Best Small Car under 20k?

bargain4all on 26/03/2021 - 22:05
Last edited 26/03/2021 - 22:40 by 1 other user

We want to buy a small car for work commute. We went to showrooms and picked the following.
Which will be the best bang for buck and will have good resale value in future.
I have also checked the used car Kia Rio 2015 which is at 25k kms for $10k.

Options for brand new are
1) Picanto S Auto 2021 model-$17500
2) Mitsubishi Mirage 2020-$15990

I am unable to decide between these. Or are there any other options for reliable car with low maintenance with good mileage?
Please suggest the best one.

Thank you.

Poll Options

  • 8
    Kia Picanto S 2021
  • 3
    Mitsubishi Mirage 2020
  • 38
    Other
Automotive

Comments

  • SF3 on 26/03/2021 - 22:14

    Please add a poll for your options.

    • bargain4all on 26/03/2021 - 22:15

      Thanks for the suggestion.Added the poll

  • Halc on 26/03/2021 - 22:34
    +5

    2-5yo under warranty of any of the following really

    Toyota corolla
    Hyundai i30
    Kia cerato
    Mazda 3
    Toyota camry/aurion (will be cheaper than corolla for a 3-4yr, ironically)

    If resale is important to you, can't lose buying an used camry or corolla. If you buy well you can even make money..

    • tonyjzx on 26/03/2021 - 23:57

      I suspect the OP really wants a subcompact for the lowest bills so really, i doubt even a 2.0 like a mazda 3 or certainly not a 3.0-3.5 v6 aurion!

      sadly the sub $20k car is really only about subcompacts now. I would go with a Suzuki Swift or a Rio but yeah. slim pickins.

      i30 go super poverty spec would be nice but i reckon a used auto one would be hard to get under $20.

      • Halc on 27/03/2021 - 22:10
        +1

        saving petrol can be a false economy
        considering most people pay sub 2-3k per year for petrol, a 30% increase in petrol cost is only ~500 which is more often than not offset than the money you make back through resale (eg. camry vs kia rio if you look at how much depreciation there is)

        even more so if you do a lot of high way driving where a V6 will save you fuel

  • Boioioioi on 27/03/2021 - 01:07
    +2

    Mate I used to own a Mitsubishi Mirage, 2014 model (same as what you are looking at, they just got visually updated) I it bought used for $5300 at 60,000km. Fantastic car! Having said that I would never in my life pay 16k for one. Mine was a manual so yes it was cheaper. But its just not nice enough that I would ever pay over 7k. Its a great car that gets you from A - B safely and cheaply. Its also very reliable and cheap to fix if anything does happen, so I dont see much risk in buying a low Ks used one.

    I would stay away from the Picanto, it doesnt even have a 5 star safety rating

    • This Guy on 27/03/2021 - 01:58
      +5

      The Mirage was 5 stars in 2013. It would be a 2 or 3 star rated car under today's tests.

      The Picanto was a 5 star car is 2013 too, but unlike the Mirage, it was updated, so it was retested.

      And let's be real, just like the Mazda 2, none of these cars are particularly nice. The Mirage might look pretty on the outside and the 2 is a Mazda, but the Picanto is more ergonomic, quieter, has a better ride, less vibrations, handles stupidly well and has modern features like AEB.

      Saving $1500 to buy a brand new, eight year old budget car is dumb. Especially when the competition has gone though two major chassis overhauls to improve NVH.

      • Boioioioi on 27/03/2021 - 11:44
        +1

        Fair points I think youre right.

        Agreed when buying brand new as well.

        But to be honest with cars in this budget none of them are that nice, when buying used the Mirage is cheap as chips. Though those modern features like AEB are nice

        • This Guy on 27/03/2021 - 12:39
          +1

          You bought yours for $5300. At that price it is a great car. Reliable, reasonably modern, good looking small car.

          Your advice just doesn't stand for a new car purchase.

          • Boioioioi on 27/03/2021 - 14:06
            +1

            @This Guy: I know! I am trying to say same thing as you. I would only buy the mirage used for around the same price I got it. Definitely not new.

  • Euphemistic on 27/03/2021 - 07:15
    +3

    Save your coins and get a used one. Anything Japanese or Korean will be reliable enough.

    • bargain4all on 27/03/2021 - 08:27

      I have seen used corolla or mazda cars. But i m not getting any 2018 car under 15k.all are well over 20k. I selected these 2 because I am getting 7 yrs kia/10 yrs mirage warranty.

      • Euphemistic on 27/03/2021 - 09:09

        Just pick the one you like best then.

        Note that the Mitsubishi warranty has to be serviced at a dealer to get the full 10years

  • 0FoxGiven on 27/03/2021 - 09:21
    +1

    I suspect you could get a new Suzuki Swift for 20k with some haggling. Definitely better than the Picanto and Mirage

    • tonyjzx on 27/03/2021 - 14:09

      around $20k on carsales

      much easier if you can do manual

      but autos is very hard going

      what a terrible market this is… just before covid they are around $16k???

      sure again very skint inside but that's par for the course

  • Keplaffintech on 27/03/2021 - 10:03

    Check out some reviews of the Mirage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aCsNs3eYTE

  • smoothymcmellow on 28/03/2021 - 09:12
    +1

    We were in the exactly the same situation as you last weekend OP. Looking for a car sub $20k, open to anything really.
    Dealer used market is terrible, no supply, 5 year old cars selling for $5k below their RRP. It's just not worth it.
    Private there are still good value cars out there but the really well priced ones sell very quickly and you need some patience. With a 2yr old driving all around Melbourne to look at cars gets tiring real quick.
    New cars, if you want something quickly, again supply is very limited and dealers aren't as keen to find you one at another dealer. They hold their stock tight. They won't negotiate and just offer RRP as someone else will take it tomorrow if you don't.

    I ended up doing a spreadsheet of all the "around 20k (more like 18k-25k these days if you want variety)" new cars on the market. Included service costs, warranty, finance options, specs, the works.

    It helped me see the cost of ownership over 5 years.

    Couple of notes if it helps from my test driving and research
    Picanto, the auto gearbox is terrible and not a lot of manual top of the range ones around.
    Kia Rio - nice enough, drives better than the Picanto, S has good safety additions
    Seltos is a slightly higher Rio that costs slightly more
    Kia has a great warranty but quite high fixed price service costs, about $500 more than competitors over 5 years
    Hyundai only has the Venue around this price. It's slightly more SUV feeling than the Seltos but I preferred the Kia
    We ended up getting a Skoda Scala, felt a massive step up, had a 1.9% finance offer (may end on 31/3) and only $1400 for fixed price servicing over 5 years. $27k but ended up being closer to others over 5 years compared to higher finance rates and service costs.
    Skoda worth a look if you haven't yet.
    Didn't get to try a swift unfortunately.
    Others just blew the budget out

    One note, I didn't include resale value in my calls as I usually keep cars for ages and the market is so screwy right now it's hard to know.

    Good luck OP!

    • bargain4all on 28/03/2021 - 10:23

      Thanks for the detailed explanation. I checked Skoda Fabia. Its going around 25k.
      I am thinking of going with Kia Rio 2015 which has low kms for 10k.
      I will check for new car may be after Covid.

      Thanks all for your opinions.

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