Best SUV/softloader/etc. for mom under U$43k

[dj898]

missus is looking for a new car to replace her Volvo V40 wagon.
I've been searching/reading/comparing for few days but thought ask here for others opinion as well.

What'd be the best vehicle for mom carrying two school children - kindy & primary.
It will do usual school run during the weekdays and trips to shopping centre on weekends.
Need to take three adults as well as three children comfortably.
Rear seat should be wide enough to fit one bady seat and one booster seat but still leaving room for an adult.
Sat-nav is preferable.
DVD entertainment system from factory would very nice.
Good fuel consumption around the city as it's very unlikely do any long distance trip.
Various storage spaces for bits and odd.
Rear parking sensor must - rear camera preferable.

And cost under USD43k...
(I'm thinking under AUD60k)

At the moment cars I'm thinking of are...

2009 Volvo XC60 T6
2009 Mazda CX-7 Luxury
2009 Holden Captiva LX (= Chevrolet Captiva)

TIA

[madhatter256]

Another Volvo...

[dj898]

well...
problem is over here Volvo doesn't offer sat-nav even as an option~
also missus is bit hesitant about the Diesel engine though Petrol verion is XC60 is very thirty beast.

[ASSEMbler]

missus is looking for a new car to replace her Volvo V40 wagon.
I've been searching/reading/comparing for few days but thought ask here for others opinion as well.

What'd be the best vehicle for mom carring two school children - kindy & primary.
It will do usual school run during the weekdays and trips to shopping centres on weekends.
Need to take three adults as well as three children comfortably.
Rear seat should be wide enough to fit one babdy seat and one booster seat but still leaving room for an adult.
Sat-nav is preferable.
DVD entertainment system from factory would very nice.
Good fuel consumption around the city as it's very unlikely do any long distance trip.
Various storage spaces for bits and odd.
Rear parking sensor must - rear camera preferable.

And cost under USD43k...
(I'm thinking under AUD60k)

At the moment cars I'm thinking of are...

2009 Volvo XC60 DS 2.4
2009 Mazda CX-7 Luxury
2009 Holden Captiva LX (= Chevrolet Captiva)

TIA

Honda Pilot
Anything Volvo, volvo is #1 for safety for sure
Mercedes C-class wagon

Ford Falcon FG has five stars, and it's cheap. Check it out.

Remember to add a first aid kit, emergency water and some
space blankets to the car too.

[dj898]

Ford Falcon~ mmmm~~ ^ ^
Actually my old man is Holden men and won't be too impressed if we get Ford Falcon... heh

In any case the final decision is upto her but I'd like to limit the choice before I took her for the test drive...

[Taucias]

Go Volvo. Sat-Nav is not expensive these days, and you usually get better and cheaper if you buy an individual system.

[dj898]

looking at the latest safety features on Volvo XC60 it looks more attractive since she will carry two kids onboard all the time...
I'm arranging the test drive this weekend.
Thank you everyone for your input!

kind regards
dj

[PhreQuencYViii]

My mom just got a Volvo. Vroom vroom!

[Segafreak_NL]

$43k? Who said the market was dead?

[dj898]

Thanks for every one for the comment.
Went to the nearest Volvo dealer and did short test driving with XC60 turbo petrol and it was very good - I was quite impressed given its size and height. Missus was sold on the spot given all the space and etc.

Now the bad news is after ticking virtually all the safety options as well as few comfort features - i.e power tailgate, power seats, clean air package(?) and bits and pieces - the price went skyrocketing! The option alone cost close to Hyndai Excel~ -___-; And this being factory option we won't get it delivered till July/August this year...
Oh well... this will give some time for me to save up as well as sold my Jaguar... [weeping~~]

Life of dad/husband...[weeping~]
After put down the deposit I kind of missed times when I was single and drove around in my modified Mazda Roadster~ -_-;

[PSPdemon]

After put down the deposit I kind of missed times when I was single and drove around in my modified Mazda Roadster~ -_-;

oOo.... was that a monster miata? ( ive always though about buying a miata and slappin a v8 in it ^_^ )

as for the choice thing... the volvo is the choice for safety ( as everyone said )... they are practically tanks.

[dj898]

No it was Japanese spec MX-5 with the custom modified interior for the rally w/ partial roll cage, racing seats, no audio, no thick underlay and etc. Cost the bomb with all the modification inside as well as on the engine plus the engineer certificate to make it roadworthy...

Yep this new XC60 will stop by itself under 30KPH as well as over 30KPH if not slow down. Also has the blind spot sensor, lane departure warning(?) as well as rear camera, F&R sensors, moving headlights and etc. to name few...

[dj898]

don't you just hate when you are slugged by all sorts of tax... -__-;
ordered the car for missus and when I got the invoice from the factory I was almost had a heart attack~
The gov charges, tax and etc. is over 35% of the purchase price!

GST A$7302.19
Luxury Car Tax A$6943.25
Stamp Duty A$3465.00
Dealer delivery(?) A$1600.00

what the~~~!?@! @__%;

Looks like I will have to trade in my Jaguar for this one along with financing... -___-;

[SilverBolt]

Luxury car tax ? since when is a volvo concidered a luxury car ?

[dj898]

My question exactly.
Recently our fed lowered the luxury car tax threshold in the bid to rack up more revenue...

[Bert Hardy]

A Volvo sales man told me once their cage is made of a super alloy which doesn't melt until extremely high temperatures making it really strong for cages.

I asked him how can a fireman cut you out of it?...he didn't know. (I think I knew the answer but didn't say)

On a more useful note you could try looking at http://www.ancap.com.au/

It's the official safety site in Oz...it might help you decide on safety which will steer you a limited selection making it easier to decide...i.e. forget the frills and stick to the basics for your kids....

You could always buy portable DVDs to hang on the seats for the kids..they're cheap.....you can always buy the best of breed satnav for a few hundred aussie bucks rather than take the manufacturers choice...integrated is nice tho...

When I was buying my car here some folk recommended a broker, which was a new concept to me but normal in Oz...you'll know all this of course...

[dj898]

thanks mate.
to thing is missus has been driving Volvo for many years and she's been hinting that she wanted another Volvo. So the choice was pretty much made - the question was should I get XC70 or XC60 which is newer model. Given the price I went for XC60 since she made it clear that she wouldn't be driving Diesel...

The thing that caught me by surprise was all those taxes and etc. that was much higher than I was expecting. -__-;

And apart from City Safety most of the safety features were part of pack which I had no choice but included along with few unwanted extras like bluetooth connection...