What car to buy

[Ice]

Have they got room for kids?

[Ice]

astra turbo disel station wagon

May aswell get a petrol Astra.....their economy sucks ass.

[boorny88]

I test drove a focus diesel that my dad got lent to try out for work and they have some torque behind them they have heaps of room and really comfortable i liked it. my grand parents have an i30 and love it they cant put anything past it i would def look into those two gav and both with plenty of room in the back for kids

[dutchy]

[QUOTE=CNBLU;637325]Nah i will be going for a test drive next week, im leaning towards the i30 or the cruize but not 100% which one yet. The wife wants a pug but again im unsure, especially about service and parts, would it not be expensive?



Well, my wife has got a Pug. It's the 207 but that one has got the same features as the 308, just a bit smaller. Service is cheap. Every 20.000 km's at a cost of around 120 dollars each till now (except for the first 2 at 5000 and 10.000 k's, as these were free or cheaper). Every 10.000 km's, it's going in for a free service check. We just did the 80.000 k's service and that one was the most expensive and big one till now at just under 700 dollars. So all up, it's been very cheap car. Wouldn't get the sunroof though as that gets extremely hot. Ah yeah, the stereo in these cars are fantastic. Just my 2 cents.

[btm]

the i30 would get my vote, followed by a tie for the focus and cruze next

from personal experiences, i personally wouldnt touch a pug again

[Ice]

haha Boorny likes the focus, I cant stand it,

Dutchy likes the pug and btm hates it....there you have it.....the one constant seems to be the i30.

[Shadow110]

+1 i30...
Seems to be the best buy at the moment, I think I was reading about it in a hot 4s mag (yes I know).
And from memory they tuned it and it pumped hard.

[JohnBu]

I wouldn't drive a i30.

Does it have to be new and diesel?

I think you have be doing a diservice to yourself limiting your options to diesel..

diesel automatic small car doesn't really make sense, diesel 4WD is a different story.

Golf GTD is also a good one... Gman's parents must have got the deal of a century, unless it's the regular TDI103, even that is a bargain at under $30k.

My choices for an auto car for ~$30k are:

Demo Mazda 6 with 50km is selling for $28.5k drive away... http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...ode%20matchany

Demo Honda Accord Euro, $32k drive away... http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...ode%20matchany

[J]

Not sure if this is correct, but to get full leather seats in an i30, it can only be for the i30CW, and in the range-topping Sportswagon guise. But that is not available in a diesel. The non-wagon i30 SR hatch also has leather, but only for parts of the seats, and is again a petrol-only proposition. Perhaps you can option up an SLX diesel to include full leather, but I am not sure about this.

A friend bought a new Cruze CDX diesel recently. It does have leather, and the torque is very apparent. However, the ride (at least at low speeds) seems to be a little terse, and the noise levels were quite noticeable. Having said that, with his long distance bumper-to-bumper commutes, he has already done 6,000kms in his, and he says fuel consumption has dropped from the initial 8.5L/100km when new, to 8L/100km, which I don't think is too bad. But bear in mind, he is not a leadfoot, so for most people, it will be probably use a bit more than that. It may be hard to drive a brand new one away for less than $30k, though...

Ford Focus seems OK on paper, too. The gearbox is actually a Powershift (not to be confused with the old Powerglides! lol): Ford speak for dual clutch. Gear changes apparently not as snappy as the VW DSG, but unlike its rival, there is also apparently less tendency to hesitate during take off. Not sure if the Powershifts use dry or wet plate clutches...I would think that the latter would cost more to service? Leather also does not seem to be standard on the TDCi's, although they might be available as an option.

Not sure about Peugeots, so I can't comment on those.

Did I hear someone mention an Astra diesel auto? Definitely nowhere near as fast or economical as the manual, but I think MY08.5 onwards does have full leather. Perhaps a green/red box will resolve the performance/economy issue, but then again, the same can be said for the other models, too.

Sorry I cannot be of more help!

[JohnBu]

For a family car, if it must be Auto & Diesel.. I don't think you can go wrong with a Skoda Octavia RS DSG

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...ode%20matchany

or one with leather http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...ode%20matchany