My wife wants a small convertible and I'm trying to find out which one to purchase. Probably a used car about two years old. I have looked at BMW 1 Series, Volkswagen EOS and Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3 and Peugeot. What brands and models would you recommend? She enjoyed driving the Golf and would appreciate your thoughts.
Read MoreThe BMW i8 costs $300,000 here in Australia - that’s $100,000 per cylinder. But, to be fair, at least they throw in a free electric motor. It's blindingly fast, incredibly surefooted and a technical knockout. But is it a real $300k supercar? Let’s go for a test drive, and find out.
Read MoreI am entertaining the idea of buying a Mercedes-Benz C 250 petrol with some options. My question is, if the dealer locates the correct colour car with the right options I’m looking for, but he has to get it in from another dealership, does that compromise my ability to barter the price down?
Read MoreThese luxury SUVs are a road safety disgrace. Luxury SUVs are supposed to be safe. Protection in a crash is supposed to be a given. If Kia can offer five-star safety on the diminutive Rio for well under $20,000, you’d assume every luxury SUV costing three to six times as much was at least as safe, right? Probably safer. Well, it’s just not the case.
Read MoreI bought a VW Golf 1.4 turbo DSG fifteen months ago. Is there a time bomb ticking with regard to the DSG? Should I sell now in order to avoid major expense in the future? Are Volkswagen's reliability problems a thing of the past?
Read MoreMy problem is fuel consumption. The Hyundai manual states it is OK to run the i30 on e10 fuel and the brochure states the automatic should get 9.7L /100km for urban usage. I have complained to the dealer that my consumption has been well over the stated consumption in the brochure, which I have been testing for about 14 months - full tank to full tank
Read MoreI've already paid the deposit on a silver car. I called the dealer on Tuesday to change it from silver to white. This should have meant a drop of $595 in price . The salesman told me I probably won't get a reimbursement. I am quite angry at this. Why should I not receive a refund if I now want a cheaper vehicle? He said that he would get back to me in a couple of days.
Read MoreA question regarding colour. What us best for resale, and also general wear and looks? I know that the tinting and surface protection packages provided by dealers appear to be a bit of a con, but are they worth getting to keep everything in house? Is there room to bargain on these? The Hyundai package for leather, other surfaces, and tinting is about $2k. If you would recommend am alternate provider who would it be? What about the tow bar packages and roof rack side rails? Is it better to go to a 3rd party for these also? I am thinking of getting these. Also - who is a good tinting company?
Read MoreNSW Police pursuits are out of control. Until someone grows the balls to make the required changes, pursuits will continue to be a deadly serious problem in this state. The NSW Police’s institutional infatuation with trivial pursuit simply must be stopped. People killed during police pursuits - innocent bystanders, police officers and even those who flee - fail every collateral damage and proportionality test there is. They are unjustly killed by a system that’s broken.
Read MoreThe 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Highlander is not the first - or the only - vehicle to offer automatic reverse parking, but it is the first Hyundai that can measure the spot, handle the steering and guide you through the entire reverse parking process. The big question is: Can a handful of silicone chips and a few actuators can out-park a human? Let's find out.
Read MoreHow often should you get your car serviced if you just don’t drive it very much? Lots of people just don’t drive much - you might be one of them. You might be lucky enough to live so close you can walk to work, or you might work from home. Or you might have retired and given the rat race the flick. Half your luck - having a latte while everyone else is stuck in gridlock. But how should you service your car to keep it reliable and ensure its longevity, without ripping yourself off, paying for service you don’t need?
Read MoreNew car import laws mean you might soon be able to import privately your own new car - saving thousands. Predictably enough, the car industry has responded with a Himalaya of horseshit to the effect of: that’s a bad idea. But what's the truth?
Read MoreOn your advice we are buying a Hyundai i30. The only extra we are getting is window tinting at a lower price than they wanted us to pay. Overall we had a good experience with Suttons at Rosebery and are really looking forward to delivery. The question we had was regarding Schmick. We were not sure if it was worth the joining fee they were asking.
Read MoreWould you buy a diesel car? Or a diesel SUV, van, or ute? Plenty of Australia's one million (ish) new vehicle buyers never even consider buying a diesel. If that's you, maybe you should. Diesel engines have grown up (possibly while you weren't looking) and today they're a better bet than the petrol equivalent - for a host of reasons
Read MoreI have just suffered the indignity of a low trade-in figure. That got me thinking, how many years after purchase is the best time trade-in a car? I understand depreciation, but is there a magic period of the least sacrifice?
Read MoreDealer delivery is one of the most insidious untruths institutionalised in the new-car buying process. Everything about it is a lie - including the name (because the dealer does not deliver it to you). Learn how to minimise unscrupulous dealers' so-called 'delivery' fees.
Read MoreI have on order a new electric BMW i3 subject to a satisfactory test drive. When the $6k delivery fee was queried the pleasant sales person included five years' service in the deal but of course for an EV service is minimal. As it will still need to visit a dealer in that period to safeguard the warranty I tolerated it on the day. Since signing the contract subject to this acceptable test drive down the track I notice on blog sites how excessive the fees are from the four BMW dealers handling the i3 models.
Read MoreI have a Mitsubishi Triton with 49,000km and I have a problem with it blowing smoke when it is cold. This lasts for about 30 minutes until it warms up. It is so bad vehicles behind me will not move at lights until I have moved on, and the smoke has cleared.
Read MoreI'm considering buying a Toyota FJ Cruiser and would appreciate your thoughts on this vehicle.
Read MoreThe Gen F GTS 20-inch wheels I believe are a unique size to fit over the brakes and therefore to buy a spare set of wheels and probably street legal semi slicks for track days is not straight forward. Quotes for a spare set of rims only for the HSV ones are in excess of $1300/rim and I'm best guessing each tyre will be north of $500. Obviously there are thousands of options online but I'm guessing I could find that although technically the right size, some rims still wouldn't fit over the brakes. Do you have any recommendations on how/who to sort this?
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