Sedan Advice

Now look, obviously telling anyone that a particular second-hand car will have bulletproof reliable is a bit like telling them that skiing is a totally safe hobby, or advising them to invest in blue-chip stocks.Sometimes, things just don’t work out and if your friend ends up with a broken leg, an empty bank account or a total lemon of a car on their driveway - it can be embarrassing, or a friendship killer.So, we must proceed with caution, and caveats. We’re also trying to live in the real world here. I have good reason to believe, for example, that Porsches are hugely reliable. I once asked a Porsche engineer whether it was true that every single part of the company’s cars was over engineered by 200 per cent, and he looked truly offended and said “No! No, it’s more like 400 per cent.”This might explain, at least partly, why Porsches are so expensive, and why they remain pricey, even as second-hand cars. So, by all means, if you can afford a used 911, it’s probably a good investment, it’s just not one we can all make (more realistically, if you want a second-hand sports car, it’s hard to go past a Mazda MX-5, of any vintage, because they are fantastic to drive, reliable and relatively affordable).At the other end of the spectrum, we don’t want this list to be entirely dull. There’s an argument, particularly from people who only buy Toyotas and believe in them religiously, for suggesting that all of the 10 cars on this list should be Corollas, Camrys, Yarises, Priuses and so forth.Yes, Toyota is fairly famed for its unbreakable reliability, and Top Gear certainly did its best to help that reputation with its failed attempts to destroy a HiLux.But here’s an interesting wrinkle for you. When Australians were asked by Canstar, to rate their own cars for reliability, just last year, the results were telling, and fascinating.Coming in first, by a clear margin, as the most reliable brand, was Mitsubishi. Sure enough, Toyota came in second, followed by Kia, Mazda, Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Hyundai, Honda and Volkswagen.The less-loved five, hanging behind the top 10, were Nissan, Holden, Audi and Ford. So you won’t see any of their cars on this list, although we’d still like to recommend used versions of the VF Commodore to those of you who don’t mind taking a slight reliability risk, just because they were such fantastic cars, and clearly the last big sedans that will ever have been built specifically for our conditions.And just one other personal caveat. Whenever people ask me what sort of second-hand car they should buy I give the same answer - “whichever Subaru you can afford, and in whatever shape suits your lifestyle”. I still stand by this, because in my experience the brand has rock-solid reliability, combined with excellent driving dynamics, all-wheel drive and tough, hardy interiors. It’s just a shame they mostly lack visual appeal.Here, then, in no particular order are our careful recommendations.

The problem with cars is that all the ones you really, really want - the ones you'd have posters of on your wall if you were still young enough for that to be acceptable - are too expensive.

