My new car thread.

Brawler

Brawler

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Hi all.
Got a ton of questions regarding car choices. Would prefer new as I need a vehicle asap and hunting for a decent 2nd hand vehicle out of the question, besides I want the warranty etc.

I am 21, worked for a small I.T company (read low paying) to gain experiance, I now have a much better job allowing me to comfortably afford a new vehicle. As I am young & only been working for about a year I understand that I am going to have difficulty getting finance approved? Any suggestions who to go to?

Had a 2003 1.3i Bantam as a company car this last year, its really been to hell and back and its still going strong so quite keen sticking to ford..

Budget <R140000, not keen on spending more than R3.5k pm

Two that I am quite interested in:
1.3i Bantam
1.4i Fiesta (I am a tad worried about this one, even though its a awesome car, a new model will be out soon)

Also considered Corsa Utility 1.4i , yaris & mazda 2 seem a little bit too girly.

Any others I should look at? Not interested in anything that I will have an issue with parts. Also not interested in CitiGolf or Tata.

Any thougts, suggestions?
Thanks.
 
buy a ford focus 1.6 hatch, like me! 2nd hand, 1 year old, 30 000km on the clock can be had for R110 000.

ill know by monday if finance is approved :sick:
 
I'd suggest looking at the VW Polo Range... All of them should be under/close to R140k except the TDI, GTI and 2.0l models. Best value for money and build quality imo, plus they often have great specials.

I've had mine for over 2 years and I'm trading it in for a Golf 5 soon.

What impresses me about VW is the service, hands down the best I've ever had (Not to say I havn't had problems, but nothing majour, and nothing they didn't repair under warranty or sort out). The car comes standard with a 3 year warranty, so anything that you don't break, you don't have to worry about ;)

I've put 70 000km on my polo, had 4 services:
15k service R400
30k service R550
45k service R650
60k service R500

Show me any other car on the market currently where you pay that kind of maintenance! :D
 
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Your best bet for finance would be with the bank you do your general banking, but I'd suggest applying with all the majour financiers and seeing who gives you the best rate. Wesbank, Bankfin, SBVAF, Nedbank.

Another plus for VW is that they handle all the finance applications for you. You just give them all the info and they let you know within a couple of days. Believe me, doing it yourself can get quite frustrating!
 
Brawler said:
Hi all.
Got a ton of questions regarding car choices. Would prefer new as I need a vehicle asap and hunting for a decent 2nd hand vehicle out of the question, besides I want the warranty etc.
Click to expand...

You can also have a look at VW Mastercars. VW gaurantees you that the vehicle has never been in an accident, gives you an extended warranty above the factory warranty (example: if the car is 2 years old, you'll get the remaining 1 year factory + 2 years extended) and does the 90 point check (Whatever that is)

You can also extend the maintenance plan if you wish.

No, I don't work for VW, and am in no way, shape or form affiliated to them ;)
 
Have a look at www.callacar.co.za Many brands, loads of stock and they do warranties and will even sort the finance for you. Just saw a 2002 Audi TT for R140k if that's the kind of thing you are looking for. I would go for a Jap. car, Toyota, Honda etc. if you get a recent 2nd hand or a demo it still has it's warranties AND service plans. Wouldn't touch VW again. Sorry quik! But that's just me. :D Good luck!!
 
For 140k I'd look at a new Mazda 2 - it's the 2008 World Car of the Year, and the South African CotY. Very very good machine. I never understand why people say some cars are "girly" WTF does that mean anyway?
 
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BlueCollar said:
For 140k I'd look at a new Mazda 3 - it's the 2008 World Car of the Year, and the South African CotY. Very very good machine. I never understand why people say some cars are "girly" WTF does that mean anyway?
Click to expand...

It has that "cute" look:D
 
I personally would not go for a VW Polo they are expensive to maintain and you get alot better features on similar priced Ford's.
I am turning 21 this year and also had to find a car last year for work(in IT) and looked @ all the cars in R140000 budget: Polo, Fiesta, Bantam, Corsa...
I would have gone for a Fiesta or a Bantam, but my size(+-2.0M tall) was a bit of an issue more on the Fiesta than the Bantam and the work had alot of extra requirements(Rubberised, Canopy/Armadillo..) for a bakkie that made the bantam a bit expensive. Therefore i started looking @ used cars and came upon the Focus which you could now easily get @R110-120000 for a 1.6Si 5dr, it is alot better, safer, bigger and really nice car.

