SUV

Multimedia is extremely easy to use. We have stored three mobile phones on the system and we are able to switch between the three and play music/Spotify very easily. The speakers are super sharp and provide plenty of sound for front and rear passengers. Built in car navigation system is not as user friendly as I hoped. I tend to use Google maps with my phone in the holder instead. To have the map updated I had to take it into Subaru. I wish this was possible to do at home over Wi-Fi or something similar. I would have been happy to pay for this. The EyeSight technology and multiple airbags makes me feel very comfortable while driving.  The same can be said for the blind-spot assistance, which lights up to show cars in my blind spot. The Cruise control is amazing. Safety and Subaru go hand in hand. Main reason I bought the car.Very practical car. It’s been perfect for those city driving. Taking the kids to and from school, and to and from sport. I have used the car both on- and off-road. We have had beach days and driven onto the beach. The car handled beautifully. We have also taken it out bush and once again it was a smooth ride AND practical as we could go off-track. In the city it’s big enough and small enough. Big enough to carry everyone and equipment etc. in the cargo. But small enough to get around traffic and find parking etc.From a drive perspective, it’s smooth and super safe. The many safety options have saved me. The EyeSight assist is a welcomed addition as well as the ability to go into different modes and change the traction control to assist when driving in rough or slippery conditions. In the city it drives like a normal sedan. It’s the perfect blend of SUV/sedan and has the versatility to switch between the two with ease.From a servicing point of view I have only speny on the regular servicing costs. I take it in every 10-15ks. I have had no issues with the car for 6.5 years running. It has been perfect. The insurance is approx 1400-1500 per year with NRMA, which is reasonable. From a fuel point of view, it’s wonderful. It’s much cheaper than my old 4WD and eats fuel like a standard sedan which is amazing!In 6.5 years I have never had a single reliability issue with the car. It has stood up to every test I have thrown at it. From off-road to on-road, it has been the most reliable car I have owned. I have only ever had to complete the regular services. I would be looking to buy the upgraded / latest version soon as I love the car.  It was super reliable in the bush and on the beach. As well as in the city commuting from school to sports etc. If it’s reliability you are after, then this is the perfect car.

Multimedia solely relies on CarPlay and not a lot functioning system for a car that price.The interior design is modern with a comfortable seating system. The back seat needs a bottle holder for children, but that is missing. Passenger seat is a hassle to adjust.The driving experience is smooth. Easy switch to Sport mode while driving.The car is efficient in fuel consumption. Insurance premium is a bit pricey, and it usually costs $80 to fill it up.Very reliable car. Always on the road and I haven’t had any reason to service it.

Mostly good, but as mentioned previously, the omission of active crusie control while almost all the other safety suites are included - such as lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, and radar-monitoring forward collision means that the omission of ACC was either a bean counter being cynical or that the technology was not available - I’m going to guess it was the former. Cargo space in the Equinox is brilliant - the seats fold perfectly flat and the access is simple. The rear compartment, however, does not come with a cover - meaning my scooter is always exposed to potentially being stolen, so I need to cover it with a blanket.The Equinox is a relatively fast and smooth vehicle. Noise suppression is excellent for the price and the car steers and breaks with confidence. The engine is slightly overpowered for the available traction to the front wheels, but a smooth driver will overcome this, even in the wet. Overall, I really enjoy how the Equinox moves.I recently drove a modern Honda SUV and when I got back into my older vehicle I was surprised how it holds it own in the company of much newer car. Clearly GM made this model as world car and it shows. This is a very decent car to drive - not perfect, but I never expected perfection. For most part it’s exceeded my expectations as far as refinement and comfort as well as handling and road manners.So far it’s been pretty good. I’ve only needed to do scheduled maintenance.Never had anything that remotely resembles unreliability. I woke to a puncture one morning. That is as close to the car letting me down as I have experienced. Of course, it was a nail in tire, so as far as the car goes in the reliability stakes it scores a perfect score.

Kia’s popular family SUV could be going hybrid only. The next-generation Kia Sorento is under development and could be about to ditch petrol and diesel power when it arrives in late 2026 or early 2027, according to reports.

What tech!? Excellent. Smooth power delivery from the 12HT with automatic (Australian-delivered Saharas were all autos). It's basically unbogable, at least I have never been stuck even towing my camper trailer through soft sand. I have been places with the trailer that a 200 Series towing similar weight could not get to. I think it comes down to vehicle weight vs traction, really. The trailer actually has inertia once moving too, which is one aspect a lot of people don't understand. They think they will get stuck with a trailer, so they put all their gear in the vehicle and it becomes far toe heavy. Engineering dynamics 101! Oil changes and tyres. Like most four-wheel-drives, you can get through tyres depening on where you go. I tore up a Cooper on some rocks hidden in grass last trip, so you must always carry extra wheels two spares at least. The oil changes can be expensive at around $130.00 every 5000km. But overall I have not replaced much else on this vehicle in 20 years. I think the alternator comes to mind, although I did rebuild the engine when I first bought the vehicle (385,000km), but nothing major at all since. I had to replace the viscous fan hub as its thermostat was seized and a radiator recently. Not too bad for 23 years of service. Unbelievable.

If 2024 could be summarised with a powertrain then it would be the year of the hybrid.

Chery has announced pricing and specifications for its 2025 C5, formerly known as the Omoda 5.

