Wagon Advice

This buying guide aims to make your new car search easier.

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.

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.

When it comes to what's underneath your car, it's pretty easy not to pay much attention, unless it's a traffic cone, a wombat, or the sky.

Australia’s love affair with Mazda is so passionate, and so unique, that even the car company itself can’t really explain it. Nowhere in the known universe is Mazda quite as popular, or as successful, per capita, as it is in this country, and in the most recent sales charts, it maintained its place as our second most popular brand, after mega-global giant Toyota. In the US, Mazda didn’t have a single car in the top-10 selling vehicles in 2018, globally it is ranked 16th in production numbers, behind every other Japanese brand, including Suzuki, and in Japan itself it came in sixth in sales last year.But in Australia, we can’t get enough of them, so obviously there’s a lot of excitement about what new Mazda cars are on the way, what new Mazda sports car might be in the offing and which of Mazda’s latest models are about to updated. Here, then, for those many new Mazda fans out there, is a complete list of what’s out there in 2019 and what’s coming up for the future.New Mazda uteWhile its twin-under-the-skin, the Ford Ranger, is kicking sales goals, Mazda’s slightly lumpen-looking BT-50 has been one of the brand’s slightly less-stellar offerings.Mazda gave the BT-50 an Australian-designed facelift in 2018, which brought a squarer bumper and made it slightly less disturbing to look at.For now, though, ute buyers will have to either put up with the current look, go and buy a Ranger or wait for the new BT-50, which is around two years away.Mazda Australia says the design for the new car is already locked in and that it’s “very happy” with the way it’s looking, so you can bet it will be quite different to the current one.While today’s BT-50 is a joint venture with Ford, its replacement will be something new as it’s a co-development with Isuzu and will share its architecture with the rugged and reliable D-MAX ute. We can expect to see the new vehicle in around 2021, and Mazda Australia managing director, Vinesh Bhindi, knows just how vital its success will be. For Toyota and Ford, utes are their biggest sellers in Australia, while for Mazda it’s still very much the 3, so a successful BT-50 replacement could push Mazda even further up the sales charts.“For Mazda Australia the BT-50 is critical,” Bhindi says. “Our focus will be private buyers even for the ute.”New Mazda SUVYou might not be able to see much space between a Mazda CX-3 and a CX-5, but perhaps you’re just not looking hard enough, because Mazda has found a gap in there, which it’s going to plug with a Goldilocks model known as the CX-30, which will arrive in Australia later this year.The CX-30 is longer and wider than a CX-3 (4395mm and and 1795mm versus 4275mm and 1765mm), yet smaller than the CX-5, which measures 4545mm in length and 1840mm in width.The big news, particularly for young parents who love the CX-3’s styling but wish it could fit a standard pram in the boot is that the CX-30 can do just that, with 430 litres of luggage space, up from just 264 in the CX-3.Engine offerings should include the Skyactiv G 2.0-litre petrol and the exciting new Skactiv X petrol engine.New Mazda sports carSome brands need halo model, and some brands, like Mazda, already have one, like the MX-5, which is arguably the most successful, and widely loved, sports car the world has ever seen. Speculation that there would be a new Mazda RX-7 or RX-8, or some other new Mazda rotary, to cash in on those glorious cars of yore with their screaming rev limits has been quashed of late, with Mazda repeatedly saying no such vehicle is in planning, nor required.The company is not giving up on the Wankel rotary technology it did so much to make famous, however, and says that it will form part of a special range-extender platform, basically a rotary hybrid.The “flexible rotary hybrid platform”, which combines a rotary-based range extender with a battery-powered EV driveline, is tipped to be so fuel efficient that it will help Mazda to compete even in countries with the stricter emissions requirements. At this stage, the rotary project is called XEV, and Mazda spokes people have said that it will come to Australia, at some point.New Mazda 2One of the best little city cars around, and one of the best looking, the current Mazda 2, which dates back to 2015, still looks fresh and isn’t due for replacement until 2021, so you won’t find too many run-out deals on it yet at your local dealership if you’re keen to buy one.It may not end up being a new version of itself, of course, because if the current trend for making SUVs out of every single segment on the market continues, the 2 might morph into something else entirely.Indeed, Mazda has hinted that it is watching trends to see just what shape the next 2 might be, and that it could become a very small SUV indeed, slotting in under the CX-3, rather than its current, traditional hatchback shape.Watch out, then, for the CX-2 to show its face on a motor show concept stand in the next couple of years.New Mazda 3New cars don’t