u/lolman7530

Hi everyone,

I recently posted over on r/CarsAustralia debating whether to stick with a premium ICE hatch (Mazda 3 Astina) or make the switch to an EV. After reviewing the feedback and doing numbers on running costs, my wife and I have come to the conclusion that jumping into an EV makes total sense for our situation.

We have a strict budget of $40,000 AUD and we want to buy brand new to secure full factory warranty piece of mind.

Our situation:

Commute: Pretty straightforward 30km total daily round-trip. Mostly flat city roads with surprisingly little stop-and-go traffic.

Charging: We live in a rental house in Perth, but we are lucky enough to have access to a standard 10A socket right in the garage, which should easily top up our daily usage overnight.

Body style: We firmly prefer hatchbacks or low-riding sedans over SUVs.

Financing: My wife has access to a Novated Lease, which seems highly attractive due to the FBT exemption on EVs in Australia. However, we are a bit cautious/concerned about the high interest rates/fees some leasing companies bake into the deals.

We've narrowed down the new car market under $40k to these specific models, and we’d love your real-world feedback on which one would be the smartest pick:

1 BYD Dolphin Premium
2 MG4 EV
3 GAC Aion UT. 
4 GWM Ora
5 BYD Atto 1

Our questions:
1 which one will be a better choice ?
2 For those who went down the Novated Lease route recently—did the FBT savings fully outweigh the higher interest rates?

Would love to hear from owners of any of these models. Cheers!

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are looking to upgrade our current daily driver and could use some advice on whether to stick with an ICE car or jump into an EV in today's market.

Our current situation:
Current car: 2014 Volkswagen Golf MK7 1.4 TSI. Aside from the notorious DSG dry-clutch issues, we actually love the car. It’s fuel-efficient, spacious enough, and has the perfect amount of pep for our needs.

Usage: Pretty straightforward daily commute of around 30km total, plus the usual weekend runs.

What we are looking at:
We’ve fallen in love with the 2023 Mazda 3 G25 Astina. We love the premium feel of the interior, the overall comfort, and Mazda's build quality. In terms of an ICE hatch/sedan, it ticks all our boxes.

The dilemma:
We keep seeing and hearing a lot of talk claiming that buying a brand-new or near-new ICE vehicle in 2026 is a mistake and that everyone should be shifting to EVs. So, we tried looking into our EV options with a strict budget of $40,000 AUD.

Here is what we ran into:
1 We really don't want an SUV. We prefer the driving dynamics and shape of a hatch or sedan.
2 The affordable EV market here is currently dominated by new Chinese brands (BYD, MG, GWM). While the tech is impressive, we have a bit of hesitation regarding their long-term part availability, resale value, and commitment to the Australian market over the next 5-10 years.
3 We looked into used Teslas (Model 3), but even the second-hand market is stretching past our budget—especially since we’ve been firmly advised to look only for models equipped with the AMD Ryzen processor (late 2022+), which keeps the prices up.

Given our 30km daily commute and our preference for non-SUV body shapes, would it be a bad option to just buy the Mazda 3 Astina today? Or are we missing a crucial alternative in the EV/Hybrid space that fits under $40k?
Would love to hear your thoughts, especially from anyone who made a similar choice recently. Cheers