Economical small car up to 2.5k

[Thundersports]

Hi all need some help; I need a small car as i'm going to start a longish commute which will involve narrow lanes etc. I know very little about small cars i'm thinking Aygo type thing. Not keen on a old diesel either with all the problems the older ones have.

[bearman68]

Aygo will be horrible on a long commute, just horrible.

Focus
Megane
V40
Pug 308
Yaris maybe.

Don't buy a Focus, V40 or 308 with a 1.6 diesel engine that's older than 2010.
Megane diesel is fine from 2006

Someone will say a Gof with a 130 bhp PD 1.9 engine. Not my cup of tea.

Nothing wrong with the older diesels - it's the newer ones you have to watch. (Generally)

[ZX10R NIN]

Alfa 147 Collezione the 1.9 is a properly durable engine & the interior means this will be a nice place to commute from

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

Toyota Auris SR180

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

[anonymous-user]

chap wants a small car without an old diesel, people suggest medium car with old diesel

How old would you go, how long is the daily commute? Are you bothered if its fun to drive or do you just want small comfy eco box?

[InitialDave]

Aygos are great little things, bit tinny, but they don't pretend not to be, and actually good fun to hustle along.

Panda 100HP would be an actively good driver's car to fit your needs, though the mpg isn't a patch on an Aygo, it depends how much weighting that has in your decision.

[Benbay001]

Toyota iQ!!

Toyota reliability but without the cheap feeling of the aygo.

Mines got leather, climate control and satnav aswell

[V6todayEVmanana]

A 2013 Aygo in the household (from new, a/c, bluetooth music streaming) , really good car in terms of running costs and fun to drive around.

Seems to sip fuel and just needed the annual service + brake pads/discs. (on 55k now).

Will much of the commute be on the motorway or at 70mph? As it is noisy (engine+road) around that speed so would annoy me after a while but as a TVR owner you might not mind

Toyota built it well but didn't add much noise insulation (later model meant to be improved).

It's quite narrow, (Fiat 500, Twingo, Ka are too) so perfect for country lanes, does well in the corners too.

I've not had any experience with the Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto but could be more refined, the Suzuki Ignis could be interesting, maybe other PHer's have a view on these.

[Thundersports]

MonkeyMatt said:

chap wants a small car without an old diesel, people suggest medium car with old diesel

How old would you go, how long is the daily commute? Are you bothered if its fun to drive or do you just want small comfy eco box?

Age isn't an issue really. The commute is an hour each way mixture of duel carriage way to very narrow lanes. Not bothered about it being fun to drive a small comfy eco box would work for me.

[mcm87]

This has Toyota Yaris written all over it. Not much bigger than an Aygo, but much more comfortable for journeys of that length. Still bulletproof Toyota reliability. Plenty of small petrol engines versions available.

[bearman68]

MonkeyMatt said:

chap wants a small car without an old diesel, people suggest medium car with old diesel

How old would you go, how long is the daily commute? Are you bothered if its fun to drive or do you just want small comfy eco box?

Hardly. Focus, 308 et al are hardly large, and 2010 + diesel engines are not exactly old. Well I don't think so.
As ever people are chipping in with their genuine view as to what would suit the OP best.

[ZX10R NIN]

Thundersports said:

Age isn't an issue really. The commute is an hour each way mixture of duel carriage way to very narrow lanes. Not bothered about it being fun to drive a small comfy eco box would work for me.

For me if I'm spending 2 hours in a car reliability & comfort come to mind as I stated earlier these two would be my first picks Aygo's etc are good cars but I wouldn't want (their short gearing can make them a bit of a chore) to be spending 2 hours a day in one when I can sit in something slightly bigger with longer gearing lower NVH & nicer seats.

Alfa 147 Collezione the 1.9 is a properly durable engine & the interior means this will be a nice place to commute from & due to the Alfa badge you can get them for very sensible

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

Toyota Auris SR180 Toyota has a bad rep with diesels but this engine has proved to be pretty robust.

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

If you want something smaller the the Grande Punto Sporting is a good shout & are sensibly priced with sensible running costs.

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

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

Clio Initiale (top spec) 106 the 1.5d is renowned for being frugal & reliable

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

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

GT 90

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

GT Line

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

Citroen DS3 I'm surprised to see one of these in budget so this would be my pick but it does look like it needs a little fettling.

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

[PistonAFC]

This is what happens to a i10, picanto sized car at 40mph accident

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1BGtbKOAOM

and this is a yaris vs camry, both at 40mph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4IispZph3U

Yaris driver = dead.

Be careful of the deathtrap st boxes.

[Thundersports]

PistonAFC said:

This is what happens to a i10, picanto sized car at 40mph accident

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1BGtbKOAOM

and this is a yaris vs camry, both at 40mph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4IispZph3U

Yaris driver = dead.

Be careful of the deathtrap st boxes.

That's cheered me up! I see where you're coming from though can't be any worse than hitting something in a TVR!

[PistonAFC]

Thundersports said:

That's cheered me up! I see where you're coming from though can't be any worse than hitting something in a TVR!

Just drive under 40mph and try not to hit anything bigger than you

[kieranblenk]

I'd be getting a Clio 1.5 dCi, we have a Mk4 and its a brilliant little car but the previous Mk3 will be in budget.

If you aren't bothered about looks, then the Modus with the same engine will probably be better value for money to be honest.

[Ben Lowden]

We've recently sold my wife's Mk7 Fiesta 1.6 TDCI Titanium 90bhp that sounds like the sort of thing to suit your needs. We had it for five years, put 40K miles on it with only a couple of minor cheap issues to fix. 52mpg average, £30 road tax, plenty of gadgets being a Titanium and we sold it for £2600 with 70K on the clock. Thoroughly recommend for something small and cheap to run!