With life seemingly ever more hectic these days, most people don't have the time, money or energy to keep fixing problems with their car. So if you're on a limited budget, a good plan when buying a car is to choose one that is well known for its reliability. These vehicles do not tend to be that exciting though but they do perfectly fine for every day commuting or even for long distance travelling such as going on a holiday trip.
Toyota Corolla
The Corolla is the bread and butter of Toyota's range of vehicles. By which I mean it's not that awe inspiring to many but they sell lots of them and for good reason. In New Zealand you can get an early year 2000 Corolla with around 60,000km on the clock for as low as $10,000. You may need to shop around to get it at this price but it's worth the work if you're going to save yourself some money. Of course the price should drop considerably with higher km on the clock.
I recommending keeping the km below 130,000 and I wouldn't get anything much older than 2000. You will probably save money initially but if the vehicle turns out to have a number of problems then it may cost you more than you saved. It's a great four door sedan which a family can be quite comfortable on a long journey.
Honda Civic
This is another extremely reliable car if well maintained obviously. Again, something in the very early 2000 year range is good with a km below 130,000 km is a good choice. Like the Corolla, this isn't a huge car but I believe a family with two or three children could be quite comfortable and it's in a similar price range as the Corolla.
Nissan Almera Tino
This manufacturer builds cars which often go on for kilometer after kilometer. It's usually the rust which calls the end of life for a Nissan with the engine still going strong. The Almera in the year range of 2000 to 2006 is one such car. Keep it maintained regularly and you would be quite unlucky to have major mechanical problems for a long time. You'll usually have a better drive with an equally priced Corolla but the Almera is still one of the most reliable cars around for the price, which is usually around the same or cheaper than the Corolla.
Summary
Like most vehicles, their reliability can be greatly affected by the quality and frequency of their maintenance. If you don't know what to look out for when buying your car then bring a friend who does. Your friend might be able to spot a problem with the vehicle saving yourself the hassle of fixing the car later.
One of the ways to find and buy cars for low costs is to use a company which imports their vehicles from Japan. Have a look into the http://www.autoco.co.nz/ company who regularly imports hundreds of vehicles from Japan and sells them at very competitive prices.
Auto Co can also offer competitive finance options when you purchase your car through them. You can learn more via their finance page at http://www.autoco.co.nz/car-finance.html which also lets people apply online.
My personal choice is the Corolla, especially one that has less km on the clock. I'd rather pay a little extra and be more certain that I'll have a decent amount of kilometers before I have to worry about buying another vehicle.