get much more important for a brand than the 3 is for Mazda. While many buyers are moving away from traditional hatches and small sedans - and the new 3 offers both - the Mazda 3 somehow maintains its popularity.The new, and truly wonderful looking version, will do nothing to hurt those sales numbers and should instead give them a boost, with its improved interior, lower levels of NVH and the arrival of the epoch-shifting Skactiv X petrol engine.The new 3 also sets the benchmark for safety in this category, as you can read here.New Mazda 6Those rare families who aren’t tempted by the lure of a new SUV would find the Mazda 6 sedan and wagon hard to go past. Indeed, its appeal is such that Mazda was still tipping the 6 to sell 3700 units over its first 12 months when the latest facelift arrived, in May last year.The big change for that update was the addition of turbocharged variants, to add some spice to the range.There were also structural changes made to the 6 to help reduce noise and improve comfort, including thicker floor panels. Cosmetic changes included a new grille and headlights, and 17 or 19-inch wheels.There was also a bit of love shown to the interior, with comfier seats, a new dash and an Active Driving Display (a head-up display, in other words).Once again, in a shrinking market place, the future of the 6 is hard to deduce, but for now it’s a family car with a low centre of gravity that’s well worth considering.New Mazda CX-3A new, or at least updated, Mazda CX-3 was launched to an already adoring public late last year, with the 2019 modeller upgrade including minor cosmetic tweaks, a nicer interior and some engine fettling. The original CX-3 was only launched in 2015, and yet it feels like it’s been a feature on our roads for longer, so enthusiastically have Australians taken to it.The interior is noticeable better and has more oddment storage, thanks to Mazda’s decision to replace the old-school hand brake with an electronic one. You can read all about it here.New Mazda CX-5It’s hard to overstate just what an enormous success the CX-5 has been in Australia. It’s been our number-one selling SUV for the past seven years, which is pretty impressive when you consider that it’s a mid-sizer and not particularly off-road capable. What it is, however, is pretty much the perfect sized family car for city dwellers, and attractive and good to drive to boot.It is, for now, still behind the 3 on Mazda’s own sales charts, but even with the arrival of the sexy new version of that car, Mazda is tipping that the CX-5 will become the brand’s top seller over the next year or two.The CX-5 was most recently updated in May, 2018, with Mazda adding cylinder-deactivation technology and slashing prices across the range. You can read all about it here.New Mazda CX-6Yes, there does seem to be one more gap in the Mazda line-up that could be filled by yet another sleek SUV, and that would be the CX-6, tipped to arrive around 2021.Destined to sit between the big-selling CX-5 and the twin-sister CX-8 and CX-9, the CX-6 would be a coupe-styled SUV, following in the footsteps of some very popular efforts from the European SUV makers (think BMW X4 for example).Sure enough, speculation has it that this will be a more premium model with smooth and futuristic lines. As the so-called CX-6 will be aimed at the premium end of the market, it will likely be powered by a the 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine from the CX-9 large SUV and Mazda6 mid-size sedan.New Mazda CX-8Yes, the CX-8 does sit very close to the CX-9 in the Mazda range, but that doesn’t mean it’s not unique, and clever. Initially a Japan-only model, Mazda Australia begged to bring it here, and managed to do so in June last year. It has the long wheelbase and the seven-seat layout of the CX-9, but also the narrower width dimensions of a CX-5, making it just that bit easier to park. It also looks different, not a lot, but enough, with the headlights from the CX-9 and the taillights from the CX-5.The idea seems to be to give Mazda a foot in both the mid-size and large SUV camps at the same time, for those people who aren’t quite sure which they want to go, and end up coming down right in the middle.You can read all about it here.New Mazda CX-9The big daddy of the Mazda range, the CX-9 has won many plaudits, and plenty of fans, for is stylish design, driveability, clever use of space and the fact that it’s a seven-seat SUV you might actually desire to own.Most recently updated in September last year - with new tech, better safety, improved handling and a touch of interior classiness - the CX-9 also bumped up its price slightly.You can read about the updated versions here.New Mazda MX-5The car that puts the Zoom Zoom in Mazda, the MX-5 is a sporty, two-door roadster that puts a smile on the face of anyone who drives it. Enormously successful and seemingly getting both better looking, and better to drive, with each new generation, Mazda recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the MX-5 with a special edition in bright Racing Orange.Just 3000 examples of the 30th Anniversary edition will be sold worldwide, with a choice of either soft-top or hard-top, and such is the love for this car that you can bet they’ll all become collector’s items.

