Without hesitation I would suggest a Toyota Platz 1500cc They are also badged as Toyota Echo when NZ new. Given theres 30km of open road driving each way each day then a shopping trolley type car such as a swift although a really good car I genuinely don't feel is the best option. For every primary use of a car theres a "sweet spot" balancing fuel economy with comfort and documented longevity. The platz I feel finds that balance for your specific use. They have the advantage of having proven longevity I personally know of at least 4 Toyotas using the same engine/transmission with well over 200km on the clock running perfectly One platz with ^400k still showing only minor sighns of age. I would STRONGLY recommend talking to your local mechanic regarding any make/model you are concidering as they tend to have a really good handle on what is easy to work on and what in their experience is something to avoid.
house2,
May 4, 4:04pm
Thanks for that kazbanz, I'll check them out now
venna2,
May 4, 4:08pm
I have a Toyota Vitz which was a Japanese import, 1999. I bought it secondhand eight years ago and it's still great. I see lots of them around, same colour (pinkish) and all. I have always driven a manual.
fordcrzy,
May 4, 4:46pm
Im sure your teen male would prefer the punto. no self respecting teen male would be seen dead in a platz/echo
house2,
May 4, 5:00pm
So superficial! But yeah - I get what you are saying, and I suspect you are right - I'm not even sure he'll agree about the Punto :-)
richardmayes,
May 4, 5:32pm
Whereas a Fiat Punto oozes machismo from every pore, right?
His Mum's buying him a small, reasonably late model city girl's car. He'll take what he's given, and he'll like it, if he knows what's good for him!
kazbanz,
May 4, 5:54pm
I had the same discussion with number 2 son over his starlet
kazbanz,
May 4, 6:23pm
incidently the reason I suggested Platz over other options is that its longer wheelbase than a Vitz etc which I would normally recommend. $8000 might also get you into a Runx/alex
horses7,
May 4, 6:30pm
Don't ignore the Swift,we own a 2012 Sport as a second car and often use it for very long trips and love it,as a young persons car they are great as even the lesser models have a bit of appeal and have proven very reliable,economical and a good safety rating
thejazzpianoma,
May 4, 10:13pm
There are quite a number of Peugeot 206 manuals on here as well. The styling may be the most appealing for your Son too. Probably avoid the 2.0 as it's pretty stroppy, but the smaller engines are good options.
Feel free to post any you like the look of for an opinion. They are out of the same factory as the Xsara and are mechanically much the same car. Pretty good reputation for reliability and build quality etc. Another good thing with Peugeots and Citroens is it can often be quite easy to find really top examples that have been owned by elderly people and really looked after well.
Also, I mean to say Peugeot 206/307 but accidentally typed 306 in my first post. The 306 is too old now in my opinion.
Should have mentioned above too, the Vitz/Platz/Echo/s are generally grossly over priced for what they are. Many are badly neglected as well, it's a bit of a Toyota thing and a reflection on the type of people who often buy them (many don't tend to maintain their cars properly if at all). Some mechanics call it Toyota slob syndrome!
countrypete,
May 4, 10:21pm
What a load of cobblers! The Swift is 5-star ancap rated (but don't let the truth get in the way jazz)
cammey,
May 4, 10:22pm
Mrs Cammey got herself a Peugeot 308 (against my advice) after almost endless trouble with her previous European car.
Its been faultless. I have had to eat my words, and a bit of humble pie, as the car is excellent.
If the older ones go anywhere as well as the newer ones, they have to be worth a look.
thejazzpianoma,
May 4, 10:28pm
Cars are cars, Europe is many countries and many manufacturers making many different models. There are some great European cars and some terrible ones, just like with Japanese cars or anything else really.
The great thing in this country is our weird attitudes make for some excellent bargains. Still have to pick a good example and maintain it properly though.
I certainly got a fantastic run out of my Xsara, Peugeot/Citroen do make some very good stuff. Just a shame their automatic transmissions in the older models were absolutely rubbish. Not a problem for the OP though.
Glad you are enjoying your 308!
thejazzpianoma,
May 4, 10:32pm
No cobblers, you just didn't comprehend what was being said. The OP (being the intended recipient of the post) will though as they were reading the other thread where we were talking about this list.
