New car for under $18k driveaway

[BENT_8]

So the Wife and i went looking for a new small car yesterday and our first stop was Ford in search of a new Fiesta, only problem was, theres only 1 left in stock in the country, a blue sport manual 1l ecoboost for $21k, more than we want to spend although the salesman is going to ring around today to see whats left hidden away.

I only travel 14km round trip to work twice a day so thats its main workload.

So our criterior is, must be new, driveaway and under or at $18k.

So far we've looked at the Kia Picanto GT Line in Black for $18k, the Holden Barina LS in Son of a Gun with free auto for $15k.

If you had $18k to spend on a city car for short trips, whats your pick?

[BENT_8]

Also looked at the Suzuki Swift GL Navigator and to a lesser extant the Ignis.

[FairmontGS]

If you include demonstrators in your search you'll be doing a lot better and still usually be the first registered owner. All my Falcons were demos.

Re car, this:

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/bra...srcx=makemodel

You're punching at a higher equipment level than a Barina.

[Giant Cranium]

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/bnc...Price&limit=12

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by FairmontGS

If you include demonstrators in your search you'll be doing a lot better and still usually be the first registered owner. All my Falcons were demos.

Re car, this:

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/bra...srcx=makemodel

You're punching at a higher equipment level than a Barina.

Agreed but its also $4k more and 1k over budget, if were going to go over the 18k where do you stop and might as well get the Fiesta.
Dont really need a 2.0l either, im currently riding a 50cc scooter so anything that pulls a 6ft 120kg bloke better than a 50cc scooter is a step up..lol

[jpblue1000]

How long do you intend keeping it?
Ive had many suzukis as town cars, and so have the family, all bar two from new and ive never had a complaint. never left me on the side of the road. the first one I had for 13 years and 330,000 km's including track days and sold it for 50% of its new car price (Ok it was modified). Sister had same model and never maintained it and also did over 300,000km's! probably not as good as the fiesta but not far behind, and id bet cheaper to run and maintain.

[whitelion65]

Fairmont GS is on to it!


I got my Focus for under $18k, 6m rego tint mats. on 7,000km on the clock. That's around $1 per km off the price.
When I bought my Berlina wagon demo, it had 5,000km with a saving of well over $15,000.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

I don't know a lot about cars in this class, but if I was in this market, I'd be looking at the Mazda 2 Neo. Mazda is a popular brand for a reason; reasonable purchase price, relative ease of access to service and spares, reasonable reliability.

A quick look shows that there are quite a few of these on carsales under the $18k driveaway limit you have.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by psychobimbo

I don't know a lot about cars in this class, but if I was in this market, I'd be looking at the Mazda 2 Neo. Mazda is a popular brand for a reason; reasonable purchase price, relative ease of access to service and spares, reasonable reliability.

A quick look shows that there are quite a few of these on carsales under the $18k driveaway limit you have.

Yes ive considered the 2, 1.5l is probably a better prospect than the little 1.2's in other examples.

Just looked at a pearl white demo ES Lancer for 18k driveaway with only 20km on it, dont need the 2.0l really but not a bad price for what it is, looks nice.

[X-AHH]

If its just an A to B machine, I would consider the Kia brand purely for the 7 year warranty aspect. There are still some2017 new and demo variants around with dealers desperate to get them sold before 2019 comes along.
So much to go wrong with high tech modern cars but at least for the first 7 years, its someone else's problem. My local Ford/Kia dealership service manager told me last year that he very rarely sees any issues with Kia vehicles compared to other brands and was virtually raving about their reliability/value for money.