Just because you’re boring doesn’t mean you’re not hugely successful, just look at politicians, or Toyota. The long-time sales leader in this country, and one of the biggest car mega-giants in the world, Toyota has long been famous for making “white goods”; cars that are simply part of the furniture, that do their jobs without fuss or excitement, and sell largely on reliability and familiarity. Rare is the car enthusiast who gets into a lather over the idea of buying a Corolla or a Camry. But because they do sell so many cars, and dominate so many segments, everything they do is big news, and of obvious interest to car buyers. When Toyota decides that hybrids will be a thing, as it did with the Prius, back in 1997, it can change the world.So when the company’s CEO, Akio Toyoda, decides that Toyotas are too boring and that its cars should, instead, be “fun to drive”, as he did, repeatedly, back in 2011, it’s a big deal. The results of his pledge have been rolling out ever since, with the genuinely exhilarating to drive Toyota 86 setting the course, and the recently unveiled new Toyota Supra set to take the company’s idea of fun to a different plane.Here, then, is all the latest and greatest news about new Toyota models.New Toyota sports cars - Gazoo RacingYes, it sounds like something from Wacky Racers, but Gazoo Racing is the quirkily named sporting division of Toyota, responsible, not only for making exciting sports cars like the Supra, but for making sportier versions of nearly all Toyotas available, in the near future.The plan is to have three levels of performance and excitement above your stock Toyota - the GR Sport badge will indicate cars that have been given a cosmetic treatment, like an Audi S-Line, or the M-badged but not actually M versions of BMWs.GR-badged cars will offer a bit more performance than standard models, and the cosmetic changes, while the funny-sounding GRMN badge will apply only to the most aggressive Toyotas.This means you can expect to see GR badges of some kind on vehicles as diverse as the Yaris and even the HiLux.New Toyota SupraThe amount of excitement around the new Toyota Supra - a proper sports car that will become a head-turning halo car for the brand - should be tempered just slightly by the fact that you probably won’t be able to buy one. Or not for a while, anyway.It might sound slightly surprising for a car company as vast as Toyota - because surely they can just make as many vehicles as they like - but the brand’s most exciting vehicle in years, the Supra, is going to disappoint a lot of people who just won’t be able to get hold of one. In its first year on sale, in 2020, there will be just 300 Supras available for keen buyers in Australia, meaning that demand will well and truly outstrip supply.Indeed, you can’t even order one yet, officially, because neither pricing or specification for the Aussie models has yet been confirmed, but frankly they could charge just about anything for them and they’d all sell.The BMW Z4 M40i roadster, which shares both the platform and the engine of the Supra, but with more Germanic looks, is going to cost $124,900, and you can bet the Toyota version will be significantly cheaper than that.It’s a familiar story for Toyota, which faced similar demand for its last excitement machine, the 86, which had people on waiting lists for 18 months.“We’ve never really had a car like this before, I think probably the closest thing was the 86 – that was a very, very popular car – so when you look at that, and then look at this – the Supra – we’ve got to do a bit of work on how we allocate that and how we manage the ordering process,” a Toyota spokesman said.“This is quite a unique car, it’s coming from Europe, limited production numbers, so much hype around it, everyone’s clamouring to get their hands on one, and for us we’re just asking for patience as we work through that process.”New Toyota 86Considering how popular it has been, and the great things it has done for Toyota’s image, it’s hard to believe there won’t be a second generation of the Toyota 86.But the fact is the car is now more than seven years old, and yet there’s no sign of spy pics of a new one, and no confirmation from Toyota that it will be replaced at all.Toyota jointly developed the 86 with Subaru, which badged its version as the BRZ, but rumour has it the relationship has soured, which may well scupper this beloved car’s future. Reports from Japan suggest the replacement for the 86/BRZ has been cancelled.Toyota might decide to replace its 86 with an entry-level, four-cylinder version of the Supra, but that is only speculation. For now, Toyota says it has “no plans to discontinue the 86”.The most recent update to the 86 was back in December 2016, with a facelift styling job, returned suspension, a small power boost and a shorter-throw manual gearbox. Still on sale, currently, for under $35,000, it remains one of the great sports-car bargain buys. While we’d all love to see the 86 replaced by an all new Toyota Celica, there seem to be no plans to bring that legendary badge back to life. Yet.New Toyota Corolla hot hatchWhile the latest Corolla is more exciting to drive, and to look at, than previous generations, what