Thinking about getting the wife a small car. Since passing her driving she hasn't been keen on driving the Octy (she feels it is too big) although she loves the DSG and would therefore love a small auto. However I think our budget will mean she has to stick with a manual car.

Trouble is what do we do:

1. Spend a few hundred on something 12 years old and hope she doesn't get stranded and expect to pay out regularly for repairs.

2. Spend £3/4k on something a bit newer but still out of manufacturer warranty. Trouble is cars in this price range tend to be coming up to the time in their life of cambelt changes or a fairly major service.

3. Spend £5k (really our top budget) on something nearly new, say a 54/05 plate Picanto (although there are some pre-reg base Panda for just over £5k).

I've trawled through Auto trader and the car supermarket sites, drivethedeal.com and the others but I'm still no closer to deciding what is best.

Any thoughts?

Small car for the wife

Sounds like a great deal - what's the name of the garage that took her off your hands?

Thinking about getting the wife a small car. Since passing her driving she hasn't been keen on driving the Octy (she feels it is too big) although she loves the DSG and would therefore love a small auto. However I think our budget will mean she has to stick with a manual car.

Trouble is what do we do:

1. Spend a few hundred on something 12 years old and hope she doesn't get stranded and expect to pay out regularly for repairs.

2. Spend £3/4k on something a bit newer but still out of manufacturer warranty. Trouble is cars in this price range tend to be coming up to the time in their life of cambelt changes or a fairly major service.

3. Spend £5k (really our top budget) on something nearly new, say a 54/05 plate Picanto (although there are some pre-reg base Panda for just over £5k).

I've trawled through Auto trader and the car supermarket sites, drivethedeal.com and the others but I'm still no closer to deciding what is best.

Any thoughts?

Depends a lot on how many miles she will do. Theres no point getting a newish car much as she would love it if she wont do many miles, it will just depreciate without use, better buying something older & cheaper with a few miles on it. By the time you come to sell it the miles will have levelled out. As regards the fear of breaking down, most modern cars will safely do 100,000 miles but just join the RAC Its always handy for a lady as they will even come out to change a flat.

(personally not the AA, had horrendous experiences with them, they left my Wife stranded after an accident, couldnt attend for 90 minuites, thankfully the Polioce cattending were incredibly helpful & got a local wrecker out quickly.

Choose a popular manufacturer, Ford/Vauxhall etc as running costs tend to be low & people like Halfords sell major service bits, Jap tend to be super reliable

Small Autos tend to be rare but also theres not a great demand for them so if you find one chances are there wont be many after it

Took me 2 mins to find this, just an example, Im not neccesarily suggesting it but Autos are out there, just trawl the net. T reg, 28000 miles Nissan reliability & all for £1500 less what you can haggle off

Please , no offence meant but if shes new to driving something older lets her stick the odd parking dent in it without worying

On this site just put auto in the search criteria

nisaan micra 1.3 auto model1999petrol3 doors north london Cars for sale £2001-10,000 London

Not sure where abouts you are runboy,

Have a look here,

Ray Morris Automatic Cars Ltd

Thanks for this - keep the suggestions coming!

mathepac - I was hoping for a Jag but in the end couldn't let her go!

Sturat J - we've been through all sorts of thoughts. Insurance is a killer, although fully comp on a 4/5 years old Micra was just under £400 which isn't bad for a new driver. I would have thought 5k miles a year which isn't much. Contract hire is cheaper with lower miles but that, or buying a nearly/new car for cash does bring the issue of bumps. I see some cars with alloys which look nice but one kirb and the repair costs start to rise.

Jap V Mainstream......I've had older Jap cars in the past but parts tend to be pricey but they are relaible whereas Ford/Vauxhall do have cheaper parts but are they anymore likely to break down....I don't know.

One thing with an older auto is there is less chance the engine has been thrashed and there is no clutch to burn out but then if the auto box goes wrong the costs are higher.

5th Gear were doing older run abouts last night.

One suggestion was a £1600 old style (Mk3?) 1.6 Astra. Cheaper than the equivalent Corsa with a better safety rating.

Never going to set your heart a flutter but something like that would be a good A-B car.

I had an old Astra once upon a time and it never went wrong (not much to go wrong). A lot of people don't like Vauxhall but I've had a few as have my family, SWMBO has a Tigra and they've all been reliable if unexciting transport.

Yes we watched the 5th Gear piece. I thought the Astra was a good buy, safe too, and there are plenty around but the wife said it was too big. After I finished headbutting the floor I cried a bit.

A friends husband just bought her an auto Lupo - it was at 59K so he negotiated the cambelt in the deal.

For that money you could pick up a 2 - 3 year old shape Corsa.

Picanto's aren't that bad - but also what about the Hyundai Getz - I know of one going for under £5k which is 2 years old (5 year warranty).

