Your questions answered: Should my son buy a Subaru Brumby or a Holden ute?

We’ve covered off all sides of the car market with emails from carsales readers this week.

It starts with a question of whether a young man should move from a Toyota HiLux to a Subaru Brumby he’s got his heart set on – or look to other, more reliable options in second-hand car land.

Another is asking whether to leap at the new Toyota Prado when it arrives in mid-2024 or go for its upmarket sibling, the Lexus GX.

There’s another dilemma at hand – choosing a used hatchback or going for a trendier SUV our reader really wants – as well as questions about parts availability in future for Chinese-built EVs, and how much impact the air-con has on driving range in an electric car.

We’ve also got another soon-to-be Toyota RAV4 Hybrid owner querying why they should pay more given they’ve had to wait so long…

Question:

He has listened to my views on the need for a reliable vehicle which does not cost all his modest pay packet to keep it on the road. He is unmoved! He wants a small, manual ute with character and the WorkMate isn’t that. At the recent SubiNats expo in Sydney, he spoke with Brumby owners, all enthusiasts and all mechanics, who said their Brumbys required regular attention.

My fear is that he will put all his money into a Brumby, which will continue to drain his cash and test his patience and limited skills with its reliability, leaving him with little to show for it all except the experience.

Answer: The Subaru Brumby was much loved when it was new and the adoration for it has only grown since. It was a nuggety, affordable ute that was remarkably capable and tough.

But there’s a limit to the toughness, especially when some of them have been around for almost four decades.

Any car of that age will be showing signs of wear. And most will need work, some of it major.

So your son needs to understand that while it has a reputation for being reliable, the Brumby – as with any old car – can and will have issues. It’ll need TLC.

That said, if he’s hooked then $8000 is a relatively small price to pay to prove a point. Maybe he needs to get it out of his system!

As for alternatives, be aware that pretty much any ute you look at in that price bracket will be older and lacking in safety features. The ute segment took a while to catch up to passenger cars and SUVs with modern safety features, even basic ones such as electronic stability control (ESC).

A well-maintained Holden ute is a good place to start. Forget the V8, because as much fun as it is, it’ll cost more to run and insure.

A Mazda BT-50 could be worth considering; not as loved as Hilux utes but that means prices aren’t as steep. And older ones are a rebadged Ford Ranger out of Ford’s Thai factory.

A used Mitsubishi Triton would also fall into the value side of the ute market.

Question:

I’m interested to know your thoughts on this (petrol v diesel debate) and also, why would anyone would choose the 300 Sahara over say the Lexus GX Overtrail (I only need five seats) considering they’re close on size etc. What should I do? – Broe

Answer: Lexus is very much still Toyota but of late it has been doing more differentiation with its products, although perhaps not its mechanicals.

We’re pretty excited too about the GX/Prado – it certainly looks the part. It’s not quite as big as the LandCruiser 300, obviously, but should have decent room and its off-road credentials should be top notch.

At this stage Lexus has only confirmed the 3.5 twin-turbo petrol but there is a suggestion a hybrid model will be added later. Our news story details this.

Diesel is still very much the powertrain of choice for most off-roaders and there’s no suggestion it will be significantly displaced anytime soon in markets like Australia. Range, fuel availability and portability thanks to diesel are all attractive to adventurers or would-be adventurers.

As to why 300 over the Prado/GX, it may come down to towing capability and choice of powertrain or even aftermarket accessories (bull bars, etc).

Pricing for the Lexus will be interesting also – especially when compared to Prado. Of course, lower-spec Toyota models (Prado and 300) will give consumers a number of lower entry points. That said, we don’t expect any variants to be cheap.

Question: I drive a 2002 Ford Laser and looking at finally updating but looking for some advice as to what to. I’m a 68-year-old female. Thinking perhaps a small SUV, eg. Skoda Kamiq or Kia Stonic, haven’t driven either. Wondering best of these including value for money and running costs, or any others to consider including non-SUV.