is missing is a hot-hatch version, but that looks set to change with Toyota confirming that, by 2020, it will have a Corolla GMRN to take on the likes of Volkswagen’s legendary Golf GTI and Hyundai’s hot i30N.Toyota’s deputy chief designer Toshio Kanei recently confirmed that “a Corolla GRMN is certainly realistic” and that “we are already working on that. “The development takes place under the supervision of Toyota GAZOO Racing. This department has included the Corolla GRMN in the future plan, but for now the project is still in the planning stage.”The hot-hatch Corolla will not be a hybrid, but may have to take on the 2.0-litre engines of competitors like the Honda Civic Type R and Renault Megane RS with a turbocharged 1.6-litre powerplant.Australia loves its hot hatches, so we would be a key market for the sportified Corolla.New Toyota YarisSpeaking of hot hatches, Toyota also looks set to take the fight to another VW hot hatch, the Polo GTI, with the introduction of a GR badged version of the next-generation Yaris small car.This car should break cover very soon, possibly at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, if not sooner, and its existence makes perfect sense, considering there is already a Europe-only Yaris GRMN, powered by a supercharged 1.8-litre engine.New Toyota HiLuxNot just one of the best-selling Toyotas, but one of the best-selling vehicles in our market, the Toyota HiLux looks certain to get the Gazoo Racing treatment as well, with a hotted up ute finally able to replace the hole in the market left by the death of the TRD brand.Toyota boss Sean Hanley recently confirmed that if the HiLux range, currently topped by the Rogue and Rugged X models, was to offer a high-performance version it would be badged as the Toyota HiLux GR.“There’s a whole mass of opportunity for GR in Australia and in the foreseeable future it will become clear to everyone what GR means for us,” Hanley said.A hotter new Toyota ute would give the brand fuel to fight the Ford Ranger with its wild Raptor offerings.New Toyota LandCruiserWhile it’s famed for its ability to go anywhere and to continue doing so for years and years, the current 200 Series LandCruiser is getting long in the tooth, after more than a decade of service. It is, of course, the first Toyota model ever sold in Australia, and remains a favourite, particularly in country areas.Sure enough, a new version is on the way, within the next couple of years, which will bring updated technology, better off-road skills and smaller and more environmental engines. Don’t hold your breath for a new V8, basically.What you are almost certain to see instead is a hybrid version, while the twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 currently doing service with Lexus is likely to replace the naturally aspirated V8.Toyota sources have confirmed that a new 300 Series Landcruiser is already “under development” and should go on sale as soon as 2021.Expect a sleeker design on the outside, but no change to its capaciousness, nor its ability to carry eight humans. Safety systems and infotainment will obviously gain significant updates.All this should add up to at least a mild price rise as well when this new Toyota SUV arrives.New Toyota CamryNow even more ubiquitous as Uber drivers’ vehicle of choice, the Toyota Camry has been on sale here since 1983 and is not about to go anywhere.While an all-new model is some way off yet, the biggest change recently has been the arrival of the much-lauded, and awarded, new Camry Hybrid.The car has been a stunning success, with the hybridised version taking 48 percent of all new Camry sales in this country, an unprecedented figure for Toyota.The fully imported Camry replaced the Australian-built one after the closure of Toyota’s local operations, but that does not seem to have dented its popularity at all.New Toyota hybridsAs the company that basically gave birth to the hybrid craze, which is admittedly far larger in countries like Japan, Toyota is fully invested in the technology and recently reaffirmed its commitment by announcing it would add five new hybrid models to its range over the next two and a half years.Spurred on by the huge take-up of the Camry hybrid, Toyota has announced more hybrid versions to join the Corolla and Prius. The first one will be a hybrid version of the new Toyota RAV4, which will become the company’s first hybrid SUV, but certainly not its last. Toyota will not confirm what the other four hybrid models will be (C-HR anyone?), but it’s safe to say there’ll be hybrid versions of just about every car in the line-up coming on stream. Toyota has sold more than 12 million hybrids globally since first launching the Prius back in 1997.New Toyota PriusThe hybrid that started it all, the Toyota Prius, has just been refreshed, in March, for the 2019 model year, with new styling and more tech.The new look is both simpler and more aggressive than previous models, while the whole Prius has also grown 35mm longer, thanks to its new front end.There’s a new look inside as well, with a focus on improving comfort and making the centre console easier to use, and more tech friendly (think wireless charging).Prius models are also