right, looking for new car for wife and have narrowed it down to these. we will be buying new/nearly new and it will be doing low mileage, school runs etc, and not the main family car. not interested in older options and we tend to keep for around 5 yrs.

keen to hear of people who have good or bad experiences of any of these 4 :

Polo 1.4 Match (5dr)
Fiesta 1.25 Zetec (5dr)
C3 Picasso 1.4
Meriva 1.4

Thanks

Polo will give you the best residuals otherwise much of a muchness. Still if it were my money http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/honda/jazz-2008/

Might as well get it out of the way before someone else does:

Do you really need a second car? 😉

Now that’s out the way to answer your question. They will all be quite economical, drive OK and probably get your kids to school in once piece. I’d just let your wife chose the one she likes, seeing she will be spending most time behind the wheel. I find colour, stereo and seat comfort are good starting points!

Polo is my fave, she says she doesn’t mind. Kids want Meriva ‘cos it’s got funky doors !

The new meriva is a nice car and i was impressed the the quality of it. Saying that I would buy the polo.

polo

fiesta’s getting really good reviews, often best out of the super mini class!

isn’t the current Polo Match made in Brazil?
I’d go for the Fiesta

Low mileage? For the wife? School run?

Why aren’t you looking at 4x4s? 😯

Fiesta, missus has one, it’s doing 550miles on the motorway every other week at full throttle with no issues, and commutes into work (marginaly) more sedeatly on the weekdays.

I’ve got the 1.6 version of the same engine in my car and it’s pretty good.

Polo will give you the best residuals

Yes, but it cost you more to start with and spending £1k more on the car for it to be worth £500 more at the end is maddness.

I find colour, stereo and seat comfort are good starting points!

Hmmm, now i’ve nowt against aesthetics but all other things being equal if I was offered a black version or a bile yellow and neon pink version for 20% less I’d be driving round in the dayglow-vomit-mobile right now.

Sister just got a new meriva it’s mahoossive, not been in a current fiesta/polo but surely they are nowhere near as big. Just wonder how the 1.4 in a decent sized car manages on motorways, sis says it’s fine tho.

Checked out the C3 Picasso when we were car shopping recently (we were looking at the C4 Picasso), must admit I loved the look of it, fantastically roomy and much more interesting than the other cars in selection. Honest John gave it a huge write up but the owners reviews are a little errr “mixed”

This is STW. They are all wrong. The answer is:

Skoda Octavia Estate.

😉

Polo? Save.yourself a bit and look for the equivalent engined Skoda Fabia.

not fussed about motorway performance as it will rarely be on one. Will do around 6K miles a yr. She quite likes the upright feel, having had a Scenic in the past and now a CMax. We don’t need to replace with something that size as I now have a company car which does most of the work. I have a feeling that the Fiesta might be more reliable than the Polo, but I do like the look of the Polo and interior is v smart….although after a few months of 5 and 8 yr olds and football boots…..

I looked at the Fabia SE Plus, but she had a lower spec one as a courtesy car a while back and hated it…..

C3 Picasso 1.4

We had one of these for a fortnight in France last year. Ugly as sin, but I had really warmed to it by the end of the holiday.

Spacious, comfortable and economical.

Anyone driven both the Fiesta & Polo?

Fiesta always seem to have the edge in the past on fun to drive, always found the old Polo’s a bit sit up and beg as a driving position, but the new version, well the GTi, looks a lot of fun 😉

Check honest John for specifics, one of the vag 1.4s are a reliability nightmare iirc.

i drove a newshape fiesta down to bristol. a good car punching above its class. the polo is lower middle class cool. 1.4 isnt as good as the Ford 1.25 Imo. used prices? the fiesta holds its value very well compared to foci

Polo or Fiesa, Vauxhall are horrible and Renault is French

My wife bought a Polo 1.2 (70ps) Moda in May of this year and it has been a fantastic car.

We’ve had a Polo’s before, but this new shape one looks, drives and has the build quality of a Golf. It’s a much nicer car than the previous model Polo.

We also looked at a Fiesta and Ibiza, but the Polo won due the fact that it felt better built and was a really nice drive.

Everyone who has been in it has always commented favourably on it.

Most are suprised on how smooth and quiet it is for a small car.

After us driving just over 5000 miles in it, we would definately buy one again.

Mrs FD had an 08 plate Polo and its was the biggest pile of poo ever. Dull to drive, rubbish brakes, rubbish falling apart interior, rubbish engine and gear box. The only good thing about it was that it had fantastic vision out of all windows.

One’s named after a sweet, one after a porn mayg, one an artist and one well I don’t know what a Meriva is therefore discount it cos it’s got a stupid made up name.

If you buy a Polo, then it’s basically saying your wife eats too many sweets and is well fayt, a Fiesta, well, need I spell it out?

So on that basis, get the Picasso. 🙂

And call it Guernica.

We had a polo too and it was very dull. The spec wasn’t very good for the price either. The clio that replaced it was much better to drive and overall a great car. We have a Focus now.

Out of the four i’d get the fiesta.

grannygrinder – Member
isn’t the current Polo Match made in Brazil?
I’d go for the Fiesta

5 door Polo Match made in South Africa, 3 door in Spain.
If you decide to go for the Polo email me first (I’m a Volkswagen Sales manager) – preferential STW discounts!

We bought old Mazda 323 for that job a few years back – cost £600, needed a new tyre for MOT, NOTHING not working on a 13 year old / 130k car and sold it a year later for £600.
ace.

nmdbase – Member
Renault is French

What does that have to do with any of the four cars mentioned?

got a 10 plate 1.2 Polo Moda, nice comfy seats ipod compatible, nice place to be stuck in a traffic jam.

Personally, I’d go for the Fiesta (big fan of modern Fords, we have two!) or the Picasso if you need more space (based on having an old “egg-shaped” Picasso for 9 years from new which never missed a beat).

thanks all. will show her this thread and do some more pondering. I think the trend here is Meriva is out and it’s coming down to Polo of Fiesta. Cheers Eflin, my wife is gonna become a fat sweet eating porn star 😆

Polo is awful to drive. I’d go for the fiesta.

Driven the latest shape fiesta, they are really nice. I’d have one over the others on your list, but then again my opinions quite worthless as I haven’t driven the others.

Polo and Fiesta are rather smaller than the other two surely? Of course the Roomster is better than the 2 bigger ones.

has thisisnotaspoon recommended an MG midget yet?

Test drive the c3 Picasso, very agricultural diesel engine and a bit plasticy inside.