Mmm, so Hexagon 2 isn't looking so crash-hot with these user comments. And Carrara 8 Pro too? 
Looking into Rhino and Modo, I think Modo will be the one I will seriously look into purchasing because it's the only one I can order online without a great deal of hassle. Rhino doesn't seem to recognise Australian customers for online ordering.

Does anyone have anything they have modeled and rendered in Modo, just to give me an example of what the program is capable of? Looking at the gallery for Carrara 8 Pro and even Hexagon 2 looked very impressive (but being the gallery on the website, of course they would want the images to look impressive)

One of the greatest considerations I need to make is that whichever modelling and rendering program I use, has sufficient lighting so the car looks like a car should with some gloss to the shell. Of course I could be adding some of the lighting with post-work in Photoshop, but to me, a 3D modeling and rendering program that has the end result look flat and lifeless isn't exactly what I'm after.