Best user choice for shopping car / first car?

[infernouk]

EDIT: ‘Used’ choice! Sorry for auto correct

Hey guys

I am looking for a second car for use in town (tired of taking my M2 to the super market!) and for my partner to ‘re’ learn to drive in (has passed a test many years ago and not driven!). I’m hunting for a balance of fun, can hold a weekly shop, and cheap.

Should I be looking at the small stuff like Aygo and C1 here? Or are there better choices as I assume price of these is driven up by parents buying for their kids first car? I had thought MX5, but uncertain this is new driver friendly!

No strong brand preference but would be ideal if reliability was prioritised! And I’m uncertain on budget as I can flex to whatever fits the bill, but ideally something that will hold value if preferred if I need to invest more than a grand or two!

Edited by infernouk on Monday 17th April 13:49

[CarlosSainz100]

Smart car
Ford Ka
Mazda 2


Or buy what everyone else buys and get Fiat 500 of some description. My girlfriend has a fiat 500 twin air which sounds brilliant.

[infernouk]

CarlosSainz100 said:

Smart car
Ford Ka
Mazda 2


Or buy what everyone else buys and get Fiat 500 of some description. My girlfriend has a fiat 500 twin air which sounds brilliant.

Cheers i did consider a Ka, i just got rid of a 595 Abarth and need a car i can drive without looking odd so a regular fiat 500 isnt the one for that!

Smart cars i believed to have a premium and not be too safe on the odd motorway trip for a new driver?

[A500leroy]

panda

[Yomamaisasnowblower]

Mini's are cheap on insurance. Plenty around, nice to chuck around even in urban environments and at low speed, feel more upmarket compared to other superminis. Cons, spec is all over the place when buying used.

[J1990]

The superminis are going to struggle to swallow much shopping, though can easily handle it if you don't mind putting it on the back seats/footwells. I think these command too much of a premium for what they and wouldn't be putting my money in to one, though I can see why parents like to buy their kids them. My youngest two SIL's were given a C1 and a 107, both felt severely underpowered on the motorway and weren't particularly nice places to be but that wasn't part of your criteria, neither was it part of the criteria for why these cars were bought in this scenario either.


I'd probably pick up the best Mini I could find locally, they're fairly practical, inoffensive and I wouldn't say they stand out as an old shed in quite the way that something like a <£3k Maza 3/Seat Ibiza/Skoda Fabia etc.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303295...

[ScoobyChris]

Yomamaisasnowblower said:

Mini's are cheap on insurance. Plenty around, nice to chuck around even in urban environments and at low speed, feel more upmarket compared to other superminis. Cons, spec is all over the place when buying used.

Great cars, but boot is ridiculously small considering the outside dimensions of the car and I ended up using the back seats for the weekly shop too when I had mine. In a similar situation (plus kids turning 17 in a few years) we bought a 2010 107. Has cost next to nothing to run over the last 3 years and is reasonably fun to hustle along. Downsides are my eldest turned 17 and lost any interest in learning to drive (probably not related to the car), and my wife doesn't like the fact it doesn't drive like the diesel she learnt to drive in and requires a bit of skill to apply gas when pulling away to stop it stalling. As a result, she always takes my car, which is an auto, to go shopping

Chris

[lornemalvo]

Skoda Citigo all day long. So much better than the previous suggestions, in my experience. The Citigo is a superb car

[infernouk]

do the minis not command a premium to maintain if they are BMW under the hood?

I had an UP for 3 years, it was 'ok', but it was expensive for what it was...