Help me choose our first car for 200-300k

**bugoys** · May 20th, 2016 07:34 PM

I would like to seek your advice on buying our first car. Our budget is 200-300K, but I can borrow another 50K (max) from my parents. I don’t like the idea that much, but push comes to shove, they’ll lend me some. Here’s our situation, we’re a couple that’s planning on building a family this year. My wife’s a small time entrepreneur that’s into food, goes to bazaar once or twice a year. I work from home, so no need for a car. For the time being we’re borrowing my parents car, until we buy our own. Car’s primary use is for her bazaar, in and out of Manila like Tagaytay, Batangas, Cavite, and occasional out of town leisure trips. The road to our village, used to flood on hard and long rains, but hasn’t occurred in the past 2-3 years, maybe due to the upgraded drainage, that or there’s just not enough rain that would lead to flood our road.

I really like the first gen crv 2000-2001 model. This would perfectly suit our need for extra space when needed, plus a higher ground clearance and all the safety features like abs and dual airbags, but might fail my requirement of ideally 8kms/L. She likes the Eon and Mirage, for being cute, small, easy to drive and park. Both choices are in the budget range except for the Mirage. I included strong contenders as well to ask for some advice here. As much as possible, I’d like to buy the lowest valued car we can get, and just upgrade in the future.

Choices are as follows (in no particular preference)

1. Honda CRV 2001
Pros:
High ground clearance
ABS and dual airbags
Extra space
Parts availability

Cons:
15 years old already
Parts are soon to be replaced and would definitely costs a lot, unless already replaced by previous owner
Fuel consumption of 8kms/l?

2. Toyota Altis 1.6G 2004 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption?
A/T (Wife’s preference)

Cons:
Needs dashboard disassembly for ac cleaning
Engine oil sludge issue
Fuel consumption?
A/T transmission goes kaput after 100k kms, as per a shop I visit in Las Pinas. I haven’t read anything about that in Tsikot, so please verify.

3. Toyota Vios 1.5 G (Gen 1.5 and 2)
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Reliability
Trunk space
Fuel consumption
Parts availability
A/T (Wife’s preference)
Didn’t hear any transmission issue for AT

Cons:
Tad smaller compared to Altis
I prefer the 2nd gen, might need to add more than 300k budget
Center gauges, but this is manageable

4. Mitsubishi Lancer GLX 2007 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption

Cons:
M/T
Fuel consumption

5. Nissan Sentra GSX 2006 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption
Aircon
A/T (Wife’s preference)

Cons:
Fuel consumption

6. Honda Civic Vti-S 2005 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption

Cons:
Fuel Consumption

7. Hyundai Eon 2012 up
Pros:
Small and easy to drive
Newest among the lot
Still in warranty
Fuel consumption
Most important, wife’s choice

Cons:
No Passenger airbag
Hatchback (Safety reason in case of rear collision)
Not enough space
Reliability?

8. Mitsubishi Mirage G4 2014 up
Pros:
Small and easy to drive
Newest among the lot
Still in warranty
Fuel consumption
Trunk space
ABS and dual airbag
Most important, wife’s 2nd choice

Cons:
Reliability?
Way over budget

Your thoughts would greatly help me in making up my mind.

Thank you!

**crosswind** · May 20th, 2016 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by bugoys

I would like to seek your advice on buying our first car. Our budget is 200-300K, but I can borrow another 50K (max) from my parents. I don’t like the idea that much, but push comes to shove, they’ll lend me some. Here’s our situation, we’re a couple that’s planning on building a family this year. My wife’s a small time entrepreneur that’s into food, goes to bazaar once or twice a year. I work from home, so no need for a car. For the time being we’re borrowing my parents car, until we buy our own. Car’s primary use is for her bazaar, in and out of Manila like Tagaytay, Batangas, Cavite, and occasional out of town leisure trips. The road to our village, used to flood on hard and long rains, but hasn’t occurred in the past 2-3 years, maybe due to the upgraded drainage, that or there’s just not enough rain that would lead to flood our road.

I really like the first gen crv 2000-2001 model. This would perfectly suit our need for extra space when needed, plus a higher ground clearance and all the safety features like abs and dual airbags, but might fail my requirement of ideally 8kms/L. She likes the Eon and Mirage, for being cute, small, easy to drive and park. Both choices are in the budget range except for the Mirage. I included strong contenders as well to ask for some advice here. As much as possible, I’d like to buy the lowest valued car we can get, and just upgrade in the future.

Choices are as follows (in no particular preference)

1. Honda CRV 2001
Pros:
High ground clearance
ABS and dual airbags
Extra space
Parts availability

Cons:
15 years old already
Parts are soon to be replaced and would definitely costs a lot, unless already replaced by previous owner
Fuel consumption of 8kms/l?

