What’s a great car for a retiree?

We of the baby boomer generation are not exclusively a hive mind of self-absorbed neo-conservatives who have accumulated massive superannuation funds.

Likewise, we’re not all planning to be grey nomads when we retire, travelling the highways and by-ways of Australia with a caravan trailing behind our diesel-engined dual-cab ute.

Some of us couldn’t imagine anything worse; it’s the air-conditioned hotel life for those of us.

One thing about retirement, resale value is probably not a major concern for car buyers in that phase of life…

But what do people want and need from a vehicle when they retire?

If you’re approaching that age and you’ve possibly put off replacing the current car too long, perhaps it’s now time to start asking yourself some pertinent questions.

For many retirees, a second car that spends much of its life sitting in a garage is an expense that can’t be justified or sustained.

If the household budget only extends to one car, it better be highly capable in a multi-purpose role – and likely long into the future as well.

Typically, that means a light, small or mid-size SUV, perhaps one with a small-displacement turbocharged petrol engine.

A vehicle of this size will provide you with more than enough room inside to accommodate your partner and your friends from bowls, the art class or the RSL.

Reversing cameras and acoustic guidance make modern SUVs easier to park, and the hip point is about right for people who may face ailments like arthritis and osteoporosis in years to come.

Test plenty of vehicles and seriously consider those with highly-assisted power steering and power brakes, because you never know when tenosynovitis or joint pain will set in.

Light, small and medium SUVs are reasonably cost-effective to run in terms of purchase price, fuel, servicing and insurance, but if you don’t do a lot of taxying friends and grandchildren around the place, you could probably cross medium SUVs off the list and go with smaller SUVs that are more affordable and more like a passenger car to drive.

If you want to tow an occasional trailer load of furniture home, or rubbish to the tip, you may want to cross the light SUV off your list. Small or medium SUVs should be capable of towing a box trailer.

If you need to tow heavier loads on a regular basis, you may need to opt for a larger vehicle, one fit for the purpose.

So whether it’s towing or transporting friends, teammates and/or grandchildren, keeping practicality at the forefront of your decision-making could pay dividends.

It may pay to stay with Japanese and Korean models, because they’re usually pretty reliable and are also covered by a long warranty. Plus they are often sold through a large dealer network, meaning sales and service won’t be a problem, but they’re also easily serviced by independent workshops.

Some are even reasonably enjoyable to drive. And if you don’t care about driving enjoyment, you can settle for softer-riding models, or cost-effective hybrids or vehicles with continuously variable transmissions to reduce road noise for open-road touring.

There’s plenty of diversity in this sector of the market, more than enough to suit most buyers.

Work on a budget of up to $35,000 and you can get a fair amount of kit in your light or small SUV as well.

If you have a significantly better budget than that, there’s nothing to stop you purchasing a similar vehicle from one of the prestige brands, or an electric vehicle if it’s your mission in life to save the planet for generations to come.

If the hip point doesn’t bother you, and you don’t expect to suffer any of the age-related health problems mentioned above, you might be happier in a micro, light or small passenger car, rather than an SUV.

That might be particularly the case if you struggle with spatial relations – parking, in other words.

If you’re spending so much time in car parks that it’s a major factor in your purchase decision, you’re probably spending a lot of time at the shops.

In that case, there’s all the more reason to buy a small or light hatch with a tailgate that’s easy to raise and lower, plus a practical loading lip.

You don’t want to be hefting heavy bags of shopping over the sill, at the risk of doing yourself an injury. A hatchback will probably suit your purposes better than a small sedan.

If you do spend some time on the open road, seek advice on buying a car that will be safe at touring speeds. Pick a vehicle that is dynamically capable (good roadholding, brakes and reasonable performance), but also equipped with driver assist safety technology to compensate for any anxiety on your part.

That means autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane keep assist and blind spot monitoring as a minimum.

Again, choose a car that fits within your budget – both for purchase price and running costs.

Up to $30,000 will put you in the driver’s seat of a well-equipped light or small car with a five-star ANCAP safety rating and enough driver assist technology to help keep you out of harm’s way.

Plenty of experts will tell you that a three-year-old car from a respected, well-known and popular brand is better than buying a brand-new car from a ‘cheap’ brand at the same price.

They’re dead wrong.

For a start, your used car will have nothing like the warranty coverage of the new car. Buying used because you don’t have much of a back-stop could be a false economy down the track.

At an entry level, cheap new cars are usually light or small hatches. If you can afford around $20,000, why would you go past a new Kia Rio with seven years of warranty? It’s a good little car that’s easy on the pocket and it’s both well equipped for the money and fun to drive.

You can buy new cars that are cheaper than the Rio (including the Picanto from the same stable), but that’s typically the starting point for diminishing returns. You’re often conceding performance and dynamics – and safety and comfort too – for little gain in fuel efficiency or running costs.

