£1500 supermini advice wanted.....

[CarlosSainz100]

I fear I may be asking for the moon on a stick but...

My partner is currently driving a leggy 102k miles 2007 Kia Picanto; with 2 kids she needs a car with more room but only has 1500 quid to spend...maybe a few hundred pounds more at a push depending on how much we get for the Kia.

Her requirements:

Must be large enough for two young children and their kit
5 door
Safe
Must be black, silver or a dark colour; 'no reds or bright oranges or pinks'(!)
Must be reliable: normal car maintenance is fine, massive potential for bork with big bills eg: gearbox breaking or cambelt snapping is not
Hopefully not a million miles away from where she lives in Bromsgrove B60

Ideally it would be at a trader that doesn't mind a semi knackered Kia Picanto as a trade in (i'd be interested as to how much the Ph collective think we'd get for it too).

So far I've shown her the Honda Jazz which she sort of likes except most of the ones I've seen look like they're in even worse nick than her Kia and I read online they have gearbox bearing problems, and Suzuki Swift which she really likes the shape of but I personally think its probably not that much bigger than a Picanto

Thanks in advance!

Edited by CarlosSainz100 on Tuesday 21st January 00:39

[Agila b 6yr 6k]

I was looking for something similar 6 weeks ago. Your budget is too small.
£1500 won't get something that much newer than what you have or with less miles.

I picked up an agila for £1290 2008 on 85k privately for example.

Your car would have been fine for me but they were easily £995 when I looked.

In airness one of my requirements was £30 tax or less. If you're happy at £160+ tax you may get better.

Taking your car to a trader you'll get £350 and still spend your budget for something not much better.

The advice will probably stick with what you have and use the £1500 on repairs/maintenance over the next 3/4 years.

[Agila b 6yr 6k]

I would avoid the Jazz as I've heard the same.

Swift is an option.

I'd personally consider a 5 door corsa.

Your budget will possibly get a 2010/11.

You'll need to sell first privately though and buy privately to maximize budget.

[kieranblenk]

A Micra or Yaris would be ideal but you might have to go older to get a decent one. You might find a bigger car better value as they are a little more out of vogue like a Mondeo or even a Focus for example but it's whether she would be comfortable with a car that big.

[StevieT735]

Mk2 Focus or equivalent Astra?
Toyota Auris/ verso?
Might need to look at something older and hope something pops up that’s been looked after

[Big Easy]

Another vote for a Mk2 Focus, here's three decent looking examples within the budget. Not any newer than the Picanto but lower mileage and better condition (based on your post). I've had two Mk1's and currently have a Mk2 and have found reliability of them all to be really good.

I haven't taken location into account as having travelled from Edinburgh to the Manchester / Liverpool area to buy three of my cars I tend to think that if it's a good car it's worth the inconvenience of going to collect it. Though you might get lucky and find a good one two miles from home, as I did with the Mk2.

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

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

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

[CarlosSainz100]

If we could get upwards of a grand for the Picanto then the budget could be upped to nearer 2k....Its fundamentally sound but needs a service and probably some new front discs

Its the space she needs so keeping the Picanto is a no go.

I thought at this budget I'd be awash with old pensioner owned Jazzes and the like......

[InitialDave]

Yes, the Mk1 Jazz can kill gearbox bearings, mate bought one for his wife with a bad box (the car had a bad box, I'm sure his wife's is very nice) as we did the swap on his driveway.

Bit fiddly due to the small engine bay but not technically difficult or much different to any other basic FWD setup.