First Car

My daughter attends university in Melbourne and lives on campus, and her photography course requires her to lug a lot of equipment around to different sites. She will also make regular visits home to Echuca, about three hours driving on suburban streets, freeways and country highways. My wife and I have agreed to go dollar for dollar with her on the purchase, so the budget is about $13,000. We want all the safety features such as multiple airbags, traction control, ESC etc., while my daughter is more concerned with things like Bluetooth, info screens etc. We have been considering small hatches such as the Toyota Yaris, Mazda 2 and Hyundai i20, but recently we came across a 2014 Honda City sedan 1.5 VTi auto in a car yard. The car has done 65,000 km and is $13,990 drive away. I would appreciate your thoughts on its suitability for our daughter.

I am turning 18 in a few months and looking to buy my first car. I would like one that is automatic, reliable and built in the late 2000s-early 2010s. I like the Mitsubishi Lancer, but are there other options worth considering? I've heard of issues with the Holden Cruze, are they significant enough to stay away?

I'm looking at buying a MY13 Holden Colorado LTZ. Are there any specific issues I should look out for? A few just below the 100,000 km mark are popping up, so I'm looking at getting one of these rather than paying an extra few grand for 30,000 km less on the clock. It's my first time purchasing a car, so any assistance would be appreciated.

We are looking for a used first car for our 18-year-old son. He won't drive many kilometres daily as he's close to university from home. We want something reliable and economical. Our budget is about $10-$12,000. The four cars we were looking at that we saw on this price range were the 2014 Hyundai i20, 2012 Mazda 2, 2014 Suzuki Swift and 2010 Toyota Corolla. Which would you recommend and if there are any others that would be worth looking at?

I am looking for a 5-star ANCAP rated manual car for my learner driver son that will serve him well as a P-plater and beyond. I was looking at a Ford Focus, but I have heard it has quality issues (although is this just in the auto), a 2012 or so Mazda3, and a 2013 Hyundai i30 Active. Then there is the Mitsubishi Lancer and the VW Golf. My budget is around about $12-$14,000. Can you please advise?