Finance you could forget about the dealers helping you there, you would get better deals @ Standard bank-very keen if you are an existing client and Wesbank. ABSA and the others are ridiculous and very unhelpfull.
Good luck also on the insurance, Outsurance quoted me R4000 for a normal non-sports(5dr) focus. Managed to get a better deal on my dad's name.

I aslo did work in IT, but more on the retail end for clients like Woolworths, P&P, Checkers, Mr Price... and drove all over JHB for calls and new store installations and the Focus was a really good travelling buddy.

The best car according to me would be either a used focus like mine which i am currently selling or a new bantam, these are really very good bakkies and you have alot of options on them and service is very cheap on a bantam bakkie.
 
You guys got confused between the Mazda 2 and 3 somewhere in this topic...

Mazda 2 is SA COTY... Although the Mazda 3 is also a nice car... The Mazda is more a man car than the Yaris... More sporty... Get it in black or charcoal ;) And tint the windows everyone will think your a hip rich black guy :P

*Not rascist, you know its true :D *
 
The mazda 3 is not bad but that depends on taste because underneath it is still a Ford Focus and i prefer the original to the copy.
The Focus also looks damn fine in Charcoal/Grey colour especially the 1 with black headlight clusters-2006 model had 1 before I discovered it was involved in an accident and wasn't fixed properly, insisted that they take the car back which they did and gave me a similar but white 1.
The Mazda 2 is really a very nice and funky car, but the original Fiesta that it is based upon is also around the corner coming in Nov/Dec and i'll rather take the original which is more manly and better performance than the Mazda 2 Copy.
 
With current Petrol costs , I would steer away from anything with an engine 1600 or higher.

I'm waiting the next 2 years for new cars to come out as I think the motor industry and people are sick of being held for ransom by the Oil companies and we should see a massive influx soon of hybrids and alternative fuel cars. Until then I'll enjoy my lil Charade and its 1000cc motor :p

Unfortunately, you say you need a car and don't have one, I would definately go second hand for now but watch that interest rate. Maybe purchase at a fixed rate, at least you know what you'll pay each month.
 
BigBear said:
I personally would not go for a VW Polo they are expensive to maintain and you get alot better features on similar priced Ford's.
Click to expand...
Expensive to maintain??? I've paid about R2000 on all the services since I got mine, and not a cent on anything else, so how exactly are they expensive to maintain?? Show me ANY Ford out there with such low maintenance!

Please tell me which features the ford has that the Polo doesn't?

My car has power steering, ABS, electric windows front and back, trip computer, additional storage bins under the seats and an excellent sound system with built in CD/MP3 player.

You can pick up Polo 1.6 Comfortlines now for around R110k with low milleage.
 
SlyFly said:
You guys got confused between the Mazda 2 and 3 somewhere in this topic...

Mazda 2 is SA COTY... Although the Mazda 3 is also a nice car... The Mazda is more a man car than the Yaris... More sporty... Get it in black or charcoal ;) And tint the windows everyone will think your a hip rich black guy :P

*Not rascist, you know its true :D *
Click to expand...

Ah yes - I meant Mazda 2.

Edited my post to reflect this. I would NOT buy a Mazda 3.
 
quik said:
Expensive to maintain??? I've paid about R2000 on all the services since I got mine, and not a cent on anything else, so how exactly are they expensive to maintain?? Show me ANY Ford out there with such low maintenance!

Please tell me which features the ford has that the Polo doesn't?

My car has power steering, ABS, electric windows front and back, trip computer, additional storage bins under the seats and an excellent sound system with built in CD/MP3 player.

