Small Petrol Auto?

[ashleyman]

I'm trying to find the wife a car to commute to work in and I am struggling. Her commute is 4.6 miles each way and she currently takes the bus which takes about an hour. Having a car would cut that journey down to 15 minutes each way. Cycling/walking isn't practical due to luggage she takes to work each day, using the train is more expensive than the bus and will mean a 15 minute walk to the station and another 15 minute walk from the station to her work, same on the way home so it's got to be a car.

She wants something brand new - which is fine, but she doesn't want to spend too much a month on it, so we're thinking max £200 a month.

It needs to be Petrol.
It needs to be Automatic.
Can be PCP or Lease.

She has asked for some form of Auto-Hold or Hill-Hold Assist as she can sometimes get a little bit nervous about the various hill starts required on her commute. She's never been great with hills.

I've tried to get her to look at small older cars with auto gearboxes and she's not interested.
We nearly got her a Hyundai Tucson which was Petrol, Automatic AND had the assist features but she's decided it's too big now and was working out too expensive at £315 a month. I agree it's quite a large car but does tick every box, I could also use it for various duties so a good option.

I can't seem to find anything that ticks the boxes and is Focus/Golf sized or smaller, it seems like most small auto's are diesel which obviously isn't great for such a short commute. Otherwise most petrols seem to be manuals and she's not keen despite having a full license. Petrol & Auto seem to be reserved for larger cars.

Any suggestions?

Edited by ashleyman on Monday 4th March 00:22

[PSRG]

The VW Polo / SEAT Ibiza / Skoda Fabia / Audi A1 are available with a three pot petrol TSI engine and a DSG box. I imagine that the SEAT and Skoda might come in under £200 a month? Or maybe a MINI?

[henrycrun]

I guess the Electric option is too pricey.

How about a small KIA (7 yr G/tee)

On hills, just hold the handbrake, mash the accelerator and let go !

Edited by henrycrun on Monday 4th March 00:05

[ashleyman]

PSRG said:

The VW Polo / SEAT Ibiza / Skoda Fabia / Audi A1 are available with a three pot petrol TSI engine and a DSG box. I imagine that the SEAT and Skoda might come in under £200 a month? Or maybe a MINI?

The trouble is, each of those vehicles is available for sub £200 a month with a minimal deposit, but when you need an Auto you're expected to take a higher trim level which inflates the car cost.

They don't make an UP! with an auto gearbox.

VW Polo with a 1.0 95PS DSG requires SE trim - works out at £220 a month plus £1800 deposit.
Seat Ibiza with a 1.0 115PS DSG requires the FR trim - works out at £1000 deposit and £271 a month.
Skoda Fabia with a 1.0 110PS DSG requires SE trim - works out at £1700 deposit and £204 a month.

Audi was more expensive than the prices above without adding the automatic box!

A standard Mini One in Classic trim is available with an automatic box but I'd need to phone a dealer for a quote as the calculator was only showing Manual figure. Even so manual worked out at £2000 down and £235 a month. I did find a Mini JCW deal which was £289 down, £289 a month but that was a manual, automatic pushed it up past £300.

Found a Kia Rio "2" with a 1.4 Automatic - doesn't say if it's petrol or diesel and that's £1600 deposit and £297 a month.
Hyundai do an i20 with a 1.0 Automatic in Petrol - has to be SE trim and that's £4000 deposit and £203 a month.

Nissan don't do a Micra Automatic at all.

I'm just amazed at how little choice there is for a reasonably cheap small automatic vehicle whilst trying to finance with a PCP or Lease!

henrycrun said:

I guess the Electric option is too pricey.

How about a small KIA (7 yr G/tee)

On hills, just hold the handbrake, mash the accelerator and let go !

Even if electric was affordable, we don't have charging facilities at home (live in a flat) and she doesn't have them at work either so electric just not possible at all. Whilst I agree about the handbrake and mashing the accelerator, I can't find a small automatic in petrol form that works with the budget so telling her to do what you've suggested is pointless!!

