New Car for Wifeeeee

[TheWall]

Fellow Swaggers,

Seeking your help, honest feedback, advice & good banter in the search for a new car for the misses. Not sure why I trust you lot but you seem to make sense most of the time so thought you may be able to add some pearls of wisdom here.

Personally, I can't see why she can't keep the current car so I can 'invest' more in the Challenger. We all know how that arguement ended. seems to me to be an ok time for to buy.

So the state of play.
Current car.
Hyundai i30 diesel man wagon. 2010 with 80k. Been a great car averaging 6l/100 whether City or highway. Interior quality not awesome but no issues across the 5 years we have had it. Original cost $24k.

Budget: up to $30k for very recent used, demo or new and must be auto and looking for a little more room for kids but not too big a car. I a a believer in buying the smallest car that can do the job.Challenger met that brief.
Options...
Hyundai i30 wagon diesel auto $28ish
Hyundai ix35 petrol (diesel seems to mid 30's :shock: )
VW Tiguan.
Mazda CX5.

Thoughts? Any that I am missing?

Thanks

Matt

[Ozsnowman]

I'm all with you for keeping the car! My i30 diesel has just clocked over 150,000km and is almost 7 years old, and I'm still loving driving it

[Barry G]

Likewise, I say keep em, look after em, and lengthen the intervals between stamp duty slugs.
The Hyundai is barely run in with so few kilometres on the clock and they are a much under rated make IMO.

[edz]

Eco freindly and costs bugger all to run,Easy to handle and park ,zips through traffic,  ups the fitness and only $1700, great run about for the on the go wife .

[Jasman]

Out of the cars you have short listed I have no problem with the Hyundi's or Mazda, the Mazda being the best car in class with great resale (about 70% at 3yrs)  and my personal preference.  If you were going the Hyundi I would prefer the height of the SUV so I would go the IX35 over I30.

If you think you're likely to keep the car outside of warranty I would personally avoid the VW, the issues they've had with gearboxes is well documents and very expensive to fix outside of warranty.  I acknowledge the VW probably has the best fit and finish of the cars mentioned.

A couple of other cars you might consider:

1. Subaru Liberty or Forester - had some big price drops with the Yen weakening.
2. Nissan XTrail - new model has stepped up refinement
3. Honda CRV - bettered by the CX5 but still a class act with decent prices
4. Ford Kuga - I just like them

Good luck!

[TheWall]

Happily married Edz? or should I say still married?

Know what you mean lads, car is great but we can sell now with six months warranty on and prices on newer cars are pretty awesome still considering the lowering dollar.

Happy wife....

[britts]

I not long picked up a 2.0l Rav 4 demo with 465 kms on the clock and a few extras for $29200 drive away, wife loves it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[letsgoplaces]

We went through the same thing in January, and ended up in a Subaru XV. Couldn't be happier with our choice (for us)

[Watty2975]

Picked up a new xtrail late last year. Very happy with it. Deals on at the moment that would fit your budget. The diesel models are now out. Haven't driven one the though.

[Redback]

I'd go out and drive all the cars on your list and pick the best one you liked, that's what we did.

Vehicles we drove, all diesel, except for the Renault and Ford, which both of us hated, the Renault was lovely to drive.

VW Golf Diesel

Mazda 3 Diesel

Hyundia i30 Diesel

Astra Diesel

Renault

Peugeot Diesel

Ford Focus

We went with with the Golf, with the Mazda 3 a close second, price was the deciding factor.

This little Golf is amazing, fast, smooth, quiet, 5l/100ks to and from work, 3.8/100k on the freeway(best so far) 5.5l/100k if you get stuck into it

Baz.

[WilSurf]

Try to avoid any cars with dual clutch geabox like Ford.
Our Fiesta is having heaps of issues, even after 5 times "repairs".

[tk421]

Try to avoid any cars with dual clutch geabox like Ford.
Our Fiesta is having heaps of issues, even after 5 times "repairs".

Yup - Fiesta low speed shuddering clutch 'fixed' twice under warranty (customer satisfaction recall) that also included a remap of the throttle that has seen fuel use go from 6.1L/100km to 8L/100km. 

[shanegtr]

wait it out until next year then buy the last of the V8 falcon or commodores. Should be worth more $$ than you paid for it when you sell it in 20 years time

[WilSurf]

Yup - Fiesta low speed shuddering clutch 'fixed' twice under warranty (customer satisfaction recall) that also included a remap of the throttle that has seen fuel use go from 6.1L/100km to 8L/100km.

That's the one, except for the increase in fuel. We are still doing 6.2-6.3l/100km.
Apperantly there was a letter send out that the warranty on these gearboxes has been extended to 150,000km and/or 5 years.

[rags]

My vote goes to the Mazda CX5 in diesel.We [wife] has had a mazda cx5 diesel which was purchased new on release in 2012 currently on 95000km , this car has been superb ,plenty of power with economy to match and  comfy.
Another you may wish to consider is the smaller SUV Mazda CX3 that has been released only in the last week.

