4X4 opinions (KIA/Honda etc). Buying in Australia

daveg

Were emigrating to Australia in December and have found a company who find the cheapest deal on a new car for you. Were hoping to buy before we go and have the dealer meet us at the airport to save on car hire fees.

Anyway were looking at spending a max of AUD $40K (which is about €25K). These are our options so far (new prices - not on the road though):

Kia Sportage (€18K)
Kia Sorrento (€21K)
Honda CRV (€19,750)
Honda Accord VTI (€19K)
Holden Captiva (€24K)
Mazda CX-7 (€24,600)

Or are there any others in our price range that you would recommend? Does not seem to be any great selection of diesels But petrol prices are cheaper. We leaning towards the KIA's. Any feedback from anyone who has one would be much appreciated.

TomMc

http://www.discountnewcars.com.au/Subaru

Liberty Wagon or Forester.

ballooba

Go the extra mile for a Toyota:
http://www.discountnewcars.com.au/Toyota/Toyota-Kluger-CVX.cfm
http://www.discountnewcars.com.au/Toyota/Toyota-Kluger-CV-7-3-3.cfm
http://www.discountnewcars.com.au/Toyota/Toyota-Kluger-CV.cfm

Or buy a used Toyota Hilux Surf:
http://www.drive.com.au/Search/SearchResults.aspx?m=TOYOTA%7c4+RUNNER%7c&from=4
http://www.drive.com.au/Search/SearchResults.aspx?m=TOYOTA%7cHILUX%7cSURF&from=53

Or a Landcruiser:
http://www.drive.com.au/Search/SearchResults.aspx?m=TOYOTA%7cLANDCRUISER%7c&pr=%7c45000&from=53

RobAMerc

I think the CX-7 is the drivers choice and newest of the lot - so it should be dynamically better and the 2.3t can move too, thats a small engine by OZ standards too.
I personally think those particular Kia's aren't yet up to Jap/Euro standards.
The (Chevrolet here) Captiva looks good value and can be got with 7 seats, a real bonus if you have sprogs.

Lastly another car you could consider is the new Nissan X-Trail -considered better than the Rav4 and can be got with a better spec.(leather etc)

Do you intend on bringing it home in the future?
If so a tip is to wait till they have the a compliance sell off. Basically they go by year the car was manufactured in Oz we go by first reg - so you'll get a great deal on a "06 compliance" car in Oz and if you first reg it in 07 it will be considered an 07 reg in Ireland when you bring it back.
The CX-7 is not the car to bring back its engine size will make it tough to move here. -
Also try buy a car that has the same engine and model as can be got here ( Toyota Landcruiser Amazons/Prado ) are a favorite as they are about 50% cheaper there and share same spec in most cases.
hope this helps

mack1

AS mentioned, if you can go the extra mile for the toyota it's worth it - any aussie worth his salt had a land cruiser if he lives outside a city!

Subaru's would also be good as mentioned also.

From your list if you want an SUV the Honda CRV is easily the best choice there, while they're obviously not much cop off road they are a great soft-roader!

Linford

To reiterate what other posters have said, if you are going to be doing any driving outside the city/offroad in Australia, go for a Landcruiser

ballooba

This is what I drive now, if I could get a new one for €30,000 odd I think I would have a heart attack.
http://www.discountnewcars.com.au/Toyota/Toyota-Prado-GX-Turbo-Diesel-3-0.cfm
Bring it home when you're done and sell it, you'll make a tidy profit.

daveg

Jesus lads thanks a million for the great advice and comments. As regards bringing the car home... I hadn't thought of that tbh. Were going for a minimum of a year so maybe if we did come home after that we'd get some of our money back if not all after paying shipping costs.

Quite like the Nissan alright. It's just the Kia is so cheap!! €18K new. I think it's about E40K here.

Will check out the other options mentioned. Any opinions of cars available? Only have 1 child so no need for a 7 seater.

Ballooba what did you pay for the Prada?

ballooba

daveg wrote:

Ballooba what did you pay for the Prada?

My Prado is a Colorado because it's the UK/Ireland version and it was €15K.

It's 6 years old, commercial (2 seats and load area) and had 100,000 miles. You would make a bomb if you imported that thing back here after a year.

daveg wrote:

Quite like the Nissan alright. It's just the Kia is so cheap!! €18K new. I think it's about E40K here.

The Kia is cheap because that's what it is. Cheap. In saying that, my sister and her husband have one and it's OK as a family car, but it won't last as long as the Japanese cars and I wouldn't like to take it off road.

You could do a lot worse than a Pathfinder. Look at the Mitsubishi Shogun/Pajero/Challenger too.

I almost forgot. Look at the Nissan X-Trail too.
http://www.discountnewcars.com.au/Nissan/Nissan-X-Trail-Ti-L.cfm

daveg

ballooba wrote:

I almost forgot. Look at the Nissan X-Trail too.
http://www.discountnewcars.com.au/Nissan/Nissan-X-Trail-Ti-L.cfm

No way on the Xtrail. We rented one in Melbourne last year and it was, litrally, like driving a tank. It is massive. Too big for the wife.

ballooba

daveg wrote:

No way on the Xtrail. We rented one in Melbourne last year and it was, litrally, like driving a tank. It is massive. Too big for the wife.

The Prado, Pathfinder and Shogun/Pajero/Chalenger are all bigger than the X-Trail. As are the KIAs.

Better stick to the CRV class (i.e. crossovers) if you are not comfortable with the X-Trail. The Toyota Kluger is in this class as are the Subarus, the problem with the Subarus is that they only come with Petrol engines.

Then again maybe you don't want an SUV style car at all. Just some suggestions.

daveg

Having mulled it over with the wife we think the Honda CR-V maybe the best choice for a few reasons but more so if we were to come home we could bring it back with us to keep/sell. The Honda would keep it's value and is popular here. Base model price new here is €42K (2L petrol). Base model price in Oz is under €20K and this is a 2.4 i-VTEC engine. Any idea how the Oz version would rate here for resale?

Also does anyone know what the rules are with regards to importing a car home and not paying VRT? Is it a year or more? What evidence do they require?

Any other suggestions with a view to perhaps shipping the car home?

ballooba

Shipping will not be a problem. It's pretty simple with all the cars coming from Japan going all over the world. The VRT requirements are 12 or 18 months, not sure. When my bro moved back from UK about 10 years ago they wanted his rates receipts, rent receipts, telephone bills, bank statements, the works. He had to prove he was living and breathing in the UK for 12 months.

colm_mcm

ballooba wrote:

My Prado is a Colorado because it's the UK/Ireland version and it was €15K.

If we're being pedantic, yours is a Land Cruiser 90, the newer one (03 on) is the 120.