A new car

bspittles · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 17:15

A change in circumstance means I may need to start commuting soon

My current car is a PT Cruiser; very comfy but too expensive for everyday use. So I turn to the great and good of FISO to select my next car

Must have...
An automatic gearbox
50+ mpg (50 means my daily fuel bill will be £10

)

Would like...
Fairly cheap insurance, group 10 or lower preferably

If at all possible...
British built
4 seats

I don't care about...
Looks
Colour
Performance (my commute could be a dual-carriageway/motorway combination, or a slightly shorter trip on single-carriage A roads)
Age (could buy new or used, not bothered so long as reliability is okay)

My budget is about £10k if I can get £3k for mine!

Suggestions so far (without taking my budget into account!) include

Audi A3
Citroen C4 or C5
Fiat 500, Panda, Grande Punto or Bravo
Ford Fiesta or Focus
Honda Jazz or Civic
Hyundai i20 or i30
Kia Picanto or Soul
Mini
Mitsubishi Colt
Nissan Pixo
Peugeot 107
Proton Savvy
Renault Modus
Seat Leon or Toledo
Smart ForTwo
Vauxhall Agila or Astra

Any thoughts?

If I had a choice on styling alone, I'd go for a Fiat 500, Smart or Mini...

barry · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 18:09

When I was looking for my lease car, cheap insurance and high MPG were my main concerns, based on my budget (which will be different from just buying a car) I ended up getting a skoda fabia estate 1.9 diesel which was head and shoulders above every other car in the budget range. I get 60mpg easily.

Bunners · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 18:49

Hiya mate

I looked into it for similar reasons to baz.

Id avoid Fiat, my own personal preference, they are not the most reliable from my own experience.

Also Id avoid minis, the fuel consumption is not good, the guzzle, again from experience of what 2 work colleagues that had them.

Skodas got a good write up from any at work that have them, not that many english on your list, but personally id go for seat, the girlfirends has an ibiza, relatively cheap to run and fuel consumption good.

given all that i believe that generally though you pay your money and take your chance

barry · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 19:21

skoda fabia estate 1.9 TDI 105bhp
Group 4
official mpg - 57.6

looking on which car they recommend the 1.4tdi engine

bspittles · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 22:13

Cheers both,

Barry, the only fabia estate with an automatic gearbox is the 1.4 and the economy isn't up to what I need.

Bunners, the mini's official mpg is between 52 and 72 for the models I'd be interested in (Mini One or Cooper 1.6/1.6D). I'll look closer at the Seats

barry · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 22:19

bspittles wrote:

Cheers both,

Barry, the only fabia estate with an automatic gearbox is the 1.4 and the economy isn't up to what I need.

Bunners, the mini's official mpg is between 52 and 72 for the models I'd be interested in (Mini One or Cooper 1.6/1.6D). I'll look closer at the Seats

sorry mate, missed the automatic gearbox requirement. You should try actually learning to drive :wink:

sorbiegunner · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 22:25

bspittles wrote:

Cheers both,

Barry, the only fabia estate with an automatic gearbox is the 1.4 and the economy isn't up to what I need.

Bunners, the mini's official mpg is between 52 and 72 for the models I'd be interested in (Mini One or Cooper 1.6/1.6D). I'll look closer at the Seats

I think the mini's might not pass the budget requirement, they cost a fortune new and they hold their value well.

bspittles · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 22:59

barry wrote:

bspittles wrote:

Cheers both,

Barry, the only fabia estate with an automatic gearbox is the 1.4 and the economy isn't up to what I need.

Bunners, the mini's official mpg is between 52 and 72 for the models I'd be interested in (Mini One or Cooper 1.6/1.6D). I'll look closer at the Seats

sorry mate, missed the automatic gearbox requirement. You should try actually learning to drive :wink:

No left foot

difficult to operate a clutch!

barry · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 23:00

bspittles wrote:

barry wrote:

bspittles wrote:

Cheers both,

Barry, the only fabia estate with an automatic gearbox is the 1.4 and the economy isn't up to what I need.