equipped with a new multimedia system with inbuilt satellite navigation with live traffic routing, DAB+ digital radio, Siri eyes-free and Miracast. Like all other Australian Toyota products, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, remains unavailable locally.The sole drivetrain for Australia remains unchanged - a 72kW/142Nm 1.8-litre Atkinson cycle four-cylinder petrol engine with a nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) battery pack and electric motor for a total power output of 90kW. Toyota claims a combined fuel consumption cycle of 3.4L/100km, and CO2 emissions of 80g/km.Prius sales were down 50 percent in the first three months of 2019, so Toyota will be hoping the facelift can turn that slump around.New Toyota RAV4With new, tougher looks that might well divide opinions, the RAV4 revealed a long-overdue update in the second quarter of 2019.The edgier, slicker design also brings more interior space, a bigger boot and updated safety systems, while the diesel engine variant is gone, replaced by a hybrid option, Toyota’s first in an SUV.The fifth generation of this mid-size SUV rides on a more sophisticated platform - Toyota’s New Generation Architecture (TNGA), which also underpins the new Camry, Corolla, Prius and C-HR and brings a revamped suspension set-up. Handling is improved and cabin noise and comfort are also better.New Toyota vanAnother Toyota that’s been seriously overdue for an update is the much-loved HiAce van, an all-new and much improved version of which will arrive in Australia in the middle of 2019.It’s the first time in 15 years that Toyota has revealed an entirely new generation of the HiAce and, as you would imagine, that means a raft of important upgrades.The new van will be longer, much safer (possibly even with a five-star crash rating) and more refined,and will feature new engines and a longer wheelbase.HiAce buyers will be excited to get more power, more fruit in the cabin and even improved ride comfort.The new design maintains the much-loved cargo space while providing a stiffer frame, greater stability and manoeuvrability and more pliant suspension.The sixth generation of Toyota’s family bus will offer a choice of two-seat vans in long wheelbase (LWB) and super-long wheelbase (SLWB) configurations, as well as five-seat LWB crew vans and the 12-seat SLWB Commuter buses.The new HiAce range will offer two new engines; a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel and a 3.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol, both with a choice of six-speed manual or automatic transmissions.Cargo capacity has been maintained - at 6.2 cubic metres for the LWB or a whopping 9.3 cubes for the SLWB.New Toyota C-HRThe edgy, slightly weird looking and youth-focused Toyota C-HR basically is still a new car - a small hatch that thinks it’s an SUV - so we shouldn’t expect an entirely new version soon, although customers in other markets will be getting a fully electric C-HR in 2020.Toyota has confirmed the EV will be launched at the Beijing motor show in that year, in line with the Chines government's demands for a quote of any manufacturer's sales to be electric.Toyota Australia says it’s unable to confirm whether an electrified C-HR will ever come to Australia, but it’s certainly possible, if EVs ever do take off locally.New Toyota FortunerWhile the hugely popular HiLux range keeps adding variants, like the Rugged, Rugged X and Rogue, there are no such plans for the slightly less-loved Fortuner, according to Toyota Australia.The HiLux-based, seven-seater SUV has floundered somewhat against rugged competitors like the Isuzu MU-X, Ford Everest and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, and Toyota does not appear to think that more modest in the line-up would help its sales.To be fair, one vehicle that the Fortuner loses some sales to is an in-house competitor anyway, in the shape of the Toyota Prado.New Toyota Highlander/Toyota KlugerThe fourth-generation Toyota Highlander, known around these parts as the Kluger, is set to arrive in 2020 and speculation suggests the mid-sized SUV will be growing slightly in terms of its proportions.It will also wear a new more rugged design, similar to what we’ve seen on the new RAV4, with a more aggressive grille and sleeker headlights.The new Kluger has been caught in the US in benchmarking tests with the Mazda CX-9, which tells you just how focused Toyota must be on making it more dynamically adept, and family friendly.You can also bet your house on there being a hybrid version of the Kluger in the mix when it arrives next year. Expect to see the new car breaking cover later this year.

It might be hard to imagine going car shopping when you're still shaking off the effects of a big NYE, but January is always a good time to snag a new-car bargain.

The Subaru Outback has been a good fit for Australia since it was released here in 1996, with defining features that have since become popular on other SUVs like plastic guards and raised suspension.

It's in our nature to root for the underdog, but arguing on behalf of station wagons can feel a bit like lobbying for more record shops to open, or a return to milk bars on every corner.