And, plainly, fuel efficiency and running costs will be a major factor if you need personal transport on a shoestring budget. So information from the Green Vehicle Guide and careful research of servicing costs must get priority before you settle on one car. It will most likely be a small or light hatch.

Enthusiasts will no doubt have a daily driver already, a vehicle that they and their partner can drive down to the shops or take the grandkids to the cinema to see the latest Disney film.

But those enthusiasts will want a second car, one that is just for him or her to tinker with and improve. It could be a concours veteran, an Aussie classic, a track car, a street machine, something light and nimble for motorkhanas, a kit car or a turbocharged all-wheel drive beasty for club-level rallying.

Yes, even oldies rally into their twilight years.

A vehicle like this doesn’t have to meet any clear-cut objectives other than to make the retired enthusiast feel good. It doesn’t necessarily need to be economical, reliable or even carry a five-star safety rating, if the owner is satisfied with that the car’s reduced time on the road will offset any shortcomings, judged by those criteria.

It’s a car that can languish in the garage for days or weeks (or months, in pandemic lockdowns), with little more than the occasional splash of polish for the body or silicon protectant for the interior to show for its down time.

Often, a car like this spends so little time on the road that it warrants a club registration to save 50 per cent or more of the annual registration costs.

To keep the car in a ready state, it may be jacked off the floor with an air compressor nearby to reinflate the tyres, and a trickle charger hooked up to keep the battery alive.

Enthusiasts who are a bit more cashed-up may just buy a road-burning car that only gets driven occasionally – and on public roads. This could be a hot hatch like a Honda Civic Type R, a coupe or convertible such as the Ford Mustang or a hard-core sports car like a Lotus or Porsche. It could even be a Ford Ranger Raptor, if that takes one’s fancy.

Engine noise tends to be as important to this type of driver as actual performance. And it should be available with a manual transmission with torque driving to the rear wheels.

Where budget is concerned, the sky is the limit for a car like this. How much have ya got?

Like the project car mentioned above, a boutique car is a second car for the slightly wealthier person (or couple) who has retired. And like the project car, the boutique car is the sort of vehicle to make the owner/driver feel good about themselves.

They identify with this type of machine, whether it’s a MINI Cooper, a Fiat 500 or an Audi A1. If the vehicle can be a convertible rather than a hatchback, so much the better.

These vehicles are stylish, trendy and positioned upmarket, relative to their volume-selling counterparts. That tells the world what the driver wants the world to know about him or her.

Unlike project cars, these are more likely to be used daily and drive through an automatic transmission; their focus will be on comfort rather than performance and dynamics.

Which is not to say that they under-achieve in dynamic terms. The MINI models in particular can be peppery little performance cars if you’re spending more.

But a perfectly acceptable run-about can be purchased for the sake of vanity at a price below $30,000 for the Fiat and below $40,000 for the MINI and Audi.

Here’s the grey nomad stereotype. You want to head bush, or you just want to see parts of Australia you’ve never visited before.

Your options range from a luxury motorhome that tows a small four-wheel drive to take you places the motorhome can’t reach, or – at the other extreme – a heavy-duty 4WD off-roader or 4x4 dual-cab ute that tows an off-road caravan or camper trailer.

Retirees spending this sort of money to travel around the country are fairly likely to have sold up the family home of decades and sunk a substantial part of the proceeds into their new transport and accommodation package.

For many couples, this is a chance to meet new people on the road (and more often in caravan parks), and lead a more active lifestyle hiking, fishing and snapping photos.

At some point, the constant travel may become a grind, in which case the retired couple will sell up the motorhome, 4x4 dual-cab, caravan or whatever and settle down once more in a permanent residence.

It can be a great lifestyle up to that point, but age may compel some couples to live closer to medical facilities and the ambulance. Or they may wish to see the grandchildren more often.

And the tow vehicles may not always be the most comfortable tourers on long journeys, to say nothing of the high hip point, which may quickly pall for shorter retirees. If your partner is short in stature, those optional side steps might be a wise choice.

Going ‘grey nomad’ is a choice that demands a lot of forethought, although not necessarily so for couples who have only ever holidayed on the road.

The budget is probably going to be a minimum of $100,000 to do the job properly – meaning a well-equipped dual-cab ute (probably a 4x4 to go off-piste) and a caravan for sleeping and meals.

What to look for in a retirement car
• Buy a car that’s within your means to own
• Buy a car that will meet your physical needs (steering weight, brake pedal pressure, ease of access)
• Buy a car that’s easy to drive (and park)
• Buy a car that you like to drive
• Buy a car that will tow if you plan to see the country
• Buy a car that’s practical, reliable, comfortable, safe and economical for a daily driver
• Buy a car to fall in love with if it’s not a daily driver
• Buy a car that you won’t be embarrassed to admit owning