Best Wagons

I want to thank Subaru for honoring and replacing my touch screen as it was 2 months out of warranty and they replaced my head unit due to and… Read more

delaminating interior part of screen. 10k unit I’m a very happy customer their service at Brookvale was amazing and very understanding, thank you Subaru.

INEOS Quartermaster Review I don’t buy a vehicle on a whim. By the time I stepped into the INEOS Quartermaster, I’d done my homework—owners’… Read more

reports, recalls, forums, and the odd grumble from tyre-kickers. My last ute was a Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior, and while it did the job, I wanted something sturdier for work across Western Australia. The Quartermaster ticked the boxes.

From the start, the build quality stood out. Shut the door and you notice the heft; look closer and even the hinges seem over-engineered. Inside, the Recaro leather seats are supportive and heated, visibility is excellent, and the infotainment screen is clear and easy to use—either via touch or the BMW iDrive dial. The sound system, with the optional subwoofer, is properly impressive.

On the road, the BMW straight-six diesel and ZF 8-speed auto make for smooth, powerful driving. For a 2.7-tonne ute, 0–100 in around nine seconds is remarkable. It’s quiet, comfortable, and stable—even on twisty roads—yet it feels perfectly at home off-road with Carraro axles, locking diffs, and Eibach coils. Fuel use has averaged between 8.3L and 11.8L/100 km, depending on load and driving style.

A few owners complain about quirks, like the raised floor hump or the steering not fully self-centring. Personally, the hump works nicely as a footrest, and I stopped noticing the steering within a week. As for the turning circle—better than a LandCruiser 70, so no complaints.

What makes this vehicle stand out is the component list: Brembo brakes, BMW’s reliable B57 engine, ZF gearbox, Tremec transfer case, Eaton lockers. It’s a line-up you’d normally expect spread across several high-end brands, not all in one vehicle.

I use it daily for work, but the truth is I find excuses to drive it. It’s not just a tool—it’s a pleasure. If I had to sum it up: the INEOS Quartermaster is tough, comfortable, and confidence-inspiring. Not perfect, but close enough that I can’t wipe the grin off my face.

(And no, before you ask, it won’t be swapped for an Aston this year—apparently practicality matters at home too.)

Excellent, but not perfect, family car – We have now completed 27000kms in our 2023 Volvo V60, and there are a few things that stand out and a few things not so much. The good: - This… Read more

vehicle looks amazing, I think it is well-proportioned and has a classy style. - The seats are super comfortable, adjustable in every way and heated and cooled - great for long journeys. - The suspension tune is excellent for a passive setup, it's soft and comfortable without being wallowy and it feels quite athletic in the bends. It makes a great highway cruiser. - The extra clearance is great for dirt roads and campsites. - The optional Bowers and Wilkins sound system is absolutely phenomenal; you have to hear it to believe how good it is. - Volvo's service department has been good so far, with excellent service, attention to detail, and free courtesy cars for the day. - The native Android system is excellent, Waze and Maps both work great on the central display and there are plenty of apps to keep you occupied while waiting in the car (YouTube, Netflix etc) or for music (Spotify, Deezer) - The car is connected so you can lock/unlock your car from your phone, start it up, check the range and its location and also do OTA software updates. Handy on cold mornings! - The active safety systems are really good, apart from the odd moment where the auto steering function gets confused by turning lane markings. One cool feature is the adaptive cruise shows you what speed the car in front is going as you approach it from behind.

The performance of the 2.0L turbo 4 cylinder is adequate, not much else. It has enough power for any task without being exciting and is tuned for an excellent torque spread so it's never thrashy. You never really need more power than it has, but the chassis could easily handle another 50 or 60kw. The 8-speed gearbox is smooth if a little slow at the limit, but again - perfect for everyday use.

The car is refreshingly simple, with the only drive mode being an offroad mode, and all the features of the vehicle being intuitive and easy to read.

