We’re looking for a small car to replace my wife’s 2005 Mazda2. The Honda Jazz should be ideal as it is very practical and reliable but is pretty dull to drive. Are there any small practical cars out there that are nicer to drive?
Were looking at cars about 2yrs old.
Thanks

Ford Fiesta?

We have to change our Yaris in about 2 months. Tried my mum’s newish jazz yesterday. Pleasant enough, glass roof was nice etc. I don’t want something exciting so I think a jazz will do. Maybe a golf.

Wife MUST HAVE auto and be small. The piles of shite she wants to cram in it are irrelevant…

Honda Jazz

Honda Jazz makes sense in terms of being a good car. Magic rear seats make it very practical indeed.

Fiesta is better to drive though. Check them carefully for rust though. Dealer told my brother that they’d been coming out of the factory with rust!
Seat Ibiza is also very good to drive – netter than the polo.

Love love love my Skoda Roomster, 1.6d, fast, nippy, low revs on motorways etc. Perfect.

Mini Cooper S Clubman.

Can seat 4 large adults in in enough comfort for short journeys, can get a road bike with the wheels on in the back. Great to drive, cheap to run and look ace.

small practical and nice to drive 😯 …you mean moon on a stick?

only this new fiestas

Thanks so far

Dan – it has to be petrol ‘cos of lots of short journeys to visit patients at home during the day.

Fiat Panda auto ?

First reply nailed it with a Fiesta. Great cars to drive, well equipped and reliable.

We’ve done lots of short journeys in ours over the last 2 years. They do petrols too.

Careful with the small auto’s some of them are truly awful (Jazz is grim and the VW UP has single auto clutch thing which is dreadful..)

Older than you are looking at, but recently got a Panda 100hp. Pretty much matches the OP’s needs except that the newest ones are 5 years old now. Better built than I expected for a small Italian car, probably because it’s built in Poland.

Otherwise would be quite happy with a newer 4×4 one.

Our Jazz is like the tardis, is comfy to drive and very reliable. No other small car came close when are trying things out. Our main selection point was practicality especially work the cold flat rear seats. Fuel economy is nothing special to shout about but I wouldn’t touch the auto versions at all.

Watch earlier Jazzes(?). Clutch thrust bearing goes at around 80k miles and is a £4-500 job. I know from bitter experience.

Mrs D has one and it’s also the dullest car I’ve ever driven. Hateful thing.

Why not a new Mazda 2? Just updated and it looks good. Should be about as reliable as they come too.

Why not a new Mazda 2?

smallish boot with a high lip make it a faff to get stuff in/out of
Also seats don’t fold completely flat which really handy for putting stuff in e.g. bikes, camping stuff, garden waste on a run to the trip etc.

If you like the practicality of the Jazz but want something a bit more interesting to drive, how about a Civic? They have the same incredible flip up and fold flat seats. Hugely practical for a relatively small car and considerably more so than a Fiesta.

Yes, I love that setup. But are they not quite a bit larger than a Fiesta though (which itself I would imagine is quite a bit larger than a Jazz?)

Civic is larger than a Fiesta (hatchback vs supermini), but I would think a Fiesta is smaller than a Jazz. Could be wrong.

Civic is Focus-sized, Jazz is Fiesta-sized but with better interior space. There is a new Jazz which is supposed to be an improvement in oomph and economy (and ride) but is a total minger to look at.

VW Polo (and all its variants by Skoda, Seat and Audi), Renault Clio (new version). The Hyundai ix20 and Nissan Note are similar to the Jazz, but not as interesting or as classy as those above, but they are more practical. I t

I think you need to decide which is more important practicality or nice to look at/fun to drive.

Curve ball choices Citroen Picasso or Cactus.

I’m also in the market for a supermini, to replace our Fiat 500. Of those we’ve looked at so far the Fiesta is hands down the best option, I’m genuinely impressed by the EcoBoost variant. Of the rest the VW Polo and the latest variants (Skoda Fabia, Audi A1) are good options. The other older Polo-based one is the Seat Ibiza, but this is outdated both inside and under the bonnet. Dismissed anything French/Italian/Korean, Hyundai I20 (not bad, but inferior to Fiesta in every measurable respect), Nissan Note (roomier and good spec, but terrible depreciation), Mini & Suzuki Swift (both too small).

Volkswagen Up (Skoda Citygo, Seat Mii). Wifey has the Seat version with the whopping 75hp engine, whilst not the quickest thing on the road it’s not a bad thing to drive.

Fiesta or Mazda 2 for drive.

VW all competent to drive but dull.

Panda again ok but certainly dull.

Mini would be on my list, but I have never driven one.

We just bought a new Fiesta and love it. Don’t expect to get the claimed mpg from the 1.0 eco though

Kia picanto would be my choice. I’ve not driven any of the other cars mentioned above though. 1.25l version is pretty nippy.

We have a Jazz (08) and planned to replace it with the new model. Didn’t like it much, love the seats but it felt really cheap when compared to our current one. Drives okay, not exciting but then the old one isn’t either! Ended up with a Fabia mainly as my wife likes the DSG on my Yeti and we got a monster deal. Fiesta was on the list as well.. never got round to driving it tho.

We though the fabia was bigger than the Jazz. Its not. About the same size in all dimensions.

Id be considering a Fabia aswell, I have a 2014 1.6tdi Monte Carlo and it’s nippy, comfy, great to drive, roomy, economical (48mpg around town) amd looks good.

Bought it because I liked the look of them and it was a great deal, the car has been brilliant and exceeded my expectations. Interior is a bit dated to look at but it’s functional and not cluttered.

My parents have a Fiesta 1.0 ecoboost auto and they really like it, nippy for an auto, not that good on fuel mind you but it’s spacious enough inside and well built.

Fiat panda for us two bikes in back with seat down or one bike on back seat. Nice and fun to drive more than capable of long journeys with the three of us in . we do use a roof box when camping tough. ok fuel economy 40mpg in town 50 mpg on long journeys.