Large under $45K

1st Holden Commodore Evoke

For our local Lion, going out at the top of its game beats fading into obscurity hands down. Not only is the VFII a superbly honed version of a locally developed legend that’s been around for more than a decade, it still stacks up as great value. The entry-level Evoke V6 starts by being a bit less costly than its podium ma mates, and backing that with slightly better resale. Predicting the actual future values o of the last Aussie-built, reardrive Commod Commodores is potentially tricky. Will used values slu slump when the new model arrives? WeW think so. But will they rise se again long-term? Ditto, though perhapsperh more for a mint SS-V thantha a base car. Then again, a risingris tide lifts all boats... or, erm,er cars. Meantime, the big Holden’sHo strengths lie in low- - cost insurance,in reasonable annual al fuelfue cost, and an odd nine-monthonth serviceserv interval that matches the Aurion butb not the Superb.

2nd Skoda Superb 162 TSI

The Skoda Superb is a small fish in sales terms, yet represents The New Guard. This is today’s way of doing big cars, based on modular engineering, frontdrive and a downsized turbo engine, the latter helping it do its best work in the fuel- cost column.

3rd Toyota Aurion AT-X

A Toyota sedan remains a rock-solid ownership proposition, though big cars have neverneve been greatg at holding their value, as the Aurion’s 31 percent threeyear Glass’s resale figure illustrates. The $776 annual insurance is 11 bucks less than the Commodore Evoke’s.