We have a 1st gen honda crv in the garage and I can say that it barely reach 8km/l in the metro traffic which was based on my computation a decade ago what more today but it is really a great car the real-time 4wd comes in handy especially on slippery uphill roads. driving the crv is like driving a civic with a higher ground clearance. Maintenance is not cheap and not also expensive.It also has an Isofix mount which will be useful since your planning to have a family and also be weary of used 1st gen crv that dont have a 4wd because their owners . If you dont care about it's thirsty nature it's the perfect car for you!! You would want to take a look at the 2nd gen crv too.

2. Toyota Altis 1.6G 2004 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption?
A/T (Wife’s preference)

Cons:
Needs dashboard disassembly for ac cleaning
Engine oil sludge issue
Fuel consumption?
A/T transmission goes kaput after 100k kms, as per a shop I visit in Las Pinas. I haven’t read anything about that in Tsikot, so please verify.

The 2002-2007 toyota altis is really a great car especially the 1.8 vvti, the throttle response is good but it gets a little thristy when you floored it every time and the altis is more spacious than the vios but maintaining a vios is more cheaper. I think you should check out another altis since the altis you checked has an oil sludge issue which i presume have been revved hard
3. Toyota Vios 1.5 G (Gen 1.5 and 2)
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Reliability
Trunk space
Fuel consumption
Parts availability
A/T (Wife’s preference)
Didn’t hear any transmission issue for AT

Cons:
Tad smaller compared to Altis
I prefer the 2nd gen, might need to add more than 300k budget
Center gauges, but this is manageable

The vios is a great car parts are everywhere but the seating position as the driver is really peculiar and take a lot of time to adjust.Maintenance is cheap even if is done in the dealer. If you opt of the 2nd gen you will need to add roughly 50-70k headroom is a little low especially if you are 5'6 and up.

4. Mitsubishi Lancer GLX 2007 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption

Cons:
M/T
Fuel consumption

5. Nissan Sentra GSX 2006 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption
Aircon
A/T (Wife’s preference)

Cons:
Fuel consumption

6. Honda Civic Vti-S 2005 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption

Cons:
Fuel Consumption

7. Hyundai Eon 2012 up
Pros:
Small and easy to drive
Newest among the lot
Still in warranty
Fuel consumption
Most important, wife’s choice

Cons:
No Passenger airbag
Hatchback (Safety reason in case of rear collision)
Not enough space
Reliability?

8. Mitsubishi Mirage G4 2014 up
Pros:
Small and easy to drive
Newest among the lot
Still in warranty
Fuel consumption
Trunk space
ABS and dual airbag
Most important, wife’s 2nd choice

Cons:
Reliability?
Way over budget

Your thoughts would greatly help me in making up my mind.

Thank you!
here is my suggestions
The Mitsubishi Adventure
Toyota Revo
Isuzu Crosswind
- Maintenance is cheap

Toyota Rav4
Honda City

Please refer to the underlined sentences

**ramones283** · May 20th, 2016 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by bugoys

I would like to seek your advice on buying our first car. Our budget is 200-300K, but I can borrow another 50K (max) from my parents. I don’t like the idea that much, but push comes to shove, they’ll lend me some. Here’s our situation, we’re a couple that’s planning on building a family this year. My wife’s a small time entrepreneur that’s into food, goes to bazaar once or twice a year. I work from home, so no need for a car. For the time being we’re borrowing my parents car, until we buy our own. Car’s primary use is for her bazaar, in and out of Manila like Tagaytay, Batangas, Cavite, and occasional out of town leisure trips. The road to our village, used to flood on hard and long rains, but hasn’t occurred in the past 2-3 years, maybe due to the upgraded drainage, that or there’s just not enough rain that would lead to flood our road.

I really like the first gen crv 2000-2001 model. This would perfectly suit our need for extra space when needed, plus a higher ground clearance and all the safety features like abs and dual airbags, but might fail my requirement of ideally 8kms/L. She likes the Eon and Mirage, for being cute, small, easy to drive and park. Both choices are in the budget range except for the Mirage. I included strong contenders as well to ask for some advice here. As much as possible, I’d like to buy the lowest valued car we can get, and just upgrade in the future.

Choices are as follows (in no particular preference)

1. Honda CRV 2001
Pros:
High ground clearance
ABS and dual airbags
Extra space
Parts availability

Cons:
15 years old already
Parts are soon to be replaced and would definitely costs a lot, unless already replaced by previous owner
Fuel consumption of 8kms/l?

