Best Value Cars
Gallery 1
Korean marques again take the cake
1. Kia Rondo Si THERE’S more than one way to skin a people-mover, and that’s just on the podium. While our winner embodies old-school MPV values, others here are commercials doing passenger-car duty.
The Rondo has cropped up more than once at the pointy end of the Gold Star Awards, and it’s clear why. The $32,790 Korean bus is a cheap way of carting the family, and efficient as well, thanks to a 6.4L/100km turbo-diesel. Resale is reasonable and insurance is cheap-as. Then there’s Kia’s long service interval and five-year* warranty.
2. Hyundai iMax 2.5 CRDi SLX THE split between Hyundai’s huge eight-seater, a passenger version of its iLoad van, and third place was close. Size should make your decision clear.
3. Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Comfortline GOLF-DERIVED (up front, at least) Caddy, like iMax, has workhorse origins, but it drives like a hatch. Terrific 70 percent three-year retained value.
*STOP PRESS: Since pubication of this article, Kia has increased its warranty to seven years/unlimited kilometres
| People-mover <$60k | Purchase Price | Comb. Fuel (L/100km) | Fuel RON (min. rec.) | 3-year fuel cost | Redbook resale (%) | 3-year deprec. | AAMI insurance prem. | Service interval (months) | Warranty (years) |
| Kia Rondo Si | $32,790 | 6.4 | D | $3868 | 60 | $13,116 | $1044.91 | 12 | 5 |
| Hyundai iMax 2.5 CDRi SLX manual | $41,490 | 8.1 | D | $4895 | 69 | $12,862 | $1085.49 | 12 | 5 |
| Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Comfortline | $39,990 | 5.8 | D | $3505 | 70 | $11,997 | $1106.62 | 12 | 3 |
Notable classmates: Citroen C4 Grand Picasso, Honda Odyssey VTi / Number of cars crunched: 10
