Ask an expert

Hi, I am now looking to purchase a small economical car for me and 3 kids. Previously we have had a Toyota Ipsum 7 Seater and more recently a Ford Territory Turbo 7 seater.
I am looking for something cheap on gas, easy to park etc after 2 big vehicles. I do approx 5kms a day between home-school-work and return and on average around 9,000 in a year max. I very rarely travel out of town and I live on the flat in CHCH. I am after something with 3 full seatbelts in the back and a reasonable boot.

Budget is around $7500 and I've looked at the Swift, the Vitz, Mazda Alexa, Honda Fit and The Ford Focus. Im not sure whether to go something older with lower KMS or newer with higher KMS?

How high is too high KMs to consider these days??

Thanks for any help

If you feel they are big enough, the Swift and Vitz could be good options, but my feeling is that they may be just a little small for a family car. The Honda Fit is a competitor with these two and has more room, but the CVT automatic transmission on the pre-2009 Honda Fit/Jazz had reliability issues and can be very expensive to repair.
The Mazda3/Axela and Ford Focus are slightly bigger, being the next size up from the Swift/Vitz etc and would probably be more suitable as family cars. As these cars get a little older, the Mazda probably has the better reputation for reliability, so it's the one that would be my choice.
In regards to your age/mileage question, it becomes something of a matrix, with the other factor being budget.
All things considered, given the budget of $7,500, I think you're better off going for the lowest mileage rather than the newest car.

I can stretch the budget out to $10k if needed. I've found a Ford Focus 2004 with 91,000kms for $9900 or a Mazda Alexa 2005 with 141,000kms for the same price. Would the Ford be the better option with the lower kms?

With a budget of $10k you should be able to find something with much lower kms. I'd still suggest a Mazda3 or Axela, but if you check some online websites you should be able to find one with lower kms.

I've just been offered a 2007 Mazda Axela with 99,000 kms, NZ New, for $10,900, I can't seem to find much with lower kms than that. Its got 8,000 kms more than the FOrd Focus, but its 3 years newer and no NZ owners.

OK. I would have thought you could get something with lower kms for that price (as per the link I attached previously), however at 99,000kms it should still have plenty of life left in it.