[383hq]

Yes, both Kia and Hyundai challenging Porsche and Toyota for top quality in new cars as defined by the JD powers quality and reliability surveys.
These surveys are considered the benchmark

Only thing missing is the brand appeal, some can't live with the badge

[BENT_8]

Just got back from driving the Picanto GT Line and i have to say for what it is i was pleasantly surprised.
Only 1.25l, 4sp auto but with myself and salesman and A/C on you really couldnt notice it was such small capacity and got going under 3k rpm.
When you look at the features compared to other offerings at tat price point its a lot of little car for the coin and would probably hold reasonable resale value and appeal, plus the 7yr warranty.
Im going back with the little lady to drive the new 2019 Rio Sport later as we can have that with 6sp manual for the same coin.
My neighbour sells Swifts so he's going to bring us home a demo tomorrow which we can try without pressure for the weekend but the more i see the Kia, the more i like the idea of peace of mind motoring for 7 years.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by jpblue1000

How long do you intend keeping it?
Ive had many suzukis as town cars, and so have the family, all bar two from new and ive never had a complaint. never left me on the side of the road. the first one I had for 13 years and 330,000 km's including track days and sold it for 50% of its new car price (Ok it was modified). Sister had same model and never maintained it and also did over 300,000km's! probably not as good as the fiesta but not far behind, and id bet cheaper to run and maintain.

Sorry, i missed this.
How long would we keep it, good question, ive owned around 100 cars in my 24yrs of driving but just lately ive slowed down considerably..lol
I guess it would be a 4 or 5 year timeframe, then trade it on another whilst its stoll got value.
The Swift is definitely i nice looking car, the Wife prefers the previous model though, but you really dont get much to inspire you for the money and the hot versions are a big price jump over what we want to spend.

Whatever we decide on it will only ever be as an a to b to compliment the diesel Terri we just bought.

[Glen 5150]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

but the more i see the Kia, the more i like the idea of peace of mind motoring for 7 years.

If you're keen on the Kia, theres a Picanto thread on Whirlpool if you're interested. Owners and potential owners give their opinion, likes, dislikes, problems, servicing costs, prices paid etc. A bit of bedtime reading for you perhaps, or just skim through it maybe.

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2630167

Best of luck with what ever you choose, personally I would go the Swift or Mazda 2, maybe even a Toyota Yaris before a Kia, but its hard to resist the 7 year warranty I agree.

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by xahh

If its just an A to B machine, I would consider the Kia brand purely for the 7 year warranty aspect. There are still some2017 new and demo variants around with dealers desperate to get them sold before 2019 comes along.
So much to go wrong with high tech modern cars but at least for the first 7 years, its someone else's problem. My local Ford/Kia dealership service manager told me last year that he very rarely sees any issues with Kia vehicles compared to other brands and was virtually raving about their reliability/value for money.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Plus 1 to This...

[Vesper Martini]

Given you new love of SUV's the Suzuki Ignis fits your price bracket?
No idea what its like looks tiny..
but pretty sure an ex demo Grand Vitara could be sourced which would be much better.

[happyrock]

Originally Posted by Fiji

Hyundai accent sport.. 1.6 5 yr warranty

$16990 drive away.

Very decent cars

The kia has smaller motor but better warranty..

Go the hyundai

with factory cruise control and alloy wheels including the spare.

[mike_nofx]

VL Turbo. With such low km to work and back, economy and reliability aren’t huge factors.

[Junkyard-Dog]

I would definitely go for Hyundai or Kia if I were you. They build very good cars in South Korea now.

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by Fiji

Hyundai accent sport.. 1.6 5 yr warranty

$16990 drive away.

Very decent cars

The kia has smaller motor but better warranty..

Go the hyundai

It's very old though. Almost 9 years. You are better off getting something more modern.

[DFB FGXR6]

Servicing is another thing to keep in mind Bent 8, particularly if you go with dealer services.

For example, Suzuki ask for 6 monthly services. Kia on the other hand are at 12 month/15,000km intervals.

Perhaps once you have narrowed the choice to a couple of options, research the service costs (via manufacturer websites) over the time you plan to own the car. Suzuki tend to be more expensive once added up.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

Given you new love of SUV's the Suzuki Ignis fits your price bracket?
No idea what its like looks tiny..
but pretty sure an ex demo Grand Vitara could be sourced which would be much better.