Edited by ashleyman on Monday 4th March 00:50

[clockworks]

Fiat Panda or 500?

[Summit_Detailing]

Smart ForTwo - available with dual clutch gearbox and has an 'old fashioned' manual handbrake lever!

Cheers

Chris

[Sheepshanks]

ashleyman said:

PSRG said:

The VW Polo / SEAT Ibiza / Skoda Fabia / Audi A1 are available with a three pot petrol TSI engine and a DSG box. I imagine that the SEAT and Skoda might come in under £200 a month? Or maybe a MINI?

The trouble is, each of those vehicles is available for sub £200 a month with a minimal deposit, but when you need an Auto you're expected to take a higher trim level which inflates the car cost.

They don't make an UP! with an auto gearbox.

VW Polo with a 1.0 95PS DSG requires SE trim - works out at £220 a month plus £1800 deposit.
Seat Ibiza with a 1.0 115PS DSG requires the FR trim - works out at £1000 deposit and £271 a month.
Skoda Fabia with a 1.0 110PS DSG requires SE trim - works out at £1700 deposit and £204 a month.

Quick look at Contract Hire & Leasing showed everything from Honda Jazz to Vauxhall Mokka autos for under £200/m on 3 + 35 terms.

Missus has an auto with electric handbrake and auto hold. She turns them off and just holds the car, where needed, with her left foot. I always assumed it was to allow for this that autos have big brake pedals.

[nmd87]

You've not stated your budget, OP. You could probably buy a Mercedes S500 for £200 a month with an £80,000 deposit.

Toyota are doing 0% finance on the Yaris Hybrid at the moment. £3k down, £209 a month for 42 months and then a final payment of £7,100. This is the advertised price, i.e. before you negotiate further discount.

Edited by nmd87 on Monday 4th March 08:32

[ZX10R NIN]

I have to be honest I'd say just get her using the handbrake that then negates the need for it having to have auto hold (to be fair most conventional autos won't roll back anyway) which then gives you access to a lot of sensibly priced cars.

Something like the Astra in Elite trim is the one to look at they're sensibly priced even for a newer one & they pretty much tick every box.

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

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

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

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

Or the newer shape in SRI Nav form

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

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

Kia Ceed in 3 trim

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

[kieranblenk]

A few to consider;

Fiesta Zetec Powershift
Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 auto
Suzuki Swift, Ignis or Baleno auto
Citroen C1, Peugeot 108 or Toyota Aygo ETG
Kia Picanto
Hyundai i10
Fiat 500 Dualogic
Renault Clio EDC

You may be able to get a 1.0 TSI Skoda Octavia DSG or Honda Jazz CVT on a cheap lease on or around budget also.

[ashleyman]

nmd87 said:

You've not stated your budget, OP. You could probably buy a Mercedes S500 for £200 a month with an £80,000 deposit.

Toyota are doing 0% finance on the Yaris Hybrid at the moment. £3k down, £209 a month for 42 months and then a final payment of £7,100. This is the advertised price, i.e. before you negotiate further discount.

Edited by nmd87 on Monday 4th March 08:32

Ideally as little as possible.

Can't find a Yaris deal on the website, Hybrid isn't ideal because we can't charge it.

Edited by ashleyman on Monday 4th March 10:52

[SWoll]

Jazz 1.3 i-VTEC SE 5dr CVT - 1 + 23 - £197 per month (or £173 on a 1+ 35 deal)

https://leasing.com/main-dealers/marshall-honda-yo...

[octane83]

We had similar criteria and finding a small Petrol Auto was much more difficult than I'd imagined.