The downsides: - The driver's display could be so much better, it's a fully digital display but not at all customisable. You can't have the trip computer displayed all the time, and only native Google Maps is displayed if Google Maps is active on the centre screen - Waze or Carplay can't be replicated on the driver's display. Thankfully the graphics are clear and easy to read, and there's an excellent head-up display as well. - The car is actually quite small; in fact, my previous car, a Skoda Octavia hatch, had a larger boot and more roomy backseat, and that wasn't even a wagon version. Rear seat space is compromised especially in leg and foot room, and the boot is fairly short for a wagon. I guess I could have gone with the V90 wagon but unfortunately, that is discontinued in Australia. - So far nothing has gone wrong with it apart from a couple of really weird electronic glitches; once setting off on an early morning trip, the car started and the driver display all appeared to work, but we soon noticed the HVAC system and heated seats weren't working, there was no sound coming from the indicators (!) and the cruise control wasn't working. After fiddling around for ages, turning the car on and off and all the rest, were were able to reset the centre display and it all came back to life. The other time the dash lit up with all sorts of warning signs for a couple of minutes and then they all turned off. Finally, and this is the most annoying, the Bluetooth audio often has no sound, especially if my wife and I both have Bluetooth on on our phones; to fix it we have to switch from one phone to the other and back again to get sound... not a huge deal but just frustrating. - The reversing camera defaults to the 360-degree view instead of a reversing camera, then you have to tap the screen and tap the rear camera icon to get it to show up. Why can't it default to the reversing camera, or the forward-facing camera if you're going forwards?

Overall though, these problems aren't deal breakers and we're very happy with the comfort, style and usability of the V60 Cross Country so far.

*Update January 25 We're now up to 40,000km and enjoying our Volvo. It's done all types of work, including city commuting, long interstate road trips, unsealed backroads to our favourite beaches etc. Haven't had any more funny glitches, the software updates keep rolling through fairly regularly over the air. The last software update included Android Auto (wired though) which never gets used as the native system is so good. We haven't had any mechanical issues either, and our dealer (Essendon Volvo) has been fantastic to deal with. I also have to mention that the B5 mild hybrid system really seems to be a marketing gimic and here's why: - It certainly doesn't help the fuel consumption much - its a thirsty little car, averaging 8.5L/100km over the last 7000kms, with a lot of that being highway trips (average speed 65km/h). Around-town trips are often over 10L/100km. - It doesn't do anything for performance, indeed the previous T5 powerplant without the hybrid bits has slightly more power than this new B5 version. So in my view the 48V system only adds weight, complexity and cost for the sake of being able to put the word "hybrid" in the brochure. Unfortunately, the bluetooth glitches and silly reversing camera setup persists, and annoy me every time!

a manual V8 just something about them an absolute pleasure to drive it almost as it an extension of your physical being – I drive this car as a daily driver, and simply fits with my needs depending on the moment it can instantly become the "Beast" when needed it has got… Read more

me out of the occasional tight spot, goes with out saying that very few 4 door sedans out there provides this sort of flexibility. I would classify it as the best allrounder I have owned it for 6 years its regularly serviced, I don't find the servicing cost to be unusually excessive when you consider it a performance vehicle that needs special and regular oil servicing to keep it at its peak performance. would certainly recommend it to anyone that needs 4 door's 5 seats sedan V8 with 420 horses! finally price I paid 42K it has also appreciated in value if I were considering selling that's a big IF, would envisage sale at 52K to 55K. not only have I driven it for 6 years but actually have an investment gain on the purchase price.

I am in love with my car – The car looks brilliant, glides over country roads, is quiet, very economical, understated, has excellent features and accessories, internal leather… Read more

is first class, the entertainment system is excellent, and the colour - the colour sapphire blue is WOW.

I bought the Skoda as a demonstrator, it was 18 months old, I have had the car just over 3 years, it has now done 92,000KM. It is a great car, loaded… Read more

with equipment and tech, with plenty of space and a huge practical boot. My previous car was a VW Arteon, a very similar car on the same platform, surprisingly the Skoda is more comfortable than the VW.

I have used the car for work doing sales calls etc. as well as commuting and personal use around Melbourne and regular trips to Bendigo, also several road trips to Adelaide, Brisbane and Northern NSW, after driving 1100 KM in a day I still felt fine no aches at all. Now retired and living in Bendigo we still do weekly trips to Melbourne and road trips so it is well used.

I have the car serviced at Deer Park Skoda, where I purchased it, they have been a pleasure to deal with, a very helpful team. I bought it with a 4 year service pack and have just bought a new 4 year service pack, this gives some peace of mind, as does the 7 year warranty and the included roadside assist. I have had no warranty claims, just routine maintenance, I have only had to pay for the usual, brakes, wiper blades and tyres.