I dont mind the Ignis, its different in a quirky sort of way, but the missus hates it unfortunately.
Old mate across the road let me drive both a Vitara and a Grand Vitara demo's and to be honest i wasnt a fan.
The Vitara in auto drove like a CVT equipped vehicle even though its a conventional 6sp, either reving its head off or sluggish and nothing inbetween, in manual form it was acceptable.
The grand vitara has the 4sp auto and by his own admission eats fuel which we saw first hand on only a short drive where the fuel gauge moved noticably downwards.
In reality we really dont need another SUV type of vehicle, the Terri does that and then some.

Cheers.

[BENT_8]

Thanks for the replies guys, some good points amongst it that has stirred considerations.
I didnt realise that Hyundai owns a 33% share of Kia until today, so i guess if you're buying a Kia you're getting some Hyundai input aswell.

We drove the Rio sport in auto this afternoon and werent impressed, was ok when accellerating from a standstill but rolling accelleration from a corner had the auto hunting and in the end just in too higher gear leaving it labouring and sluggish, much like how i found the Vitara, its probably a better car with manual as was the Vitara.
Its probably a similar issue to how a CVT wants to get as high in the ratio range as soon as it can to give better economy but its noticably flat and a real turn off despite the extra engine capacity.

I found the little 1.25l Picanto a better drive to be honest although with 16" alloys and 45 series tyres the negative reviews with regard to road noise and harshness are very real and to be expected from such a short wheel base.

The Daughter gave me a ride to work this afternoon in her 09 Fiesta Zetec and im fair dinkum spitting it that Ford dont have anything left as they are such a solid little thing.
The salesman offered me a black current model Fiesta ST with 70k on it for 19k but the 3 doors put me off straight away never mind being used.

So having said all that...drum roll....

We bought the Picanto GT Line this afternoon, just not sure if we want black or white, i like the black with the red accents but dont like the idea of keeping it clean or scratch free, the white i've seen in the flesh and actually looks ok with the red accents for a white car and will conceal any light marks easily, plus its $520 cheaper.

Got a fair deal i thought, they threw in a heap of genuine accessories, floor mats, dash mat, scuff panels and the optional ambient footwell lighting which is worth about $600 all up, plus a full tank of petrol for $17490 in white or $18,010 for black and we bought the complimentry window tint because the girl in that office, you know the one, whilst putting forward a good pitch for a complete package at $1995 was never in the running for anything more than some over priced tint, and im too much of a big softie to give her nothing for her efforts..lol.

So we've got the weekend to make up our minds on the colour and they will get the car in.

Thanks for all the input.

[Junkyard-Dog]

Gf's father has an i30. It's pretty good.

Have a look at one of those.

[Junkyard-Dog]

https://www.hyundai.com.au/offers/i3...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[danzvtil]

I just bought a barina for a family member was $15k DA with auto and 5yr warranty. It looks awesome, but the engine is old and slow, and they’ve stopped making them.You will definitely get a HOLDEN Astra for 18k DA, they might even pay you to take one, but reliability, and Holden’s are 9months/15k servicing to keep warranty.

Test drove the Suzuki swift gl auto, the little 1.2 hauled *** and felt rather special, the dealer was super keen to do a deal too, but the 6mth servicing and 3 yr warranty were negatives.

Hyundai and Kia are the same thing....Accent=Rio-both built on the same platform and share engines etc.
Accent sport is ageing but got the 1.6 GDI with TC auto so should be reliable, 16k is your DA price on that.
Rio looks awesome but the sport has the old 1.4 from Getz/Accent, so is slow.
Picanto GT would be my pick it looks sensational, and you’ll get a ripper price, there’s heaps of demos advertised.

2 out of left field, are Yaris and Jazz, both you can get for 18k and are solid,no surprises long termers.

