Sorry chaps - what cheap car?

[phil_cardiff]

It's for the fiancé. Here's the criteria:

Less than £3k. Very low insurance (group 2 of 20 maximum). Good fuel economy. Cheap to run. Reliable. Safe. Car will be doing 14k miles p/a, mix of motorway and A and B roads.

So far I have looked at:

Fiat Panda
Vauxhall Corsa
Toyota Yaris
Honda Jazz
Hyundai Getz
Mitsubishi Colt
Renault Clio
Ford Fiesta.

Panda, Corsa, Yaris and Clio are in the lead so far.

Have I missed anything?

[HellDiver]

If you're going on the motorway, then discount the small engine cars. Avoid the 1 litre Corsa, they don't last when doing motorway miles. The 1.2 is bare minimum, and even then speeding up to pass trucks can be interesting.

I'd go for a 1.4 Fiesta or 1.4 Corsa.

[idge]

You forgot Micra!

They may look like dog st but they almost literally go on forever

[kmc1]

not everyone will agree but how about a punto? (not the 8v but 1.2 16v version)

cheap as chips to buy and run and if bought right can be reliable( done 36k in 2 years a few years ago)

will easily keep up with motorway traffic (esp if you find one with a six speed box)

[paulmoonraker]

I had a Yaris (see my garage for a short view) and quite liked it... However, did a few slogs on the motorway where I did not like it so much as you feel like a big gust of wind could land you in a field... Personally speaking I think you would be hard pressed to beat a Fiesta (I had one of those too and did 10's thousands of m-way miles in it)...

[fiveus]

How about this tidy looking clio
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2344513.htm

[Xavier259]

Out of that list my first choice would be a Ford Fiesta followed by a Fiat Panda. Another one to consider would be the VW Lupo.

[boomboompow]

If your budget could have stretched just a little further to a new shape clio with the 1.2 turbo engine I would have recommended it; gf had one and it was nippy about town and had just enough power to be comfortable on the motorways.

However out of your list my choice would be the Panda...

[djt100]

Out of that list i'd go for .... None of them, If your doing a lot of M/way driving you want a bigger car, all of these are too small and you'll be thrashing them even at 70-80 on the m/way so fuel consumption will be pant's. Get a 1.6 fpcus or similar and be done with it.

[Pints]

phil_cardiff said:

It's for the fiancé.

I'm guessing it's actually for your fiancée.
Women always demand more.

[phil_cardiff]

Ha, once again my gramma lets me down!

Chaps I think I should have been clearer in my post. Low insurance group is the most important thing due to a recent spate of bad luck. Thus the Micra is out due to it being group 4 or 5. As is the focus. As are 1.4 Fiestas and Corsas. I've done the quote comparisons and the difference is remarkable.

Fiat Punto discounted due to reliability but I will check my facts.

I may have overplayed the M-way stuff, it'll usually be 20 miles each way per weekday.