Barefoot

Just looking at getting a brief overview of which car you would buy and why. Looking for a brand new car of the small variety.
From what I have seen the Corolla's are butt ugly, the Focus' and Astra are too expensive and the 323 seem to be going for good prices. Also include any other cars that are in this category.
I would be looking at spending around $20,000, so it would have to be a base model. Looking at an automatic with air-conditioning.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Oh and what sort of trade would we be looking at for a reasonable KE(92 I think) Laser.

Thanks,
Brett

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lowriding

I'd go the 323 . There are some excellent run out deals ATM in your budget range (will be replaced with Mazda3 very soon) . The Astra is actually quite good ,feels better than the 323 which can be a little tinny but is bit dearer and not as good value IMO. A KE laser( 87-89 not 92)would be lucky to fetch more than 3 grand trade max - which is dissappointing 'cause those bubble Lasers and hatches of that era are in many ways better than todays equivilents.

dave_au

The new Mazda 3 baseline model next year is rumoured to be 23k.

ford.boy

annd it looks mighty fine and is built on the new focus mechanicals.

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"When I joined the marines all they gave us was two sticks and a rock! And we had to share the rock between the whole platoon!"
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H2 pwnz j00 foo.

Barefoot

the laser is the longer shaped one, not the bubble one.

I was leaning towards 323 as well, simply for the price and standard equipment.

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philbie

nah, I'd go a VW golf......had one of those, and loved it to bits, so m uch so, my wifes uming about another.....if you want one let me know, can help with dealer discounts.

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BSR MERCHANDISING MANAGER

" i will own another V8, just what type of body it's in is another question. "

carazy

AuIII $20,000 at Jarvis Ford today would be some other dealers around with that price. (brand new cars)
Otherwise I'd go the 323

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CATman

Have you thought about a 206 peugeot??

XR8 Lamah

or a *ahem* pulsar ?

I've always found corolla seats to be fairly uncomfortable (short base). But, they do tend to hold their value very well...

Oh, you've also got the "OMG it now looks like a magna" Lancer as well...

Mum has a Laser (same as current 323). Not a bad little car, although the warning chimes for *everything* will drive you insane. But, as you'd expect the 1.6 with Auto *does not move*. It will feel kind of zippy, since I think they've put 80% throttle within the first cm of accelerator travel, but after that, your not going any faster (especially up hills)

outback_ute

That would be the KF Laser.

IMO, see which one you can get the auto & air for under 20k. Sure the Focus, Astra & prob even Corolla are technically better cars than the 323 but I doubt you'd get the same deal. No real resale probs with a small a/c auto car really but Corolla and in a few years Astra will have better % retained value.

Not much wrong with any of the cars, they should all do the job.