Well my older sister has finally managed to get her hands on a driving licence, but only an automatic one though, so now is looking for something akin to the thread title, but the only ones she's found are big Mondeos and Mercedes, any ideas where she can find something sub £1K or just an idea of who actually makes or made something that will do a new driver ??

Had a similar issue myself with my American wife. Auto licence only. I just kept scouring eBay, autotrader, local rag and pistonheads. eBay came up trumps after a few weeks. Peugeot 306, 1.6 auto with 36k on the clock, only one previous owner.

Although to be fair, under £1,000 is unlikely. The type of cars you're looking at generally command a higher residual price because old dears want something similar for just tootling around to the shops. If you double that budget, or even £1,500, you should get more hits. Taper your search criteria on eBay motors and see what comes up.

A friend had an auto only licence. She has had 2 corsas, loved both of them.

I got my other halfs Arosa 1.4 Auto for that price. Been perfect thus far, great little car.

Doesnt exist.

We have a '98 micra instead

There's a 51 reg Nissan micra Auto for sale up the road from me.

50,000 miles from new and looks very clean.

they're asking £1,200.

Id be going down the Japanese route for that sort or money, an old Suzuki or Micra perhaps?

Lots of good little Automatics exist.

Maybe try Autotrader looking at 'Asking Prices' around £1500 - £2000 in your area.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk

You can surely get that down to a 'bag of sand in the hand'.

Doubt you will find a Picanto 1.1 LX auto Never drops below 42 mpg, but good if you could find one.

Discs all round and drives like an original Mini, & thats in a good way.

Snow tyres on and it never gets stuck.

Micra Autos, Corsas etc, loads to choose from..

If you can find someone selling a good condition Subaru Justy 4x4 Auto, then get out and try that,

total hoot, & an amazing car.

Not many good ones left sadly.

I even enjoyed my mums Saxo 1.4 16v Desire Auto for blasts which also did 42 mpg.

Sadly Brakes have never been good since we got it new in 2001.

It is going up for sale for spares or repairs & £400 but its not going till December since its still MOT'd and sound and getting used.

george

PS with a Micra Automatic, dont worry if its a 1.0 or a 1.3,

but try and get a drive in a 1.3

Just nail it and go around corners.

Use the O/D button (Over Drive) to switch on and off for slowing, dont use gears manually or brakes,

if thats your thing. Same with most small autos.

Edited 3 August, 201213 yr by sk4gw

PS forgot.

Checked Autotrader & just spotted a great car in my area @ £995, almost tempted.

I had a New one from Motability for 3 years. Y Reg.

Fiat Punto 1.2 16v Dynamic Speedgear. (1249cc)

It was excellent, Gearbox was like driving the first Sequential boxes.

Not been in one since 2003, so cant say if i am looking through rose tinted glasses,

but loved it back then.

Might go drive the one in my area & see how it is ...

george

Lots of good little Automatics exist.

Maybe try Autotrader looking at 'Asking Prices' around £1500 - £2000 in your area.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk

You can surely get that down to a 'bag of sand in the hand'.

Doubt you will find a Picanto 1.1 LX auto Never drops below 42 mpg, but good if you could find one.

Discs all round and drives like an original Mini, & thats in a good way.

Snow tyres on and it never gets stuck.

Micra Autos, Corsas etc, loads to choose from..

If you can find someone selling a good condition Subaru Justy 4x4 Auto, then get out and try that,

total hoot, & an amazing car.

Not many good ones left sadly.

I even enjoyed my mums Saxo 1.4 16v Desire Auto for blasts which also did 42 mpg.

Sadly Brakes have never been good since we got it new in 2001.

It is going up for sale for spares or repairs & £400 but its not going till December since its still MOT'd and sound and getting used.

george

PS with a Micra Automatic, dont worry if its a 1.0 or a 1.3,

but try and get a drive in a 1.3

Just nail it and go around corners.

Use the O/D button (Over Drive) to switch on and off for slowing, dont use gears manually or brakes,.

if thats your thing. Same with most small autos.

Trouble with micras is the box is a CVT. Test drove a few before settling on a fairly tired example that seemed mechanically sound. still got plenty of gremlins though. If anyone knows how to fix the resistors on the heating/vent control speed board of a K11 micra then please get in touch. Only off and hurricane strength currently work. Saving grace is that standard speakers are mega with a tidy head unit. Lots of nice looking micras with shagged trannys () out there.

A daihatsu sirion is a leftfield choice. Challenging looks, pretty old fashioned inside but torque convertor box and quite reliable, problems like leaks etc rather than mechanical.

As I told my wife, you really need to be spending a bit more than a grand but she refused. Need a 5 door so a picanto would have been my choice.

Once you are in a car you cant see what the outside looks like untill you see another model the same or you drive passed Department store windows admiring yourself.

