Your questions answered: What’s the best choice of sporty, prestige SUV?

A lot of buyers are wary of high-performance SUVs from prestige brands once the warranty has expired. And for most of those vehicles, that’s after just three years.

But many of these cars have been carefully maintained and driven gently – way more sedately than their design parameters allow.

They’re carting the kids to their private school each day or commuting along free-flowing arterial roads. These are not the sort of vehicles to have been thrashed around a racetrack every weekend.

At around the seven-year mark, high-performance SUVs have been through the very worst of depreciation, yet they may still have many years of life left in them.

Naturally though, you should always have any used vehicle properly checked out by RedBook Inspect and you should undertake all the due diligence that goes with buying a used car.

Question:

Answer: The BMW X5 is the go-to car for you and the M has a brilliant thumping exhaust note. The Benz gets a bit pitchy in the roll and the Cayenne is not as sharp or enjoyable as the BMW.

Question: I want your advice on selecting a car for a friend of mine that just has no clue about cars. She needs something new as she drives an old 2008 Toyota RAV4 with 380,000km. It is slowly dying. She needs: for $15,000 to $25,000 drive-away, four seats minimum, easy-to-find parts and low cost to maintain, tows a medium/small caravan well. She would like: good on fuel, low kilometres, not too old. – Nathan W

Answer: If she wants another SUV then the Kia Stonic or Hyundai Venue will do the job and she can get a new, or very near-new, car within her top budget, although they will struggle with a caravan that’s more ‘medium’ than ‘small’. Looking at used, the Suzuki Vitara is undervalued and a good choice.

Question: Can you please repeat your understanding of a Mustang? Was it something like, ‘It’s just a two-door Ford’? My partner is currently looking at purchasing one; I have suggested that his desire for the car may be related to his mid-life crisis, but you never know. – Deborah R

Answer: Mustang? In some ways it is the modern equivalent of a two-door performance Falcon. Yes, it could be a crisis car, but it’s a good one and relatively affordable in the performance car stakes.

Question: I have a white Porsche 911 Carrera, a 964 from 1990 with 107,000km. Asking for your opinion whether this car should be kept long term with electric cars coming in. I have had it for 10 years, it’s in very good condition. – Paul

Answer: If you love it, definitely keep it. Prices for your 911 will keep rising for a long time, as it’s a classic. Electric cars will not be genuinely mainstream in Australia for another 10 years and even then, there will be people who still dream about a car like your 911.

Question:

Answer: Get the 991 as the GTS. It’s a great car, and the GTS package makes it a very well-rounded sports car that also works for touring. The latest Porsche 911 Turbo models are not nearly as threatening as earlier cars from previous decades so, provided you learn the car thoroughly, you should have no drama with one.

Question:

Answer: Hopefully you’re talking about a Golf Cabriolet and not the Volkswagen Eos because it was very complicated and not recommended. Golf Cabrio is a fun car, good to drive and much more practical than, say, a Mazda MX-5. It gets The Tick from me.

Question:

Answer: The Puma is a ripper little thing. It’s a cross between a hatch and an SUV, so drives like a car but has plenty of space. The engine will sound a little odd at first, with a three-cylinder thrum, but goes well with good economy.

Question: My 30-year-old daughter has been driving a 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS 4WD but the auto transmission has died and quotes to repair are between $3000-$3500 assuming no complications. Given the car is only able to be insured for $3300 she has been advised it is probably not worth repairing and should take the opportunity to replace with something else. So she is looking for something that is a little smaller to enable easier parking, but still wants something that she feels she sits up high in to see what’s happening up ahead, and also wants good-sized windows to be able to see what is around her. I could go on with the wish list but she has found the 2021 Suzuki Vitara LY Series 2 auto. Is it any good? – Trevor K

Answer: The Vitara is a very good car, but largely under-appreciated, and will tick her boxes. Two other good things are that you will get a new car on budget and Suzuki has reasonable stock of the Vitara, unlike the waiting lists at many other brands.

Question:

Answer: The Yaris Cross is a surprisingly comfortable and enjoyable drive, Toyota is a good brand, but it’s not cheap. It definitely gets The Tick but get her to also test drive the Kia Seltos for a comparison and to check the value equation for her budget.

Question: I have a B200 Mercedes-Benz, 2015 with low mileage, and have had increasingly frequent RACV callouts at the most unexpected times (and locations) to recharge the battery. I have been lent a battery charger but I am still nervous and have had a lot of conflicting advice. I now key-lock it and run the car for 10 minutes or so before heading out. I no longer consider sitting in the car at the beach for more than 20 minutes or so, even if I am careful not to run any accessories or leave a door open. The car is no longer a pleasure and I am fearful of the bushfire season, as I live in an isolated location and may be unable to leave at a crucial time. – Deidre G

Answer: Instead of waiting for the rescue van, you need to get a Benz dealer to investigate the reason why the battery is going flat. To keep a trickle charge going into the battery each night, CTEK makes an excellent range of devices, which are supplied with Ferrari cars and Ducati motorcycles, that charge and condition batteries while the vehicle is parked overnight. With all that said, however, your B-Class should not need trickle charging.

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