Maybe I need to revise my stance then, I’m so used to always looking for smaller cars with lower KM’s, but the asking prices for some of these high mileage SUVs is crazy to me, some are close to new car non 7 seater prices.

Yeah the cost of a 7 seater SUVs can be a killer.

I never owned a car with less than 100k KMs on the clock until recently. And really that was just about getting a safer car when we had kids. So I guess I see 100K-200K as a "normal" range. Under 100K is for fancy people 😋

The other frustration is trying to figure out what models and engines are good and which are duds, so much conflicting information on basically every model I look up.

Haha yes, all cars are going to have some failures and so it's hard to use anecdotal evidence to decide if it's a bad model or random chance. If you buy from a dealer you at least have some level of protection from the CGA, but you'll also pay more for that.

Is it feasible to not buy a giant 7 seater SUV, and instead just hire one when needed? That's going to depend on how close you are to a place that has them for hire and how often you expect to need it, but I think you'll find it's cheaper financially. Not just because big SUVs are super expensive, but also because they suck fuel like crazy. Unless it's a hybrid then the fuel costs are much higher than a smaller car., and you'll be paying that regardless of whether you are using seats 6 and 7.

[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Haha guess I'm fancy, almost every car I've bought has been under 100K km's, but the never were very expensive. Benefit of the cheap imported cars here.

Oh yes, we'll be buying from a dealer as I want to trade in our older Prius. I know I can potentially get more buying and selling privately, but I really cannot be bothered with private sales with cars, unless I already know the person.

The wife doesn't really mind not having a 7 seater, but the reason I'm considering it, is it makes it so much easier when family visits a couple times a year. No need to drive two cars every time we go out. Also if we visit family, we take a lot of stuff with us. With a second child now the Prius is getting too small for that. I actually had my mind set on finding a people mover with a proper fold flat third row so we can have a huge boot space for 90% of the time. But for some reason here, they're all either already pretty old or too new and expensive. I'm guessing that they're not as popular as they once were.

I have to give some thought to the renting thing, it might be a good idea.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Haha guess I’m fancy, almost every car I’ve bought has been under 100K km’s, but the never were very expensive. Benefit of the cheap imported cars here.

I think what I consider "cheap" has changed a lot over my life. I never spent more than a couple of grand on a car until we had kids.

The wife doesn’t really mind not having a 7 seater, but the reason I’m considering it, is it makes it so much easier when family visits a couple times a year.

A quick look online, you're talking about $200 to hire an 8 seater van/car thing like that for a day. Unless you're picking up from Auckland Airport then the exact same thing is double the price 🤷

If you need it twice a year, that's $400 a year. Just having a big 7 seater will probably cost you that much extra fuel before you even talk about the price of the car.

Of course you could also just put up with taking two cars, which also means twice the boot space. A 7 seater typically doesn't have much boot space when the 6th and 7th seats are up.

[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think our most expensive was around 12-13K until we got the Leaf a couple of years ago. We usually keep them for around 10 years so far. In fairness, I come from a country where before you can even buy a car you need to bid for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) to own a particular class of car. The COE frequently costs more than the car you're buying. And it also has to be renewed every 10 years. But they have an amazing public transport system. So I guess cheap is relative.

We actually don't use the second car all that often outside of longer trips or when family visit, which is why I'm not so concerned about it being less economical. The Leaf is what we usually use around town. However, the kids are getting bigger and I've noticed we have a lot less space when trying to pack the car full, or impossible if we want to include their friends in the car.

A 7 seater typically doesn’t have much boot space when the 6th and 7th seats are up.

I'm aware of this, but it would only really matter for maybe 10% of trips. It's lame, but my actual dream right now would be a late model Kia Carnival. Way too expensive and they really are huge cars to drive around.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

In fairness, I come from a country where before you can even buy a car you need to bid for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) to own a particular class of car. The COE frequently costs more than the car you’re buying. And it also has to be renewed every 10 years. But they have an amazing public transport system. So I guess cheap is relative.

Interesting! Cheap is definitely relative.

I’m aware of this, but it would only really matter for maybe 10% of trips. It’s lame, but my actual dream right now would be a late model Kia Carnival. Way too expensive and they really are huge cars to drive around.

You could save up for it! It's what we make the kids do when they want something, but it works for adults too!

As someone who borrowed a Toyota Highlander for a few months, my dream is for a car that fits in carparks 😆

[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

my dream is for a car that fits in carparks

Haha yeah I admit that's one of the downsides.

You could save up for it

We could do that, but It's also partly my brain doesn't like seeing so much money leave our account, just for a car!

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah I know what you mean! I remember the first time we spent $10k on a car, and that felt like a lot. It was a much nicer car than the 1995 corona we had before then (this was in maybe 2016 or 2017). We actually kept that Corona for a while after that too, we only had one car up to that point.

