The safest car color is white. White vehicles have a 12% lesser chance of accident involvement than black vehicles under all weather and lighting conditions. White provides a lot of contrast between the vehicles and their surroundings, making these cars easy for other motorists to see.
Silver and black round out the top three color choices and medium/dark gray advanced 5% last year to take fifth place.
- White – 19.3%
- Silver – 18%
- Black – 12.4%
- Med. Dark Blue – 11.4%
- Med. Dark Gray – 7.5%
- Med. Red – 7.1%
- Med. Dark Green – 6.7%
- Light Brown – 5.1%
5 steps to buying a car
- Choose a good make and model. Choose a more reliable model with highly satisfied owners.
- Choose new or used.
- Inspect and test drive.
- Check the paperwork and finances.
- When it goes wrong.
The next most popular vehicle is the heartland favourite the Toyota Hilux with a total of 8086 registrations.
Here are the Top 10 NZ new vehicles sold in 2018:
- Toyota Corolla.
- Toyota Rav4.
- Mitsubishi Triton.
- Holden Colorado.
- Mazda CX-5.
- Nissan Navara.
- Kia Sportage.
- Suzuki Swift.
The best second hand SUVs in Australia
- Holden Equinox. While the Holden Equinox was a comparatively late entrant into the medium-sized SUV market, it has quickly established itself as one of the very best.
- Mazda CX-5.
- Honda CR-V.
- Hyundai Tucson.
- Holden Trailblazer.
- Mazda CX-9.
- Hyundai Santa Fe.
- Mitsubishi Pajero Sport.
That said, here are the nine SUVs Consumer Reports picked as safe bets for used vehicle shoppers on a budget in 2018.
- Toyota Venza. 2011 Toyota Venza | Toyota.
- Honda CR-V. 2010 Honda CR-V | Honda.
- Toyota 4Runner. 2010 Toyota 4Runner | Toyota.
- Mazda CX-5. 2015 Mazda CX-5 | Mazda.
- Toyota Highlander.
- Acura RDX.
- Toyota RAV4.
- Lexus RX.
10 of the Most Economical SUVs for Cost-Conscious Customers
- Mazda CX-3.
- Jeep Patriot.
- Jeep Renegade.
- Fiat 500X.
- Dodge Journey.
- Nissan Rogue Select.
- Mitsubishi Outlander Sport.
- Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.
Best-Selling Cars in the World
- Best-Selling Car Ever: Toyota Corolla.
- Second Best-Selling Car Ever: Volkswagen Beetle.
- Third Best-Selling Car Ever: Ford Model T.
- Most Popular in the United States: Ford F-Series.
- Second Most Popular in the United States: Chevy Silverado.
- Most Popular in Europe: 2017 Volkswagen Gulf.
These are the most affordable 2019 crossovers
- Honda. Honda CR-V.
- Mazda. Mazda CX-5.
- Volkswagen. VW Tiguan.
- Subaru. Subaru Forester.
- Ford. Ford Escape.
- Kia. Kia Sportage.
- Jeep. Jeep Compass.
- 2020 Toyota Camry. Best Cars for the Money.
- 2020 Honda Accord. With a spacious, upscale interior and dynamic performance, the 2020 Honda Accord ranks near the top of the midsize car class.
- 2020 Mazda Mazda6.
- 2020 Kia Optima.
- 2020 Nissan Altima.
- 2020 Subaru Legacy.
- 2020 Ford Fusion.
- 2020 Hyundai Sonata.
Sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a category of motor vehicles that combine elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed definition of an SUV, and usage varies between countries.
There were about 3,858,000 vehicles in New Zealand in 2015—the highest ever number, and a 5.0 percent increase from 2014 (3,675,000 vehicles) (Figure 1). Between 2000 and 2015, the number of motor vehicles in New Zealand increased by 44 percent, from 2.7 million in 2000 to almost 3.9 million motor vehicles in 2015.
New Zealand no longer assembles passenger cars. Toyota, Ford, and General Motors Holden division still dominate the new vehicle market but there were more new Mazda cars than Holden cars sold in 2018 and Ford (and Nissan) cars were no longer among the volume sellers. They were overtaken by Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki.
New Zealand's first cars
The McLean Motor Car Act 1898 legalised the operation of motor vehicles, providing they were lit after dark and did not go faster than 12 miles (20 kilometres) per hour. That year William McLean of Wellington had imported two Benz cars, New Zealand's first motor vehicles.Where are New Zealand's Cars Built?
- The top country in which the cars are built and assembled is Thailand, overtaking Japan in 2016.
- 32,511 vehicles on New Zealand roads were made in Japan.
- South Korean made vehicles (like Hyundai and Kia) represent 13.5% of the new car market in New Zealand, although some of these are made in the Czech Republic.
- Holden VF Commodore.
- Ford Territory.
- Toyota Camry Hybrid.
- Holden 48-215.
- Ford Falcon GT-HO.
- Mitsubishi Magna.
- Ford Coupe Utility.
- Holden Monaro.
The company was known as General Motors-Holden's Ltd (GM-H) – and had been since 1931. So when the company chose to name its first 'indigenous' car the 'Holden', that was the car's model name. In those days, 'Holden' was enough to identify the model and, implicitly, the brand – GM-H.
Corollas are manufactured in Japan at the original Takaoka plant built in 1966.
The Thai-built ones include the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50, Mitsubishi Triton, Holden Coloroado, Isuzu D-Max and Nissan Navara. You can also add to that the ute-based SUV models sold here, including Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Ford Everest, Holden Colorado 7, Toyota Fortuner and the Isuzu MU-X.
New Zealand is a small (population-wise) and isolated country. It means that import is expensive and there's a lack of competition in many sectors. Transportation between cities is also expensive, of course. My employer spends 11% of their budget on air tickets.
A cheap car can come for about $1000. And you can choose to pay much much more. Much of our car fleet comes second hand from Japan and we don't make cars in New Zealand.
They're cheaper in New Zealand than Australia, but not as inexpensive as in USA. And as for Singapore - just don't go there. Not only that, but our used Toyota Hilux utes are among the world's most expensive, while our used hybrids are among the least expensive.
Buying a used car in New Zealand can be a cost-effective transport option if you're planning on visiting for a few months or more. When buying a car with the purpose of selling it at the end of your visit, don't pay more than you are willing to lose – you may not end up selling it for much.
