Best used small car for 2024

The 2018 Hyundai i30 Premium turbo-diesel has been judged Australia’s best small car by carsales Best Used Cars for 2024, proudly presented by Bingle.

Although this is the second occasion the i30 has won this category, it’s a first for Hyundai’s small hatch in its current PD-series guise – a brand-new model released in 2017.

Yet RedBook values the larger and better-equipped i30 from 2018 at a lower price than the previous generation 2016 counterpart. That says it all for the recent upheaval in the used-car market, but it’s a positive sign that values are returning to normal.

The 2018 Hyundai i30 was the darling of the rodeo for the judges, scoring 49 points out of a possible 50. That combination of 1.6-litre diesel and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission had lost none of the lustre in the transition from the previous model to the third generation of i30.

But the 2018 Hyundai i30 wasn’t just treading water; it was a quantifiably better car than its predecessor, last year’s winner in the small-car category for Best Used Cars.

Not only is the 2018 Hyundai i30 quieter, larger inside and better finished than the 2016 model, it also retained a five-star ANCAP safety rating, underpinned by its seven airbags.

And there are lower-priced models in the range, if the budget won’t quite stretch as far as the Hyundai i30 Premium that won the category this year.

It’s a mark of the i30’s popularity that it found 28,188 homes in 2018, to be outsold in the small-car segment only by the Toyota Corolla (35,320 sales) and the Mazda3 (31,065 sales). Just like the segment-leading Corolla, the i30 has long been a safe choice for fleet managers, although the diesel-powered i30 Premium was more likely to occupy the garage of private homes.

Up against more cars from the light and micro car segments this year, the Hyundai i30 Premium scored 35.84 points from RedBook, but 49 points from the judges for a total of 84.8 out of 100.

At a manufacturer’s retail list price of $35,490 in 2018, the i30 Premium with the diesel and DCT powertrain is still worth $22,800 as a used car in 2024, according to RedBook.

“Remember this point in time. In fact, bookmark it as a step change in Hyundai’s Australian transformation,” said then carsales news editor Sam Charlwood of the third-generation Hyundai i30 after its local launch in 2017.

“The i30 is a seriously good car and deserves its place among Japanese and German contemporaries… It paves the way for a promising chapter in the Hyundai story.”

Here’s what one of our judges thinks of the Hyundai i30:

With the third-generation i30, Hyundai took what was already a very capable small car and found significant improvements. It remained a reliable, efficient small car, but work on the suspension tune for Australia sharpened its dynamic abilities and also enhanced the ride.

With added space inside, upgraded equipment and technology, and nicer fit and finish, the third-generation Hyundai i30 has secured a justly deserved win in its category of the 2024 carsales Best Used Car Awards, proudly presented by Bingle.

The Mazda2 scored 40.6 points from RedBook and 41 points from the judges for a total of 81.6.
RedBook value: $17,800

The Corolla scored 36.1 points from RedBook and 39 points from the judges for a total of 75.1.
RedBook value: $20,200

What makes a car eligible for carsales Best Used Cars awards?
• Less than six years old
• Standard side-curtain airbags
• Standard Bluetooth
• Standard electronic stability control (mandated for Nov 2013)
• Standard reversing camera for SUVs

How did RedBook weight the categories for scoring?
• 10 per cent for resale
• 10 per cent for ANCAP rating
• 20 per cent for cost of ownership
• Five per cent for service intervals
• Five per cent for number of days for vehicle to sell