PM on it's way

Re Insurance, try mirroring your no claims & insuring it yourself with her as a named driver & hope she dosent hit anything.

With an older car do you really need Fully comp, any minor dinks can be sorted at the scrappies very cheaply if its a popular model, also being a new driver her excess will be fairly high anyway. Might be worth looking at Third party fire & theft for the first year or 2 & an older car so she can practice the dents on that

Yaris 1.3 auto springs to mind:thumbup:

We will be selling Little Katie's Clio soon if she finds a suitable Fabia vRS.

Its an 04 plate 1.2 Expression A/C 3 door with about 33k miles. Let me know if you might be interested and want further details. We are located in the north Manchester area.

I can't remember the name of it but Hyundai are now doing that new car for £4995 which comes with a five year warranty. That doesn't sort the depreciation out, but you've got 'hassle free' motoring for five years which is a considerable length of time in anyone's book.

Nearly new Fiat Panda 1.3 Multijet diesel?

Can pick them up for around 5k... if you can find one!

An older Yaris or newer Panda are good ideas.

You can also get delivery mileage Ka's for just over £5k. Also the Citroen C1 or Toyota Aygo, same car different prices. You won't get much smaller than those.

Nissan Micras are also very easy to drive though maybe a little too French these days.

Will she still like the very small cars after she's been overtaken by an 18 wheeler?

If she's anything like SWMBO a complete U-turn on something like that would not be a surprise.

What about a nice Fabia?

I would agree with a nissan micra, cheap reliable ( apart from one I owned) and built to last.

The 1.0 16v is very nippy in the micra and you will get about 57.1 to the gallon.

Davy

Personally, I'd be looking at the newest car you can afford as crash protection has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. If she gets bumps in a new car, she'll kick herself but it's only metal. If she's involved in an accident in an older car she may not be in a position to kick herself. :( Check out Euro NCAP - For safer cars | HOME and Youtube for car's ratings.

If you're looking at cars which are coming up to major services/cambelt changes make sure this is negotiated as part of the deal (could ring a few main dealers and get some prices). Aftermarket warranties are also available, but on a car worth 3/4k I'd probably chance it and put the money into a savings account instead. Tesco fully comp breakdown cover is available for £65 a year if you want a bit of backup though.

Chris

I would seriously contemplate this:

1999(T) NISSAN MICRA 1.0 EQUATION 3 DOOR, NO RESERVE!!! on eBay, also, Nissan, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 28-Feb-08 20:00:00 GMT)

Could be a bargain. £360 almost suspicioulsy low (at least when compared to price level here in Sweden where used cars are rather pricey). 66,000 miles is nothing for a Micra (I drove my 1992 for over 200K without any major problems). IIRC this model has a timing chain, not a belt. Note the MOT expiry date.

If reliability is important I would also go for a Jap car (Nissan/Toyota/Mitsubishi if the price is right.

This isn't necessarily my wisdom, merely a collection of opinions I hear/read whenever I see this question raised, hope some of it helps:

- Spend less than £1500 or more than £5000 as anywhere in between is trouble - owners getting shot of cars with problems or due major maintenance costs (as you've already said). At least if you spend the low amount you'll have a decent kitty left to pay for maintenance/repairs.

- If you're going cheap, look for good condition cars, not specific models.

- Astra sized and bigger cars can often be cheaper than corsa sized ones as small cars are more in demand as first cars.

- Typically bigger cars are safer and EuroNCAP is not directly comparable between different size cars.

- If you're going for an older auto - Japanese conventional auto is much more reliable than the European ones and steer clear of CVT.

- If you're looking for newish autos, look for an auction of Motobility cars.

I looked into this a few months ago for swmbo but the prohibitive cost of running another car meant we're staying a one car family for the time being even if I have to get the train to work. It's getting more and more out-dated (how many early 80s polos and audis do you see nowadays?) but I never tire of reading Bangernomics - Home Page

...I never tire of reading Bangernomics - Home Page

Thanks, daiking, for a great link, lots of sound reasoning there!

Which would you prefer for her? And I'll look into it further.

Aygo, or Yaris? If they were anything you wanted...

Hope about the Citroen C2. But if it was my money I would probably at something Japanese. Our neighbour has the Yaris auto, and swmbo's on her 2nd Yaris and loves it. I find the visibilty is good and they're easy to drive, and should run forever.

A wealth of info - thanks. I think the lower end of the market will be the way to go - no worries about any damage, we can got for TPF&T rather than fully comp and we can keep some money aside for RAC membership and any unexpected repairs.

I've seen a few mentions of "bangernomics" on other forums so I'll give those a look for any other pointers.

Hmm, what you may also be able to get is a 2-3yr old Swift, they do an auto, though it is likely to be quite rare. They should be sneaking under the 5k mark by now.