A car for you Mum: £5k, 5dr and 'not boring'

[Davie]

The on going saga continues...

After several years of faithful service, my old dear's 51 plate Clio (1.4 16v, 5 door) is starting to give her grief. Nothing major, just a few niggles plus it's looking rather tired so she's (again) on a mission to buy something newer. Or at least, that's the tesk I've been set.

Budget is around £5,000 and it must be small yet big enough to cope with the young team a bike carrier and all her assorted crap that she insists on lugging around. Must be five doors, must be a hatchback, must be petrol (no need for diesel, she does circa 5k a year) and must be able to withstand the sort of abuse a 55 year old woman with inflict.

So far, the following have been looked at and deemed unsutable:

Panda 100hp - Lovely but boot is far far too small
Corsa - not a fan, no other reason given
Clio (latest spec) - see above plus it's 'boring'
Fiesta - as above
Pug 207 - as above

So in short, she wants something the fits her criteria however doesn't look like every other euro box on the road... hence Corsa/Clio/207 were all thrown off the list and being fair, three were parked side by side yesterday and they all look as disinctive as a beige cardigan. She also want's something with enough power to out run lorries on the M90 and with a decent spec... ie she'd rather something slightly older but with better spec rather than something newer with zero spec.

So, after all that I've whittled it down to...

The Mazda 2 Sport or the Yaris SR however my knowledge of these is at best, limited. But having had a look... the Yaris seems to be ticking many boxes and also seems better priced than the Mazda. Around £5,500 with net a 30k, 1.3 Sport on a 58 plate plus my late Uncle had an earlier model 1.0 Yaris and in 8 years, never put a foot wrong.

Any thoughts/recommendations on the two short listed above or any otehr potential candidates that I've missed? I did suggest an MX5 but the torrent of abuse received was erm... interesting.

Regards

[HonestIago]

5dr Impreza WRX... wouldn't be any problem outrunning lorries at least

[McHaggis]

Mercedes A-Class?

Great load space, nice high driving position, 2nd generation ones are pretty well specced and reliable.

They aren't a PH type of car but they are (very) safe, pretty frugal, and the seats move about/easy to remove for flat load space, etc.

A150:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/4082992.htm
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/4049078.htm

Also look a bit different. Worth trying - my parents have had 2 and been very happy with them.

[Davie]

90% of the time she's in the car herself and using it for commuting the 6 miles to and from work. In the last 10 years, the furthest she's driven is about 40 miles so hence, small, frugal, cheap and reliable but reasonably well spec'd and with enough power to be comfortable on the small motorway journey every day. Needs to eb 5 doors for a) the grandkids and b) three doors have long doors, thus the seatbelt is always way behind the driver and she struggles to reach it comfortably. Should she need a removals van/skip lorry/battering ram then I have a V70 estate she can use and and when required.

Good shout on the Merc... high driving position, small exterior size and so on plus decent spec and pretty cheap to run. Makes alot of sense. Also thought about an Audi A2 but they're rarer plus not sure they fall into the 'cheap' bracket when things go wrong.

Being female, colour choice seems to be a serious factor too... lurid green or red are top choice.

[McHaggis]

The Mercs also depreciate quite heavily in their first few years - added bargain. Many come with a good spec of leather and climate control as well. Big sunroof models are nice in the summer.

They are a doddle to park and round town I think they are close to the ideal small car - I'd personally have one over a Golf.

The only comment my mum makes about them is the big A pillar. She is quite short and as she is close to the steering wheel it can create quite a large blind spot, but only a minor gripe.

[Davie]

Deary me, it's like pitching a multi-billion pound idea to Alan Sugar. Seems the Mercedes doesn't appeal, to 'bling' and she's convinced she'd need a Swiss bank account to run it. Looks like a little lurid green Mazda 2 Sport could be winning so far as she's been reliably informed Japanese cars never go wrong. No idea who fed her that gem but never mind. personally (and oddly) I'd be opting for a Yaris SR, I suspect it'd tick the most boxes for her but as hey don't do one in a rediculous colour, it's no use.

Any Mazda 2 owners able to comment on running costs / any 'common' issues and so on?