If I’m looking for similar size to Laser, including boot space, but higher and more protection, should I be seriously considering a hatchback and no need for extra cost of SUV? A few years old or new is what I’m thinking. – Maree T

Answer: How much a car is worth on the used car market is determined solely by supply and demand. When a particular make or model – or style of vehicle – is out of fashion, prices usually ease. But when one is in hot demand they can surge.

Small SUVs are now common on the new car market, but there has also been an influx of models over the past few years due to booming demand on the new car market. The second-hand car market is arguably a fraction out of sync because the popularity of compact SUVs has grown so quickly in recent years.

So you may find more value in the small hatchback market, which has seen sales drop in recent years (in part because people are choosing small SUVs instead).

Check out a Mazda3, Subaru Impreza or Kia Cerato as a start.

On the SUV side you could look at the Mazda CX-3 (assuming it’s not too small) and Hyundai Kona. The new Kona was recently named carsales’ Best Small SUV for 2023. The Kia Stonic you’ve already got your eye on is also well worth a look, in part because it comes with a seven-year warranty.

Question: Is it safe to buy a Chinese made EV if trading conditions change? In relation to spare parts and updates and servicing. – Keith T

Answer: We think it very unlikely that any change in trading conditions between Australian and China will materially affect the availability of spare parts for Chinese-made cars.

Indeed, given Chinese suppliers’ strong integration into global automotive supply chains, if there was any affect it would be more likely to be across many brands, not just those of Chinese origin.

Big business seems to be able to sidestep these sorts of issues. And keep in mind that any trade issues between China and Australia would spread far wider than the car market.

All of which suggests it’s extremely unlikely to impact the supply of products and parts.

Question:

Answer: It’s common for app-based navigation systems to get confused in tunnels because they obviously can’t see the satellites they rely on for positioning data and they’re not able to ‘talk’ to the car to know what speed it’s travelling at. If the traffic flow changes in a tunnel, for example, the nav can often have you exiting the tunnel too early or too late.

We’ve also had all sorts of issues with Google Maps suddenly thinking we’re in the city above rather than the tunnel buried below. It can be amusing watching it try to guide you through city streets – frantically recalculating as you miss turn-offs – that you’re not on. We also once had an Audi instruct us to catch a ferry because it thought we were floating somewhere in Sydney Harbour rather than in the Harbour Tunnel.

However, if you’re using the inbuilt navigation system that’s part of the Essence and Long Range models (but not on more affordable versions of the MG4) then it should be well calibrated for tunnels.

In which case it would be worth mentioning to the service department to see if they can find anything wrong.

Question:

Answer: The promise of being “price protected” has certainly caught plenty of Toyota buyers out, because as many have learnt they are not price protected if the car is updated in any way.

That was certainly the case late in 2022 when Toyota did an update to the RAV4 and the Cruiser Hybrid AWD you’ve ordered got some additional features (including a larger infotainment screen) and $2450 added to the price (before government charges).

So even though you were price protected, you would be expected to pay for that increase on the upgrades.

What you shouldn’t be paying are the other two “general price increases” that have been applied to the RAV4 since you ordered (they’re partially to cover inflation).

Given the dealer is only suggesting you pay another couple of grand then it sounds like they’ve applied the price guarantee in the way it was supposed to be.

That said, you could rightly expect that a price guarantee would mean no price changes – especially as it was Toyota that couldn’t get you the exact car you ordered (prior to the update) in the timeframe the dealer estimated they’d be able to deliver it.

Some other brands have managed to do just that over the recent challenging years. But not the company known for manufacturing excellence and selling more than any other brand…

Question:

Answer: Any electrical system in the car ultimately affects the range of an EV because it’s using electricity that could otherwise have been used to move the car. That goes from the headlights and sound system to the electric seat adjustment and air-conditioning.

Of all those features, it’s air-conditioning that uses the most electricity. A home system could easily draw 2.3kW or 3.7kW, for example. Obviously, a car system would be a lot less.

So, for the purposes of this calculation let’s assume it uses 1kW; if you ran it for four hours a day you’d use 4kWh, which for an average EV would be something like 20-25km of range.

Got a question but don’t know where to find the information you need? Email us at editor@carsales.com.au

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