In the end we went with a 4 year old Honda Jazz CVT. The CVT takes a bit of getting used to but other than that its a great car- reliable, spacious with some niceties like Pano roof bluetooth, cruise etc. We went Honda Approved Used- there is obviously a premium buying it from a Main Dealer but seeing as we plan to run it into the ground it was something we were ok with paying- the difference between Approved Used and a normal garage was minimal anyway. It seems to be a very efficient engine- we regularly see 40+mpg with a 50-50 mix of town and motorway journeys. I've never really checked if it has Hill Hold Control- my wife is also nervous about rollback on inclines but she seems to manage really well with the Honda so I'm assuming it has either got it or she's learned to drive around its quirks.

I can see why this car is standard issue for OAPs.

Have you considered a bank loan+dealer purchase? May work out cheaper than a PCP/Lease and something like a Honda might hold its value a bit so you'll end up with a car that's still worth something in a new years.

Watch out for servicing costs on a Honda CVT- they are expensive especially as a gearbox oil change is a service item. Going for the fixed price service plan softens the blow somewhat- although in my cynical mind that's a bit of a placebo effect based on individual services being artificially inflated to encourage the service plan purchases!

All the best.

[octane83]

ashleyman said:

nmd87 said:

You've not stated your budget, OP. You could probably buy a Mercedes S500 for £200 a month with an £80,000 deposit.

Toyota are doing 0% finance on the Yaris Hybrid at the moment. £3k down, £209 a month for 42 months and then a final payment of £7,100. This is the advertised price, i.e. before you negotiate further discount.

Edited by nmd87 on Monday 4th March 08:32

Ideally as little as possible.

Can't find a Yaris deal on the website, Hybrid isn't ideal because we can't charge it.

Edited by ashleyman on Monday 4th March 10:52

Yaris Hybrids don't need to be charged- they aren't plug in Hybrids from memory. They are Series Hybrids so the engine charges the battery (additionally the battery is topped up with energy recuperation from braking and coasting).

[ali_XF]

Had similar requirements for my wife and we ended up buying a Suzuki swift auto last year- managed to get a chunky discount as they had a deal on for NHS staff, almost a year later it’s been absolutely faultless. Im sure they have an interest free offer on at the moment, and they don’t require a deposit iirc. That’s where my money would go.

[Sheepshanks]

octane83 said:

In the end we went with a 4 year old Honda Jazz CVT. The CVT takes a bit of getting used to ....

I guess that's a late mk2? We've got two in the family (both manual EX's).

Might not be too important for the OP if he's leasing, but the mk3 feels noticeably crappier, and has daft things like touch sensitive controls that don't work properly etc. I think they dropped the glass roof too - not a real issue for the driver, but kids love it.

I have driven Jazz CVT and thought it was fine (compared to my Merc auto). Press one pedal to go and the other to stop! What could be easier than that?

[octane83]

Sheepshanks said:

octane83 said:

In the end we went with a 4 year old Honda Jazz CVT. The CVT takes a bit of getting used to ....

I guess that's a late mk2? We've got two in the family (both manual EX's).

Might not be too important for the OP if he's leasing, but the mk3 feels noticeably crappier, and has daft things like touch sensitive controls that don't work properly etc. I think they dropped the glass roof too - not a real issue for the driver, but kids love it.

I have driven Jazz CVT and thought it was fine (compared to my Merc auto). Press one pedal to go and the other to stop! What could be easier than that?

Yep Mk2. Certainly feels better built than the Mk3- especially the choice of cabin trim materials.

However it is worth bearing in mind that the Mk3 has more safety kit on board- Autonomous Braking etc are standard I believe.

[PSRG]

ashleyman said:

PSRG said:

The VW Polo / SEAT Ibiza / Skoda Fabia / Audi A1 are available with a three pot petrol TSI engine and a DSG box. I imagine that the SEAT and Skoda might come in under £200 a month? Or maybe a MINI?

The trouble is, each of those vehicles is available for sub £200 a month with a minimal deposit, but when you need an Auto you're expected to take a higher trim level which inflates the car cost.

They don't make an UP! with an auto gearbox.

