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Tarina60

Hi, I am looking at buying a car for my daughter who is 19and half who has just got her restricted licence. We live about 15 minutes out of town and it is necessary to commute daily to work. The area is growing so more traffic on the road and have been a number of quite bad even fatal crashes over the years but some sections are under improvement currently. Because of this issue the safety rating is important. We are looking at Toyoto Vitz's, Nissan Tiidas or the like, heard they are very reliable cheap to run cars. I am very aware to avoid the CVT transmission and we have about $5K to spend. Where can I go to find the ratings or any recommendations?

Anon

Hi there,
I use rightcar website to access safety information. http://rightcar.govt.nz/find.html
You are right to stay away from the vehicles with cvt transmissions. Like that in the Tida, Vitz, Honda Jazz, and Fit.
Maybe look at a Demio, or Swift. Some small nissans and toyotas without cvt will also be good.

outerphase

I would buy a Ford Fiesta 2004-5ish. I have had my full licence for 6 months and from learners to full I drove a 2005 Fiesta (and still do, with 255,000kms on the clock, runs sweet as a nut). Extremely reliable, servicing is fairly cheap, no cambelts to replace, and extremely safe (it was featured in an episode of Top Gear being compared to less safe cars). Manual Fiestas I find are far better to drive and smoother than their automatic counterparts but if your daughter insists on an automatic car the Fiesta is still very good. Also consider a slightly older Ford Focus if you are on a tight budget, the Focus has a similar engine and is also a very good car to drive (though slightly larger)

Avoid the Suzuki Swifts, my parents have a Swift and I find the brakes are far too 'grabby' and sensitive, the slightest touch compared to the Fiesta applies the brakes almost full-force. As Cade suggested possibly a Mazda Demio? I have never driven a Demio so I cant really comment on how good they are but they seem OK.