Solid Bluetooth system, which allows you to play music and take hands free calls. Display also notifies you of any safety issues such as oil, braking, engine temp. Seats five people comfortably with okay storage in the boot. Rear cargo is small but decent for its size. Drives smoothly with, tiptronic coming in handy for hilly areas to make it more efficient to brake less and wear them out. Drives very well in mountainous areas like Mt Ruapehu so is fantastic for ski trips, hikes etc. 60ish litre tank, around 143 to fill the tank currently, and yearly service. Recently had to replace the media system, which was over $1K, and front brakes which were around 700. Very reliable. Hasn’t broken down in the time I’ve had it and drives really well on open roads, as well as in the city due to its fairly compact size.

I assume the car orignially came with a very limited multimedia system, so an aftermarket Bluetooth module with rear view camera was installed. That works really well.Scores well for safety features, the 4x4 system features all kinds of settings and warning lights in case you're doing the wrong thing. The car's height provides the driver with a really good overview of the suroundings. The car is super practical and very spacious. It comes with seven seats including the two standard rows that easily fold up or down. There are two extra seats in the boot that can be folded to the sides when not used or completely removed to create extra cargo space. A disavantage is that the front seats only adjust forward and backward. That's a bit limited. Very smooth driving machine with easy steering and it sticks to the road due to its weight. The car is very high (1.9m) and the wind can sometimes have an impact while driving. Other than that, great visibility from the driver's seat and although it's quite big it's easy to manoeuvre. Although these cars go forever, they need to be maintained properly and some repairs can be costly. Parts are widely available, which makes it really easy to get it serviced pretty much anywhere. My Prado has a 4.0-litre petrol engine, which is very thirsty. Ir runs about 13.5L/100km which is not very efficient. What I do love is the fact the car has a dual-tank system which allows you to fill up up to 180 litres at a time. These cars are known to be very reliable. Mine has over 200K on the odometer and is still going very strong. Most similar advertised cars have driven 350,000km+. They are built to last and perform well under hard circumstances - crossing Australia or when taking the car off-road to remote places.

The car has all the latest safety technology, which is almost to the level of a self-driving vehicle, although it will warn you to put your hands back on the wheel if it notices you are leaving the driving to it. The audible lane-keeping alarms are very sensitive and can be annoying in suburban areas (with painted lane markings). There is also an audible alarm whenever the car cannot identify the road markings for its lane departure and steer-assist functions, which can become very frustrating if driving on an old country road.The multimedia is generally on par with most, with a nice, solid, clear sound which accepts Apple and Android via USB. The standard (8.0-inch) display is woeful to the degree that you expect to find additional display options but unfortunately you are limited to just showing the radio station. These days we almost all use our phones to manage our music preferences, anyway. Also noticeably lacking is a GPS although, again, it is easier to rely on the latest maps with Google or Waze rather than relying on the dealership to charge you for latest maps. The nicely leather-wrapped steering wheel has easy to manage controls for the multimedia, adaptive cruise control and the 10.25-inch digital dash display options. The only regular annoyance is having to turn cruise control 'on' before being able to set or resume, whereas my other two cars default to on unless turned off. Other niceties like rain sensing wipers, proximity sensing auto opening boot, heated and cooling seats, powered sunroof, etc etc, make it a very enjoyable and comfortable ride for long and short trips.The biggest disadvantage of this compact SUV (possibly due to the ample rear passenger legroom) is the lack of boot space. Whilst you are provided a full-size (matching) 19-inch 'Diamond Cut' alloy spare, this chews up valuable storage space. The base model has more boot space thanks to its emergency puncture sealer with no spare wheel. Fortunately, the 60/40 split rear seats open up ample space for swallowing very large items as required. There are also rails for racks on the roof. The Korando Ultimate isn't left behind in regular traffic, using the 1.6-lltre turbo-diesel engine, even with four adults onboard. This is possibly in part due to the six-speed transmission (with traditional torque converter). In real-world driving with a mix of local shopping and highways it has managed a long-term average of 7.2L/100km although this is continuing to improve since I made a tree change earlier this year (yes, I log every tank in a spreadsheet!). The ride is very comfortable on the 19-inch alloy wheels, with a good ride height.The myriad of safety technology also means plenty of audible alarms including lane departure, safety distance alert, start alert and so on. Whilst adaptive cruise control is all the rage I find it annoying as it can subtly slow the car behind another slow vehicle with you realising, until you look at the speedometer and see you are doing 20km/h under the posted speed limit! At least the digital dash shows a green line between your current speed and your set cruise speed, which helps.The Ultimate is AWD, which can be a huge benefit if camping or towing, although I have not yet found a need for it and it possibly just impacts fuel economy. I have seen plenty of YouTube clips showing it as very capable when the terrain gets rough or loose and I hope to find an opportunity soon to give it a try.I think the Korando is a decent looking SUV from all angles. The black metallic I chose may be frustrating to keep clean, but rewards with an attractive green fleck that shows up in the sunlight. The 19-inch alloys also add to the overall good looks. SsangYong provides pre-set service costs on its website. At my recent two-year service I needed to add a fuel filter and cabin filter to the "$316 fixed cost", making it a total of $496. It requires a quality 0W-30 oil which adds to the cost. Insurance is very reasonable compared to my other cars, being a low-risk vehicle from all perspectives. The diesel option is sometimes better than petrol although all fossil fuels are way overpriced these days. Whilst living in Sydney I often saw over 10L/100km, although the average has dropped to almost 7.0L\100km with more rural and highway driving. The seven-year warranty seems decent in today's market and adds assurance to the reliability. The car has had one recall to fit the DRLs which initially had not been fitted to Australian-delivered cars. There is also a niggling transmission fault that sometimes makes it 'slip' between first and second gear under light load, for the first gear change of the journey. It never occurs again until completely cold and only ever once in a trip. This is one of those faults that can never seem be repeated or diagnosed by the dealer, but it has never been significant enough to follow up outside of mentioning it during a scheduled service.