carsales announces Best Used Cars for 2023

The 2023 carsales Best Used Cars awards, proudly presented by Bingle, take a fresh look at what’s on offer in the used-car market for the canny buyer who expects real value.

Such a buyer doesn’t have to be a P-plater, a single parent or someone on a disability pension; they’re just careful with money and don’t want to spend thousands of dollars only to see that extra cash for a newer car lost in depreciation.

As in previous years, carsales Best Used Cars for 2023 draws on RedBook data and input from expert judges in equal measure.

The RedBook data comprises half the total score for each vehicle, and a score out of 10 from each of the five judges makes up the balance (out of 100).

It’s long been the view here that cars up to six years old represent the best value for buyers in the used-car market. Such cars have been through the worst of their depreciation, but even examples that have travelled up to 15,000km a year on average remain under 100,000km on the odometer.

Provided they’ve been appropriately serviced during the first six years of their working life, these cars should have a few years left in them – another six or seven at least.

For 2023, we’re considering cars that were first registered in 2016. Yes, that’s actually seven years ago; we skipped a year in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are 10 categories under the microscope for carsales Best Used Cars – proudly presented by Bingle – and these are loosely based around official industry (VFACTS) segmentation. Under small cars, for example, we’ve included light and micro cars with the popular one-size-larger hatchbacks, while the off-road 4x4s include heavy-duty SUVs as well as utes.

For 2023 there has been a change in how the winners and honourable mentions are decided. In previous years we’ve benchmarked the volume-selling variants in each range, but this year we’ve chosen instead to base the verdict on flagship variants in each range.

The difference in used price for the flagship variants after seven years will be little more than for the entry-level models in most cases, but the high-spec models will offer a longer list of standard equipment – so they are a more appealing prospect for used-car buyers.

carsales 2023 Best Used Cars categories:
Small passenger car
Medium passenger car
Large passenger car
Small SUV
Medium SUV
Large SUV
Sports car
Luxury car
Dual-cab ute
Off-road 4x4

Out of seven preliminary finalists, the total score from RedBook and the judges decides the winner in each category, and two ‘honourable mentions’.

The RedBook data is formulated from ownership, safety, retained value and market appeal.

Ownership is essentially the cost of running the car, deduced from fuel, maintenance, registration and insurance over the course of 15,000km for each year of service.

Fuel costs are calculated from a fixed price per litre multiplied by the official combined-cycle fuel consumption for each respective vehicle.

The market appeal factor relies on a ‘demand and supply’ metric – how long a used car sits on the lot, on average, before selling. It’s the science of desirability…

On the other side of the divide, the five judges are carsales managing editor Marton Pettendy, former technical editor Ken Gratton, RedBook data services director Ross Booth, carsales used-car buying expert Cliff Chambers and senior journalist Bruce Newton.

In years past, Mazda has been the brand to beat. For 2023, Mazda remains the strongest brand, but primarily for its SUV range, although the Mazda2, Mazda6, MX-5 and BT-50 all picked up honourable mentions in their respective categories.

And that leads us to the 2023 carsales Best Used Cars, which are…

Best Used Small Car

Winner: 2016 Hyundai i30 Premium turbo-diesel
“Punchy powertrain and local chassis tune make the i30 a worthy winner” – Marton Pettendy

Find a used 2016 Hyundai i30 Premium turbo-diesel on carsales

Best Used Medium Car

Winner: 2016 Skoda Octavia RS 230 wagon
“Often overlooked by people in the market for a prestige wagon, where it ticks every box” – Cliff Chambers

Find a used 2016 Skoda Octavia RS 230 wagon on carsales

Best Used Large Car

Winner: 2016 Holden Commodore VFII SS-V Redline Sportwagon
“A fast freighter with heaps of old-school Aussie character. If you enjoy driving, you’ll love it” – Bruce Newton

Find a used 2016 Holden Commodore VFII SS-V Redline Sportwagon on carsales

Best Used Small SUV

Winner: 2016 Mazda CX-3 Akari turbo-diesel AWD
“One of the world’s original small SUVs is still among the best” – Marton Pettendy

Find a used 2016 Mazda CX-3 Akari turbo-diesel AWD on carsales

Best Used Medium SUV

Winner: 2016 Mazda CX-5 Akera turbo-diesel AWD
“Perennial favourite among medium SUVs remains a cut above the rest for affordable sophistication” – Ross Booth

Find a used 2016 Mazda CX-5 Akera turbo-diesel AWD on carsales

Best Used Large SUV

Winner: 2016 Mazda CX-9 Azami
“Top-notch seven-seat amenity and turbo-four power make this a classy family SUV” – Marton Pettendy

Find a used 2016 Mazda CX-9 Azami on carsales

Best Used Sports Car

Winner: 2016 Toyota 86 GTS
“A sensible daily driver, but still a load of fun on a winding road” – Ross Booth

Find a used 2016 Toyota 86 GTS on carsales

Best Used Luxury Car

Winner: 2016 Porsche Panamera Turbo S
“Rear doors and prodigious V8 make this the closest you’ll get to a 911 sedan” – Marton Pettendy

Find a used 2016 Porsche Panamera Turbo S on carsales

Best Used Dual-Cab Ute

Winner: 2016 Ford Ranger Wildtrak 3.2-litre 4x4 Dual-Cab Utility
“The best dual-cab to drive and the gruff old 3.2 is a solid engine” – Bruce Newton

Find a used 2016 Ford Ranger Wildtrak 3.2-litre 4x4 Dual-Cab Utility on carsales

Best Used Off-Road 4x4

Winner: 2016 Toyota LandCruiser Prado Kakadu
“The one to have if you fish on weekends and cart kids at other times” – Cliff Chambers

Find a used 2016 Toyota LandCruiser Prado Kakadu on carsales

Flashback: Check out carsales Best Used Cars for 2022