If you are looking for a car and like me don't want an SUV, the Skoda might be the car for you, I would definitely recommend Skoda

I'll start with one thing. Seeing these are now getting up there in kms. If you can't do your own mechanicals.... probably don't buy one. I… Read more

purchased one last week with known issues. Peugeot quoted $1500 to replace a broken throttle body which is a common problem. I fixed it with epoxy putty for $18. The timing belt is due. Old owner was quoted $1000. I'll do it myself for $300. The window regulators are made out of French cheese. But parts are cheap on ebay. Now with that outn of the way...... I LOVE THIS CAR. It handles and drives like a dream. The 2.0 hdi and aisin transmission are known to be very reliable. It's very good on fuel. With mixed city and hwy about 6.5L 100. Ive seen 5.5 on highway driving. The seats are supet comfy. The stereo is great even in the base model.

Fingers crossed it serves me well.

The ultimate family car – It's already achieved modern classic status. But I needed to verify for myself if the RS6 is really all that, or just a product of car enthusiast… Read more

hype.

The RS6 is far from being affordable and accessible for the masses, but if you are one of the lucky few to be able to buy one of these, you are looking at the ultimate family car.

Modern day performance SUVs are heavily compromised. They have to use a lot of engineering to overcome a little thing called physics. Combine weight and a higher centre of gravity, and you'll need a lot more power and technical wizardry to achieve what the RS6 can do.

It's a traditional long roof wagon in style. There is no longer a RS6 sedan available, but the RS6 name lives on in wagon form.

The C7 generation was the last pure petrol platform, before the C8, which has now adopted a mild-hybrid system. The C9 generation is expected to take the form of a plug-in hybrid or even as a pure EV.

The RS6 is stunning to just stare at. Massive wheels, brakes larger than my Abarth's wheels, and a muscular body give this family car supercar status.

It stands out amongst the Lamborghini Urus, Porsche Cayennes, and Audi RSQ8s of the world too. It's wildly practical in the boot and second row, but that middle seat is a bit tight for most.

There's plenty of screens up front to take control of the RS6 too, and a whole lot of very real carbon fibre.

The interior definitely is a sense of occasion. There are RS specific graphics, badges, seats and door sills.

There's a lot of customisation in the driving experience. I especially love how you can engage efficiency mode which will shut down half the V8 engine and reduce fuel consumption by running as a 4 cylinder motor.

The sheer amount of power and torque this car has will melt the faces of your passengers when you unleash it all (responsibly of course).

I love the look of the wheels here, but they are fairly impractical. I can guarantee almost every daily driven Audi RS6 will have scratches on these wheels as this is ridiculously easy to do.

Despite having less tyre wall, the air suspension does a great job of offering a comfortable ride when you want it, but also a race-car stiff level of reponsiveness too.

To help with cornering and manoeuvring, you have all-wheel steering. It works incredibly well and makes moving this longer wagon a lot easier than going without this feature.

If you are in the market for a performance family car, I dare you to choose this SUV antidote. It looks cooler, drives better and is still just as practical as an SUV...unless you actually use your SUV for heading off-road.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

After owning a BMW E39 525i for many years I was concerned about driving experience of moving to a front drive 2025 20th Anniversary Edition Mazda 6… Read more

2.5l turbo. First drive dispelled my concerns completely. The 6 is a real match with the E39 for ride, comfort and handling the steering and driving dynamics and the boot is huge. The 2.5 turbo engine is a revelation with bags of torque and more than adequate power with reasonable cruising fuel economy of better than 7l/100kms. The automatic transmission is one of the best I have ever experienced with almost imperceptible shifts and smooth power delivery and much better than most of the CVVT's out there. My purchase was based on the Japanese build quality of the Mazda (second to none), reliability, availability of parts and servicing. The interior of the 6 is spacious and a beautiful place to inhabit for long distance driving. Minor issues such as lack of traction control (careful with the throttle from a standstill on wet roads) and the age of the MZD infotainment system are minor irritations that one can live with. To borrow an old Jaguar marketing slogan "Grace, pace and space"

This is a gentle giant, Titanium TDi wagon. Drives well, economical, spacious and comfortable. Size is comparable to a Falcon. Luggage area greater… Read more

than Holden. Ford dealer serviced yearly since new. No concerns at 90,000 + KMs. Love the diesel engine, just purrs on the highway. Melbourne Western Suburbs to Adelaide City centre, 2 pax plus luggage, topped up at Horsham and refilled in Adelaide. Unfortunately, there is nothing out there to replace it, an SUV is not my scene. Not at all interested in electric cars or Chinese. Might have to be a Mazda 6 wagon.

