I got ready and jumped!

[Palo Verde]

Yes, peeps, the old girl's services as she aged ever so gracefully are costing such an arm and a leg that it was much better to changeover to something new with many years of unlimited km warranty, and many car makers are offering prepaid service for years which works out so much less than what I have been paying over the life and more for my 208. Also, a barbed wire scratch on the hind side with a panel quote of 1k to repaint absolutely made me jump!
Despite this, must say my little pug has been a very reliable partner for almost a decade I have had her since 2014 new. Her log book is all up to date and not a single service was missed, she has always been on 98 fuels so she won't be clogged anytime soon!
I would have bought another 208 but Peugeot no longer brings in the 208 and the forthcoming e-series will be ridiculously out of most people's budget anyway. I was considering the Renault Captur but the intens variant was a little too much, the Citroen C3 looks too bohemian for my taste and C4 is way too expensive so I have to do another brand, I was also looking at the Renault Clio but didn't know they were also discontinued here.
There really isn't much to choose from (when you have a budget) - not sure if anyone had looked around, even a Yaris is almost 28k base so you see, everything just costs way too much, even tissue boxes on wheels.
Being a non-car expert I prefer the assurance of a long warranty and the prepaid service was exactly what I needed, given I have spent way too much on my little 208 in services and that's not even at the dealer, just garages.
Despite servicing my 208 at a non-dealer since the day Moses parted the red sea, it still costs me a huge fortune, at some point your services just cost almost 1 quarter or a third of what the car to be serviced is worth - that's when you need to learn to let go. Of course, I do feel sentimental about it, so there you go - as they say- AuRevoir
A very stupid decision by Pug HQ not to bring in 208 means I have to part ways.
This time around I look for function and substance over anything else. And value for money given how expensive everything is…and I found it!
No flaming - just letting members know I let go and jumped!

 

[Greenpeace]

Waiting time for some manufacturers is a big thing too.
I was talking to a lady yesterday that has been waiting 2 years so far for her Toyota RAV hybrid, and she is being told it will.be "a few more months yet".
My nephew bought a new MG3 and drove it home the same day.

 

[Palo Verde]

I believe the chip issue is now over many dealers are holding good stock levels and one need not wait too long - I waited only 1 week I was told the person who ordered mine - an exact colour I wanted had their credit app refused. I stepped in.

BTW NSW members why does my car plate start with a Y? despite it is now alphabet F
would not consider
Kia
Honda
Hyundai
Nissan
Mazda
Ford
Toyota
Fiat - have never seen anything so ugly and expensive
Mini ridiculously priced
MG Great Wall in disguise
all of the Great Wall products like Haval etc

I have found with Japanese and Korean cars you have to go to the top of the line to see quality - and then their prices are like Euros so might as well get the real McCoy

Out of my budget
most of the German badges

I considered
Renault Captur
VW T Cross- strangely not too expensive but looked really simple and low kilowatt and low NM
Pug
Ridiculously overpriced 308 and that is all what a huge range
all the rest are SUV - what was Pug thinking?
and what did I get in the end?

 

[lowpugV2]

People in this predicament should buy my dads 2019 Corolla. It's got 28,000 Kay's, like new condition and still has warranty.
Being the straight up 2ltr non hybrid I'd expect 10 years of very cheap running. He's only selling cause the boot was too small and he doesn't like the low front end. This is mostly to say, does it need to be brand new?

 

[lowpugV2]

As for what you bought? A Mitsubishi ASX? Or a skoda scala ...

 

[Palo Verde]

well if that was the case my Pug is the case in point I've owned it for nearly a decade - of course, there is no such thing as spent zilch in the last 9 years I found that neglect can cause a lot of issues and if you don't neglect means you need to spend the dosh. In this unregulated car service market it is difficult as a consumer to know what is a fair price given even my garage service costs 4 digits and they always seemed to come up with something you need to either replace or take care of it
The security of a warranty cannot be understated nowadays I also found cars lately are more reliable that's why they stand behind it with 7 years warranty etc.

 

[Palo Verde]

As for what you bought? A Mitsubishi ASX? Or a skoda scala ...

only interested in small cars - though not the yaris category previously Corolla is considered small then along came Yaris suddenly Corolla is no longer small. Isn't that fascinating

 

[Palo Verde]

People in this predicament should buy my dads 2019 Corolla. It's got 28,000 Kay's, like new condition and still has warranty.
Being the straight up 2ltr non hybrid I'd expect 10 years of very cheap running. He's only selling cause the boot was too small and he doesn't like the low front end. This is mostly to say, does it need to be brand new?

not so much a predicament as the end of life approaching if one does not ditch soon one gets nothing back whilst putting in money for services.