2. Toyota Altis 1.6G 2004 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption?
A/T (Wife’s preference)

Cons:
Needs dashboard disassembly for ac cleaning
Engine oil sludge issue
Fuel consumption?
A/T transmission goes kaput after 100k kms, as per a shop I visit in Las Pinas. I haven’t read anything about that in Tsikot, so please verify.

3. Toyota Vios 1.5 G (Gen 1.5 and 2)
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Reliability
Trunk space
Fuel consumption
Parts availability
A/T (Wife’s preference)
Didn’t hear any transmission issue for AT

Cons:
Tad smaller compared to Altis
I prefer the 2nd gen, might need to add more than 300k budget
Center gauges, but this is manageable

4. Mitsubishi Lancer GLX 2007 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption

Cons:
M/T
Fuel consumption

5. Nissan Sentra GSX 2006 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption
Aircon
A/T (Wife’s preference)

Cons:
Fuel consumption

6. Honda Civic Vti-S 2005 up
Pros:
Newer model
ABS and dual airbags
Trunk space
Parts availability
Fuel consumption

Cons:
Fuel Consumption

7. Hyundai Eon 2012 up
Pros:
Small and easy to drive
Newest among the lot
Still in warranty
Fuel consumption
Most important, wife’s choice

Cons:
No Passenger airbag
Hatchback (Safety reason in case of rear collision)
Not enough space
Reliability?

8. Mitsubishi Mirage G4 2014 up
Pros:
Small and easy to drive
Newest among the lot
Still in warranty
Fuel consumption
Trunk space
ABS and dual airbag
Most important, wife’s 2nd choice

Cons:
Reliability?
Way over budget

Your thoughts would greatly help me in making up my mind.

Thank you!

At 300k maximum budget, you can get a fresh 2010-2012 Nissan Sentra or Mitsubishi Lancer with large enough room for adults and trunk for luggage. If you want higher ground clearance vehicle, go for the crv.

**bugoys** · May 20th, 2016 10:59 PM

* crosswind- Thank you for the detailed response. I'm still asking around for the fc of the crv. As much as possible, I'd like to get a car with the complete safety package like the dual airbags and the abs. The AUV's mentioned doesn't have both or either of those features, plus its a very large car for my wife to drive.

* ramones- Thank you sir. I'm just not sure about the fc of Lancer and Sentra. If its within the range of the CRV, I just might get a crv.

**niky** · May 20th, 2016 11:31 PM

2nd Gen CRV has terrible economy, and AC parts (compressor, control panel, etcetera) cost a lot and will need replacing at this point. Engine mounts also a weak point.

Altis pretty practical, but pay attention to oil condition (look for sludge) and automatic transmission condition (does it slip and slur?)

Vios Gen 2, look for signs of overheating.

If you can stretch to 350, you can start looking at FD Civics.

1.8 pretty powerful, fuel economy is decent, interior space and cargo space huge.

Only downside is a ride that's a bit stiff.

**bugoys** · May 20th, 2016 11:55 PM

* niky- Thanks for your insights. What I'm worried if get the FD, is the eps issue as it might cost an arm and a leg. Plus if I'll stretch my budget, I might get a Mirage G4, as its one of wife's choices (happy wife, happy life) and its "new" compared to other choices. As much as possible I'd like to stay our budget.

**Rodel M Amansec** · May 21st, 2016 12:52 AM

Sir bugoys,
Curious lang ako kung saan pwede makahanap ng used cars for sale. May specific seller po ba kayo or nakita nyo lang din through online salesyard? May nakita rin kasi akong mga used car for sale sa tsikot.com at carmudi pero walang nagrereply sa inquiries ko. Salamat in advance sa iyong advise.

**bugoys** · May 21st, 2016 10:18 AM

* rodel- There's a lot of used cars on ******* and facebook groups. I just have more "confidence" on ******* individual/owner seller, compared to the buy and sell personnel on both sites, just to be clear, I don't have anything against them. I just prefer that I find/search for the car I like, mas makaka negotiate ka and mas rewarding for me.

**goodvibes8888** · May 21st, 2016 05:19 PM

1st gen crv
2nd gen vios

**Rodel M Amansec** · May 21st, 2016 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by bugoys

* rodel- There's a lot of used cars on ******* and facebook groups. I just have more "confidence" on ******* individual/owner seller, compared to the buy and sell personnel on both sites, just to be clear, I don't have anything against them. I just prefer that I find/search for the car I like, mas makaka negotiate ka and mas rewarding for me.

Thank you sa advise. It seems mas madali makontak ang nagpopost sa olx compared to carmudi and tsikot.