Hi

Can you help me decide on which type of car to buy? Budget around AUD $3000

It has to be fuel efficient, no more than 1.3litre engine.

It has to be Auto (unfortunately) because my wife cannot/will not drive manual.

It has to be well geared, none of this 3 speed crap so the RPM is not going insane on the open hyway

Preferably with more space for holiday travel.

i used to own a Suzuki Cino (manual) it had allot more space than you would ever imagine too look at it, and i could get around a thousand Kilometres out of a 50 litre tank (traveling in the country on Australia's long flat hyways). And it was geared quite well compared to allot of other small cars which have the serious problem of seriously high RPM on the hyway which i do not want - which rules out all those ridiculous 3 speed auto's.

Any other suggestions?



Background story

Our current car is a Mazda 2005 model Tribute V6 Auto, with LPG.

The history of LPG in Australia is a bizarre one, at first our government supported it and even offered to rebate half the cost of conversion to LPG because LPG is better for the environment. But at the same time as offering that rebate because our government (both sides) are incapable of resisting the urge to be stupid, they cooked up a new tax plan on LPG which it instituted (and a few other dickhead things they did) now LPG is too expensive in Australia, ...when you factor in fuel efficiency, it is in some cases more expensive than unleaded fuel (especially away from the big cities).

So we need to stop helping the environment, get rid of that car and go back to regular unleaded fuel.

Hm, I don't know enough about car buying in Australia to give meaningful advice, but try posting here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/whatcarshouldIbuy

In fact, if you do post to /r/whatcar, I also suggest posting your general location besides saying that you're from Australia- I know from experience that car deals depend on location, and also on your proximity to the seller, if you buy from an independent seller.

Thanks for the link, i will check it out.

as for car buying, well I'm not actually up to that step yet - first i need to understand what models are suitable to my needs, hence the purpose of this post.
had a quick look on Reddit.com - it is interesting but i don't see any evidence that people know or care about gear ratios and or which cars REV too high at hyway speed.

This car.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01425/mad-max-ford-falco_1425601i.jpg
I couldn't resist...

Yea, but in Australia these days, the road rules are designed strictly for motorists like this:

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2Fi%2Fpix%2F2010%2F08%2F06%2Farticle-1301032-0AA782F8000005DC-721_468x311.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fdebate%2Farticle-1301032%2FJAN-MOIR-My-day-eccentric-nuns-convent-Delia-Smith-studied.html&h=311&w=468&tbnid=HAYiJ7v-ljUS6M%3A&zoom=1&docid=zIc0dvXi1E3YXM&hl=en&ei=qSQ-U9mGPIS0kQXBiIDICQ&tbm=isch&ved=0CO0BEIQcMDA&iact=rc&dur=3004&page=2&start=26&ndsp=27&biw=1536&bih=762

Not surprising since Dr. Raymond Cocteau escaped the movie Demolition Man and is now running Australia's Roads and Traffic Authority.

What's the serious problem? Does it not agree with your expectations regarding engine speed? (If so, fair enough! Certainly choose something that makes you comfortable.) Or is there a mechanical issue? Just curious.

One with 4 wheels, that gets you to your destinations on time and isn't too expensive on gas. Oh, and has plenty of space for cargo.

If you understand the purpose of gears, you understand the problem.

If your driving only in the city, it is not relevant but If you compare a 3 speed auto with a 4 speed auto on 'hyway' driving, what the extra gear/gears (4th gear, fifth gear, overdrive) do is it reduces the RPM of the engine, reduces wear and tear on the engine, reduces fuel consumption and actually reduces the mileage of the engine (RPM's per kilometre). it is a far more important consideration in vehicles than most people realize. Yes and the Suzuki Cino is one example i know of, and i was just wondering what others there are?

3000?!................New (not as in latest model new, more like never used new)?!
I´m curious as to what kind of car can you get with that budget.

In Australia $3000 is about the best price to pay for a car - cheap enough so you don't suffer much more depreciation and you don't need to insure it (except third party of course) but expensive enough to look somewhat ok and be drivable

A Popular car site in Australia:

http://www.carsguide.com.au/buy-a-car/all-new-and-used/all-states/all-locations/all-bodytypes/all-makes?engineSize=1001..1400&expanded=no&priceTo=2500&s=true&searchLimit=12&searchOffset=0

This one seems to fit your criteria. Depends on the questions you ask- feel free to post there about whatever concerns you, I am sure you'll get someone who responds in kind. If you want to talk about more specific stuff, there's always /r/cartalk.

But you probably won't need to worry about gear ratios unless you're going to change the tires for whatever car you get; otherwise, I would just go with the estimated fuel economy.

There are other reasons to get concerned about gear ratios, but I think that's not what you're aiming for with your criteria; like, if you were trying to maximize your torque and worried about when to shift. Most cars these days are well-optimized to begin with, so you don't need to worry about any special time to shift to get the best acceleration, or whatever.

What cars rev too high at highway speeds? Um, there's a limit to how high you can go? ^^ Like you said, higher gears help lower RPM at high speeds, so I don't understand why limit yourself to 3-speed. But whatever makes you comfortable.

Also, some looking into it shows me that the Cino was rebranded and sold under different names, so maybe you'll find something comparable:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Cultus

*Watches the price of those same ones in here*...........................O_O

Well since I did not get a driver's license until I was 30 and only learned to reliably drive stick when I met my second husband, old dogs (call me this and I WILL hunt you down ;-p) can learn new tricks. Seriously, teach or have your wife taught to drive a stick - not only do you get better performance but you save on all kinds of associated maintenance such as brakes.

Can't really say what might be the best car for you - there seem to be a multitude of car-buying sites in the US but when push comes to shove, just go shop in person, test drive a bunch of cars and keep good notes - size, comfort, speed, cost, fuel-efficiency etc... Make a chart and rate each metric - total it up and you'll be reasonably happy.

Me, well I absolutely adore the Volvo S60 R-series - 6-speed/manual - that I drive. She's saved my life on more than one occasion - let's just say that power may corrupt but it also can get you out of plenty of sticky situations ;-p


Oh - forgot this - maintenance costs and warranty - make sure to include them in your metrics. Here in the US, one can buy an extended warranty (extra years/mileage). We've found them to be very, very cost-effective ultimately after the initial outlay of cash. Not sure if they're available in Australia though...

Dihatsu Sirion is also a serious contender.

I'm not limiting myself to a 3 speed, i am limiting myself to not having one. I learnt my lesson about 3 speeds some years ago when i bought a ford festiva (auto). I noticed it wasn't changing down to fourth gear and i thought there was something wrong with it. I took it to the mechanic and he told me it did not have fourth gear and i was gobsmacked! I had never conceived that such idiocy could be possible, but there it was and since then i have looked out for that problem in small cars. How much a fool i looked driving down the hyway doing 80Kph in the 110 zone because even at 80KPH the RPM is already on 4000 - what a piece of crap shit are these 3 speeds.

$300 DOWN $225 A MONTH! In three months this little beauty is all yours!!!