Supermini for under £1500?
Discussion
I've been assigned the unenviable task to find a female friend a supermini for under £1500.
She has absolutely no interest in cars, does everything possible not to reverse and if she absolutely has to, takes bloody ages and her normal driving isn't exactly quick.
Her main criteria for what she wants from this new car is that it must be more comfortable than her old 1.1L Citroen Saxo on longer journeys, as economical as possible, petrol, manual gearbox, cheap tax/insurance, reliable and small. Other than that she's left it entirely to me to decide what to get her. Once she's done with the car she will most likely give it away like she did with the Saxo, therefore resale value is of little significance.
Adding to those criteria, I would like it to have a decent spec, so leccy windows and air con would be a bonus, under 100k mile example, rust resistant, so no Ford Ka etc and I think it would be best for it to have good all round visibility to help in any reversing situations. She has a very quirky personality, so I'd like to find her something a bit more of a left field choice than the usual Corsa/Fiesta/Polo de facto boring selection.
Best I can think of currently is either a Toyota Yaris, Fiat Panda, VW Lupo/Arosa, Honda Jazz (if in budget and possibly too big) or going slightly against the reliability box a Citroen C2 or Fiat Seicento Sporting. Have I missed anything obvious?
She has absolutely no interest in cars, does everything possible not to reverse and if she absolutely has to, takes bloody ages and her normal driving isn't exactly quick.
Her main criteria for what she wants from this new car is that it must be more comfortable than her old 1.1L Citroen Saxo on longer journeys, as economical as possible, petrol, manual gearbox, cheap tax/insurance, reliable and small. Other than that she's left it entirely to me to decide what to get her. Once she's done with the car she will most likely give it away like she did with the Saxo, therefore resale value is of little significance.
Adding to those criteria, I would like it to have a decent spec, so leccy windows and air con would be a bonus, under 100k mile example, rust resistant, so no Ford Ka etc and I think it would be best for it to have good all round visibility to help in any reversing situations. She has a very quirky personality, so I'd like to find her something a bit more of a left field choice than the usual Corsa/Fiesta/Polo de facto boring selection.
Best I can think of currently is either a Toyota Yaris, Fiat Panda, VW Lupo/Arosa, Honda Jazz (if in budget and possibly too big) or going slightly against the reliability box a Citroen C2 or Fiat Seicento Sporting. Have I missed anything obvious?
Edited by 458bhp on Thursday 27th August 12:32
If you're after a reliable cheap to run car at this price point then I'd forget about the 'left-field' criterion - you want something that's sold by the bucket load so parts are cheap and readily available. If it's going to be bought by someone who isn't after driving thrills then a Yaris seems a good bet; there'll be loads to choose from, they're more reliable than death and cheap to fix if anything does go wrong.
ETA: A quick glance at autotrader suggests that for her budget she'd get one of the last 1.3 mk1s (so 2005) with way less than 100k on it, plenty with only 50-60k still about.
ETA: A quick glance at autotrader suggests that for her budget she'd get one of the last 1.3 mk1s (so 2005) with way less than 100k on it, plenty with only 50-60k still about.
Edited by Roger Irrelevant on Thursday 27th August 13:17
I had a similar task for my mother-in-law recently, but had a budget of £2k and had to find an automatic in an interesting colour. In the end I found her a blue Yaris, which had covered 72k. She had decided along the way the only cars she liked were the Yaris, the Aygo and the Smart car. I attempted to persuade her to consider a Nissan Micra, as for some reason there were far more automatics available than the other cars, but she wasn't interested. Anyway, the point is I'd add a Micra to your list.
Woman I work with wll be looking to sell her Mini One for about that money in the next week.. Only done c.65k miles and just been put through it's MOT - albeit, probably too far for you to travel for a £1,500 car! (Sctoland!!)
However, goes to show these also fall in budget and sounds like they fit the criteria
However, goes to show these also fall in budget and sounds like they fit the criteria
ikarl said:
Woman I work with wll be looking to sell her Mini One for about that money in the next week.. Only done c.65k miles and just been put through it's MOT - albeit, probably too far for you to travel for a £1,500 car! (Sctoland!!)
