It seems we may need to finally upgrade from our old rust bucket to a new car.

Has anyone done this recently? What did you go with?

I'm not a fan of station wagons or sedans, but love roomy hatchbacks.

We're not big earners, so need any economical car - to buy, run, service and repair.

We've got one bub so far but would like at least one more so no 3 doors

What would be your go to car? for somewhere in the 15-20k price range?

I had a Honda Jazz as my car for two kids. It has a surprisingly roomy boot.

We upgraded for #3 as we needed a 7 seater then (as we have family visit often from interstate). If we hadn't needed a 7 seater I would have stayed with my Honda Jazz.

DH had a Toyota Corolla when we met and it was amazing. He had it 7yrs, it did 500,000kms and was serviced about a half dozen times. It finally packed it in around July last year when 2 of the cylinders were no longer working which he only found out well after it happened! I'd recommend them to anyone. If they can thrive on DH's tough love routine, imagine what they can do for someone who uses them less and takes care of them more, lol.

We stuck with Toyotas but upgraded to a Camry Altise.

Honestly, with 2 kids you can drive pretty much any car

It's when you are trying to fit in 3 carseats that you can have problems.

With 2 kids, we had a Hyundai elantra. Great little car, pretty cheap to run.

When #3 arrived I started driving our camry instead. Just traded it in for another Camry (Altise) because the backseat is great for 3 kids.

I like the i30's. They are surprisingly large inside, I have a friend with 3 car seats across the back and a big pram in the boot. The diesel version is also very economical, she gets a 1000kms to a tank. This is on the list for us to upgrade to when possible. They aslo have a wagon version though it isn't a big wagon it does have a bit bigger boot about double the normal version and still looks more like a hatchback then a wagon

I'm lusting over a CX 5 at the moment.

I'd pick something like a VW Tiguan if I were getting a new family car.

Within your budget, probably a Corolla.

Are you looking at new or second hand?

When we were looking in a similar price bracket we based our decision on what had the best ANCAP rating so went with a second hand with a 5 star rating car rather than a new one that had less stars.

The i30 is nice! And the wagon not to fugly. Might have to check out IRL. Have heard good things about Hyundai as well.





New, I think. We've both always had ratty old cars and we're getting a little sick of sinking money into them. My little laser is still going great (fingers crossed, knock on wood and all that), but DP is over having so many things go wrong with his car and just wants to not have to worry about it.

Our CX 7 cost us a bomb to service each time, at least $500 (still under warranty, with no repairs being required). The CX-9 was the same, I'd never buy another Mazda 4WD.

Have you thought about a Ford Focus, I have an XR5 turbo and I love it You will not be able to pick one of these for 20k brand new but you should be able to pick up a Focus Ambiente for about 20k. It sounds like you have had a good experience with Fords so it may be worth sticking with what you know.

My last Mazda 3 service was $700 so I'm used to that. Service costs don't really bother me and it comes in such a pretty blue colour

If finances is an issue, I would strongly suggest a late model second hand car. That way, someone else has copped the depreciation, the car is still fairly new and you can buy something that you couldn't afford new. A 2 year old car that still has 3 years worth of factory warranty is usually a good buy.

I was going to say this

too. You can find cars with very few kms on them but they will be a lot cheaper than a brand new car. We bought a new car once but we wouldn't do it again. Our current car was second hand but had done only 700kms!

We have a Honda CR-V and a Toyota Camry.

The Camry is cheaper to service,cheaper tyres and better on fuel.

I love our Holden Astra wagon. I know you said you don't like wagons, but it's a very compact version. We live in the inner west of sydney and it's our only car so I use it for zipping around as well as going on holidays/trips etc. I bought it as an ex-government vehicle at auction still under warranty with 14000 km for $13500.

Check out your state motoring body (RACV, RACQ etc). Their magazines analyse not just purchase costs but running and repair costs. I remember being go smacked by the Honda jazz repair costs, for example. In that price range I'd be tempted to go with Hyundai because many of their cars have a five star crash rating and they have five year warranties.

Hi
At the moment I drive a honda civic which I have been happy with.A while back we were looking at cars for DH and I was really impressed with the ford focus hatch, the other one was a ford mondeo hatchback which was huge inside, could probably look at ones a few years old to fit your budget.
Fiona

The Focus is well worth considering. My parents have one and the backseat is as wide as their Honda Accord. It's a great quality car too.

I generally agree with the others regarding buying near new rather than brand new. Maybe you could look at demonstrator cars?

However, we have NO regrets about buying our Mazda 626 brand new ten years ago. I think that's the secret to buying a brand new car; you have to be prepared to keep it for at least eight years.

I would also seriously consider the Hyundai cars. They have a great reputation these days. There are still car snobs who wouldn't rate them. But the car reviewers certainly do! You could also consider the Mitsubishi Lancer. They offer pretty good bang for buck.

The Barefoot Investor says that you should buy the cheapest car your ego will allow you to drive!

Toyota Corolla- you could get a great one within that price range- they're so reliable!

I'm currently looking at late model, second hand Holden Cruzes for around that price, huge boot and plenty of room for the kids.

I too have a CX7 and would much prefer to pay $500 for the service as opposed to my DP who owns an Aussie car which is supposed to be cheap to service. He dropped almost 5k on engine repairs just outside of the warranty period. He has also had other things come up during the warranty period also. I'm impressed that I have not had any issues what so ever with mu CX7 and my warranty will expire at the end of the year. Still, he'll of a lot cheaper to service (and buy parts) than my first car, a VW Golf!

Lancer is good we had ours before we had our third and unpgraded to a captiva 7 lx diesel.

What about the greatwall ones? They are good or even a mazda 2 or 3?

Love the NISSAN X-TRAIL !