Best new buys for your bucks

Photo / Supplied

Is your old runabout is on its last wheels?

When it comes time to replacing their vehicles, New Zealanders often overlook the benefits of buying a new car.

For a start, buying off the shop floor means getting all the latest offerings in driver comfort, performance, fuel economy and those all-important safety benefits.

These days, new car warranty programmes generally last a minimum of three years or 100,000km (whichever comes first), so there is the bonus of only having to budget for general servicing once a year after driving out of the dealership.

You can forget about those unpleasant and expensive surprises that older cars can develop at the most inconvenient time.

If you need a small to mid-size car, chances are buying and running a new vehicle may well be within your reach.

So what is available if we lock in $25,000 as the maximum price?

For this exercise we have only looked at vehicles with automatic transmissions as they are the most popular options for new car buyers.

In general, a vehicle with manual transmission can be bought more cheaply.