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I am a single lady who has no experience buying cars. I need to buy a car relatively urgently as I will become car-less in a fortnight. I have spent weeks searching for a car, have taken some for test drives, compared car makes/models/reviews etc online, am totally confused by the differing opinions and have become so frustrated that there doesn't seem to be one car that won't potentially cause me a lot of future grief. How do I decide?? I really like the look of the Nissan Tiida and have been seriously considering buying one between 2006-10 with lowish km and can afford around $8-10K max but am overwhelmed with the 4-speed auto/CVT auto/NZnew/Imported information. 1. Exactly how can you tell if a car advertised online as an automatic has a CVT without hassling every car dealer about every Tiida that they advertise? (Mostly they're not sure and I'm not always convinced that what I'm told is correct) 2. From which year should a Tiida with a CVT be ok and not give trouble, or should all Tiida CVTs be avoided, as it seems your reports would suggest. 3. Some people seem to love their CVT despite reports saying to avoid them. 4. Buying a NZ new as opposed to an Import doesn't seem to guarantee a 4-speed auto, or does it? Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated as to date nothing has clicked into place for me and I haven't seen a car I like better. I am running out time/steam trying to find one and I can't afford to make a mistake.
Hi There,
I understand your dilema, it can be very hard to find the perfect car in this year/ price range.
CVT transmissions have been cause for concern nore often than not in vehicles before 2010 as a general rule. With the main brands being Nissan and Honda, there are a lot out there and not all give problems, but can be expensive if they do. I would say that all import Tiidas would be fitted with CVT transmissions, people complain about a shudder on take-off. NZ new 1800cc seem more likely to have a standard transmission. If you do drive one and it feels like a "one-speed" then this is a cvt. Maybe talk to a transmission specialist about which cvts are good/ to stay away from.
A car I can recommend is maybe a Mazda 3, or import version Axela or Toyota Corolla.