BEST CONVENTIONAL CARS
Although conventional cars are less popular now than ever before (largely as a result of greater choice and a move towards SUVs and utes) these vehicles represent tremendous value for money, and they remain the best choice for many people tasked with the daily grind in traffic
MAZDA 6
If you need a beautiful car with luxurious leather, all the tech and equipment, a smooth, bristling engine, and sorted handling, a Mazda 6 sedan or wagon can tick those boxes for $30K less than any Merc or Audi - and it’ll have better resale value while being abundantly more reliable.
The 6 wagon is something of a genius move by Mazda, where other brands have basically given up on proper cars with wagon body styles, and have gone full-SUV. Mazda 6 sales have exploded in 2023, increasing over 200 per cent compared with 2022. Good signs.
You get all the desirable features on a modestly-priced variant, without it becoming some bloated whale, as is the case with most top-spec SUVs. That equivalent-spec medium SUV would demand (ballpark) $7000 more.
Say you want leather on a large SUV, you’re shopping at least the $55K mark, whereas on a Mazda 6 you’re looking at $45K on a ‘Touring’ variant instead. Sit in this car with the logo covered up, you’ll swear it’s from that ‘premium’ German brand. Love the wagon’s tailgate cargo cover design, too.
HYUNDAI SONATA
If you want family-sized performance, the kind Ford and Holden used to offer, Sonata N-Line is for you. Only this car is better in many ways.
There’s a generous 510L boot that beats most midsize SUVs for cubic capacity, and it secures your stuff away from prying eyes and sticky fingers.
Sonata is affordable family transport with very good levels of safety, quality, reliability and practicality - and grunt. The dual-clutch auto is lightning quick, the 2.5 turbo petrol packs a wallop for the price, and because it’s light at only 1700kg with you on board, it’s also pretty quick .
But if you dial it back to ‘Comfort’ and ask it to be a civilised daily commuter, it’ll do that all day without ever feeling bloated, too soft or boring. And at $52,000 before on-road costs, it’s a bit of a bargain.
KIA K4 / HYUNDAI i30 SEDAN
The new K4 is a replacement for Kia’s champion Cerato small sedan and offers decent value, especially if you want something mildly sporty or just an affordable commuter car. Hyundai has also turned Elantra sedan into i30 Sedan, so you get two choices on the same platform shared with the K4.
You get the benefits of a five-seat family sedan, including two sets of ISOFIX restraint anchor points (just like any medium SUV), an impressive boot space at 508L (better than most small SUVs), and cabin space even for tall people, if a little tight in the back. But the price has strayed into mid-$40K territory - not unlike a medium SUV.
You get the leather seats and power-folding heated door mirrors, tyre pressure monitoring, GPS and DAB+ radio, proxy key with push-button start, there’s rear air-con, pumping multi-speaker premium stereo systems and sunroof.
Front and rear sensors in tandem with the rearview camera offer slick precision parking and ‘Side door exit warning’ keeps kids safe. Kia and Hyundai give you a more interesting alternative to a Toyota hybrid.
TOYOTA CAMRY
A lot of car for medium-size families needing cargo space, safety and satisfactory comfort levels on a modest 5-seat budget.
SUVs might be the rage, but they’re not all things to all people, because they can’t handle cornering or dynamic performance in emergency stops like a normal car with lower centre of gravity. This is fundamental physics.
Camry can do the wide majority of transport tasks without being exceptional, because most people don’t need exceptional.
Camry in non-hybrid version will not save you thousands on fuel, because of its tiny battery, but it will reduce your emissions from standing start to normal traffic flow. Toyota just sells it using the cost-saving tactic to appeal to consumers like you. Even on an affordable Ascent Sport you get radar cruise, DAB, 6 speakers, LED running & tail lights, full-size spare.
BMW 3 SERIES
If you’re strictly buying in the prestige market, BMW is without doubt the brand I recommend most, and the 3 Series is one of those perennial luxury cars that rarely puts a foot wrong.
In sedan or ‘Touring’ spec, which in Australia we call a wagon - and nothing else, thank you - this is a five-seat family vehicle at its core with good build quality and, more importantly, good customer care baked into the ownership experience. BMW Australia doesn’t turn its nose up at you in the event of an unlikely problem. They just deal with it, generally speaking.
When you pour money into a conveyance like this, you expect results, you expect decency, and you shouldn’t have to wonder if your trust will be betrayed.
Consider a 3-Series Touring if you need that boost in practicality (over sedan) without the SUV price premium. Also, the seats are magnificent.
CONVENTIONAL CARS TO AVOID
Honda Accord: Selling five vehicles a month is not a stable, viable long-term commercial result for a brand trying to sell a product. Nobody wants to buy a Honda you can’t negotiate on, and Accord at $58K-$62K is completely overpriced.
Volkswagen Passat: Selling just 68 vehicles units a month should tell you how irrelevant this ‘people’s car’ actually is. It’ll drive nicely, the interior is a nice place to sit, certainly, but the way Volkswagen treats consumers with contrition is the biggest red flag of all.
Mercedes-Benz A-Class: The problem with low-end Mercs is the reliability and build quality are poverty as well. This would be okay if Mercedes customer service wasn’t also on the cheap-n-nasty. Dealers are suing Mercedes head office which is bad for consumers.
Audi A4: Sales for A4 are up in 2023 over 2022, but they’re dismal compared with the BMW 3 Series, meaning an A4 is going to depreciate hard. If you just want a more expensive VW Golf, the A4 is ideal for anyone who needs to give away their money.
Skoda Octavia: A bare bones Golf with Czech build quality. Sales are up for 2023, but like the Audi, sales are tiny compared with a Mazda 3 or Camry, meaning you’re gonna lose about 30 percent resale value in one year, and everyone wants the Japanese cars.
Peugeot 508: The fact only 40-something Peugeot 508s have sold in mid 2023 should tell you how irrelevant this vehicle is, especially at resale time. A tiny dealer network means limited ability to negotiate when you buy, and minimal spare parts on-shore.
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