looking for a new car to be used as a family car, want a station wagon/hatch back around to 2L or smaller.

open to all ideas.

cheers.

what's your budget?

best is holden or ford wagon for size but if only being used around town then i would go for a Accord wagon or a Avenir or similar. If you are keen on a holden or ford, the sedans have massive boots so often they are more than what you need.

I have a holden sedan & its got plenty for my family of 5 although when the kiddies are very small they need so much stuff, portacots & high chairs etc but the holden sucks all that up to.

I'd go for a Honda Odyssey. SO much space and 7 seats if you need them.

We have just done the same, downsized from a falcon wagon to a nissan primera wagon. Very nice car to drive. Been warned away from the subaru legacy and the mitzi legnums. (just thru faults - from a friend who owns mechanic / wof place) I'd back up hondas too, theyre decent cars. Good luck.

budget isnt that big, leaning more to a jap import.

have been looking at an mitsi airtrek but its got a 2.4L, and realy want something smller

Get a Mazda 6 wagon

Toyota Estima, brilliant for families.

I too recommend a Honda Odyssey. We have one, as does my daughter. Great for hauling around extras and plenty of room for pushchairs etc.

If the odessy is a bit big go for an orthia. If you get a 1.8 manual one they're not too gutless and good on the gas.

The new Mazda Attenza wagons look nice too but I don't know anything about them.

I could recommend a Mazda Familia. I have the 2000 SP20 model. We used to have a 2 door Toyota Levin, so it was quite a big step up. The Mazda is a 4 door hatch, so has heaps of room, yet being the SP20 model, its still sporty looking and got a bit of go. Apparently they are reasonably easy on the gas too. It has a 2 litre engine and ours has a tiptronic gearbox. Not sure about the non-sport models though, they may only be 1.5 litre. Had it for a year and no complaints about it so far

Depending on Kms, you could probably pick up a non-sport model for under $10K, sport models a bit more.

I have a toyota caldina station wagon, would reccomend as a great family car awesome toyota reliability a few models to choose from depending on what you want I have a gt-t which is the 2litre turbo 4wd model had it for 5 years never once had a problem. a bit smaller than a big holden or ford wagon or others like that but more than enough room and far cheaper on gas than a bigger car. you can't go wrong with a toyota or nissan for value and reliability in my experience

i know someone that has a caldina & they are very happy with it for their family.

on a slightly different note, i drove the new mivec Mitsi Lancer a few weeks back & that is a fantastic car.

we had a toyota corona station wagon when the children were young. it was a good size for 5, economical enough around town, fitted 3 seats across the back (had an anchor fitted in the middle for childrens seats) and yet big enough with enough bag space for travelling.

We then went to a ford falcon station wagon but it was a gas guzzler and way too wide etc around town.

I have a Toyota Caldina

I would buy another Toyota Caldina.

It is the best vehicle I have ever owned. It is a 2 litre, cheap to run, has the balls behind it when you need it. Plenty of room for family and it is big enough to put my fishtanks in and transport most stuff I need to move around.

The engine is reliable and parts are cheap and easy to get hold of if needed.

If I couldnt buy another Caldina, I would buy a Nissan like imsweets one

Go for a caldina or a avenir (primera wagon) we have owned our avenir for 3 years now and it has never had anything go it is 2lt manual and has a bit of get up and go and enough power to haul a full car load of stuff around, but then is small enough to be economical.

Only thing to worry about when buying a nissan is don't buy a CVT one they cost $5-10k to replace need lots of servicings and can only be serviced using nissans special fluid which costs a bomb..

Nissan or toyota, cant go past either of those for reliability and ease of use. no matter what

Have you got a budget in mind? As that will also deterine peoples views, ie, GT-T Caldina is algood if youve got the money, if you dont then your gonna start looking at other factors.

general hints...

Toyotas just keep going well past 200 or 300 000 k's.

Any other brand past this, think carefully about, some will be fine if they are looked after, but some just dont go the distance, I've heard stories both ways.

After 150 000 ks ish, anything with a turbo, walk away. The extra rigours puton the internals means that they wear out faster, and by that stage, the turbo itself may even be getting to breaking point. And when under boost, the breakdowns are incredible.

Check the oil on the car, rub it through your fingers, it should be dark, but still golden, and rub easily in your fingers, leaving a thin layer. Black (like BLACK), thick, or even grainy feeling oil = not looked after, and the grainyness comes from engine wear and bits of metal filings.

Beware new golden freshly changed oil, could mean that they had a problem with it burning etc and just changed it. or they just had a service, but think carefully about it. look at the oil cap, your looking for deposits, varnishing etc. Get someone to follow you when you take a test drive and watch for smoke. Don't be afriad to give it some balls (not in front of the seller), its the only way your gonna find flat-spots and how it behaves at high-revs.

look for cambelt wear indicators, usually on the tensioner. new cambelts again could mean a recently fixed problem or new service. again, judge on its merits.

speaking of cambelts, some cars (Nissan primera-SR20s, mitsubishi magna - astron II, just for example) use chain driven cams, so never need to worry about that.

beware overly clean engine bays that look like they've been recently steamwashed, could be hiding oil leaks.

Thats all I can think of right now. Failing all this, get a AA check done.

Try a nissan cube!

I just bought one last week. Quite cool. No cambelt to worry about, spacious 4 door but compact.

Only a 1.3 but economical but got good go down low.

A red one

A red one

LOL

what about a 2006+ Subaru legacy station wagon. 2.5 - 3l.

I want one of them

LOL

what about a 2006+ Subaru legacy station wagon. 2.5 - 3l.

I want one of them

If you got $$'s to burn in gas and maintenance then get a subaru I guess a newer one would be better for the maintenance side of things but still no good on gas.. Cool cars though..

Ford F100

If you got $$'s to burn in gas and maintenance then get a subaru I guess a newer one would be better for the maintenance side of things but still no good on gas.. Cool cars though..

yes i agree, my parents have one of these that my mother drives around and it has only lasted 3 years and done hardly any Ks and its starting to pack up already. not the best reliability for a family car.

even an outback?

i used to have a RS legacy, man was it hard on the pocket. alot of that was due to me giving it absolute berries & alot was down to the way they are made. everytime i replaced the gear box (4 times) they had to pull all the intercooler etc out to get at the top bolts of the box. 16 hours labour to remove & replace a gear box.

4 gear boxes!! what the......