Here's another question for the Locost community: my wife and I are considering whether to get her a little car to run around town, do shopping, and so on. She's been using our Nissan Leaf, but has found it a bit overwhelming and has had a couple of accidents with it (e.g. hitting the accelerator pedal instead of the brake - electric cars can accelerate FAST in reverse, with a LOT of power!). She also finds the vast number of gadgets, options, switches and random beeps/alarms/warning messages a bit daunting (but I love the car... ).

So we're talking about a small car, manual gearbox, preferably 5 door but 3 door acceptable if the car is especially nice, with enough boot space for typical shopping. Good all-round visibility and easy to park. Small engine, probably under 1 litre, decent mpg, but capable of doing 70mph on shortish journeys without making a meal of it. Not bothered about using it for major journeys. Not too many gadgets (she doesn't do gadgets!) or frills, but A/C and electric windows would probably be required. Don't need or want any sort of 'sport' model, and a low insurance group is probably for the best.

My problem is that I'm totally out of touch with modern-ish small cars - recently I've driven a Hyundai i10 that was quite nice, and also a Skoda Fabia that wasn't at all bad. I've had no involvement with any other makes.

Can anyone recommend some makes and models worth looking at? And any that are worth avoiding? I don't like Vauxhall, not overly impressed with Ford, and she hates Smart cars, so that narrows the field a little bit. Will probably be looking for something 3 - 5 years old, as far below £5000 as possible - I know that's an optimistic target, but you have to start somewhere.

This isn't going to happen in the very near future, but we're keen to start looking around.

Fiat Panda
It seems to fulfill your criteria. They are honest, totally unpretentious cars.

I have had a Fiat from new for 21 years and it has been generally reliable. Nothing has fallen off that I couldn't reattach by myself.

[Edited on 2/11/18 by softfeet]

I would go for a Hyundai, I have a 58 plate Getz 1.4gsi & it has been absolutely brilliant, fairly basic car, but has all the important bits like abs, pas e/windows, central locking etc. Absolutely reliable & a great little car to drive, I assume the later "i" models would be a development of the same theme - build quality is excellent

I hired a Nissan Micra recently and was quite impressed with it. Very nippy car and fair bit of room in boot.
Simple and easy to drive. Worth a look.

Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/Peugeot 107 (all the same car). Just bought a 4 year old one for our daughter to learn in and have been very impressed.

All good suggestions - keep them coming!

I had one problem with a Nissan Micra... every time I got in I walloped my knee on the driver's-side end of the lower dash! Probably totally different in later models (I hope).

Ferrari Dino, I grant you it’s only got 2 doors but it won’t loose money and you’ll enjoy driving it as well🤣

Plus one for the 107 , C1 , Aygo.

I'll 2nd the pug 107 and derivatives. Onceyou understand they are a city car and maybe a tad basic, they are just great little cars. We bought ours at almost 3 years old/13K miles for £3750. Now had it 2 1/2 years and nothing to report (apart from scuffed wheel trims and scratches that my daughters know nothing about..... In Brighton and used for short commutes in heavy traffic it is doing a little over 40mpg. Which is very good compared to other cars we have had.

There are probably plenty of other suitable candidates, but I am guessing a city car is what you want in one guise or another...

We bought a Swift - fab little car and less than £10k pre reg with 20 miles

I would say NOT a Nissan Micra, as we drive them every day, as runners, and any more than 15 miles, I always feel sick

Nissan Note, is a much ,ore refined car, and I don't seem to have any issues with them

Mazda 2

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Originally posted by perksy
Mazda 2

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A couple of blokes round here have bought their wives an MX5;

then at the weekend they "borrow" it.


Paul G

Wife's got a Honda Jazz Auto, it's become the car of choice. Over my SAAB 9-5 TID

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Originally posted by 907
A couple of blokes round here have bought their wives an MX5;

then at the weekend they "borrow" it.


Paul G

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I just bought a 3 year old Skoda Citigo 5 door. I now do around 6,000 miles per annum in a tin top and wanted something cheap to tax, capable of the high 50's mpg small engine but can still do 70 mph.

I have been pleased with it, the £20 per Tax and petrol.

Same as the VW Up and SEAT Mii, all basically the same size, as the typical city car.

There are lots to look at from Hyundai I10, Citroen C1, Peugeot 108, Toyota Aygo all very similar, I just liked the which car reviews of the Skoda.

Good luck with your choice.

Adrian

We probably average two foreign trips a year and always rent a small car each time. By far the best in recent visits was a 1.4 Polo tdi. My other half was particularly smitten. So if you want economy with quite gutsy performance (it’s no pocket rocket mind), build quality, reliability etc. and don’t mind an ’oiler’ I’d have no hesitation in recommending one.