What is a kit car?A kit car is a type of vehicle either built at home or in a small workshop using components sourced from other vehicles, and are often designed to look like a fancier, more expensive vehicle.At one point in Australia’s motoring history the kit car industry was a booming business. Beginning in post-war years, handy people who weren’t prepared to get grimy scrounging wrecking yards to build a hot rod could order a set of plans, or parts in kit form, to build a vehicle at home.The Lotus 7 was thought to be among the first cars sold in kit form, as a way of cheapening the cost of buying the vehicle and avoiding delays in having Lotus assemble a running, driving car. The popularity of the 7 led to a whole class of clubman vehicles that are all about home-built super-lightweight fun.Kit cars in Australia back in the day would see punters order the bare bones parts of the vehicle, sometimes including the chassis and body, which would be supplied unfinished. These DIY handymen would then find the drivetrain from popular makes and models.For those not so talented on the tools, a kit car can be more of a custom vehicle based off a cheap, commonly available donor like the Toyota Celica or Volkswagen Beetle, with a modified body fitted on top. These were often offered as a drive-in, drive-out customisation for client’s existing vehicles by companies like Adelaide’s Creative Cars.Creative Cars sold kits to turn a Beetle into a Porsche 911 lookalike called the Poraga and Porerra, or a Celica dressed as a Ferrari 308 called the Cerino, among others. The latter was initially known as the Ferrino, until Ferrari objected to the name. These weren’t cheap, with the Poraga conversion costing $10,000 back in the mid-1980s!However, the kit car industry was impacted as road rules were created to control the types of cars allowed on Australian roads. While it was OK in the 1950s for anyone to put whatever engine into another type of chassis and fit their own, home-made body on top, by the early 1980s we had federal laws setting a minimum standard for cars being brought into Australia to be sold as road cars (Australian Design Rules), and then we had ever-tightening state-based laws controlling what modifications were permitted for road-going vehicles.By the late 1980s kit cars were mostly sold as replicas of rare 1960s exotic cars like the Ford GT40, Shelby Cobra and Ferrari 250 GTO. Sometimes these cars could be ordered as a turn-key car, or a DIY kit to be built at home to the owner’s exact specifications. However as road regulations tightened through the 1990s, the cost of gaining registration approval for road use skyrocketed to over $300,000 per-car (depending on the state the vehicle needed to be registered in).These costs came as the vehicle had to be built to the same standards as a modern car, which is incredibly difficult in a vehicle built at home to replicate a 1960s car, and then approved by a registered engineering signatory who had a process of inspecting and testing the vehicle. As laws are fluid and constantly changing, many kit cars end up unfinished as owners find it difficult to navigate a highly complex and expensive process. This is why kit cars are all but extinct now in Australia.The good news is there are many ways to build a kit car today, if you have plenty of dollars in the bank and can set aside several years to step through the whole process. For this reason, many people choose to customise their car in a more traditional hot rod-style, rather than building a complete vehicle from the ground-up.Today you can buy car body kits online for a variety of budgets. Among the most popular are the Japanese “Rocket Bunny Pandem” kits from TRA Kyoto’s Kei Miura. Featuring fat, 80s-style rivet-on boxed wide-body guards, deep front bumper extensions, and his trademark duck-tail spoiler, they end a massively aggressive race flair to otherwise common sports cars.Talk to any late-model tuner car enthusiast and they’ll tell you the hottest cars in their scene are Toyota 86 Rocket Bunny, S14 Rocket Bunny Silvia, S15 Rocket Bunny Silvia, an RX-7 Rocket Bunny, or a 350Z Rocket Bunny. They rarely look anything like the original car and could almost be considered a kit car, especially with the popularity of power-adders like the many Toyota 86 turbo kits on offer.For those who are feeling really adventurous there is the Vaydor, which is a drastic restyling of a core Nissan/Infiniti G35 Skyline. There is no firm confirmation if the Vaydor G35 is a road legal kit cars in Australia, so don’t spend your pennies there without doing a lot of research first.The booming market is in electric car kit swaps, where a petrol or diesel drivetrain is replaced with an electric one. Again, legalities concerning these modifications aren’t super-well-understood yet but this is a potential area to keep an eye on if you want a silent-running car but can’t afford a Tesla, or don’t want to give up your favourite ride. 

Remarkably, there is a question I've been asked more often than "would you like fries with that?" or even "are you George Clooney?" And that question is "what's the best car you've ever driven?"

