Fiesta Size car 4-5K - Suggestions

[Sir Bagalot]

One of my children wants to change their car.

Budget is 4-5K, buying private. Petrol manual as does ~8K pa mileage. Not bothered about number of doors. Obviously needs to be reliable. 4 years NCB but for insurance purposes the wrong side of 25

I think it's hard to beat a Fiesta but for the life of me can't remember if there's an engine to avoid. Is there? Any other known issues?

Other suggestions?
Polo - More expensive so not as good as value
Ibiza
Corsa - I'm not a fan of Vauxhalls
Micra
Fabia
Clio
Jazz - Would have a job as seen as an OAPs car.....
Swift

Pro's and Con's of the above?

[ChrisH72]

I tried really hard not to buy a fiesta, and I ended up getting a fiesta!

There were some issues with the 1.0 ecoboost but I don’t know if they’re sorted now with recalls?

But for a young driver, I don’t think you’d go far wrong with a 1.25 Zetec. Your budget would get a very tidy one and there’s plenty to choose from.

[300bhp/ton]

Sir Bagalot said:

One of my children wants to change their car.

Budget is 4-5K, buying private. Petrol manual as does ~8K pa mileage. Not bothered about number of doors. Obviously needs to be reliable. 4 years NCB but for insurance purposes the wrong side of 25

I think it's hard to beat a Fiesta but for the life of me can't remember if there's an engine to avoid. Is there? Any other known issues?

Other suggestions?
Polo - More expensive so not as good as value
Ibiza
Corsa - I'm not a fan of Vauxhalls
Micra
Fabia
Clio
Jazz - Would have a job as seen as an OAPs car.....
Swift

Pro's and Con's of the above?

Do they like driving and are they a car enthusiast?

[talksthetorque]

Add Mazda 2 to that list.
If they don't need rear doors, do they need rear seats?

MX-5?

[Sir Bagalot]

300bhp/ton said:

Do they like driving and are they a car enthusiast?

Good point.

Yes they enjoy driving but not an enthusiast.

A car to them is something with a wheel at each corner, and one to steer.

[Neil1323bolts]

I am not a Vauxhall fan but ended up getting my son a 1.4 Corsa for his first car , I really did not want a corsa but after a test drive I was pleasantly surprised how it drove , and compared to the fiestas and polos much better value for money , it’s a 2016 corsa and for similar money you’d be looking at a 2012 polo or a 2014 fiesta , it also meant you got apple car play which is top of the shopping list of any teenager these days .

[300bhp/ton]

Sir Bagalot said:

Good point.

Yes they enjoy driving but not an enthusiast.

A car to them is something with a wheel at each corner, and one to steer.

Might be worth looking at some bigger cars too. You'll generally buy more Mondeo sized car for your money than compact hatchback. And quite often insurance is cheaper too (at least every time I've looked). Or maybe even something sporty like a 2 door convertible if number of doors don't matter too much.

[ZX10R NIN]

208 XY

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

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

Citroen DS3 DSport Plus smart set of wheels that seem to come back with good insurance numbers despite good bhp & a nice interior too

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

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

Mazda2 Sport

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

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

[bruh100]

Currently looking at similar things and am about to go look at an Alfa MiTo. Could be a good option for something a little bit more interesting than a fiesta

[Dicky Knee]

bruh100 said:

Currently looking at similar things and am about to go look at an Alfa MiTo. Could be a good option for something a little bit more interesting than a fiesta

That's what I thought as well. Then I read this:

https://www.whatcar.com/alfa-romeo/mito/hatchback/...

I bought a Fiesta.

[T6 vanman]

Honda CR-Z, surprisingly cheap, both purchase and insurance

[Benrad]

Fiesta drives really nicely and the 1l engine is reliable now (it was just a plastic part that cracked and let water out that gave them a bad reputation IIRC)

Those Peugeot 208s looks like great value though

[ChrisH72]

I quite like the 208 XY. It’s a shame it only seems to come in purple or white though.

[ZX10R NIN]

So OP are any of the suggestions working for you?

[Sir Bagalot]

ZX10R NIN said:

So OP are any of the suggestions working for you?

fking kids. PITA

So only Fiesta and Ibiza are liked.

The Fiesta comes in White, Red, Silver, Grey, Black, Green, some Poo colour, two shades of Blue. They only want Grey or Black

DS3 is a goer as well. Found a nice example. Nope. Turned down purely on colour.

So. I've told them I'll start looking again when they want to be more realistic on colour choice, or they can go and buy a brand new one and they get to choose the colour

[ChrisH72]

There are loads of black and grey fiestas about so I’d just go with that.

For a bit of driving fun, as long as insurance isn’t a problem, go for the 1.6 petrol.

If they want sporty then a 3dr zetec s

If they want posh then 5dr Titanium.

At 4-5k you’d get one of the last 1.6’s around 2012 in very tidy condition. Can’t go wrong.

[SCEtoAUX]

A Yaris is the answer IMHO

Won't go wrong.

This for example with lots of change:

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

Edited by SCEtoAUX on Saturday 25th July 20:57

[Sir Bagalot]

ChrisH72 said:

There are loads of black and grey fiestas about so I’d just go with that.

That's what I would have thought. Not so.

AT has a very good search facility. 2014 onwards, Petrol, manual, private sale, upto 50K miles, within 100 miles. Two decent ones popped up.... one was "unavailable" whatever that meant, the other went all quiet when I started asking questions about services etc. Also ignored other questions.

[ChrisH72]

Any reason why 2014 onwards?

I only ask because as far as I'm aware it was the 1.0 ecoboost engine that had the problems. Unless you're looking at the 1.2?

But you could go for a 1.6 petrol which is pretty solid and also quite nippy. Only made up to 2012 though. But they do fit your budget nicely.

[Sir Bagalot]

Simply a newer car. Plan would be to keep car 3-6 years

Staying away from 1.0 so looking at 1.25 mainly but would be happy with 1.6