You may have to stretch the budget a tad or settle for a slightly older example as they do hold their value.

To avoid? Well, I haven’t met a Fiesta yet that wasn’t in some way irksome.

Michael.

Another plus for the C1/107/Aygo!

I ran a C1 for 5 years and loved it.

Son has an Aygo.....he tried running it without oil with predictable results. Secondhand engine was £160 and not too bad to fit. Been running like a dream ever since!!

My wife has had a used 2012 KIA . 7 years warranty, had 4 years left when purchased. used for 2 very minor faults.
I have just bought it's first part for it, a lost wheel nut.

DO NOT GET A VW with gadgets. I use a GOLF only spoilt by the most stupid "Safety features" one could ever dream up.

I have had it slam the breaks on because it thought a shrub or tree was going to jump out in front of it!

Does Vauxhall has a version of the Chevrolet Spark on that side of the atlantic?
If so I would definitely recommend one.
I think it´s Daewoo originally

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Originally posted by rf900rush
DO NOT GET A VW with gadgets. I use a GOLF only spoilt by the most stupid "Safety features" one could ever dream up.

I have had it slam the breaks on because it thought a shrub or tree was going to jump out in front of it!

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Honda jazz
just get in and go
You will be unlucky to have any breakdowns apart from an old Battery giving out.

OK - lots of very good suggestions here. I now have a good list of cars to consider.

Now, how about the cars to avoid at all costs? Bad because of unreliability, high maintenance costs, and so on?

7's are fairly small.....great aircon...

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Originally posted by nero1701
7's are fairly small.....great aircon...

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quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
OK - lots of very good suggestions here. I now have a good list of cars to consider.

Now, how about the cars to avoid at all costs? Bad because of unreliability, high maintenance costs, and so on?

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Fair comment.

At the moment we're considering a 2013 Kia Picanto 1.0 and a 2013 Hyundai i10 1.2 - both in good nick, and both with what I call 'medium mileage' - not stupidly low, but well below 10k/year. I'm drifting towards the i10 myself, as I've driven one recently and was quite content with the way it behaved.

I'm off for a couple of test drives tomorrow, hopefully.

We (me and brothers) got (well, paid the deposit) on a new Kia Picanto 2 in Dec 2015 and it's been fab. It's quite small but I find it very comfy (being 6' and 18 stone). It's not going to set the world alight but that's not the point of it and with a 7 year warranty will probably outlast her will to carry on driving (she's 80). Our eldest son has just been put on as a named driver having passed his test three weeks ago and with Hasting Direct (tracked thingy) cost £1200 on insurance (she was paying £550 a year anyway!!!!)

First thing I'd do is have a look at the crash tests on YouTube many small & popular cars do pathetic, I picked the Fiesta watching those. The more modern versions are even better. Budget cars are great but dying in the process less so. Saying that I'd still not get my wife one for running the kids about and she can just stick with the big Volvo.

I mind a crash outside my house, it was a new Fiat 500 which had run into the back of a turning car, seriously just looked a minor shunt but amazingly the next thing the fire brigade are cutting the roof off! Seems even that little bash had pushed the steering wheel down on her trapping her legs in the car, scary.

[Edited on 5/11/18 by Mr Whippy]

AAAARGH!

Sorry, needed to let that out.

Went to look at the Picanto today... first of all, the salesman didn't seem to be too bothered to get off his backside and sell me anything. Then he said things that contradicted what another salesman had told us yesterday ("One owner. He's a regular customer. Traded in this one to buy another" - total BS). Turns out it's had 2 owners, the service history doesn't bear too much scrutiny, and the car needed a decent valet before trying to sell it (IMHO).

In the end, the whole thing just seemed too iffy and I walked away. As someone who had considered buying a Kia in the future, I shan't be visiting that dealership again.

I really hate buying cars...

Yeah I'd give that one a miss. You can do full checks on the cars MOT history through the DVLA. Anything dodgy I'd just walk away as there are load of small cars to choose from and just pick the best you can afford.

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Originally posted by GaryM
Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/Peugeot 107 (all the same car). Just bought a 4 year old one for our daughter to learn in and have been very impressed.

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three stars for a 2018 car...that's pathetic. Basically it's going to crush your legs in a crash...

Global NCAP: Kia Picanto Crash Test 2018. The Picanto achieved a three-star rating for adult occupant protection in the frontal crash test at 64km/h. The vehicle structure was rated as stable while the footwell area was rated as unstable.

Strange - the 2013 version got 4-and-a-bit stars when I looked it up the other day. Unusual to go backwards in the ratings...