Bunners, the mini's official mpg is between 52 and 72 for the models I'd be interested in (Mini One or Cooper 1.6/1.6D). I'll look closer at the Seats

sorry mate, missed the automatic gearbox requirement. You should try actually learning to drive :wink:

No left foot

difficult to operate a clutch!

excuses excuses :roll:

bspittles · **Posted:** 21 Jun 2009, 23:02

sorbiegunner wrote:

bspittles wrote:

Cheers both,

Barry, the only fabia estate with an automatic gearbox is the 1.4 and the economy isn't up to what I need.

Bunners, the mini's official mpg is between 52 and 72 for the models I'd be interested in (Mini One or Cooper 1.6/1.6D). I'll look closer at the Seats

I think the mini's might not pass the budget requirement, they cost a fortune new and they hold their value well.

They start on eBay for £6k - £8k, obviously lower mileage ones are a bit more.

murf · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2009, 09:04

I used to have an A3 with no real complaints. Good, reliable, solid car.

I think my tastes and requirements are different to yours somehow but I still got c.45mpg from mine and you'd get more from a lower spec and smaller engine.

Why no WW Polo or Golf??? - very similar to A3 and Leon

bspittles · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2009, 09:14

murf wrote:

Why no WW Polo or Golf??? - very similar to A3 and Leon

Again, it's a problem with the automatic option. Those models that come with automatics are the ones with lower economy.

I'm getting all my data from What Car? magazine... no guarantee they are right!

uncsi · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2009, 09:32

Yaris 1.4 or Citroen C2 Sensodrive 1.4?

Both good economy (don't know actual figs though). personally I'd stay away from French cars, so I'd go for the 5 door, bigger than you'd think, Yaris.

bspittles · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2009, 10:38

uncsi wrote:

Yaris 1.4 or Citroen C2 Sensodrive 1.4?

Both good economy (don't know actual figs though). personally I'd stay away from French cars, so I'd go for the 5 door, bigger than you'd think, Yaris.

Can't think why the Yaris wasn't on the list - ticks all the important boxes!

I don't think the C2 has an auto option.

uncsi · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2009, 10:56

bspittles wrote:

uncsi wrote:

Yaris 1.4 or Citroen C2 Sensodrive 1.4?

Both good economy (don't know actual figs though). personally I'd stay away from French cars, so I'd go for the 5 door, bigger than you'd think, Yaris.

Can't think why the Yaris wasn't on the list - ticks all the important boxes!

I don't think the C2 has an auto option.

Thought the sensodrive was some sort of auto or semi auto 'box. Not sure though.

Mother in law has a yaris, and it's not bad at all. Surprising amount of room in it for a small car. Very sensitive clutch though, but you soon get used to it. Oh - hold on, that wouldn't really apply to an auto though would it :oops:

bspittles · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2009, 12:32

I'm not sure about semi-automatics... my license is for automatics only, so naturally I passed my test in one. Does that mean I can drive a manual that doesn't have a foot operated clutch? Not that I'd have any idea how :lol:

Surprised · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2009, 12:34

The Honda Jazz is fairly economical car and reliable

bspittles · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2009, 23:28

Test driving a Mini diesel automatic tomorrow.

Carpet · **Joined:** Mon Oct 24 2005 **Posts:** 467

Surely the answer is a 1.6 diesel focus. Ignore the Econetic model (which is free to tax), it cost more and comes with less kit. Get any of the other 1.6 TDCI models, including the top titanium and your yearly tax is £35. Saw a3 year old model the other day with under 30k miles for £8K.

murf · **Posted:** 02 Jan 2010, 00:53

Carpet wrote:

Surely the answer is a 1.6 diesel focus. Ignore the Econetic model (which is free to tax), it cost more and comes with less kit. Get any of the other 1.6 TDCI models, including the top titanium and your yearly tax is £35. Saw a3 year old model the other day with under 30k miles for £8K.

Must be a long test drive if he hasn't decide yet!

bspittles · **Posted:** 03 Mar 2010, 21:01

Just bought a Hyundai i10 - very nice, nippy and cheap

A new car

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