Is gas expensive in Australia? With that little driving you might be able to find an electric car that meets your needs. No oil changes, no buying gas. In the US they're pretty cheap coming off leases.
Depends on what you compare it to. Currently it's about $1.25AUD a litre here in Melbourne, which converts to about $3.50USD a gallon.
The issue though is that electric cars themselves are dramatically more expensive here in Australia. There were never any government incentives (like the $7500 tax credit) on the things so no-one bought them as they were too expensive. A used 2011-12 Nissan Leaf starts at about $30K. For reference, a new Toyota Corolla starts in the low 20s.
@ Rothwem. Yes a Holden ute would be nice as they look awesome. I am actually looking at VE Berlina wagons. A ute is all I've driven for the past 20 years. Holden C olorado dual cab, Ford Ranger dual cab and a Nissan Navara, but all company cars and unfortunately out of my price range.
Even the name 5-lug Tacoma sounds lame..LOL
@Cwadda...The Mazda 3 or 6 or a Toyota Aurion is high on my list. Not the sort of car I usually drive but these days i just need something to get to work.
@Shoulderthingthatgoesup...Yes gas is expensive in Australia. Its currently $1.26 a litre which works out to $4.76 a US gallon. Which is more than double what you guys say from what I just looked up.. (Around $2.00 a gallon yeah?)
Thanks everyone else for your responses.
It depends on what you need size wise. There's plenty of stuff from around 2009-2012 that's really well priced. The Nissan Pulsar and Holden Cruze are dirt cheap secondhand, ditto the Hyundais and Kias (and the Hyundai i30 is a damn good car). If you're after a bit bigger, then maybe check out the Toyota Camry (or the Falcon/Commodore), they're pretty cheap too being common fleet cars. If you do a lot of kilometres, consider the hybrids or diesels.
How many k's do you do a year? Why the Aurion and not the Camry?
Ive been told by a mate that I shouldnt buy anything that's done more than 100,000 kms or older than 5 years or I will start having troubles with it. But I'm finding any cars in that category are $15k plus. (My redundancy was $20k)
Honestly unless you really need a larger car, just get a used car around Corolla size of about four-seven years old. A car should be good for 300,000km anyway. Even if it requires a tiny bit more maintenance than something newer, you're not spending a shit-ton of extra cash that could be used to generate investment income :)
With the whole biking thing, yeah it depends on where you ride (my commute is about 7km and fairly flat and not near a freeway (inner suburban roads with bike lanes)). It is possible to ride in Melbourne year round but it's a bit less pleasant on the hot days in summer or the rainy winter days. I rode through almost all of the 2015 winter except maybe a week or two. :)
Jump on Carsales and have a look around. You should find something decent for comfortably under $10K. :)
Plenty of cars like this around:
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Hyundai-i30-2008/OAG-AD-13991153/?Cr=6Or this:
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Nissan-Pulsar-2013/OAG-AD-13201977/?Cr=2