Properly small, cheap car, with sunroof...
Discussion
Will shortly be looking for a replacement for my daughter's ancient mark one Yaris, which has done great service despite much abuse, but is odds on to fail its next MOT expensively enough to see it off to the great supermarket car park in the sky. It's nominally her car but we use it as a family runabout when she is away, which atm is about half the year.
What next? The two things we all like most about the Yaris are 1) that it is properly small and super easy to park in tiny spaces, and 2) it has a sunroof. So its successor primarily needs to be small and easy to park, and ideally be available with a sunroof. (Oh, and ULEZ).
Something with a bit poise to the chassis and a bit more grunt than the Yaris's 1.0 lump could manage might be good too, but not so much as to make insurance tricky for a 22 yr old.
I quite like the looks of the Up/Citigo, but they all seem to have the same 59bhp engine which is even punier than the old Yaris (Up GTi is too much in the other direction). How is the basic Up to drive? And what else is there that is properly small but still mildly fun?
Mild hybrids fine but not pure EVs. Some may recall I was asking about Leafs (Leaves??) on here a while ago, ruled out because with no driveway charging at home is not really going to work for us.
Budget £5k-£6k ideally. It is going to be an expendable leave-anywhere car and will not be cherished;)
What next? The two things we all like most about the Yaris are 1) that it is properly small and super easy to park in tiny spaces, and 2) it has a sunroof. So its successor primarily needs to be small and easy to park, and ideally be available with a sunroof. (Oh, and ULEZ).
Something with a bit poise to the chassis and a bit more grunt than the Yaris's 1.0 lump could manage might be good too, but not so much as to make insurance tricky for a 22 yr old.
I quite like the looks of the Up/Citigo, but they all seem to have the same 59bhp engine which is even punier than the old Yaris (Up GTi is too much in the other direction). How is the basic Up to drive? And what else is there that is properly small but still mildly fun?
Mild hybrids fine but not pure EVs. Some may recall I was asking about Leafs (Leaves??) on here a while ago, ruled out because with no driveway charging at home is not really going to work for us.
Budget £5k-£6k ideally. It is going to be an expendable leave-anywhere car and will not be cherished;)
Up etc are slow but fine around town
Fiat 500C is probably the best answer here
Toyota aygo where available with a full length sunroof and I think the 107 also had the option
Renault twingo or smart fourtwo
Hyandi i10 / Kia picantos some have sunroofs
Vauxhall Adam or viva
Mini? Maybe too big?
Fiat 500C is probably the best answer here
Toyota aygo where available with a full length sunroof and I think the 107 also had the option
Renault twingo or smart fourtwo
Hyandi i10 / Kia picantos some have sunroofs
Vauxhall Adam or viva
Mini? Maybe too big?
They did a non-GTI up! with the TSI engine that had 90bhp. Not sure how common they are on the secondhand market though.
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/volkswagen/up/...
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/volkswagen/up/...
dontlookdown said:
500C is not a crazy idea, tks for that. I fear that they have tiny boots? Has to be room for the shopping at least.
Aygo also a possibility, a kind of latter day 2CV which is both good and not so good in different ways.
Mini is too big yes.
185L of boot space vs the mk1 Yaris at 205LAygo also a possibility, a kind of latter day 2CV which is both good and not so good in different ways.
Mini is too big yes.
Top spec i10 premium se has sunroof as standard.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511077...
The 1.2 engine is sweet and they are surprisingly good to drive. My wife had the previous shape with the same engine and I used to enjoy borrowing it.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511077...
The 1.2 engine is sweet and they are surprisingly good to drive. My wife had the previous shape with the same engine and I used to enjoy borrowing it.
You can even get the Picanto GT line s for close to 6k.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202601169...
Same engine as the i10 but maybe a bit more stylish.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202601169...
Same engine as the i10 but maybe a bit more stylish.
ChrisH72 said:
You can even get the Picanto GT line s for close to 6k.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202601169...
Same engine as the i10 but maybe a bit more stylish.
That’s a cool looking car https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202601169...
Same engine as the i10 but maybe a bit more stylish.
The most basic trim of VW Up! (I think its called the Take Up!) doesn't have air conditioning - I dare say a lot of other cars in this class, in their base trim spec, don't either.
Not just the Fiat 500C (which has the fabric top which goes down to boot level), but plenty of Fiat 500 hatchbacks also have a sunroof. The 500C has a small boot opening due to its roof design.
Not just the Fiat 500C (which has the fabric top which goes down to boot level), but plenty of Fiat 500 hatchbacks also have a sunroof. The 500C has a small boot opening due to its roof design.
Edited by paul_c123 on Sunday 22 February 19:49
The Fiat 500/Panda both are available with big sunroofs, the twinair will have the oomf you're looking for without being too much, the reliablity can be a bit iffy but the rest of the car is basic enough so if it does go wrong it's generally an easy fix. (I used to have a 100HP, sadly no sunroof)
The UPs are similar, the 60HP is worth a test drive, you get used to flooring it on the motorway and it will keep up with faster traffic. (We had two as pool cars in an old job)
The Aygo triplets again are pretty similar, the 1.0 didn't change power levels over the years but it did get more emissions controls meaning it did get slower. Brilliant sunroof though (not much first hand experience on these.
Hyundai/Kia, you can get more powerful engines on these, few in the family with no issues.
Moving up a class will get you a lot more choices with more power without a big jump in cost.
The UPs are similar, the 60HP is worth a test drive, you get used to flooring it on the motorway and it will keep up with faster traffic. (We had two as pool cars in an old job)
The Aygo triplets again are pretty similar, the 1.0 didn't change power levels over the years but it did get more emissions controls meaning it did get slower. Brilliant sunroof though (not much first hand experience on these.
Hyundai/Kia, you can get more powerful engines on these, few in the family with no issues.
Moving up a class will get you a lot more choices with more power without a big jump in cost.
The basic up is very tinny to drive. Exposed metal looks cool, but there's sod all in the NVH department.
I'd go Jazz, plenty with sunroofs, still small.
Picanto would be better, 3.6m long is so smol, but the GT line/ GT line S needs more cash imo to get something non categorised or just low miles.
I'd go Jazz, plenty with sunroofs, still small.
Picanto would be better, 3.6m long is so smol, but the GT line/ GT line S needs more cash imo to get something non categorised or just low miles.
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