I've never like Toyota much less Camry - grandpas car - may as well be your father's oldsmobile

my bad corolla isn't that much of a fragrant flower either. I do think 20 years ago Corolla was attractive for its time but these days they simply cannot compete.

 

[Greenpeace]

MG Great Wall in disguise

Other than being made in China, MG has no association with Great Wall.
MG is wholly owned by SAIC. SAIC also make LDV vehicles as well as having joint ventures with the VW group and GM.
MG is state owned.
Great Wall is privately owned.

 

[Palo Verde]

Other than being made in China, MG has no association with Great Wall.
MG is wholly owned by SAIC. SAIC also make LDV vehicles as well as having joint ventures with the VW group and GM.
MG is state owned.
Great Wall is privately owned.

MG should never have made that silly decision, oh well their loss.

'

Other than being made in China,' isn't that bad enough? Or how how bad do you want it? Made in India maybe?

how can the quality match if it was made in England

 

[dmccurtayne]

how can the quality match if it was made in England

It’s about a thousand times better which isn’t saying much

 

[Greenpeace]

MG should never have made that silly decision, oh well their loss.

'

how can the quality match if it was made in England

You most likely typed this reply on a Chinese made phone or computer.

 

[Ron McGr]

Other than being made in China, MG has no association with Great Wall.
MG is wholly owned by SAIC. SAIC also make LDV vehicles as well as having joint ventures with the VW group and GM.
MG is state owned.
Great Wall is privately owned.

My wife has an MG ZS. SUV, higher off the ground, easy to get in and out of. 7 year warranty. She likes it, I think it is a tinny, thing on roller skates that suffers from a lot of road noise. It is also not the smoothest car to ride in. I'll take my old 2007 Citroen C5 Diesel any day. 256,000 km runs like a charm, and as smooth as silk.

 

[Palo Verde]

You most likely typed this reply on a Chinese made phone or computer.

comparing phones to cars tech is so different kettle of fish.

Some countries have had a long history of innovation in car manufacturing as they have been doing it since Adam and Eve.

The Germans, for example, have been making cars since 1900 it's no secret their cars are top quality in fact most Europen countries have a long history of innovating development in car making whereas the copycat started springing up recently and then claim they can do so well.

I kid you not most Japanese and Koreans prefer European cars, also The biggest mobile phone market in Japan is not Sony but Apple. They don't even like their own.

Another thing about Phones is - get this straight, making a phone using patented American Technology and software development does not mean you take full credit for it with cheap labour with no Unions and workers' rights.

 

[Palo Verde]

My wife has an MG ZS. SUV, higher off the ground, easy to get in and out of. 7 year warranty. She likes it, I think it is a tinny, thing on roller skates that suffers from a lot of road noise. It is also not the smoothest car to ride in. I'll take my old 2007 Citroen C5 Diesel any day. 256,000 km runs like a charm, and as smooth as silk.

I would have opted for the VW T Cross or the Renault Captur. Also better resale value compared with the Great Wall dynasty range
A friend bought a Haval a few years back - zilch resale value. - lessons learnt

 

[Greenpeace]

The Germans, for example, have been making cars since 1900 it's no secret their cars are top quality in fact most Europen countries have a long history of innovating development in car making whereas the copycat started springing up recently and then claim they can do so well.

I kid you not most Japanese and Koreans prefer European cars, also The biggest mobile phone market in Japan is not Sony but Apple. They don't even like their own.

The Germans make good cars (I've owned several) but if you can find a reliability survey from the past decade with a German made car at the top you are doing better than me. Normally it will be a Toyota/Lexus or a Hyundai model at the top.
Although currently the car that tops the reliability stakes in Germany itself, is a Tesla.

As to "most" Japanese and Koreans preferring imported cars?
I've included a chart for the top 10 selling models in Japan in 2022. Their isn't an imported car in the top 20 sales figures either, but I couldn't find a neat chart to show this. This year's YTD figures look pretty much the same. Also the best selling EV in Japan is a Nissan.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a neat chart for South Korean sales figures. The screenshot shows YTD figures for the top 10 selling cars in 2023, note they are all Korean made cars.
70% of ALL new car sales in South Korea in 2022 were Hyundai/Kia products.

