety tech (eg i30 has most of this bar the 360 camera, whereas the i20 seems to be a car from a generation or two prior).

And (shall I risk mentioning them!) there are also Chinese-made cars - I'm thinking in particular of the MG ZST, which has the 360 camera and a wide range of contemporary safety features. Not a bad looking car inside and out and pretty well put together; they're clearly doing something right (VFM, in particular, I assume), going by the number of MGs I see around town these days. Here's a recent review from Stuff: https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/123134386/road-test-review-mg-zst

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#2653072 10-Feb-2021 15:31

jonathan18:

Re stalks on the right side: there are also the Korean options, eg Kia Picanto/Rio; Hyundai i20/i30 - though it looks like some of these are really behind the times re safety tech (eg i30 has most of this bar the 360 camera, whereas the i20 seems to be a car from a generation or two prior).

And (shall I risk mentioning them!) there are also Chinese-made cars - I'm thinking in particular of the MG ZST, which has the 360 camera and a wide range of contemporary safety features. Not a bad looking car inside and out and pretty well put together; they're clearly doing something right (VFM, in particular, I assume), going by the number of MGs I see around town these days. Here's a recent review from Stuff: https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/123134386/road-test-review-mg-zst

Hi Jonathan,

Yeah I'd missed that particular MG model, so thanks for the heads up.
They are doing a lot right, with massive 10.1" touch screens and full 360 camera on the higher models.

It's certainly appealing even if they are trading on a previous name like Kogan and Dick Smith.
I think too long unfortunately. Have discounted quite a few because of this and the MG HS is over 4.5m long where as I'm trying for around 4 ideally.

Kia Rio is on the list but the Hyundai i30 is too long for our needs too.
The i20 doesn't have the modern tech, so like the Mazda 2 is facelift changes mostly and due for a major upgrade.

Kia Rio Limited, Suzuki Swift Hybrid and Toyota Yaris Hatch and Cross are on the list to try presently.

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#2653075 10-Feb-2021 15:36

I assume you have looked at the CX30 and the C-HR? The BMW 1 Series and X1?

You haven't really mentioned budget I don't think.

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