Wife wants a small economical, reliable automatic. 3k budget

[Jamaica]

The words reliable and automatic seem to be at odds in the new modern gearboxes, hence why I would like to chose this car carefully.

I am no automatic gearbox wizard but from what I understand generally..


Torque Converter gearboxes are the most reliable and least economical.

Anything mech or tipotronic are unreliable and are manual cars with auto clutches.

CVT boxes are somewhere in the middle, good economy with decent reliability.

That being said I have narrowed down my choices but would like your guidance.


Honda Jazz 2005- TC or CVT ( are these boxes reliable?)
Suzuki Swift - Tc box and reliable?
BMW 320i 170 bhp, has decent fuel economy

Is there any other cars you would recommend?

Edited by Jamaica on Sunday 12th January 01:41

[Summit_Detailing]

Gen 1 Toyota Yaris 1.3 - proper auto. Avoid the later cars with MMT box which is an automated manual - not nice.

Great little cars, easily available under £3k

As with all Japanese cars check the MOT history for advisories regarding corrosion underneath.

Cheers,

Chris

[wemorgan]

Summit_Detailing said:

As with all Japanese cars check the MOT history for advisories regarding corrosion underneath.

Isn't that more a reference to Japanese imported cars?

For the OP, the Jazz seems to be the default choice these days, judging by the number I see on the road.

[kieranblenk]

Get a small Suzuki or a Nissan Micra/Note. Job done.

Cheap to run, bulletproof reliability and solid old school torque converter box speaks for all of them.

We used to get 36mpg average out of our Swift 1.5 auto which we owned for 5 years and put almost 80k on. My nan had a Micra 1.2 SE auto for 12 years and again it cost buttons to run and never put a foot wrong, my grandad still has it and given that it's now 16 years old it still runs like a new car.

[Jamaica]

Summit_Detailing said:

Gen 1 Toyota Yaris 1.3 - proper auto. Avoid the later cars with MMT box which is an automated manual - not nice.

Great little cars, easily available under £3k

As with all Japanese cars check the MOT history for advisories regarding corrosion underneath.

Cheers,

Chris

I was thinking yaris, but ms jamaican had one previously and did not like the shape. Anything else you would suggest.

Such a shame toyota went with those mmt boxes in the newer yaris models

[Jamaica]

wemorgan said:

Isn't that more a reference to Japanese imported cars?

For the OP, the Jazz seems to be the default choice these days, judging by the number I see on the road.

I'm leaning jazz but I want a nice trim.. but I think higher trims only came with cvt box.

Would you suggest cvt or traditional tc box?

[Jamaica]

kieranblenk said:

Get a small Suzuki or a Nissan Micra/Note. Job done.

Cheap to run, bulletproof reliability and solid old school torque converter box speaks for all of them.

We used to get 36mpg average out of our Swift 1.5 auto which we owned for 5 years and put almost 80k on. My nan had a Micra 1.2 SE auto for 12 years and again it cost buttons to run and never put a foot wrong, my grandad still has it and given that it's now 16 years old it still runs like a new car.

Swift is a good call, considering one.

Is that the older micra or newer? We are not keen on the styling of the older one. Is the newer one still reliable? (The one with bubble style head lamps)

Have not considered the note, how do they run?

[Jamaica]

The words reliable and automatic seem to be at odds in the new modern gearboxes, hence why I would like to chose this car carefully.

I am no automatic gearbox wizard but from what I understand generally..


Torque Converter gearboxes are the most reliable and least economical.

Anything mech or tipotronic are unreliable and are manual cars with auto clutches.

CVT boxes are somewhere in the middle, good economy with decent reliability.

That being said I have narrowed down my choices but would like your guidance.


Honda Jazz 2005- TC or CVT ( are these boxes reliable?) Dont seem good at higher speeds
Suzuki Swift - Tc box and reliable?

Nissan note - not sure how these compare to the Jazz. Are they reliable and good on the motorway?
BMW 320i 170 bhp, has decent fuel economy.

Is there any other cars you would recommend?

