I need help – buying a car
Okay, for the first time in my life I am going to buy a car. Bleuch! Cars are expensive, dangerous and environmentally unsound. However, I am going to be ministering to four congregations in a semi-rural environment, and a car is the only thing that will get me between services on a Sunday and to the various communities during the week. So …
… what should I buy?
I think (although this hasn’t been completely confirmed) that the Uniting Church will lend me up to $21,000 to buy a new car. So I’m looking for what Drive magazine calls a “small car under $20,000″. Incidentally, their winner for 2006 was the Toyota Yaris, which does not make Choice magazine’s environmental top ten, but then Choice’s top ten small cars are all out of my price range.
Basically I want something small that will get me around the Macedon Ranges. I’ll still try to use public transport when heading into the city. I can’t drive at night, so I won’t be any use giving other people lifts in the evening, so usually the only person in the car will be me. I want something small, safe and as green as possible. Oh, and an automatic. (Yes, I only got a licence to steer.)
There is a government website called the Green Vehicle Guide, but that will be most helpful when I have a few vehicles in mind and I can compare them. So can anyone give me some suggestions that I can plug in there?
11 Comments »
Leave a Reply
-
Recent
- Jenni and Pete got married!
- Bother you, Caro …
- I got Jesus for my birthday
- Running and Graduating
- Date for the Service of Recogntion
- I need help – buying a car
- I have been called!
- Pictures of Rome
- Graduating and Saying “Good-Bye”
- Rome: Hierarchy and Humility
- Very, very quick notes
- Sermon preached at the Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies, 9th of February, 2007, anticipating Epiphany 6
-
Links
-
Archives
- April 2007 (4)
- March 2007 (4)
- February 2007 (5)
- January 2007 (4)
- December 2006 (4)
- November 2006 (8)
- October 2006 (9)
-
Categories
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
I am enjoying my Kia Cerato. It is probably bigger than you want because I wanted soemthing that I could fit one husband, one son and one daughter, the shortest of whom is 5’10″ (sorry, don’t do heights in metric very well) plus luggage in, but it uses just over half the amount of fuel that the Ford Fairmont I used to drive used, comes in auto (although I have a manual)and is very reasonably priced. Do *not* however, pay extra for their floor mats. They are carpet and get dirty really easily and the rubber ones you can get from any car accessories store are cheaper and more effective.
You might well find that a smaller automatic eg the Kia Rio will not like the Macedon ranges, even with only one person in it. I am not an expert on this, so you should check whether a small engine labouring like crazy uses more fuel up hills than a larger one that is not working so hard. RACV should be able to tell you helpful things like this.
You should also try to test the car you want to buy on a reasonably steep hill to see how it goes. If you are not in a hurry, you might also be fussy about the colour. Silver is the new “in” colour, but will cost several hundred dollars more than white and any metallic colour will require a protective coating so that it doesn’t age exceedingly rapidly.
Think, also, about what sorts of gear you might like to carry in your car. Three door cars tend to be cheaper than four (sedans)or five door (hatches) *but* not only is it difficult to get any stray passengers in and out of them, it is also difficult to get *anything* in and out of the back seat. Most little cars have very little boots, so you often want to carry things in the back seat. A hatchback is quite useful because you can lie the back seat down and carry longer things like foldup screens to go with the data projector.
We also liked our Hyundai Excel, which didn’t suffer badly from lack of power when it was new. We bought it when Hugh was a baby and he is now nearly twenty. It finally died late last year because a little old lady ran into it while Hugh was driving it. I haven’t had much to do with new ones but people I know who drive them seem to be happy with them.
Ooops. Appears they don’t make Excel’s any longer. The equivalent is the Accent.
Ack. Excels. No apostrophe. Bad, bad, bad.
I’ve found my corolla pretty zippy up and down hills. and goes like the clappers on the flat (while of course observing posted speed limits). 5 doors. seats in back can fold down for putting large worship sized props in. goes for ever. resale pretty good. might be an ickle about your price range, but not sure.
oh, and the cup holders and sound system work a treat
hi Avril. I updated my blog as well. would you mind putting a link to my blog.. i linked yours on my page
hope you like it. good luck with the car 
It is possible to get good cars second-hand. It is also sensible, as a new car (a) loses value very quickly (b) costs a lot to insure. Like Nicole, I like the Toyota Corolla (in my case a Corolla Seca, and mine is 20 years old and will probably outlive me). The way the back seat flattens is excellent for carrying shopping, dogs, boxes of this and that, and even small pieces of furniture. Similar cars don’t flatten in the same way. Toyota cars used to be made in Australia, but I don’t know if that is still the case. Bess
When I last had a ministers’ car loan from Vic/Tas Synod, they wouldn’t lend as much for a second hand car, unhappily. But, yes, it is possible to get good second hand cars. You just need to make sure that they are in good condition or that they have a warranty or you could end up in trouble.
My last one was second hand and served me well for five years. I sold it because it was about to cost me significant amounts of money and was getting quite old – only worth about $2,000. We were going to get another second hand one, but the Kia seemed too good to pass up.
Okay, checking the suggestions out on the government’s “Green Vehicle Guide”, all three get the same Greenhouse Rating – 7 out of 10 – but the Toyota Corolla comes out top on Air Pollution rating – 8.5 out of 10. The Hyundai Accent and the Kia Rio are both 5 out of 10 for Air Pollution, 10 being best.
The fine print on the website does say that the information is provided by the manufacturers and the government gives no warranty as to its accuracy, reliability or fitness for purpose. Great!
How much is a smart car??
Or, out of curiosity, a hybrid? Are there any electric cars on the market in Australia?
I am interested in cash backs. I shop a lot so I want to get at least some of my money back. So I’ve found this very helpful site with credit card comparison
discovery cridet.com
Ne72Ma9rod
http://excellent-credit-card.blogspot.com