More on "Five cars for Ricky"

A while ago Ricky and I had an exchange of email on a set of cars for him to consider. Ricky seemed to think it good and it would seem other people are interested. Here's the email, edited for spelling and clarity. Ricky had asked about the Corolla and Astra; the email starts just after my addition of the Mazda3 Neo to Ricky's short list.

The Corolla, the Astra and the Mazda are probably the best cars in that size and price range you could consider. DON'T consider a Nissan Pulsar[0] (I've driven them recently and they are not special at all), a Mitsubishi Lancer (dull, dull, dull[1]) or anything from Hyundai, Kia, or Suzuki (at the moment, those are still not as good as the Corolla, Astra or Mazda).

If you wanted to expand your search to things from slightly left field, you may want to consider the Renault Megane Hatch or a Peugeot 307. HOWEVER, be aware that the Japanese cars (Corolla, Mazda) will have more power and be cheaper AND that a French car is more of a risky proposition, if only because they have a reputation for being less reliable than the Japanese.

Are you thinking auto or manual? In cars this size I have a strong preference for manual.

Overall, go and drive everything you are interested in before making a decision. My preferences will be different to yours and everything on your short list is very worthy. You may find that you just can't get comfortable in one of the cars or that it doesn't have some feature you consider essential.

So, now the short list with some commentary:
Corolla Conquest: Tends to have a reputation as a car your Nanna would buy, but that is somewhat undeserved. Corollas are built to last, powerful (in the current incarnation) and have great resale. I don't find them particularly attractive outside or inside. Like people said about IBM in the 70s, you won't get fired for buying a Corolla.

Astra CDX: Built in the UK or Belgium (I can never remember), so possibly only 97% as well assembled as a Corolla. Aside from that, interesting to look at (I don't care for the Gold they use in the TV ads, though) it will have more "surprise and delight" features than the Corolla. Well worth considering.

Mazda3: Why didn't you have this on your short list? In hatch form they're "interesting" and in sedan they are quite elegant. By the specs they have quite a lot of room. These are my favourite of these 3, but I am a Mazda fan.

Now to the left field French choices: Both of these have slightly smaller engines than the 3 above, but you may not notice day-to-day. I would only consider these in manual form because of the smaller engine where I could understand getting one of the three above in auto. Both of these will be several thousand dollars more expensive than the equivalent specification Corolla or Astra. The lowest specification Megane and 307 have small-ish engines. The next spec up has engines the equivalent size to the Mazda3, Corolla and Astra, making them, in my view, more sensible. If you fall in love with one of these, stretch the budget to the larger size engine model and then bargain really hard with the dealer.

Renault Megane: these are the "I like big butts" car (if you've seen the TV ad). They are very much love-it-or-hate-it styling. Boot space may be limited. I'd go and drive one just to be able to say that I had.

Peugeot 307: These are surprisingly massive by all accounts. Good to drive but lacking is essential "Peugeotness", possibly in an effort to make them more appealing to non-Peugeot people. Possibly this will have a more "bus like" feel than the other cars here, mainly due to the extra size and height.

Random tips: Remember that ever car salesperson, no matter how nice they seem, is out to screw you and that your goal is to screw them. They have a sales target to meet each month and each quarter so the best time to buy is right at the end of the month. They will never give you their best price until you want to sit down and actually sign paperwork. Even then, have a (low but sensible) figure in mind and if they don't match it, walk away but leave your contact details. You may get a call the next day. They will always want you to buy "today" so if you're just wanting a test drive ask nicely but make it clear that you're not going to buy "today".

Once you're sitting down, they will try to get you to buy "accessories" like floor mats, "paint protection","fabric protection", window tinting or any number of things. Don't get them - this is where they make their profit - and they add nothing to your resale.

You generally can't avoid paying the "Dealer Delivery and Governmentt Charges". The Governmentt charges are Stamp duty and rego - so you can understand them. Dealer Delivery is mostly nonsense but you'll probably end up paying it. It's about $1000, sometimes more. Apparently it's where they clean the car, check it over and perhaps sacrifice a goat.

Car sales people will sometimes (usually, in my experience) know next to nothing about cars. They will try to tell you that their car has (for example) a "safety cell" or some special kind of airbags or whatever. Smile and nod and think to yourself "I don't think so, sunshine". All cars have a "safely cell", since Mercedes opened their patent on it in the late 50s, early 60s[2]. All airbags work on the same principle, at least in the cars you're considering. All ABS brakes also work on the same principle in these five cars, too.

A digression on airbags and ABS
Don't buy a new car without drivers and passengers airbags and ABS brakes. Any extra airbags are nice but not "essential" and if the choice is between more airbags, for instance in the sides of the seat/door or ABS, pick ABS every time. Airbags only work in a severe crash. They are not soft fluffy pillows but heavy-weight nylon bags that are pyrotechnically inflated with nitrogen. If you have a crash where the airbags go off, you will be injured but hopefully not dead. People typically get small burns from the hot nitrogen or broken nose or arm from the force of the bag exploding out from the steering wheel or dash. It's still better than being dead from hitting the hard steering wheel or dash.

One thing to remember with airbags is that they may(note: not will - may) severely injure small women.

ABS brakes only work under really, really extreme braking. Day to day, they are just the same as regular brakes. If you've never had to screech to a stop, you've never braked hard enough to come close to making an ABS system activate. ABS is a German acronym for "Anti Blocking System" but in English it's Anti-Lock Brakes. You will probably remember locking the rear tyre on a pushbike. If you try to steer a bike with the rear wheel locked, not much happens. The wheels need to be turning to effect direction changes. ABS prevents any wheels of the car from locking in an effort to allow you to still steer so you can avoid a kid/bus/wombat while using maximum braking force. This is really important in the wet and around corners.

[0] Spongy suspension, crap tyres, wooden-spoon-in-porridge gearshift. Yuck. Also, boring as cardboard to look at, sit in and drive. Can you tell I don't like them?
[1] Wheels, a mainstream car magazine, said of the Lancer, if I remember correctly, "poor driving position, crook gear change, uninspiring handling" - hardly complementary. OTOH, a good friend of mine just bought an automatic one (because he got a great price) and is happy with it, but he is not a car person and therefore not as critical as I might be. I have traveled in it. It does not suck.
[2] Bela Baryeni was the engineer who came up with the safety cell and crumple zones for Mercedes Benz. MB opened the patent to the world in the interests of safety.