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Hi there

Looking for a 5 door hatchback to be used evenings and weekends with the occasional longer trip – about 5000 – 7500km a year in total.

Budget about $10k plus or minus.

Mostly will be just 2 people on board but a couple of times a year needs to hold 4 adults plus 3-4 medium suitcases.

In general prefer reliability and value for money over performance.

Prefer automatic (but currently driving an old borrowed Mazda Demio manual).

Have been looking at Honda Fit 1500cc which is right combination of price and oomph and size but have been put off by comments on CVT transmission which is all that seems to be available here (Wellington).

So questions –

1. What suggestions do you have for make/model/age of car that would best suit our budget and preferences?

2. How feasible would it be to buy sight unseen from Auckland or Hamilton as there seems to be a wider choice of cars up the way to suit us?

Any comments/suggestions/supplementary questions welcome

Thanks

Lee

Hello Lee,
You're right to be a bit concerned about the earlier Jazz/Fit with the CVT transmission so the two models that immediately spring to mind would be the Suzuki Swift or Toyota Yaris/Vitz. There are others too, but these would be the most popular, with good reputations for value and reliability.
With online sites now the most obvious place to buy and sell, it's common to buy from out of town. However, I'd recommend buying from a licensed dealer if you are buying sight unseen as there's really no come-back with a private sale. Also, an AA Pre-purchase inspection would be highly recommended too.

Thanks for your quick reply.

I've been doing a quick look at possibilities online and at a few dealers and would be interested to hear your comments on whether any of these models might also be suitable from a maintenance and reliability point of view -
Nissan Tiida
Nissan Note
Mazda Demio
Ford Focus
Ford Fiesta.

Also we've been restricting our search to cars 1500cc and above but wonder whether a 1300cc Swift or Yaris might be OK - concern is around overtaking and cruising capabilities on the open road?

Lee

These would mostly all be OK, although the Tiida and Focus in particular are a size bigger than all the others you've mentioned. Again, with both of the Nissan models, many import Tiidas and Notes have a CVT transmission - so try to find one with the conventional automatic.
Ideally, a 1.5 Swift or Yaris would be preferable to the 1.3, although if most of your running is around town, you may find the 1.3 to be OK. Power is obviously one of those things that's a little subjective, so the best advice would be for you try one for yourself to see if you are happy with the power.