I need to buy a car. <> = Criteria = * Auto transmission, Kat needs to drive it * Hatchback preferred * Features like bluetooth and cruise control would be great * Not expecting to drive heavily, maybe 100km every week or two, plus the odd long holiday/photoshoot trip * Higher running costs are okay with me = Maybe interesting cars = * Toyota Corolla, basic and reliable * Mazda3, slightly more interesting than a Corolla * Hyundai i30, plain but reliable enough workhorse * VW Golf sounds decent-ish * Subaru Impreza, seem to run well enough Finally, we saw a very nice looking Mercedes C200 in a yard: http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/_/OAG-AD-1634793 It has low enough mileage, seems to be in perfect cosmetic condition. = Advice from mechanic = * Adan at Maag & Stucki in Woolloomooloo. * They specialise in European cars, obviously have a bias towards them. * VW he reckons only in manual, their automatic transmissions cause trouble too often to recommend. * Mazda3 is decent but doesn't really take his fancy. Similar for Subaru Impreze and Liberty that I mentioned, because they're not European. * A Corolla would be the most reliable and cheapest to run for sure ("If everyone droves Toyotas we'd be out of business"), but they're utterly boring and uninspiring to drive - "agricultural" was the word he used. == About that Merc == * Based on the VIN, that C200 has a delivery date of 2001-11-13. For that age it's got great mileage on it (77,000km), and it has a 111-series engine. That's apparently from the end of that series' lifetime, which is a good thing because all the engineering kinks have been worked out. * Expected running costs are ~$3,000 per year on average; lower some years and higher some years. * Broadly speaking, that engine and transmission should be pretty right, not too much trouble. * He's less inclined to buy from a dealer for this sort of car, but I couldn't fully understand his reasoning/logic on this point. * It absolutely needs a pre-purchase inspection. Recommends test driving, and if I really like it then hassle them to let it get inspected, they quote $200+GST. * Context for this was unclear, but he said absolutely do not accept an arrangement where they take a deposit and agree to return it if any problems are found. No deposit without passing inspection. Inspection MUST be done by someone not associated with the dealer. == Other advice and recommendations == In terms of other recommendations in the price range that I outlined, he mentioned: * Mercedes has "sports coupe" models that might fit the budget and are worth looking at, they're apparently the ones with the squarish headlights * I've not had a look yet, but they can be found on carsales.com.au by putting in Merc -> C class -> 2-door * He also mentioned the 3-series BMW range, maybe the 318i