Suggestions on a runaround for elderly relative

Posting up on behalf of my uncle who's in the situation of trying to decide on a runaround that would be used by them once of twice a week to transport an elderly relative to / from hospital appointments, into town, etc and may also need to transport a carer at times too.

For the last few years he's been making use of a 58 plate Merc A180, that was already in the family, but in recent months said relative has been struggling with further health issues including lack of movement, back problems, etc, so is now struggling to get in / out of the Merc due to the height of the seat, bolstering, etc.

I've been told the criteria for a replacement car are as follows:
- not having a "big step up" into the car due to the restricted movement issues.
- the seats can't have raised / bolstered edges and need to have a fairly flat base so that it enables the fitment of a spinning disc type of mechanism that allows said relative to seat themselves facing out of the door and then swing them around to aid entry / exit from the car.
- Ideally 4 / 5 doors as the recent health issues have showed that the Merc isn't ideal due to the 3 door setup meaning the door cannot be opened fully if another car parks too closely in a bay.
- Budget of circa £3-4k as I believe the outlay will be offset by the sale of the Merc afterwards.

I'm not really that clued up on what to suggest tbh but looking at similar age cars I'd have thought that maybe the similar age to the Merc Fiesta, Polo, Fabia or Mk4 Ibiza might be worth looking at as the front seats on those base models seem to meet the flat requirements, but obviously pricing varies between the different cars.

Any other suggestions that might be worth considering?

Edit - Oops, just seen that a new forum appears to have been created recently to cover these queries, so mods feel free to move with redirect

from reading the topic title I was going to straight away say a micra or jazz. but reading the description maybe it's best to have the person with you to try getting them in/out?

Jazz, ix20, Toyota urban loser, Kia venga. They all do an old people crate these days.

Ford Fusion, we used to use them as pool cars for a couple of our care homes.

Korean cars have very long warranties, but (and I really do believe this) you cannot buy a bad car these days. Any new car will be fine, safe enough, comfortable enough, fast enough and have enough toys. And their warranties mean you can keep them that way. So buy the car you like the look of, or find the most comfortable

Nissan Juke automatic

Fiat Panda... We had the new style 4x4 for a bit, fantastic car. Would suggest going for a drive in a standard low spec one and be prepared to be pleasantly surprised.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f...

My grandfather was struggling with his mk1 focus. He would sort of 'fall' in backwards but then would have to heave himself out. He's probably 18 stone and with a couple of dicky hips and a dodgy knee so a low seating position like the focus wad bad. I told him to try a Jazz and it's made life so much easier, seat is just the right height to just rock in and out of. He bought a brand new one on the spot.

Thanks for the replies and a few alternative suggestions that I can pass on too

I know a couple of people suggested taking said relative to test the seats but unfortunately the age / lack of mobility restricts this a fair bit, so I guess it will be a case of testing a few of the options listed and making a best determination on their behalf.

I must say though, 2016 seems to have seen a bit of drop off in leftfield suggestions in these sorts of threads No mention of an MX5 or a Golf R on lease and I'm sure someone always used to pop up to suggest something American with a V8 The best in this case was a bus

Only if he wants to have it in for repair weekly. They are truly awful in terms of reliability.

Surprised the Yaris doesn't feature here. I bought one for me old mum and she's chuffed with it. Getting in and out of most cars is impossible for her.