how about hyundai i10.

size wise viva < i10 < myvi
but 4star NCAP airbags all inside.. safety wise this is the best among all 3..
handling also better
Kappa engine 1.25cc good pick up
FC a bit on hi side, can get 10L/km
maintenance also abit hi..

2010 onwards can get 20 -25k thats like 50% of the new price.
is that cheap? but memang korean car low RV  because less popular

ok or not? never sit on one though..

Older Koreans usually have engine's that are not very powerful, reliable or with bad fuel consumption (or all 3 problems). I wouldn't recommend them as there are always other options available. With that budget in cash you can afford alot of nice B-segment cars.

2005 Perodua Myvi - it seems like the Myvi isn't going to die and be replaced by something new, so with the latest Myvi being just another facelift with all the internal parts basically the same it would be financially wise to buy an older Myvi which would be cheaper. Essentially, if you look around for one that doesn't have any engine/gearbox/aircond problems then you should be worry free, but this particular advert I pulled is less than 20k with your budget of 30k so you've got some left for minor repairs and restoration I stay minor repairs because a 10 year old used car is sure to need some TLC so full service and fluid/oil change for engine/gearbox/aircond/brakes would be needed, then maybe new brake pads, new tires, etc. That alone would set you back near to RM2000 already. But you don't need to worry much about monthly maintenance and also parts because this is still an existing model (not discontinued) so no worry about finding parts and finding cheap ones too.

2000 Honda Accord - since you're buying cash you may want to look up some of the good cars of the early 2000's or late 90's, the condition might be abit tired but a new coat of paint, some polish/wax, refreshed seats and tires would make alot of difference. Any Toyota Camry/Corolla/Altis Honda Accord/Civic would do they're all good. If you're interested to explore on this let me know.

Really depends on the model.

This Sonata was the 2006-2008 model


This Sonata is the 2009-2014 model


As you can see the 2006 model heavily influence by Japanese carmakers and looks similar to that era's Accord, while the current generation they're on their own path design wise and their own engines are in the 3rd or 4th generation. Although still a way to go before matching Japanese car makers the strides are huge. They've been able to plug the emissions and fuel economy part but performance wise still not there yet but it is getting better.

The Spectra isn't a 5 year old car, probably the last unit they sold are 5 years old but the technology they based it on is at least from 15 years ago. Let's look at the crash test performance.

2006 Kia Cerato terrible results but as expected from a still growing car maker but 2012 Kia Ceed (Cerato in Malaysia) scored full marks 5/5 stars, a big difference in only 6 years. So which is why I don't recommend older Koreans as their engine performance is below par for the fuel they burn which means higher fuel cost and also safety wise is night and day.

2004 Kia Picanto is like a death trap, the test was with side impact airbags along with driver and passenger airbags (all of which I think are missing from the ones sold here) then with all those bags it only barely score enough to be road worthy.

So what's your budget again? I'll think of the best for what you can afford.