Also, the older Vitz/Echo/Yaris (being the one in the OP's price range) was only a 3 or 4 ANCAP rated car depending on spec. Likewise with the Swift being a 4 Star ANCAP vehicle.
whqqsh,
May 4, 10:44pm
My wife had a Punto (admittedly an older one, '97) & found it a great car that over-performed considering it was only an 1100 with plenty of open road go & as for 'machismo' it seemed to get a bit more respect than similar Jap offerings mentioned & the girls at my wifes work loved it so no worries there. We recently rented a Swift for a week in the South Island & found the ride harsh & very basic (reminded me of Dads old Morry) & it was sluggish around town, open road it wound up ok but didn't take much to take the wind out of its sails.
house2,
May 4, 11:10pm
Thanks for all the advice/comments - in particular Jazz, great links :-) The max budget would be 3K so we are after a lot for not a lot (if you know what I mean). There is a Nissan Pulsar on the roadside near us which seems ok (bit of rust) but to be honest I can't really understand how the safety ratings on trademe listings work - except to say the Pulsar dosen't seem great. From what I have read and talking to a mechanic in town, it sounds like it costs more to repair these european cars. But my reasoning is if we pay less for a car with more safety features initially (and this is my big want) and then we have to pay a bit more in maintenance this is the tradeoff.
thejazzpianoma,
May 4, 11:19pm
You should be able to do a lot better than a rusty Pulsar for 3K. In fact you should be able to get something quite decent for that.
Be very wary of mechanics that talk about "European Cars" like they are some sort of comparable group, they are not, cars are cars, some are dearer some are cheaper some are sophisticated some are simple. A bit like car dealers wanting you to buy what they want to sell you, often mechanics want you to buy whatever is best for them.
The likes of a Xsara, 206 or a Punto is not necessarily going to cost you more to repair at all. Parts are much of a much price wise and they are much the same to work on. What you will notice though is if you want something that isn't an every day service part (like oil, filters, plugs etc) you or your mechanic may be more likely to have to order that part overnight from somewhere. Realistically that is no big deal and is not something you would likely need to do very often. However for a mechanic that can be a hassle as they might have to ring a different supplier that they don't have an account with etc. This being one of the reasons some like to put people off everything but the same few cars they work on regularly.
You also need to be wary that sometimes mechanics and parts suppliers can use the "European" excuse to charge you too much. So if you ever suspect this is going on, just pop on here and we can give you some parts/service cost prices to compare.
Obviously not all mechanics do this, and there are some very good tradies out there, but sadly there are also a lot of sub standard ones around too, especially in smaller centres.
Anyhow, best of luck with it all, if you want to pursue some options, have a look through what I have suggested and if you find some for sale that you like feel free to post the link and I will be happy to give you an opinion.
Happy shopping.
Oh, and if that Pulsar was old enough to be rusty, chances are it's not going to be very safe in a crash at all. Cars went through a bit of a safety revolution around the year 2000ish, so you generally want later model, but there is still a real variance between makes/models.
house2,
May 5, 12:46am
thejazzpianoma wrote:
You should be able to do a lot better than a rusty Pulsar for 3K. In fact you should be able to get something quite decent for that.
Thank you again, very helpful Especially about the changes after 2000 - the pulsar is 1999 - we just noticed small areas where the rust is just beginning, overall it is actually very tidy - but regardless you've said enough for me to disregard it
thejazzpianoma,
May 5, 12:55am
You are welcome, just remember though, it's 2000ish. Some cars a little bit before were still pretty safe (like the Xsara) and some after (like the Swift and the Vitz) are still pretty rubbish even around the mid 2000's.
The Pulsar was a great car in it's day but you don't want to be having to muck around with rust repairs. Likewise they are getting pretty old now and most have been pretty badly neglected. I think you are making the right choice there.
Incidentally, all the cars on the list I suggested are Galvanised. So rust pretty much doesn't happen at all.
craigs_workshop,
May 5, 2:04am
car safety ratings are based on slow speed collisions/testing
at highways speeds & greater, the safest car on sale at the moment can still squish you dead
at town speeds, modern cars have become much much safer
cagivachick1,
May 5, 2:07am
for 3k any jap car would be a better bet than a euro, one of my neighbors has a Xsara, it was off the road for months because of parts problems after a small shunt, sounds like the jes guy is a euro dealer
craigs_workshop,
May 5, 2:09am
well, if your wanting to protect your teen from himself & everyone else, you want him in the biggest, heaviest tank you can buy
because little cars - NO MATTER THE SAFETY RATING - will always come off worse in a crash
mals69,
May 5, 2:30am
Stay away from European shite in the main - decades behind the Japanese !
trouser,
May 5, 3:12am
Say what?
thejazzpianoma,
May 5, 3:25am
And it begins.
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