Would want above 30 MPG is possible city driving.

[Summit_Detailing]

Gen 1 Toyota Yaris 1.3 auto (up to 2004 iirc) - proper TC box as opposed to the MMT in the later cars which is an automated manual and is rubbish.

Cheers,

Chris

[ZX10R NIN]

A real world 30mpg around town won't be possible (23-25 being the norm) with a conventional auto as most in your budget will be mated to 1.6 N/A units that aren't as fuel efficient as modern turbo units & anything below this won't be as good on the motorway.

Focus Ghia

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Titanium

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Lexus IS200

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Clio Dynamique S

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Dynamique

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...


Astra Elite

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

SRI

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

C230 Coupe

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

[QuartzDad]

We had a 2008 1.6 Auto Note from 2012 to 2019, only ever needed regular servicing. Mostly used for wife’s 2 mile commute, would do 28ish mpg then, 40+ if taken on a run.

[Phunk]

I had to find similar for my Wife. Ended up with a 2005 Prius 45-55 mpg, Bluetooth, sat nav, cruise, indestructible and if you’re handy with the spanners takes 20 minutes to do a full service.

[Scrump]

QuartzDad said:

We had a 2008 1.6 Auto Note from 2012 to 2019, only ever needed regular servicing. Mostly used for wife’s 2 mile commute, would do 28ish mpg then, 40+ if taken on a run.

Mrs Scrump has one of these for 10 years. I would recommend it.

[Jamaica]

Phunk said:

I had to find similar for my Wife. Ended up with a 2005 Prius 45-55 mpg, Bluetooth, sat nav, cruise, indestructible and if you’re handy with the spanners takes 20 minutes to do a full service.

Is there any particular reason why you chose the prius? The mpg between the 2nd gen prius and the Jazz are not that far apart.

Edited by Jamaica on Saturday 25th January 20:05

[imck]

Summit_Detailing said:

Gen 1 Toyota Yaris 1.3 auto (up to 2004 iirc) - proper TC box as opposed to the MMT in the later cars which is an automated manual and is rubbish.

Cheers,

Chris

My Mrs has had a 2003 for around 4 Years.
I think around 30MPG in Manchester City Centre Traffic.I just get asked to fill it up once in a while.
I like driving it. Fine on the Motorway. Previous 1.0 Manual was feeble.
Back Seat slides for either Boot or Rear Passenger space.
A few age related repairs. Brake Pipes, Middle Exhaust and needs some rear Shocks.

[MrGTI6]

As others have said, the Note is a really good shout. If looking at Jazz's, stick with the CVT and avoid the i-SHIFT.

[ZX10R NIN]

The Note & the Clio are pretty much the same car.

[Jamaica]

I'm torn, I can get a jazz 1st gen for 1500 and a 2nd gen prius for 3000. I'm conflicted, does anyone have experience of both?

Or can reccomend something else, I considered the note but fuel economy seemed bad.

[Challo]

Mum had the 1st Gen Jazz and nothing went wrong in 70k miles. That got written off in an accident so now she has the 2nd Gen Jazz. Fantastic cars, really practical and good on fuel.

Unsure on the auto boxes though.

[kieranblenk]

Jamaica said:

kieranblenk said:

Get a small Suzuki or a Nissan Micra/Note. Job done.

Cheap to run, bulletproof reliability and solid old school torque converter box speaks for all of them.

We used to get 36mpg average out of our Swift 1.5 auto which we owned for 5 years and put almost 80k on. My nan had a Micra 1.2 SE auto for 12 years and again it cost buttons to run and never put a foot wrong, my grandad still has it and given that it's now 16 years old it still runs like a new car.

Swift is a good call, considering one.

Is that the older micra or newer? We are not keen on the styling of the older one. Is the newer one still reliable? (The one with bubble style head lamps)

Have not considered the note, how do they run?

The Micra is an 04 so the K12 variant. It's been bulletproof and has outlived a number of newer cars in the family. The Note is just a bigger, more practical Micra with a bigger engine.