Sony shot themselves in the foot worldwide when they entered the smartphone market. But that's another story.

 

[Greenpeace]

My wife has an MG ZS. SUV, higher off the ground, easy to get in and out of. 7 year warranty. She likes it, I think it is a tinny, thing on roller skates that suffers from a lot of road noise. It is also not the smoothest car to ride in. I'll take my old 2007 Citroen C5 Diesel any day. 256,000 km runs like a charm, and as smooth as silk.

My wife bought a Chinese Chery J3 brand new in 2011. It was 1/2 the price of any Japanese or European cars offering equivelant features.
It was actually quite well finished, nice paint, good panel gaps, interior was on the whole well made, however parts of the dash were a little plasticky. Driving dynamics were perfectly fine for a car of its class. My youngest daughter still has the car, it still presents as new inside and out other than the headlining has started to sag, the red paint still gleams, the leather seats are like new, none of the plastics have crumbled or faded. In 12 years other than normal servicing it has needed a coolant reservoir, a LH front wheel bearing and a RH taillight when the LEDs started playing up. I can do a major service on it (timing belt etc) for under $300. It has never needed pads or discs, clutch is still fine, the Chinese tyres it came with lasted nearly 80K, the Chinese battery lasted for 8 years, the AC has never been touched and is still ice cold, it doesn't leak or use oil or coolant.
My daughter is an ER registrar and could buy whatever car she wants, but she's been driving the Chery for 6 years now. As she said, "it sits in the car park all day" and "why would I want to spend $100K on something flash just to leave it out in the weather". She's already said when it does finally die that she will be buying one of the sub $20K new cars still available with a manual transmission. Car theft is extremely high where she lives and the joyriders can't drive a manual car.

 

[Simon_Tassie]

It's all horses for courses. I nodded along with some of Palo's points, but then he said Hyundai were absolutely not in consideration??? My i20N is the third funnest car I've owned (behind 1978 Leyland Mini S, and 306 GTi6), and I still turn and look at it as I walk away. It is NOT euro-priced, and not high-end quality, but bang for buck it's a winner. Nothing wrong with reliability, or panel fit (to my eye), and NVH could maybe be better, but it IS a hot hatch, so what do you expect? But that's only my take on one car in their range.
But why has Palo so totally ruled out the whole range? He doesn't say, so I won't speculate, but I'm curious.

 

[Greenpeace]

It's all horses for courses. I nodded along with some of Palo's points, but then he said Hyundai were absolutely not in consideration??? My i20N is the third funnest car I've owned (behind 1978 Leyland Mini S, and 306 GTi6), and I still turn and look at it as I walk away. It is NOT euro-priced, and not high-end quality, but bang for buck it's a winner. Nothing wrong with reliability, or panel fit (to my eye), and NVH could maybe be better, but it IS a hot hatch, so what do you expect? But that's only my take on one car in their range.
But why has Palo so totally ruled out the whole range? He doesn't say, so I won't speculate, but I'm curious.

My wife bought a Hyunda Tucson new in 2007 sold it and bought a BMW in 2010 and for multiple reasons, (none of them good) got rid of it 12 months later and bought the new Chery.
The Tucson was one of the first 5 speed manuals to arrive in Aus and it was 100% trouble free.
The Hyundai dealer we bought it from was also the Mercedes dealer, and both brands sat side by side in the same showroom. The MBs paintwork and fit and finish was no better than the Hyundais, the MB's interior materials did look more "expensive" however, but I guess they should.
My youngest lad bought a base model Hyundai i20 brand new in 2014, he and his wife just traded it in on a Toyota Yaris Cross. Again zero mechanical issues in 9 years, the only thing wrong with it was the clear coat was starting to lift on the upper surfaces. However the vehicle was always parked out in the weather.
The Hyundai i30N gets some pretty favourable reviews, and they appear to have a pretty high resale value as well.

 

[David S]

Read the warranty fine print if that's what is driving the purchase. Some brands have some surprising exclusions and not just limited to restrictions on wearing parts like brake, clutch and shock absorbers.
The idea of buying a Chinese MG is just an absurd branding situation, but they have made some solid sales numbers so there are obviously people that just don't know/care or are simply buying on price.