Is there less than 1 star? I had a BMW 316i 2015 start falling apart as soon as its hit 75000kms. Everything went wrong from coolant, leaking oil and… Read more

now drivetrain. BMW refused to help although the car has been serviced by them until now. My friend had a Deawoo which is a better car than this BMW. Please avoid buying this so call luxury prestige car waste of money. No service and no quality. I refused to buy another BMW even if they sell it to me for $10000. Lots of stresses the day I got this lemon BMW. Less stress dont own a BMW

Great car - Hyundai have come along way. I Totally recommend this genesis model :) Show details

Best Car I have ever driven – This is a drivers car with a very responsive 3 litre Twin Turbo 6 cylinder automatic (also with Flappy paddle). So many drivers aid options you can… Read more

only get on more recent model cars. Eco/Sports mode. Lane assist, park assist. I drive this car for fun although occasionally i like to ferry the in-laws so it suits both racing and cruising. Fuel economy is always around 9.5 litres per 100 km although on the sedate long freeway runs i have attained 7.4 litres. I have had the car for 3 years and am still discovering all the features (like retuning automatic transmission). My criteria for a motor vehicle was it had to be rear wheel drive, with a bit of power that was fun to drive. Not disappointed in any way. Genuine parts and servicing can be on the expensive side though. My $1200 service at Mercedes cost $400 with local mechanic.

The 2025 Octavia is not a bad car, its roomy and reliable. Its just that Skoda have somehow made it not as good as its predecessor ( my wife has a… Read more

2020 model). The 2025 model, has a less logical software layout, the previously pretty intuitive steering wheel controls have been replaced by a confusing hodge podge, the touch screen is bigger, but the font sizes are smaller, some display options have been removed. There's an interior light behind the mirror which cannot be completely turned off ( distracting when driving in the country), the user manual has been partially replaced by a machine translated searchable database, so your pretty much on your own in terms of trying to figure things out. To top it off, the fuel consumption appears to be about 7-10% worse than before. Apparently a number of options can be controlled through the myskoda app. The app has not been rolled out in Australia. Honestly - find a good used one, or grit your teeth and get a Camry, or buy electric .......

Do not trust Volkswagen – Many issues but biggest concern is the blatant denial of warranty. Do not ever buy a Volkswagen. We had a warranty issue with the air conditioning… Read more

vent (it came off when we went to move the vent). Car was 5 days old and we didn’t for a second think there would be any issue as it was obviously installed correctly. However, when taken to the dealer the request for repair was denied because the head office didn’t believe it could have been a manufacturing fault. This was despite the dealer mechanic saying it was and us having brought the part with us that was undamaged just not attached anymore. We hope nothing more serious happens with the car because clearly the warranty isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. Buyer beware, Volkswagen cannot be trusted. We will never purchase from them (or any of their subsidiary companies) again.

Look the care is probably well intentioned. however the company has clearly extended the features beyond their skillset and the design is dreadful,… Read more

so things just don't work. Every time I take it out it feels like I have to fight my car.

This is my third - I owned a C350e and a C300e before but the new 2025 C350e is nothing like its predecessors. The designers have attempted to make the car so sophisticated without thinking things through that a previously wonderful model is one you will regret buying. I've gone from a brand-loyal advocate to a "never again" person who wants my 5-year old trade-in back.

There is no enjoyment with this car - driving/fighting it is a high stress experience in which you have to assume it's about to do something st^pid and that is not what you want.

For example:

1. It's supposed to be a hybrid but it often does not charge because the company remotely sends updates and every time they run they delete all my preferences and resets the vehicle to a factory default ("do not charge the battery"). Might sound like a little annoyance but the controls are so enormously complex that it takes a good half hour to turn charging back on. Not only that but having the vehicle silently reset itself to "default no charge period - 24 hours" is just so st^pid that it illustrates the poor level of design thinking inherent in the model. Worse, it means you leave it on charge and then take out out only to find you may not have the miles you expected because there is no warning that "I decided to stop being a hybrid last night".

2. Aside from charging, other settings just randomly reset. For example recently it just turned off folding the wing mirrors - no warning. It was dangerous and again took a good half hour to fix.