I would like to buy a nice EV (we have a leaf, but I mean a $60k or even $80k car), but like you I have trouble with spending that much on a car. That's more than our deposit when we bought our first house (how times have changed).

My current plan is to wait for a few years and reassess. But our Ford Kuga has been expensive to maintain so getting rid of it earlier may pay off (probably not to the tune of $60k though 😅).

[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I don't think I could stomach that amount for a car too! Unless I win lotto or something.

Honestly I think it's a pretty good time to keep an eye out as EV prices have dropped a lot and there are more popping up as used. I've been looking at car listings every couple of days for weeks. If you don't mind Chinese and Korean cars, there have been 2-3 year old Kia Niros, BYD and MG's showing up every so often around 28-35K. They usually get sold pretty quick too. Can also find the older 2018-19 Ioniqs for less than 20K. In fact there are a couple here in Hamilton for around 15-18K. Unless you need something much bigger, then you're going to have to wait I think! Hopefully in a year or two there will be even more models available.

I contemplated changing the Leaf instead so we can not worry about fast charging when out and about, but we really need something bigger first.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Our Leaf has about 130KM range, we almost never have to charge when out and about. I think I've done it two or three times in the I think 2 years we've had it.

What I'm waiting for is for some 1000KM range car to become available. There are some in production but only fancy cars. Then when they become used cars I can pick up one that can still do 800 or 900 KM on a charge. For $20k I hope (I know I'm dreaming). With battery technology the way it is, I bet EVs lose value faster than other cars (as you can get more range as technology improves).

$30k is still far more than I've ever spent on a car, not only will I have to save up I'll also have to get the courage to spend it 😆.

[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 2 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Oh I meant more that I would be more comfortable using the Leaf for road trips if I could reliably fast charge without degrading the battery. Not so much worried about fast charging for around town use.

I hope you're right, but I suspect it'll still be many years before those 1000KM range models trickle down to the used market and even then, like the 7 seaters I mentioned, they will still probably retain a higher price. I actually think demand for EV's is going to increase in the the next couple of years, especially if this government or the next enacts the plan for RUCs for all vehicles.

[–] Antigrav@mastodon.nz 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

@eagleeyedtiger @Dave , petrol vehicles RUC is already paid through the petrol.

[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 1 points 12 hours ago

Thanks you're right, I think I meant it as RUC's becoming separate for all vehicles.

The pessimist in me thinks we'd hardly see petrol prices change, or they'd drop and creep up again slowly.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

Ah sorry I misunderstood.

My hopes and dreams about EV prices are just that. Hopes and dreams 😆. But I'd be happy paying $20k for a car with 500km range, if that's more achievable 🤞

The RUC for all vehicles thing is interesting. I'm a big supporter of it in theory, but the system needs huge improvements. I bought some RUC at the point EVs got subject to RUC but when am I supposed to buy more? No one, not NZTA, not the police, no one knows if my RUC are used up or not. I don't know either, I can't find the confirmation email (assuming there was one) from when I bought them. Until I get my next WOF and they send me a bill because I haven't paid.

The system needs huge improvements before it's suitable for all vehicles, and I don't know how that's achievable (most cars don't tell anyone how much they are being driven so no one can send you a reminder).

[–] BikerChiwi@mastodon.nz 3 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

@Dave @eagleeyedtiger when you go to Waka kotahi's website, you can see your RUC balance.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Can you? I had a quick search but couldn't find it. Where do I need to do to see it?

[–] BikerChiwi@mastodon.nz 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

@Dave if you navigate as if you are going to buy, you can put in a value of 1 for units - it won't charge you yet - then <continue>. The next page should show you your current end distance (ie what you have paid up to already).

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 1 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Nice, thanks! @eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz also pointed out it's written on the RUC label on your windscreen.

I feel like that should have been in the messaging when they brought in RUC for EVs.

[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I completely agree that the RUC and possibly even the Rego system is antiquated. Why do we still need little pieces of paper on our windscreen?

But I'm a little confused by what you mean? The RUC label has the ending KM's on it. You just buy more before or when you hit that amount of mileage.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Oh shit does it? I'm dumb haha! The car is out at the moment but I will check when it gets home. Thanks for the tip!

[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Haha glad I could help 😆

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/road-user-charges/ruc-licences/

If you scroll down to the example label, it's the "max dist recorder"

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Well now I don't feel so dumb because that's not at all obvious. I feel like this should have been part of the messaging when RUC came in for EVs!

Maybe it was and I wasn't paying attention.

[–] eagleeyedtiger@lemmy.nz 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I actually don't remember what was in the messaging either. It just made sense to me because the numbers lined up with what was shown when I bought it online.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 12 hours ago

I didn't even check. Just paid for some KMs, stuck the thing on the car, and promptly forgot about it until recently.