All cars can be gubbed,

your job is to find the one thats not.

All that Glitters is not Gold!!

If you find one with only 24,000 miles on it and immaculate from a 87 year old lady, only drove it 10 miles a week to Tesco's,

never took it out of town,

remember its maybe her son that drove it and took it Auction Marts & closed Car Parks on Sundays to do Auto tests in it.

george

Edited 3 August, 201213 yr by sk4gw

At that price point it might be worth spending a couple of quid on an inspection to make sure it's not a rot box or 4 other cars put together.

Micra is a good call, they're robust little cars.

Honda Civic

Hyundai Accent

Hyundai Getz

Suzuki Wagon R - Hideous but probably run by a pensioner

Edited 3 August, 201213 yr by Aspman

Think I'd be looking at a Micra, Starlet or Polo if it were me. Possibly a Lupo or Arosa, both of which I really like the look of. But as others have said, there's lots to choose from.

Gaz

Honda Civic would be first choice on my list.

Avoid automatic fiestas. They too are CVT but they lurch into gear when you engage "D" with a huge delay and think they were plagued with issues!

I once drove an auto Micro 1.0. Was like driving a go kart. Just push and go!

Loads of choice really.

Had a quick search. Found a couple of Punto 1.2's with the Speedgear auto in. Also a Pug 306 1.6 Auto with A/C.

It's also amaxing how many big Luxo barges that come up in a search for £500-£1000 and automatic transmission. Some of them look immaculate for £600!

Phil

Found a few Fabias below £1000, probably not the best condition though.

It's also amaxing how many big Luxo barges that come up in a search for £500-£1000 and automatic transmission. Some of them look immaculate for £600!

Yup it was a big Lexus 300 that came top in my first search, for £1000 as well, and the owner said everything still worked. I love big barges too :love:

Edited 3 August, 201213 yr by Aspman

I got my other halfs Arosa 1.4 Auto for that price. Been perfect thus far, great little car.

You mean you admit to being related to THAT

You mean you admit to being related to THAT

No it's a car, but it is my relations car yes. Wicked little motor it is too.

Looked at Toyota Yaris. They have a few auto options, depends on what age of car you'd be aiming at.

Thanks for all the pointers , guess it's going to be a case of just keep looking, but like Phil and Aspman have discovered the searches keep returning these big 2 or 3 litre things.

If it is using Autotrader for a small automatic locally.

To get an idea of 'Asking Prices' & thats all they are, you do not need to offer that!!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk

select.

Distance...'30 miles' or '40 miles',

Make....Any

Transmission....'automatic' 'semi automatic' or 'not listed' is worth looking at,

(engine size).... '1L - 1.3L'or 1.4L-1.6L

max price..... '£2000'

Should not show 2 litre cars and the like

george

Edited 4 August, 201213 yr by sk4gw

Thanks for all the pointers , guess it's going to be a case of just keep looking, but like Phil and Aspman have discovered the searches keep returning these big 2 or 3 litre things.

Thats because Auto boxes are mostly used in the big 2 or 3 litre things. Small Autos are quiet rare, especially at the cheap end of the market. So you'll need to keep looking.

Can i suggest you go to Specsavers!

'You can not be serious!'

They are all getting Named & Shamed in this thread already.

Corsa, Picanto, i10, Splash, Justy, Fabia, Alto, Swift, Jazz, Jimny, A2, Agila, Astra, Saxo, 106,206, C1,C2, Aygo, C3, 107, 207,

iQ,, Smart, Sirion, Punto, Panda, Fiesta, Fusion, Rio, Mini Original, or MINI, Colt, Cube, Civic, Pixo, Micra, Clio, Modus, Ibiza,

Arosa, Getz, Terios, Metro, & on. so thats 1995 to 2005 possibly.

Lets not go more modern, 500, Bipper/Nemo/Qubo, i20. Vega, up!/Citigo/Mii, etc

just a few that are commonly available 'small autos'. & many quite cheaply, if thats under £2,000

Big Autos,

will be lots of big cars with an Autobox, How many of them compared to the choice of small ones on the road still?

george

Edited 4 August, 201213 yr by sk4gw

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201226476956836/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/automatic/price-to/2000/model/civic/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/2/radius/1500/postcode/cb98qn?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201231480566602/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/automatic/price-to/2000/model/civic/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/1500/postcode/cb98qn/page/4?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201230480171172/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/automatic/price-to/2000/model/civic/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/5/postcode/cb98qn/radius/1500?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201231480795513/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/automatic/price-to/2000/model/civic/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/5/postcode/cb98qn/radius/1500?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201229479440663/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/automatic/price-to/2000/model/civic/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/6/postcode/cb98qn/radius/1500?logcode=p

There are plenty more on there sub £1k.