However, goes to show these also fall in budget and sounds like they fit the criteria
That sounds like a bargain for a 65k MINI and I'd recommend it to the OP's friend. Ours has done almost 190,000 miles and didn't give us any real problems until around the 150k mark (gearbox rebuild/wheel bearings/radiator etc since then).However, goes to show these also fall in budget and sounds like they fit the criteria
SpeedBall said:
ikarl said:
Woman I work with wll be looking to sell her Mini One for about that money in the next week.. Only done c.65k miles and just been put through it's MOT - albeit, probably too far for you to travel for a £1,500 car! (Sctoland!!)
However, goes to show these also fall in budget and sounds like they fit the criteria
That sounds like a bargain for a 65k MINI and I'd recommend it to the OP's friend. Ours has done almost 190,000 miles and didn't give us any real problems until around the 150k mark (gearbox rebuild/wheel bearings/radiator etc since then).However, goes to show these also fall in budget and sounds like they fit the criteria
I did consider buying it, stripping it and using it as a track car (they really do handle that well!) but it's only the 88hp one and it has the full glass sliding roof so probably not ideal for autotests/track work
ikarl said:
I did consider buying it, stripping it and using it as a track car (they really do handle that well!) but it's only the 88hp one and it has the full glass sliding roof so probably not ideal for autotests/track work
You can get a Bluefin and that should see 120bhp 
Glass roof isn't ideal to be fair, and you'd annihilate the gearbox very soon with track use tooI was about to suggest Citroen C2 reading your OP and realised you had already thought about it.
If she likes the Saxo, she will like the C2. Better car in every way. Only thing of concern is boot space. If she doesnt need it then fine, if she does, it's awful. Oh and its only 2 individual seats in the back, not a bench that can seat 3.
Also maybe look at the C3 if she likes Citroen?
Fiat isn't a bad choice at all. Reliability is no worse than any other brand and when stuff does go wrong, it's cheap to fix. I would be more wary of buying a VW under £1500 than a Fiat.
The Seicento is less refined and smaller than the Saxo. It's a great town car but not very good at anything long distance. I lived with Cinquecentos and Seicentos for years. They're good fun but the Saxo will feel more like a "real car".
How about the facelift MK2 Punto? Maybe a Panda, which replaced the seicento. They're much nicer inside although pretty basic unless you go for something like the 100hp (out of budget).
Yaris is a good call.. Nice reliable and comfortable cars. Quite refined for a small car too. The 1.3 is the one to go for. The 1.0 is awfully slow. Lupo is also a good choice but they do suffer with many annoying small faults.. and they rust!
Suzuki Ignis Sport as a bit of a leftfield choice? Not refined but the recaros are comfy, theyre great on fuel, cheapish on insurance and a bloody good drive to boot. They do em in lemon yellow probably not right for her but still a good car. I have one
If she likes the Saxo, she will like the C2. Better car in every way. Only thing of concern is boot space. If she doesnt need it then fine, if she does, it's awful. Oh and its only 2 individual seats in the back, not a bench that can seat 3.
Also maybe look at the C3 if she likes Citroen?
Fiat isn't a bad choice at all. Reliability is no worse than any other brand and when stuff does go wrong, it's cheap to fix. I would be more wary of buying a VW under £1500 than a Fiat.
The Seicento is less refined and smaller than the Saxo. It's a great town car but not very good at anything long distance. I lived with Cinquecentos and Seicentos for years. They're good fun but the Saxo will feel more like a "real car".
How about the facelift MK2 Punto? Maybe a Panda, which replaced the seicento. They're much nicer inside although pretty basic unless you go for something like the 100hp (out of budget).
Yaris is a good call.. Nice reliable and comfortable cars. Quite refined for a small car too. The 1.3 is the one to go for. The 1.0 is awfully slow. Lupo is also a good choice but they do suffer with many annoying small faults.. and they rust!
Suzuki Ignis Sport as a bit of a leftfield choice? Not refined but the recaros are comfy, theyre great on fuel, cheapish on insurance and a bloody good drive to boot. They do em in lemon yellow
probably not right for her but still a good car. I have one Edited by MysteryLemon on Thursday 27th August 15:08
Edited by MysteryLemon on Thursday 27th August 15:10
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