[X-AHH]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Thanks for the replies guys, some good points amongst it that has stirred considerations.
I didnt realise that Hyundai owns a 33% share of Kia until today, so i guess if you're buying a Kia you're getting some Hyundai input aswell.

We drove the Rio sport in auto this afternoon and werent impressed, was ok when accellerating from a standstill but rolling accelleration from a corner had the auto hunting and in the end just in too higher gear leaving it labouring and sluggish, much like how i found the Vitara, its probably a better car with manual as was the Vitara.
Its probably a similar issue to how a CVT wants to get as high in the ratio range as soon as it can to give better economy but its noticably flat and a real turn off despite the extra engine capacity.

I found the little 1.25l Picanto a better drive to be honest although with 16" alloys and 45 series tyres the negative reviews with regard to road noise and harshness are very real and to be expected from such a short wheel base.

The Daughter gave me a ride to work this afternoon in her 09 Fiesta Zetec and im fair dinkum spitting it that Ford dont have anything left as they are such a solid little thing.
The salesman offered me a black current model Fiesta ST with 70k on it for 19k but the 3 doors put me off straight away never mind being used.

So having said all that...drum roll....

We bought the Picanto GT Line this afternoon, just not sure if we want black or white, i like the black with the red accents but dont like the idea of keeping it clean or scratch free, the white i've seen in the flesh and actually looks ok with the red accents for a white car and will conceal any light marks easily, plus its $520 cheaper.

Got a fair deal i thought, they threw in a heap of genuine accessories, floor mats, dash mat, scuff panels and the optional ambient footwell lighting which is worth about $600 all up, plus a full tank of petrol for $17490 in white or $18,010 for black and we bought the complimentry window tint because the girl in that office, you know the one, whilst putting forward a good pitch for a complete package at $1995 was never in the running for anything more than some over priced tint, and im too much of a big softie to give her nothing for her efforts..lol.

So we've got the weekend to make up our minds on the colour and they will get the car in.

Thanks for all the input.

Glad to hear that you and your better half are really happy with the purchase you have made.

All of us here, the dealers and expert reviewers that post so much information on the web are no way a replacement for complete customer satisfaction which you seem to have achieved.

Please provide us with your feedback in the months and Years to come regarding the total experience with the Kia brand. This will help others to make the decision that you were struggling with in the past few days.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

We bought the Picanto GT Line this afternoon, just not sure if we want black or white,

Having owned a fairly large volume panel beater and spray shop for several years, I can tell you black is a pain in the rear.

It looks good on showroom floors and show cars. Shows every spec of dust, scratch, dink, dent, swirl mark, you name it and makes every car hotter in warmer weather.

White on the other hand is the lowest maintenance color and noticeably cooler inside in warmer weather. White exterior and grey interior make for as good a combination for hitting the comfort zone as anything else.

Just my experience.

[lra]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

2 out of left field, are Yaris and Jazz, both you can get for 18k and are solid,no surprises long termers.

My daughter bought an new auto Yaris 6 months ago for $15,990 DA. (Torque converter auto, no CVT or DCT)
A lot of room for a small car, bit outdated if you are after the latest electronic goodies, so the dash and controls are very familiar, and it has the Toyota reliability and access to dealers on every street corner that used to be Ford/Holden tradition.

[anobserver]

Originally Posted by solarite_guy

Having owned a fairly large volume panel beater and spray shop for several years, I can tell you black is a pain in the rear.

It looks good on showroom floors and show cars. Shows every spec of dust, scratch, dink, dent, swirl mark, you name it and makes every car hotter in warmer weather.

White on the other hand is the lowest maintenance color and noticeably cooler inside in warmer weather. White exterior and grey interior make for as good a combination for hitting the comfort zone as anything else.

Just my experience.

If you're driving it to work and back, it's outside all day, go the white.

I've had a dark coloured daily driver for fourteen years and I'm so ready for plain white next time.