VW Polo with a 1.0 95PS DSG requires SE trim - works out at £220 a month plus £1800 deposit.
Seat Ibiza with a 1.0 115PS DSG requires the FR trim - works out at £1000 deposit and £271 a month.
Skoda Fabia with a 1.0 110PS DSG requires SE trim - works out at £1700 deposit and £204 a month.

Audi was more expensive than the prices above without adding the automatic box!

A standard Mini One in Classic trim is available with an automatic box but I'd need to phone a dealer for a quote as the calculator was only showing Manual figure. Even so manual worked out at £2000 down and £235 a month. I did find a Mini JCW deal which was £289 down, £289 a month but that was a manual, automatic pushed it up past £300.

Found a Kia Rio "2" with a 1.4 Automatic - doesn't say if it's petrol or diesel and that's £1600 deposit and £297 a month.
Hyundai do an i20 with a 1.0 Automatic in Petrol - has to be SE trim and that's £4000 deposit and £203 a month.

Nissan don't do a Micra Automatic at all.

I'm just amazed at how little choice there is for a reasonably cheap small automatic vehicle whilst trying to finance with a PCP or Lease!

Ah right...
Carwow is showing a 3 door MINI Cooper Classic Comfort Pack at 6 months down at £210 a month on a 4 year lease at the moment.
A SEAT Ibiza is £203 under the same terms.
So yes, just above budget.

But the Fabia is £173 a month

[ZX10R NIN]

So OP anything tick the boxes?

[ashleyman]

PSRG said:

Ah right...
Carwow is showing a 3 door MINI Cooper Classic Comfort Pack at 6 months down at £210 a month on a 4 year lease at the moment.
A SEAT Ibiza is £203 under the same terms.
So yes, just above budget.

But the Fabia is £173 a month

Showed her the Fabia and she said it was ugly and that she didn't like Skodas. Now she's looking at Hyundai IX20's. I do despair!!

We're going to a Hyundai, Nissan, Fiat, Abarth group tomorrow so she can poke around the cars so should hopefully be able to either add some to the list or cross them off. Hopefully go through the manufacturers in the next week or so so she has a list, then I can start putting builds on Carwow. I think we need to be fairly quick to avoid any extra fees come Brexit Day.

octane83 said:

We had similar criteria and finding a small Petrol Auto was much more difficult than I'd imagined.

In the end we went with a 4 year old Honda Jazz CVT. The CVT takes a bit of getting used to but other than that its a great car- reliable, spacious with some niceties like Pano roof bluetooth, cruise etc. We went Honda Approved Used- there is obviously a premium buying it from a Main Dealer but seeing as we plan to run it into the ground it was something we were ok with paying- the difference between Approved Used and a normal garage was minimal anyway. It seems to be a very efficient engine- we regularly see 40+mpg with a 50-50 mix of town and motorway journeys. I've never really checked if it has Hill Hold Control- my wife is also nervous about rollback on inclines but she seems to manage really well with the Honda so I'm assuming it has either got it or she's learned to drive around its quirks.

I can see why this car is standard issue for OAPs.

Have you considered a bank loan+dealer purchase? May work out cheaper than a PCP/Lease and something like a Honda might hold its value a bit so you'll end up with a car that's still worth something in a new years.

Watch out for servicing costs on a Honda CVT- they are expensive especially as a gearbox oil change is a service item. Going for the fixed price service plan softens the blow somewhat- although in my cynical mind that's a bit of a placebo effect based on individual services being artificially inflated to encourage the service plan purchases!

All the best.

Thanks for this. Whilst there is absolutely nothing wrong with a Jazz, I'm half tempted to hide it's existence from her purely because of their reputation! Usually driven by OAP's who are crap drivers, except that one who actually managed to find 60 and stay there on a country lane once.

Buying the car outright isn't the issue, it's just about finding something cheap + reliable that has the bits she wants. Plus with PCP rates much much lower than Used and the extra deposit contributions from brands it's hard to ignore the deals on brand new with finance.