Great value for money – I needed something small for daily use, but practical enough for the occasional tree that needs to be cut down or painting job - i.e. the car was going to see some payload! I also wanted to avoid CVT and DCT/DSG autos. It came down to a Mazda CX-30 (made in Japan), Suzuki Vitara (Made in Hungary), or..... this Venue.

At some $8k cheaper than the others for the base model ($25k on the road - it is the cheapest auto Hyundai you can buy in Australia, replacing the Accent/i20), the only things missing off the Venue compared to the Mazda and Suzuki were autonomous cruise and BSD.

But it nevertheless comes with a decent raft of features.

Cruise control - can run away quite badly on a downhill run, so keep an eye on your speed - it is NOT a set and forget unless on a flat highway. Set at 60km/h, it will go as high as 70 on a downhill.

Limiter - like the cruise, the limiter will not stop you gaining too much speed on a downhill, and will need you to use brakes, which then disengages it. Adaptive Cruise was something I was really looking forward to as I drive freeways with traffic, but it was one of the things I had to trade-off for the price as noted above. However, I have found the limiter a really great alternative (not sure if it was meant to be used this way) - I set the limiter to 100km/h, plant the foot and when I come up on traffic ease of, and plant again when clear. In fact, my legs are in a more comfortable position than when I have cruise on.

A little chime when the car ahead starts moving at intersections. It's a great feature, but over-reliance on this sometimes means you are at the head of the queue and forget the fact it is not going to go ding ding!

Lane Keep Assist (LKA) can be quite assertive at times - especially on sweeping mountain roads - the minute the car thinks your are apexing corners a little too fine, you can feel a definitive tug on the wheel and a loud chime So doing mountain roads can be a constant "ding ding" as you go from corner to corner! (I could have turned it off easily - but then it did keep me safe!)

Tyre pressure sensors - I will find out at some stage how often the battery in the transmitters need replacing.

AEB - I heard they don't work too well on the Venue, but it does warn you incessantly when it thinks you are tailgating someone or approaching a turning car too fast)

Hill control/launch control - works well when waiting uphill at traffic lights

Reverse camera - so you don't get sensors, but I am used to looking out the back window and using the mirrors, so this was a nice "upgrade" for me.

Aircon - worked fin in 36 degree temperatures we just had.

Auto lights, auto high beam - the lights stay on for a long time on auto if you park down and leave the ignition keys in, necessitating a flick to "OFF" and back to "Auto".

Apple Carplay standard. Works well and have had no drop out issues.

The other things that sealed the deal for me - which may seem rather bizarre to people - were:

An old fashioned MPFI engine. Let's face it - a century old technology (easy to maintain), no carbon build up like GDI, low pressure fuel lines.

Runs on 91 Octane fuel. Note that the dashboard indicated fuel consumption figures are about 10% lower than actual. Regardless, the fuel consumption at around 7~7.5 L/100km for mixed use (including very short runs) is very good for the type of car.

Tall, narrow tyres (by today's standards) - 185/65R15 - I have a knack of running over stuff and puncturing my tyres. I sacrifice cornering grip for sure, but really, the venue isn't going to be raced.... and the tyres are (much) cheap(er) than the competition running lower profiles. A good old fashioned Auto - no CVT or DSG here!

The only real serious practicality missing was a full size spare (which ironically the i30 gets!)

It's done 15,000 km now including metro commutes, CBD runs, and a trip to the Great Ocean Road (with 3 people on board + luggage)

It handles surprisingly well, and has decent go (again had pretty low expectations going by reviews) - sure it isn't going to do major overtakes when you are stuck behind slower traffic, but it's quite adequate IMHO.

I always thought car companies made a lot of their money with servicing, but this machine just had it's 15,000km/12 month service for $259 (fixed price thingy) . What's even more interesting is that the $259 for Hyundai includes the RACV roadside assist which normally cost me $100 per year - which means the "actual" service is like $159....