Japanese makes have to close the books on their financial year — get in for these deals before the end of the month.March is the second-biggest month of the year for new-car sales — as Japanese brands have one last sales push to close off their books for the end of the Japanese financial year.Almost every other brand in the Top 10 must also have a crack if they don't want to be left behind, which is why Holden and Hyundai and others are out there with sharp deals to lure buyers away from Japanese showrooms.A lot of the deals will seem similar to the January offers, as dealers are still trying to clear 2015-built stock. But prices and/or other bonuses have been sharpened even further on a few models.Here are the best deals as we see them.Small carsAmong the tiny tots, the Suzuki Celerio is still the cheapest in the business at $12,990 drive-away with automatic transmission, while the Mitsubishi Mirage is also sharp buying for $1000 more, at $13,990 drive-away with auto, including a standard five-year factory warranty.Need the next size up? The Suzuki Swift hatchback is still at an incredibly low $15,990 drive-away with auto. That's about $4000 off retail and $2000 less than the sharply discounted Toyota Yaris, which continues at an appealing $17,990 drive-away with auto ($3000 off RRP).With the popular Hyundai i20 all but sold out, Hyundai has now taken the knife to the Accent to help drive sales. It is $15,990 drive-away with auto (this offer isn't clear on the website, but that's the deal if you ask before the end of the month, a saving of $4500).Need something a little roomier? As anticipated, Hyundai is back with a super sharp price on the i30 hatch at $19,990 drive-away including automatic transmission, rear-view camera and five-year warranty. It's unbeatable at this price.Deals are usually rare on top-sellers. But Toyota has shifted its discount from the dearer Corolla Ascent Sport to the regular Ascent, which is $21,990 drive-away with CVT auto this month. That's $2000 less than the previous Corolla offer.SUVsOur eyes popped when we saw this deal. The updated Holden Captiva5 (with the new look and Apple CarPlay) is an astonishingly low $25,990 drive-away. The seven-seater Captiva7 is $29,990 drive-away. The Captiva may be overdue for replacement but this is the most metal for the money in the class.Need something smaller? The city-sized Holden Trax SUV is $23,990 drive-away with auto and free servicing until 2020. At that price, who cares what it looks like?The Mitsubishi ASX remains at $25,000 drive-away with auto, rear camera and five-year factory warranty. No wonder it's one of Mitsubishi's top sellers. This is $5000 off the original RRP but it's been this price for so long it's worth pointing out it's still $3000 less than its direct rivals.UtesNeed a cheap work ute? The Isuzu D-Max with dropside tray is still the sharpest tradies' diesel at $25,990 drive-away.Pay $1000 more ($26,990 drive-away) if you want a Mazda BT-50 diesel with a dropside tray or pay $2000 more ($27,990 drive-away) if you want the new Toyota HiLux with black wheels and a smaller tray but that bulletproof Toyota badge.Need a new four-door 4WD ute but don't want to wait three months for a top-of-the-range Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux? Get the Toyota HiLux Workmate dual-cab 4WD at $43,990 drive-away. Dead set bargain. And with the money you save, you can afford to replace the ugly black wheels.Don't mind the gangly looks of the new Mitsubishi Triton? That $36,990 drive-away deal on the GLX four-door 4WD just got better for March. It includes free auto (as well as the camera and alloys), which is about $5000 off full freight. Decent.Honourable mentionIt's not a small car, an SUV or a ute (our biggest categories) but if you want a sedan, Toyota is trying to clear the 5300 Camrys it declared as sold in December 2015: it is still $27,990 drive-away, with zero interest. Red hot price on a solid car.

Does the Mazda6 have a timing belt or a timing chain and does it really matter?  The current Mazda6 has a timing chain and yes, it certainly matters. Got two minutes? Let me explain.First up, the current Mazda6 has a choice of two engines: a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol. Both use a chain and so does the 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel which used to be offered on this model.Now, a timing chain or belt has the important job in an engine of connecting the crankshaft to the camshaft(s) and controls the opening and closing of the valves which let the air-fuel mixture into the cylinder and the exhaust gas out.Timing chains have been used in engines longer than belts, and they're considered to be better because of their strength and durability. Rubber belts are cheaper than chains to make, but they stretch and deteriorate over time, and need to be replaced.In the case of the latest Mazda6 the chain is designed to be used for the lifetime of the engine – there is no periodic maintenance or replacement needed.So, there you have it: the Mazda6 has a timing chain and that’s something to be pleased about.

Change is good for you, they say, and possibly even as good as a holiday, but no one can know for sure if your car feels that strongly about it.

