Hello,

My family are arriving in Aus in a few months! yippie, from the UK. Should be fun, and we want to buy a car obviously. We'll be giving up our trusty 2005 avensis and looking for something similar. Plenty of boot space...and good/top/best safety ratings etc.

There seems to be a very small market for the avensis in australia, plus it looks like the avensis MPV rather than the saloon which is what we have currently. I am a big chap..6'2, and like lots of leg room, hence one of the reasons we got the avensis in the first place.

All the cars we buy are automatic..and so looking for a decent gearbox also. In the UK the verso has a bad reputation for automatic boxes.

In terms of safety what counts for me is weight of the car, airbags and of course strength and construction. Possibly the best car would be the ford falcon but I hear the legroom is not so good, plus its a ford. Every ford I ever had has literally broken down.

Any thoughts

- Aurion? I have never sat in one, plenty of leg room? is the aircon ok since we'll be needing it, seems to retail used for around 23K.
- Avensis MPV? I know little about it. Is it safe?
- Honda CRV new shape. Its more expensive, but would fit the bill. I have always wondered if being higher up makes it safer. Never had a Honda before.


If I got an Aurion, maybe I can have some $$ left over for a small run about like a Yaris also. How cheaply could I pick up a reliable small car for train station runs?

thanks guys.

i think the Yaris is more little more capable a train station runs vehicle

if you want one i guess a Echo (if you dont mine the looks) is even better as its cheaper and well within what you are asking for so you could save up abit more for a higher spec Aurion or something else...

Really? The Falcon and Commodore, typically, are known for their leg room. I haven't been in the BA/FG Falcon series, but I know the VE has more leg room than you can shake a stick at.
Being a Toyota site you'll get Toyota answers, but the best bet is to try out the various cars when you get here

Think of our locally made cars (Ford Falcon + Holden Commodore) as Citroens. Mechanically they'll go on and on and on, but interiors are a bit rubbish (imo). Falcon has a higher safety rating then Commodore (I think its 4 vs 5 star now?). They both have a lot of this so called 'safety mass' your thinking of. Just cause its big or heavy doesn't make it safe. All the weight in the world wont save you if its getting thrust into your legs.

If you need a people mover my own choice would be a new Honda Odyssey. Least offensive car I can think of with 7 seats.

I like Aurions. Nice V6 with a good Auto. If you want a lil runabout... its a tough choice for me, I like the Yaris, but the new Ford Fiesta is really nice...

BTW you cant say that 'But its a Ford' stuff in Aus, the Falcon lovers (also see: bogans) will beat your head in

Bogans like Commodores, they for some reason don't like Falcons as much. But they'll soon lose more bogan fans once Ford drop to just 3 teams in the local touring car series next year.

I like the comparison between Aussie cars and French cars

like the other suggestions, i would get something fairly common and easy to get parts for.

forget any euro box, i personally think they aren't built for Australian conditions. Either go japanese or Australian


Also, if you don't mind me asking, where about are you going to be living? Sydney, Brissy, Melbourne?


One suggestions, if you can get out to a country car yard, do it. I got $2000 off any price the metro / city dealers would give me on a new car, so it worth the trip and you get so see something different while your out there


PM if you move to Sydney and you need a hand

Definitely look into the Aurion (pre or post face lift) and you wont be unhappy.

If you want quality, reliability and great resale value then go Toyota.

If you want to fit in with the bogans down at the local but have to walk there because the cars in the shop then buy a Holden or Ford.

If you want that 'I want a different car feeling' within 2 months of purchase, buy a Honda.

Hmmm... Bring in the Avensis as a Personal import?

On a serious note, just like the others. I'll recommend the Aurion or the Camry (Similar to the Aurion, but with a different front/rear & a four cylinder engine.)

On another note, Toyota will release the Camry Hybrid down under next year (February 2010.). If you are not in a hurry, I'd suggest checking that out.

http://goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/sto...A25763F000BF884


EDIT: Spelling mistake

Thanks to who replied. I am not a "bogan" so aurion fits the bill better than a commodore.

About the leg room on the ford, i was reading a weblog review from some australian reviewer and he mentioned the issue, hence I made the conclusion it would probably be an issue. But of course I wont know until I sit in one. The ford seems rather too large anyway for general use. Its 20cm longer and 10cm wider than the aurion.

Two questions,

1. I believe the aurion has child restraint catches, but are they "isofix" compatible. Basically I was intending to take out care seats over and use them.
2. I dearly want to attach some bikes to the back of the car for weekends, hence my interested in the CRV. Has anyone tried to get bikes on the back of an avensis? was it hard? Frankly...i am a novice here.

I am in Perth and intending to basically buy one very quickly. It seems there are plenty available. If anyone has any garages they can recommend let me know.

In the UK there are 2 types of garage

1. cheap cheap cheap mega store (dont even test drive sometimes) and no haggle on price.
2. the manufacturer garages, expensive...and you can haggle.

I prefer the #1 above since cost is important.

In the UK also we have the RAC do a "car check", sometimes useful. Any equivalent in Perth?

The fact is I might be arriving after the wife in Perth and so not able to do a car inspection myself, I may need to buy without seeing.

1. Currently, ISOFIX harnesses aren't ADR compliant, so the Aurion (Including every Aussie market and Parallel/ Personally-imported cars.) get ADR approved child restraints. I do know that some of the European cars have both ISOFIX (Factory) & ADR (Most likely installed locally or from the factory.) child restraints. Even though they are illegal, some owners use the ISOFIX child seats as they give a better peace of mind than the ADR-compliant items.

2. I guess you could always use a bike rack.



1. I'm not really experienced in this area, hope others can chime in here.

2. You could try City Toyota or Melville Toyota. Bought our RAV4 from the latter (Melville). Dealer's good, but I wouldn't recommend their service center, (They aren't what they used to be.). If you're servicing a brand new car or if it is still under warranty, I heard City Toyota is good.

3. We do have RAC in Perth, in the form of RAC WA (Refer to link below.).
http://rac.com.au/Motoring/Auto-services/V...appraisals.aspx

You dont get a lot of money off from dealers anymore, usually the haggling is done with the trade in price if you have one. Maybe they'll throw in a few extras. If you want cheap, you gotta go private.

As was mentioned earlier we have the RAC over here in Perth, they do pretty much the same thing they do in the UK (roadside assist, insurance, used car checks etc).

Haha theres so many English in Perth.

true about the leg room, handy when need to get under the dash.. they have so many techlines and recalls and rubbish it aint funny... a new one is the tx-valve for the a/c seals have been recalled.....