Kia Problems

Stick to the well-proven Japanese brands, such as the Mazda 6, Honda Accord, and perhaps the Korean Kia Cerato. As a private sale your Mazda would be worth $11,000-$12,000, as a trade-in $8000-$10,000.

From what we understand the MY17 update will have an upgraded interior, better LED headlights, and possibly an engine noise generator. Not much change it seems.

I would suggest the Soul could be ruled out on the basis that it won't have a high resale value when you want to sell it on. Your budget will limit your choices, if you could stretch it another $3000 you could look at the Honda HR-V or CR-V, or Kia Sportage.

For starters there is no such thing as a 'lemon law' in Australia; our legislators have chosen to leave us without protection when it comes to cars. You really have no comeback on the dealer, except to appeal to their common decency and help you out. You don't say what went wrong with the car, but the Carnival was prone to head gasket problems in the early days, so I'm guessing that could be the problem.

There are lots of reports of the Sportage pulling to the left, so you're not alone. Make sure the tyre pressures are correct and the same on each side then pick a normal section of road and drive it on the left side and observe what happens when you take your hands off the wheel. Then, when it's safe, drive on the right side of the road and again observe what happens when you take your hands off the wheel. If it still goes left there's a problem with the alignment, it goes right it's the effect of the camber of the road. Our roads have a significant camber that falls away from the crown on the centerline to the edge of the road on the left, and this can cause the sort of effect you are feeling. There is often insufficient adjustment in the car's suspension to correct for this wandering. You could take the car to a suspension specialist and have it checked there.

Sludge build-up is a turbocharger killer, but sludge won't build up if the car is regularly serviced and the oil is changed so it's always fresh. The problem is usually only with cars that haven't been serviced. Other seven-seaters you could look at are the Kia Sorrento, Hyundai Santa Fe, or Toyota Kluger.

As a guide you could expect to get $1500 to $3000 for your Laser. The RAV4 is a sound choice. You could get into a 5-star safety rated 2014 RAV4 for $20,000-$23,000, a similar 2012 model for $17,000-$20,000. You could also consider a Kia Sportage, Honda CR-V, or Subaru Forester.

I would question the Renault if you're doing lots of kays in then country. I'm sure it would be reliable, but having it serviced when you need to could be an issue if you're away from a main city. The Kia is a good choice, so too are the Mazdas. You could add the Honda Accord, Subaru Liberty and Suzuki Kizashi to your list.

Your need for low maintenance rules out the Europeans, Jeeps are popular but aren't as reliable as I think they should be, leaving you with the Japanese and Korean brands. The cars I would suggest you look at are the Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5, Subaru Forester and Honda CR-V.