Cheers

[McHaggis]

I don't think you are going to be able to "win". When it goes wrong (whatever it is) you will be held responsible for not checking the exact reliability of that model.

You could always do some reverse psychology with your mother?

"Well if you choose that one I won't angry mum. Just very, very disappointed in you."

or

"You didn't invest all those years of education in me, combined with hours and hours of research for me to give you bad advice"

[WhoseGeneration]

Honda Jazz, Nissan Note and Skoda Fabia, may be worth adding for consideration.

[anonymous-user]

HonestIago said:

5dr Impreza WRX... wouldn't be any problem outrunning lorries at least

I did this on Friday. The Impreza is my daily commute car...which is actually rather good. Its a nice place to be and if you drive it carefully it doesn't drink like everyone says.

[Davie]

McHaggis said:

I don't think you are going to be able to "win".

Pretty sums up females full stop!

Shame as I rather like the Merc... she doesn't and after all this, I'll bet 50p she ends up with some base spec Clio in hearing aid beige. I have offered to take her cash and buy something, thus removing all indecision from the equation but that could either go really well or horrifically bad. The latter I suspect.

[McHaggis]

Davie said:

Pretty sums up females full stop!

Well, at least you know now. Saves lots of anger and frustration in the long run.

[telecat]

We run a 2006 Mazda 3 and it's pretty well bullet proof. It's done over 70,000 miles since 2006 and still goes on Filter and oil change. Dealers and Mazda UK are pretty good as well. Ironically the 2 is a Fiesta in "drag" and with Mazda Engines instead of Ford ones so handles well.

[Davie]

WhoseGeneration said:

Honda Jazz, Nissan Note and Skoda Fabia, may be worth adding for consideration.

We've been through a couple of those...

Jazz - has a faint arome of OAP about it.
Note - I had one via my old employer and actually thought it was a good little car, good shout!
Fabia - vRS is lovely but you can also get a 1.4 with the vRS styling kit? Could be a left field contender.

Actually, very good shout on the Note...

[Shoukie]

Another vote for a Fabia here. My mum's on her third in a row now (she gets a new one every 3 years), she's not had a single problem with any of them, they're reasonably spacious, frugal and can get a shift on if required on motorways etc.

[Davie]

Shoukie said:

Another vote for a Fabia here. My mum's on her third in a row now (she gets a new one every 3 years), she's not had a single problem with any of them, they're reasonably spacious, frugal and can get a shift on if required on motorways etc.

I'm now wondering if I could convince her a vRS would be a good idea. You get them in yellow!

Only agrument against is the fact they're all 1.9 turbo-diesels and given her annual mileage, a diesel isn't really needed as the savings would be minimal?

I'm basing that on a little petrol doing 40mpg and a diesle doing 50mpg, based on 5,000 a year at current prices the diesel would save about £120 a year... that all said and done though, it's still a saving assuming the diesel doesn't command a higher premium to buy in the first place.

[GreatGranny]

What about a Fabia? £5k will get a 1.2 70bhp model which has enough poke to keep away from those nasty artics.

[hornetrider]

Davie said:

Any Mazda 2 owners able to comment on running costs / any 'common' issues and so on?

We have a 58 plate 2 Sport bought from new. Only warranty issue was rear boot switch which can sometimes fail due to water ingress. Otherwise it's a great little car and been completely reliable. We test drove a few before getting it too (Punto Grande, Swift etc)

[carlove]

Her idea of small may be a little different to mine, but, this is ideal I would say.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

This one is slightly diesel but you could very easily find a petrol.

Edited by carlove on Monday 23 July 15:23

[uncle tez]

What about a pug 308 sport ?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4083333.htm

[Davie]

uncle tez said:

What about a pug 308 sport ?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4083333.htm

There lies the other 'issue' we're having. I've suggested she goes up a size to the likes of an Astra/Megane/307/Auris etc as really, they're only marginally bigger than the Clio/Corsa/207 spec stuff and most have a minimum of a 1.4 16v engine so really, it'd could be better suited to her needs but she's absolutely adament that she want's a small car even though I pointed out it's all relative and the new Clio makes her current Clio look like it's been through several hot washes. Even pointing out a Yaris was taller and as wide as my V70 didn't convince her that 'small' cars of late are anything but small.