You can pick up Polo 1.6 Comfortlines now for around R110k with low milleage.
Click to expand...
You asked for my opinion so here goes...LOL
We have the pleasure and not so pleasure of owning a 1.9TDI polo.
To start the services started @ R1300 with a few very small factory faults to fix.
2006=R1300
2007=R2300
2008=R3000+ don't knoe yet and McCarthy VW Destroyed my interior trim thanks to 1 of their idiotic car washers.
Service cost on our Rangers:
2500TDi all services since 2006 every 10000KM less than R1000, normally R700
4000V6 all services since 2005 every 10000KM also less than R1000 including extra repair/maintenance work, normaly R700

On my Focus the most i have spent was R2000 on tyres.
Services, have had 2(30 and 45) paid in full by maintenance plan up to 60000KM, no cost to me whatsoever.
Focus 1.6SI Specs:
Massive boot space-Easily double the polo's or any other small car
Get a Focus(Golf sized)for the Price of a polo
Dual Front Airbags + Dual Side Airbags
Bigger stronger than polo
Stronger engine 77KW
Average fuel consumption 7.2L/100Km on @ most 50L has 55L tank
Enough space for 5 big sized people/ 5 girls just on the backseat.
RDS Radio with Aux in for ipod std and CD player
2 Splits front and 2 coaxial rear
Steering wheel audio controls
Foglights
Easy to change headlight bulbs unlike POLO's
Parts half the price of any VW.
 
Brawler said:
Hi all.
Got a ton of questions regarding car choices. Would prefer new as I need a vehicle asap and hunting for a decent 2nd hand vehicle out of the question, besides I want the warranty etc.

I am 21, worked for a small I.T company (read low paying) to gain experiance, I now have a much better job allowing me to comfortably afford a new vehicle. As I am young & only been working for about a year I understand that I am going to have difficulty getting finance approved? Any suggestions who to go to?

Had a 2003 1.3i Bantam as a company car this last year, its really been to hell and back and its still going strong so quite keen sticking to ford..

Budget <R140000, not keen on spending more than R3.5k pm

Two that I am quite interested in:
1.3i Bantam
1.4i Fiesta (I am a tad worried about this one, even though its a awesome car, a new model will be out soon)

Also considered Corsa Utility 1.4i , yaris & mazda 2 seem a little bit too girly.

Any others I should look at? Not interested in anything that I will have an issue with parts. Also not interested in CitiGolf or Tata.

Any thougts, suggestions?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

The Bantam would actually be your best bet for a new vehicle.
try to get the 1.6 it has the SA made Rocam engine and is a truly capable and dependable engine.
There is also alot of Tuning options if you would want to go that route.
There is no replacement inline for it and they are sold by the bucket loads which means good resale value and parts availability.
The Service costs should also never be more than R1000 even for a big service, a small normal service is +-R700 same for fiesta but it will be replaced soon with alot better upgraded version.
 
Okay, thanks for replies so far. Not interested in VW at the moment for 2 reasons:
1. The local VW dealer has a terrible name in terms of service since it went BEE.
2. A friend of mine bought a VW approved 2nd hand 2007 Polo 1.9Tdi, and it broke down twice on his first trip to Durban.

So thats definately a +1 for the Bantam 1.3i, now the thing is it doesnt come with any audio of sort, should I get ford to kit there audio system to fit the dash and work it into the price or leave it out and go with a aftermarket system?

Been told by someone at wesbank to have a look at the Opel Corsa Utility again - apparantly better resale.
 
Ok... I have no idea about the diesel versions of the Polo, but my 1.6 Comfortline has been nothing but a joy since I got it ;)
 
Brawler said:
Okay, thanks for replies so far. Not interested in VW at the moment for 2 reasons:
1. The local VW dealer has a terrible name in terms of service since it went BEE.
2. A friend of mine bought a VW approved 2nd hand 2007 Polo 1.9Tdi, and it broke down twice on his first trip to Durban.

So thats definately a +1 for the Bantam 1.3i, now the thing is it doesnt come with any audio of sort, should I get ford to kit there audio system to fit the dash and work it into the price or leave it out and go with a aftermarket system?

Been told by someone at wesbank to have a look at the Opel Corsa Utility again - apparantly better resale.
Click to expand...

I have the 1.8 sport Corsa UTE, very nice bakkie and has a much larger interior and load bin than others. I took it in for it's 30 000K service this month and tbh it was pretty steep, set me back R1900 so maybe keep that in mind. In terms of driving and overall build quality I am very happy with it and seriously love driving it. Huge step up from my old '92 Jetta. I was actually torn between a Colt, Hilux and the Corsa... Took the Corsa in the end due to the way petrol prices are going, went for the 1.8 (as apposed to 1.4) because the boss pays for all my petrol :)

EDIt: Oh yea, I also think it's the nicest looking small bakkie.
 
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