Hi everyone, planning to buy a car that is economical. My daily commute consists of driving mainly on the motorway 40 min one way. My budget is around $18,000. Any recommendations? My pick for now is a 2014 vw golf tsi.
Car buying recommendations
prokidmark on 12/04/2021 - 07:50
Comments
Lucky you, cause I have owned Euros, Japanese and Toyota's, and yes, Toyota are the most reliable. Also recommend you do those pre-purchase auto inspections before paying in full, as any car brand can end up being a lemon.
I'm more inclined to take it to my mechanic for a check now, as the VTNZ ones don't give you any dollar estimates for cost of remediation (at least the last one I got didn't), but anything has to be better than nothing!
As the poster above has said, cant go wrong woth Toyota (or Lexus if you wanna go more premium).
I will personally recommend the Mazda Axela, especially the skyactiv model from 2013 and above. Reliable cars, are chain driven and super economical. I personally get an average of 13.4 km/L driving in the Auckland commute in the mornings. Plus its got a bit of a sporty feel if thats your thing.However as you were eyeing the Golf TSI, is something a bit more fun to drive/sporty something you are after?
I have a Mazda 3 2009/2010 and it’s averaging 8.06L/100kms or 12.41 km/L so slightly less economical than you. Most of my travel is on motorways and suburban streets with quite a few short trips.
For me I’m personally looking to upgrade cars as I find the interior quite noisy and would like something more refined (comfortable seats, cruise control, comfortable steering wheel etc) without loosing too much reliability. I’m considering Lexus.
But yea whatever you enjoy, some friends have Volkswagen Golfs and Passats which run perfectly while others are on their last legs.
can't go wrong with Lexus. Its the reliability of Toyota with a premium feel
There's two ways to go about this.
1. Buy a "Cheapies" car, i.e. basically any from the top 5 Japanese manufacturers, whom tend to put reliability, usability and quality over anything else.
2. Buy a car for style, i.e. a probably less reliable but arguably cooler vehicle made by various European manufacturers whom tend to put styling, features and design over anything else.Since you have a decent budget, you can combine the best of both philosophies by buying a Japanese built, European styled car (such as a Lexus as by Vena).
Thanks everyone for your feedback. Can anyone recommend a prepurchase company or mechanic?
Though a lot of you are recommending the Toyota I feel like its a bit boring to drive and feals cheap in the interior and the golf has all the features that I am looking for like adaptive cruise, start/stop engine, economical yet fast and has high safety rating. What are your opinions if I get the mechanical warranty for 3 years?
Thanks again everyoneSame caveat as above, but I would say that almost any car you buy for $18,000 would have those features plus quite a lot more, otherwise you're paying for a handbag with someone's name on it.
For me, a three year mechanical warranty is a waste of money - for $18,000 it should be fine for a lot longer than that. If it were me, I'd take the cost of the warranty, and put it into a savings account to cover any expenses that might come up. I might lose (the roulette wheel will fall into zero once in a while), but I'd be surprised if I didn't still have funds in that account three years later.
For recommendations on a mechanic, you'd have to give a hint as to location. I could recommend my mechanic in East Tamaki, but unless you live in or near East Auckland, then it might be a bit far to go!
Alan.
Sounds like you're buying from a dealer. Don't bother on the warranty, you're covered by the CGA in most cases.
Personally I despise any car that has stop/start engine technology; most cars only use about 2L of fuel for idling 60 minutes, so saving 30 seconds (17 mils or ~2 cents) of fuel isn't worth the stress to the starter motor and everything else every time you stop at a red light for longer than 20 seconds. It does however look good in the old fuel test (NEDC) due to the downtime between loads. It's not just Euros, but also Mazda etc. have this technology under different names.
Remember, fancy gadgets and electronics wear down much much faster than anything mechanical. Engines last 30+ years, but that tablet attached to the dash? Probably not going to last 10.
Excellent point - I dislike it too, but mainly due to the slow 'getting go' compared to having it disabled, and I find it a bit disconcerting I guess. I'm sure you'd get used to it, but I hadn't thought about the wear-and-tear side of it.
Alan.
You can get a good Nissan Leaf for $18k. It will be much more fun to drive than a Golf (seriously, try it) and super economical to run. Very low maintenance and reliable.
I would note that VWs can be stonking expensive to repair when something goes wrong - I had a colleague who got caught with that a couple of years ago.
Some years ago I was about to buy a European make (I can't recall which one), and we decided to get it checked by VTNZ (for what that's worth). While it was being checked, I happened to strike up a conversation with the manager of the VTNZ branch, and asked him what brands were the most reliable (least likely to fail a WOF) for a given age / mileage.
He said he was not allowed to give me a recommendation, but wandered outside with me, and noted that he drove a Toyota, his wife drove a Toyota, his daughter drove a Toyota, and then asked me to guess what make his son would likely buy when he was old enough to drive.
I ditched the European car, and went and bought a Toyota. It never gave me any problems, and the only things I did to it were standard 'service' items. I have since owned three more Toyotas and they have all been equally reliable.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am no expert at all on cars.
Alan.