What automatic to buy my mum?

[hjf12345]

My mum (aged 73) has been driving a 2.0 litre Ford Focus for the past 10 years. It keeps breaking down and costing her lots of money to fix.

I’m going to buy her a replacement and have a budget of £6k. She’s adamant she doesn’t want a ‘granny car’, whatever that means!, and I’m considering a supermini - e.g. Ford Fiesta, Skoda Fabia, Toyota Yaris. A used car with relatively low mileage.

Ideally it would be economical to run, to fix and to tax. She does a fair amount of motorway driving as well as around town. It has to be an automatic, and I’m slightly nervous about her having anything more punchy than a 1.4l engine. She’s not as confident behind the wheel as she used to be.

I don’t know much about cars and was hoping someone could give me some good advice on what to go for?

Thanks in advance

[raspy]

I'd suggest a Yaris, principally because of reliability given her current experience.

[Countdown]

IIRC the Yaris has an MMT auto which isn't supposed to be great. I'd suggest going for a Jazz auto.

[Mo28]

raspy said:

I'd suggest a Yaris, principally because of reliability given her current experience.

Second this. My mum bought a Yaris hybrid a couple of months ago and she loves it.

[Countdown]

For info - the automatic in the hybrid is CVT, which is different to the automatic in earlier Yarises (Yarii?) which is MMT. They are both different in feel and operation.the CVT is ok (if you like that kind of thing) the MMT is irritating (IMHO).

[P700DEE]

"Granny car" is what she should have and is a natural follow on from a Focus. Auto for simplicity.
My mum 83 has just picked up an ex demonstration Jazz 1.2 petrol auto it's ideal.

[Actus Reus]

Got my mother in law a Jazz and it has been absolutely the best choice I could have made - £3k, never ever gone wrong, big enough to carry a few bits, small enough to park in Tesco. Brilliant cars for the purpose.

[tim0409]

I bought my Mum a Nissan Micra automatic 5 years ago and it has been perfect for her. She had manual Micras in the past and liked them, and once she got used to not having a clutch she absolutely loved it...although “teaching” her how use an auto was one of the most frightening things I’ve done in the road! The upright driving position combined with great visibility makes it ideal.
Sadly she is now suffering from dementia so anything other than a short trip to the garden centre is now impossible; thankfully (at least for now) she recognised her limitations. It’s a real pity as driving down the coast and sitting by the beach was an almost daily trip for her.

I’ve serviced the car for the last 5 years and the only issue has been a broken front spring.

[kieranblenk]

Suzuki Swift automatic. Get a newer shape 1.2 SZ4 comfortably in budget which would be ideal. Ditto Nissan Micra, but the Swift has a better image.

[Toed64]

Whatever you buy, take her along to try it.

My 81 year old mum has a 2.5l Forester turbo. She loves it, although, probably not as much as her previous 2 Impreza WRXs. I took her to test drive a couple of newer cars and she rejected them on the grounds that she prefers her Scooby and the new cars felt heavy and gutless! She didn't see why we should spend a lot of money without good reason! I had no good answer!

I'll try again at some point, I'll be looking for something with enough bodywork to keep her safe, 4x4 because she is not prepared to stay at home when it snows (still working) and electric power steering because it's generally lighter than hydraulic PAS.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd keep your mum in a similar sized car if she spends a lot of time on the motorway keep her in a nice sized car.

Kia C'eed should tick more than a few boxes.

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

Honda Civic Type S

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

Toyota Auris

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

Mazda3

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

Focus 1.6 Titanium (this would be my pick as your mum will already be familiar with it)

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

[Save Ferris]

Countdown said:

IIRC the Yaris has an MMT auto which isn't supposed to be great. I'd suggest going for a Jazz auto.

All Yaris after September 2011 will be a CVT.

[Speed 3]

Had exactly the same with my Mum (76) last summer on her 100k Focus, she was really losing confidence in it. We got her a Kia Picanto and she absolutely loves it. We got a cracking deal on the run-out model, just over £6k with 7-year warranty and 3-year service pack. Its a proper auto and stable on the motorway which she does do fairly regularly plus much better mpg. We found out afterwards that she’d been avoiding certain car parks in the Focus but now she’ll happily use any. Her only slight issue is that one or two of her friends are on the “large” size and they don’t like it but for her and everyone else its great.

[Willy Nilly]

A Prius might be worth a look at.

I like my Jazz very much, the only thing that may cause her issues, is that there is a hefty blind spot around the A pillar, other than that it's great. I've heard mixed reports on the iShift, so try one and the CVT, other than that it's no problem at all on motorways and so much easier in town than a bigger car.

[addsvrs]

Had this same scenario last August with the MIL and her clapped out 206cc. It was the single worst buying experience of my life !. "dont like the colour", "front looks miserable", "too big / too small" etc etc. Ended up in a 12 plate fiesta, 1.6 Titanium (which as top spec is completely wasted on her) with low miles and under your budget, think it was 4.5k. Great little car.

[Twig62]

The 2014 - Hyundai i10 is an excellent small car in both manual and automatic form. It is equally as happy on the motorway as it is in town.

[Yiliterate]

My Mum is 70 and drives a Mini Cooper convertible auto with racing stripes and she’s delighted with it!

Plenty of choice at that price point, especially if she’d be happy with the hatchback and would consider the lower powered Mini One as well...

[Valgar]

A Jazz would be good, I'd avoid any of these 'automatic manuals', general rule of thumb if the gearbox doesn't go P,R,N,D (Prindle) then just avoid it. I remember Honda equipped a Jazz with one of these called the i-shift, it was more economical but the customer base complained it was basically st and they'd rather take the economy hit than use those things.

Hyundai i20 or i30? The i30 can be had quite cheap for the latest model. I got given one after an accident and I was genuinely impressed, in the cabin it looked like a more expensive car. Importantly they used old style torque converter boxes which are a bit old tech. A bonus would be that you may be able to pick up a 2014 one and still have a years warranty for that budget, I think it applies to second owner only, you'll have to research