Wot car for the wife?

[HenryHippo]

Must haves:

<4.1m long
Auto
5 doors
under £3000
Reliable


Nice to haves:

<125k miles
Under £240 tax
Over 40 MPG
Not dated interior
Parking Sensors
Digital speedo


Narrowed it down to; W169 Merc A class, Honda Jazz, Nisan Micra, Suzuki Swift. £3k budget gets you into 2000-2008 era cars. Trying to steer clear of the french as I don't percieve them as reliable. Anything I'm missing?

[scorcher]

Are you looking for a straight swap?

[Xcore]

Some form of dacia? No 3k shed is going to be reliable.

[fiesta_STage3]

scorcher said:

Are you looking for a straight swap?

what a blessing that deal would be

[Davie]

Xcore said:

Some form of dacia? No 3k shed is going to be reliable.

A large majority of those on the ‘Joy of running a shed’ thread would likely disagree with that sweeping generalisation…

[Scootersp]

Toyota Auris?

[Silvanus]

Davie said:

Xcore said:

Some form of dacia? No 3k shed is going to be reliable.

A large majority of those on the ‘Joy of running a shed’ thread would likely disagree with that sweeping generalisation…

Agree with the generalisation statement, but also agree that a Dacia Sandero, especially the Stepway would be ideal.

[carl_w]

Silvanus said:

Agree with the generalisation statement, but also agree that a Dacia Sandero, especially the Stepway would be ideal.

Dacia Sandero is a Renault, so French surely?

[Torquey]

Mazda 2 for me.

Yaris- although reliable the interior and exterior look too basic.
Jazz- I thought I'd heard these were expensive run/insure. Poor choice of engines possibly.
Swift - 2nd choice but the interior is sightly more basic/rattly than the mazda.

[Silvanus]

carl_w said:

Silvanus said:

Agree with the generalisation statement, but also agree that a Dacia Sandero, especially the Stepway would be ideal.

Dacia Sandero is a Renault, so French surely?

Romanian and owned by Renault? Its as reliable and well made as anything else suggested, just less soft touch plastic and you'd likely get a more recent one. What people perceive and what's real aren't always the same. After all people still percieve German cars to well made and reliable.

[Brassblaster]

Davie said:

A large majority of those on the ‘Joy of running a shed’ thread would likely disagree with that sweeping generalisation…

Indeed.

Not a substantive disagreement (I'm completely comfortable running older cars), just the obvious observation that older cars bring additional needs...
You have to be able/willing to research the model and find out where any potential problems lie, what the warning signs are and what scheduled/preventative maintenance they need - you also need to be able to budget for potentially parts more often (and labour if you don't do it yourself)... Oh, and able to spot a lemon on inspecting and test driving

If you can do all this, it's really not a big deal and you can get years of motoring on the cheap.. if you can't, you're flipping a coin a little bit.

[HenryHippo]

scorcher said:

Are you looking for a straight swap?

No

[HenryHippo]

Scootersp said:

Toyota Auris?

A bit big for her. Yaris would be perfect but £3k doesn't buy a second gen version (2005 onwards) and the first gen (1999 onwards) is very dated now

[HenryHippo]

Mazda 2 and Dacia out of budget too

The 2008 A class we saw was much more modern inside than any of the other cars mentioned here, so leaning that way, as haven't heard and reliability horror stories.

Swift/ Jazz on the also consider list. These seem to be the only non-french options... unless going for a really old car (pre 2002) which seems v poor value for a £3000 budget

[HenryHippo]

Mazda 2 and Dacia out of budget too

The 2008 A class we saw was much more modern inside than any of the other cars mentioned here, so leaning that way, as haven't heard and reliability horror stories.

Swift/ Jazz on the also consider list. These seem to be the only non-french options... unless going for a really old car (pre 2002) which seems v poor value for a £3000 budget

[imck]

HenryHippo said:

A bit big for her. Yaris would be perfect but £3k doesn't buy a second gen version (2005 onwards) and the first gen (1999 onwards) is very dated now

The Auto in the 2005 on is best avoided. Automated manual rather than TC in the older ones

Sold my Mrs 2003 1.3 Auto a Year or so ago.
Was still a great car but was having age related faults. Nothing terrible or expensive. Exhaust, Brake Pipes, Shocks.

Sometimes see the Note recommended on here for your requirements.

[andy43]

Kia Ceed or Rio might work. Add Amazon GPS digital speedo if essential. Hyundai i10 a possible, maybe a bit small though.

[Bannock]

Skoda Fabia

SEAT Ibiza

[RizzoTheRat]

My wife used to have a Jazz and it was great car. Not the speediest but as reliable a brick, cheap to service, economical, loads of space inside and really easy to park in tight spaces due to the steep bonnet and vertical back.

[anonymous-user]

Silvanus said:

After all people still percieve German cars to well made and reliable.

Because they use lots of sound deadening and the materials are nice to touch. However, this is just a thin veneer of quality and the mechanical parts are a tucking time bomb.

However, the myth of Teutonic build quality and German reliability remains.