3. Tyres are very expensive and low quality. The first blow out was less than a day after collection. I had to get the vehicle towed as there is no spare. No dealers stock their tyres so I had to buy not one but TWO tyres - one to drive me to a place to get the Mercedes one. It cost well over a thousand dollars and I was left stranded by a road for hours.

4. I've given up attempting to use the radio. It is so hard to turn it on or off that it's a hazard.

5. It has an "answer phone" button. yesterday my phone had an incoming call. the car detected it - ringing was even brought up on the overhead display (and the system speakers) but the "answer" button on the steering wheel did nothing. Instead you need to click through about 5 or 6 screens on the console and even if that *were* possible before the call diverts to voicemail (it isn't) it's hazardous.

6. It randomly slams on the brakes and comes to a stop with sirens blaring as if you have hit a wall. It turns out it has an "emergency brake" that is triggered by all sorts of normal environmental things including a change in the angle of a road. My driveway is not a particularly steep one, but because an angled drive meets a level road, the brakes slam on at the bottom of the drive with screaming sirens designed to leave you shaken for the rest of the trip. It has already left me with a cut head by slamming on the brakes so hard while I was doing a shoulder check I was thrown against the window. It has slammed brakes on for other things too - I don't know what they are but you can be doing 40 and suddenly go from 40 to 0 (with screaming alarms and being thrown against windows) for no obvious reason at all. Fortunately that's less common but it does happen. Probably because the camera mistook something.

7. You literally have to "log in" to the vehicle to use it. There is an (undocumented) setting buried way down inside that lets you tun that off but it's the stupidest setting ever. You want to get in the car and drive it, but no. it wants you to enter your password? Seriously?? Don't ask me how I turned it off - I could never repeat the process but it did take multiple calls and a good hour of hunting.

8. It claims to read speed signs. It doesn't. It's right maybe 70% of the time but is wrong often enough that you just can't assume it's right ever so it's simply a distraction when it starts flashing at you for "speeding" when you aren't or randomly decides that it wants to go at 20kph more than the top speed limit anywhere in the state! Since you simply cannot use it, what's the point of this feature at all??

I could go on...

Frankly the 2025/6 C350e is a poorly designed and unsafe car due to the level of stress it delivers. Don't buy it and wait until they fix its design flaws.

BMW markets itself as a leader in engineering and innovation. But my experience has shown otherwise. The factory-fitted alarm system failed to… Read more

activate after a significant impact — something any budget aftermarket system would have detected. This isn’t just a small flaw, it’s a complete failure of the technology that BMW sells as a safety feature.

BMW’s response has been dismissive, with no genuine attempt to resolve the issue. Customers buy BMW for peace of mind, but what you get instead is false advertising and no accountability.

For anyone considering BMW, ask yourself: what good is luxury if the brand doesn’t stand behind its own promises?

This is worst machine that still exists on this planet....notorious for its transmission, Machatronics , Oil leak, Engine failures and water pump etc… Read more

issues.. Even after issues are rectified and fixed these may reappear anytime, repair costs is in thousands and above all VW post service is pathetic

Nice to drive car with ongoing fan issue – I have had this car 12 m. The car is used on some short commutes but also long weekend drives. The car is currently with Audi again who claim they cannot find the fault yet I have video evidence. Guess Audi plus warranty is a useless piece of paper Show details

Appalled – I have a ford focus trend and so far it's had an engine change,a new ball joint the clutch is going so is the catylitic converter,no one will accept… Read more

it for a trade in .Stay away from these abominations and buy a Toyota Mazda Kia Hyundai even a great Wall anything but a Ford.Full Of Rust and Dirt.

Look is decent and the drive is decent. But reliability of these Peugeots is atrocious. In the five years we owned the car we had it in the workshop… Read more

at least once every year. We needed to have it towed four times over the last couple years. In the end -- despite meticulous (and expensive) servicing at a Peugeot dealer -- we suffered a catastrophic engine damage at 160,000km. A second-hand engine was quoted by the Peugeot workshop at $8k , which was about as much as the car would have been worth. But not before we shelled out another $1.5k in repairs (the damage had already been done to the cylinder) that was meant to fix the issue but merely prolonged the life of the car by a couple weeks. Would never buy a Peugeot again. Disappointed by the car and Peugeot service.