In days of yore, when vehicles were simple, it was quite common for men, and women, who liked the feeling of oil on their skin and tools in their hands to do simple car maintenance, like changing oil and filters, themselves.In the modern world, however, this has become something of an anachronism, partly because oil changes just aren’t required quite as often, and partly because we all just tend to get out cars serviced regularly by professionals.If you want to change the oil yourself in your Toyota Corolla, however, because you’re a DIY kind of person, you’ll need to know how often to change the oil and the oil filter. You might not want to try and do the whole service yourself, because a mechanic at a service centre is going to be better equipped and know more about your car’s specifications.As far as changing Toyota Corolla oil goes, however, you’ll need to know what type of oil it needs, and how often to change that oil. Our helpful tables will allow you to work this out, because there are an awful lot of Corollas and things do change over the years and model changes.What we can tell you in simple terms is that you need to change oil on a Toyota Corolla every six months, or 10,000km, whichever one comes first, and that the instructions for doing so will be in the manual included with your car.That was the case with Corollas sold right up until last year, and if you’ve got a 2018 model Corolla hatch, you can take it easy, because your oil only needs changing every 12 months or 15,000km.Your 2018 Toyota Corolla will require 4.6 litres of oil if you’re also changing the oil filter, or 4.3 litres if you’re not.If you have a 2018 or 2019 Corolla Hybrid you also get the 12 months/15,000km change period, and you’ll need 4.2 litres with the filter or 3.9 litres without.All Corollas of model years up to and including 2017 will need 4.2 litres of oil with the filter change, or 3.9 litres without.Obviously Toyota gives you both of those figures because you can choose to replace the filter or not, but it is recommended that you change the oil filter with each oil change.  If I want to change the oil myself, how do I do it?Here are the details, from our own resident mechanical expert, Iain Kelly:As with any maintenance task, if you're unsure of completing it successfully, our best advice is to use the services of a professional mechanic. If an oil change isn't done correctly, you risk significant mechanical and financial damage, along with serious safety concerns.If you're hell bent on giving it a go yourself, the process for changing the oil in a Corolla is the same as pretty much any other car. Look up what grade of oil your car needs and how much oil capacity it has, all of which is listed in your owner's manual, and purchase a brand new oil filter. Drive the car for approximately 10 minutes to ensure the oil is warm as this makes it easier to drain. Park the car on a level surface, open the bonnet and loosen the oil filler cap so it is just resting on top of the filler tube, then slide a drain tray underneath your engine. There will be a small flap in the undertray to be undone so you can access the oil drain plug with a ring spanner or socket. Undo the sump plug with a wrench, being careful not to burn yourself as the hot oil rushes out into the drain tray. Let it drain for 10 minutes, then do up the sump plug with a new washer and being careful not to over-tighten the plug - do it snug, then turn it another quarter-turn. Slide the drain pan under the oil filter and remove this again being cautious to not splash hot oil on yourself. Before installing the new oil filter check the rubber seal came off with the old filter, then smear a little fresh oil on the new filter's rubber seal before winding it on and doing it up a quarter-turn past snug. Fill the engine with fresh oil as per the owner's manual. Once you have replaced the oil filler cap and confirmed there is no oil leaking out, start the engine, let it warm up and then check the oil level as per the above procedure. If you cannot reach under your car to undo the oil filter or sump drain plug, use the factory jacking points recommended in the owner's manual to lift the car off the ground at the front and rear, lifting the front first, and use four weight-rated chassis stands to support the car at the factory recommended support points. Do not use the scissor jack in the boot for this job. What do I do if the engine oil-pressure-warning light comes on?This is bad. Not just “oh, there’s a warning light” bad, but quite worryingly bad. Do not pass Go, do not drive until you find a Toyota dealer. Pull over, stop your car in a safe place and call your roadside assistance provider, Toyota dealer, or your mechanic, for advice, because if the oil pressure is too low you could be about to destroy your engine. And that’s expensive.  Checking the oil level1. Park the vehicle on level ground. After turning off the engine, wait more than five minutes for the oil to drain back into the bottom of the engine. 2. Hold a rag under the end and pull the dipstick out. 3. Wipe the dipstick clean. 4. Flat dipstick: Reinsert the dipstick fully. Non flat dipstick: Reinsert the non-flat dipstick fully with its protruding areas pointing towards the engine. 5. Holding a rag under the end, pull the dipstick out and check the oil level. 6. Wipe the dipstick and reinsert it fully. N.B. There are two oil level markings, the one near the end is the 'low' indicator, the one further up the dipstick is the 'full' indicator.  2007 to 2013 Sedan / 2010 to 2013 Hatch and Sedan 2010 - 2013 Sedan / 2012 - 2017 Hatch, Sedan 2010 to current Hatch 2013 to current Sedan† If you use SAE 10W-30 or a higher viscosity engine oil in extremely low temperatures, the engine may become difficult to start, so SAE 5W-30 or lower viscosity engine oil is recommended. 2015 to 2018 Corolla Hybrid 2016 to current Hatch* Recommended viscosity (SAE): If you use SAE 10W-30 or a higher viscosity engine oil in extremely low temperatures, the engine may become difficult to start, so SAE 0W-20, 5W-20 or 5W-30 engine oil is recommended. Oil viscosity (0W-20 is explained here as an example):The 0W portion of the oil viscosity rating indicates the characteristic of the oil which allows cold startability. Oils with a lower value before the W allow for easier starting of the engine in cold weather. The 20 in 0W-20 indicates the viscosity characteristic of the oil when the oil is at high temperature. An oil with a higher viscosity (one with a higher value) may be better suited if the vehicle is operated at high speeds, or under extreme load conditions. 

Truly Australian car brands – as in brands that mass manufactured cars locally, regardless of the origin of their overseas parent companies, became a thing of the past in 2017.

One of the most-anticipated cars of the last five years is Tesla’s long-awaited Model 3 sedan.