Small, economical, cheap &another crap?

[TL1000R]

Ok boys and girls. As much as I love my 728i and will undoubtedly hate little cars after it's supreme comfort and luxury with a change of job my new commute and the barge are not happy partners. 18 miles each way on tiny country lanes mean I need to get something more suited to my current needs so what would we recommend.
I'll be the only person to travel in it, I have no demands on spec, just must use little fuel, cost between £1000 & £1500 to buy, be cheap to tax / insure / maintain. Thinking about lupo or corsa size as anything bigger is a waste. Just nothing with a ford badge as they all seem to be rust boxes.

Also anyone want to buy a 728i :-)

[TL1000R]

Bloody auto correct. Title is supposed to read "small, economical & not crap"

[EskimoArapaho]

Old Micra bought from an old fella who's had it from new.

And something nice for the weekends.

[Zerotonine]

EskimoArapaho said:

Old Micra bought from an old fella who's had it from new.

And something nice for the weekends.

This.

[TL1000R]

EskimoArapaho said:

Old Micra bought from an old fella who's had it from new.

And something nice for the weekends.

Although I totally see the sense in this as it would just be a tool & a weekend fun car would be lovely I'm also currently saving to buy a house so it's back to cream & cheerful motoring for a bit. This is why I'm looking for something "not crap". I know it's gotta be a small car that's cheap but some are better than others and there must be a few gems out there?

[Matt UK]

I was similar boat - job/commute change meant I sold my long-distance Jag XJ and bought a Mini Cooper S for the b-road blast to work. I had a slightly high budget, but there are Cooper cars getting cheap.

If you can see through the fashion trinket / not a real mini / retro pastiche stuff, then it's a decent little 4-square hatchback with good ahdnling and a solid interior.

I like mine If it's quiet and we see something 'interesting' up ahead, it just sort of turns into a little terrier of a thing and wants go nip some ankle to see if it gets a response

[Burrito]

Yatis T Sport? No idea on running costs by always thought they have a nice look about them for a super mini.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[TL1000R]

Burrito said:

Yatis T Sport? No idea on running costs by always thought they have a nice look about them for a super mini.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

This is why I love PH. I'd completely forgotten about these. Surely they're heaps better than a corsa or punto.
Thanks.

[EskimoArapaho]

TL1000R said:

Although I totally see the sense in this as it would just be a tool & a weekend fun car would be lovely I'm also currently saving to buy a house so it's back to cream & cheerful motoring for a bit. This is why I'm looking for something "not crap". I know it's gotta be a small car that's cheap but some are better than others and there must be a few gems out there?

Fair enough. Something like that Yaris T Sport then.

[rich85uk]

could be haggled to within top of your budget:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/v...

Hardly a hot hatch by todays standards but i drove an astra with the same engine and that was fairly nippy and reasonable on fuel

[Burrito]

If we're going down the slightly less economical, haggle room route then an Ibiza FR is within (man maths) grasp.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

ETA Or back on topic; the thinking man's Lupo GTI, the Arosa Sport.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Edited by Burrito on Sunday 9th March 15:50

[TL1000R]

I know this not massively ph but I am looking more for the fun but frugal kind of car as I'd say anything warmer than tepid is too hot. More looking for simple fun and cheap than speedy. On my current derive to work I struggle to get over 50mph anywhere even if I try so speed isn't all important.

[HarryW]

What have the more modern 3 pots come down too now, C1/Aygo/107 ? They knock out 50mpg minimum.

[Kinky]

In my book, the typical PH response is the right answer here .... MX-5

Meets all your criteria. That would be what I would opt for

[wemorgan]

In £1500 land & cheap and economical I'd be looking at a Citroen ZX / Peugeot 306 1.9TD.
Low tech, undesirable = affordable. In their day, before the Focus was launched they were seen as one of the best in class.

[TL1000R]

Kinky said:

In my book, the typical PH response is the right answer here .... MX-5

Meets all your criteria. That would be what I would opt for

Not this time I'm afraid.........I don't fit in one and yes, I've tried, hard.

[Kinky]

Thats a real shame. Good luck

[va1o]

Could you not drop down to a 4-cylinder E46 3-series? That's probably the best compramise as its smaller and more economical than the 7er whilst still retaining a decent level of comfort and quality.

[TL1000R]

va1o said:

Could you not drop down to a 4-cylinder E46 3-series? That's probably the best compramise as its smaller and more economical than the 7er whilst still retaining a decent level of comfort and quality.

I've thought long and hard about this. Trouble is I'm getting an average mpg of 25 from the 728i and I think given the country lanes that's pretty good for the car. I doubt going to a e46 would see a huge improvement, perhaps 10 mpg more but for me to give up everything I love about the 7 series I want high 40's at least really.
Also due to the width of the lanes I'm now using mixed with the potholes there are to dodge something little would be helpful.

Ideally I'm looking for something that's not donkey's years old so the short list so far is a VW Lupo, Toyota Yaris t-sport thingy, or a 1.2 corsa. I feel these all look ok still, should be reliable, they're small and should be cheap to run.