Best Cars

What is the best car for you and how do you find it? With the incredible choice of models in the Australian market, there are over 400 models being offered, it is a difficult, and sometimes confusing, task to establish which is the best car for you. When purchasing a new car the most important thing is to be clear on where you are going to use your vehicle and what it its main purpose will be. Is your new car going to spend most of its time in an urban environment picking up children from school and running the family around? Is it going to be used for towing? Will it be used offroad? How many passengers are you going to be carrying regularly? How much luggage will you need to carry regularly? How many kilometres are you going to travel each year?

When you have answered these questions you will have a better idea of whether a small, medium or large sedan or hatch will be the best car to suit your needs or whether you need to be looking at an SUV or even a people mover. It should also provide you with a better understanding of whether you need a car that is powered by a petrol, diesel or hybrid engine or, maybe a fully electric powered car will suit your needs.

To help you find the best car to suit your needs CarAdvice has selected its top five best cars across every category in the new car market. Whether you are looking to buy your first car, need something for work or looking for that dream car to reward years of hard work CarAdvice can help you make the right decision. In creating our list of the top five best cars in the various categories we have looked at the features each car offers along with its performance, comfort, practicality and most importantly value for money.

To keep things simple, CarAdvice has selected its top five best cars in all the same categories Australia’s peak motoring body, The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, uses to track new car sales. This means we have picked Australia’s Top Five Best Cars in 28 different categories – Micro cars, Light cars under and over $25,000, small cars under and over $40,000, medium cars under and over $60,000, large cars under and over $70,000, upper-large cars under and over $100,00, sports cars under $80,000 between $80,000 and $200,000 and over $200,000, people movers over and under $60,000, small SUVs under and over $40,000, medium SUVs under and over $60,000, large SUVS under and over $80,000 and upper-large SUVs under and over $100,000. We have also listed our top cars in the 2WD ute and 4WD ute markets as well as small, medium and large commercial vans.

Most Popular Cars

Traditionally, the passenger car market has been where most Australians have shopped for their new car but in more recent times the SUV segment has become increasingly popular. In 2016 passenger car sales exceeded SUVs by a small margin but early indications are showing that SUV sales may exceed passenger car sales for the first time in 2017. This is the category where many Australians are looking for their family car with medium and large SUVs where most are landing. It is not surprising to see the medium to large SUVs are so popular given that the large passenger car was once the king of sales with large Australian built sedans leading the way.

Over the past decade the large car market has steadily diminished as those buyers moved into the medium and large SUV segment chasing a car that provided more versatility, a higher ride height and perceived better safety.

If we are not in the market for an SUV the small, light and medium car segments are where we are turning. With the size of cars constantly growing vehicles in the small and medium segment are now the same size as “large” cars once were with plenty of room for five passengers and their luggage. These vehicles also often offer the option of sedan or hatch bodystyles and many brands also have a wagon version as well.

The micro market, is the entry-level segment and has its attractions because they are the most affordable new cars to both purchase and own. They are well suited to first car buyers or those people live in the inner-city and are looking for a second vehicle.

There will always be families who need extra seating room to either cater for their own children or the regular run to weekend sport and CarAdvice has listed its top five best cars in Australia in the people mover category. Like many of the other categories we have also separated this segment into different price levels giving the same helpful information to those shopping with different budge restrictions.

Speaking of popular, we have also included utes, both 2WD and 4WD in our hunt of Australia’s best cars.

The ute is now not only the vehicle of choice for many tradesman but it sought after as a recreational vehicle that can be used to take the family on adventure holidays or for towing. The ute is now a popular site in caravan parks around Australia with Grey Nomads seeing them as a more practical, and cheaper, option to the more traditional wagon body style SUV.

While finding the best car for you and your family may be a tough, and confusing task, with a little research, with the help of the CarAdvice best cars lists, you should be able to find a new car that is going to fulfill all your requirements. Once you have decided on the best car for you it is just a matter of making sure you complete the task by getting the deal on your new car while also getting the best price for your current car whether you are using it as a trade-in or selling it privately.