But as others have said keeping the current drive can be an economical option considering the trade value

[tk421]

That's the one, except for the increase in fuel. We are still doing 6.2-6.3l/100km.
Apperantly there was a letter send out that the warranty on these gearboxes has been extended to 150,000km and/or 5 years.

Yup - they have extended the warranty. Ford in US has been replacing some of the boxes totally.
Fuel use could be up as I was driving it for 9 months afterwards.   

[Bird]

I'd go out and drive all the cars on your list and pick the best one you liked, that's what we did

best advice yet....

[mrsfirefox]

My choice would be the Mazda CX5.  Their reliability compared to the VW is excellent.  Trust me, I've spoken to a lot of tow truck operators in the past 20 months and they all say for worst reliability ranks 1. VW, 2. Jeep and 3. Landrover vehicles.  The Mazda has better resale value than the Hyundai.  I found the Hyundai 35 or 30 to be quite "plastic" in the interior.  I've driven the ix35 quite a few times as my sister-in-law has one.  Quite noisy on the road and surprisingly likes to drink the fuel a bit. 

I've had a mazda CX7 in the past and absolutely loved it.  My mum has the new Mazda 3 GT and it's a fantastic car.  Mazda really does produce a quality build in that price range and you get value for money.  Also, I agree with checking out the new CX3 that's just come out this week, looks really nice as a family car, yet your wife is still riding up high and can see the surroundings a lot better.  You can get a high spec version for $30K for a brand new CX3 delivered.

Good luck with your choices!  Just have a drive of each car, if you require child/baby car seats, take them with you and make sure they fit everyone comfortably in the rear seat area.

Mrs Firefox

[Jeepers Creepers]

Hey Wall, tell her how great  she is and get her a Great Wall.

How could ya go there,

[TheWall]

Can't believe THAT took that long Jeepers. thanks all for suggestions. outlander is too big but will take a look the Suby. The real estate agent who sold us our house hated his CX5 as it had 'no torque and used heaps of fuel' - wish the diesel was cheaper.

Agree with the drive sentiments above. Will do a quick run around on sat to as a process of elimination and drive the two fav's.

Then the party starts in negotiations. Always fun. Bought my Challenger from Sydney as it was still cheaper factoring in flights, fuel and the 27 magic country meat pies on the way home. Wonder if the local dealers will aim up.

[Redback]

Try to avoid any cars with dual clutch geabox like Ford.
Our Fiesta is having heaps of issues, even after 5 times "repairs".

If you're refering to the dual mass flywheel, all modern manuals have the dual mass flywheel, not just Ford.

Baz.

[WilSurf]

If you're refering to the dual mass flywheel, all modern manuals have the dual mass flywheel, not just Ford.

Baz.

No, it is the dual clutch gear box from Ford and VW. They are basically 2 manual boxes bolted together.
Ford calles it the PowerShift.

"One of the Fiesta's calling cards is fuel economy of up to 40 mpg on the highway, made possible by the Powershift six-speed automatic transmission built at a Ford-Gertrag joint venture in Mexico. The all-new Powershift is essentially two three-speed manual transmissions merged and shifted electrically with two clutches. Using electrical controls rather than traditional hydraulics helps the transmission boost the fuel economy of the Fiesta by 10%, and Ford will use it on the upcoming Focus as well.

Yet since its launch last year, a sizable number of consumers have reported problems with the Powershift, both online and to U.S. auto safety regulators, ranging from hard shifts at speed to not engaging any gear. Several have reported having to get new transmissions, and there's at least two reports of multiple transmission failures.
"

[TheWall]

Crazy day today.

Looked at all the options inc, CX5, Qashqai, Suby XV, ix35, i30 wag, but only drove Yeti and Tiguan. Was amazed at the Yeti 1.2 and loved the Yeti 1.4. Was the preferred interior. They really are a great car and worth checking out.

But the manual Tiguan 118Tsi won the day and was purchased about 1hr ago. Really solid drive and the MY15 have reverse cam and sensors stnd. Wifeee finds it easier to avoid speeding in a manual (was very easy in the DSG's) and I am not going to argue saving $2k.

Happy with deal and pick it up next week. Windscreens on both cars will be clean now as we both adjust to indicators being on the otherside.

Thanks all.

Matt

[fuji]

Looking myself atm. IX35, Tiguan, Sportage. Maybe a i30 wagon diesel. Mazda is coming up to 3 years old now. So be selling soon. Will get nothing for trade in.
Wayne

[TheWall]

We are going to sell ours privately after we pick up the VW Wayne.

IX35 was knocked out as kids heads did not even come up to the windows in the rear let alone see out. Weird! And even the salesperson said that the i30 wagon is not keeping up in sales as the Soft Roaders as it is currently not price competitive. When we bought ours in 2011 it was $24k. A new one is $29 ! Would have happily owned another but not to be.