Our youngest son has just passed his driving test this morning, so super chuffed for him. He's a reluctant driver, doesn't love it but his new job means he really has to be able to drive himself to work, so credit to him, he passed.
His commute will be 8miles on a main country road, 6am starts. He's only eligible to drive automatic cars. (Other forms of tansport are not an option.)
So we need to start looking for a car - requirements:
- automatic
- doesn't need to be ULEZ
- friendly, easy to drive, prob small, doesn't need to carry stuff / passengers, 8mile commute each way
- £5,000 max budget, less is good (insurance on top of this)
- petrol or diesel (assuming budget negates EV)
What to look for and equally, any makes / models to avoid?
Cheers
I think when similar threads have asked this question the Honda Jazz seems to get some love.
I've just helped two sons buy cars and eldest before he went travelling, so been in your shoes. One of mine also does 6am starts at Tesco bakery...
Insurance and reliability are key here.
One of mine has an old 2006 Civic 1.8... It's the fastest and cheapest car to insure(!) by a couple of hundred quid. It's got room for his bike and mates, banging stereo and really comfy. But, he's just spent a couple of hundred quid on welding and rust treatment. That said, it cost £1k and is classic 1 owner, 70k miles, FSH, and being Honda unlikely to have mechanical issues.
Other one has a nice 2019 Suzuki Swift 1.0 hybrid. It's a Cat N which made it affordable at £5.5k. It's the same one owner and service history, but I think had a slightly harder life with chipped alloys and a few body marks. Bags of character, super efficient (more so than our Fabia) and a quite 'cool' car for him. It's somewhat plastic inside, but comfortable and feels like an early BMW mini.
Then we've got our 2017 Fabia Estate 1.0tsi. It's white goods boring. It was the most expensive to insure for them, but being an estate £120 a year less than the hatch and £300 cheaper than the Fiesta we also looked at. Cool yoof cars clearly cost money to insure... But, it's so far proving to have a few niggles and issues that are going to cost to put right. Huge boot and very practical.
Cheap - the Civic.
Your budget - the Swift by a big step.
Japanese super mini is probably the way to go.
Yaris, Jazz, micra, etc.
Petrol rather than diesel I'd say, too given the short trips.
Skoda Fabia, the under powered one rather than the Tsi engine. Surprisingly roomy, great all round visibility, cheap to insure as cool kids who crash won't be seen dead in one, no pun intended.
Our two both learnt in a 2015 manual version, daughter uses it when she is home from uni, rest of the time it's my local run around and shows no sign of causing any problems any time soon.
You might get a Nissan Leaf for that. The lack of battery temp control on them does mean a lot of them have reduced range but will still easily manage a couple of days if that commute before needing a charge.
Pretty simple reliable cars.
If he has no interest in driving and just wants an appliance to get him to work and back with minimal faff, and you have off road parking to charge it, then half the budget will buy a Nissan Leaf. Honda Jazz's are good as manuals but the CVT auto adds a lot of complexity and removes any joy.
I forgot to say earlier. One of my sons was completely disinterested in driving, it was purely a functional thing. Now he's got his wee Swift, he's really enjoying the independence, the nippy feeling, and the ability to crank up tuuuuunes in your own space..... So while he's never going to be petrol head, he took great delight in keeping up with his brother in the much faster Civic on a journey across the Trossachs last week. I'm not even going to ask them if it was legal speeds....
My sister drives an auto Yaris with minimal issues. I drove it when she was on holiday. Surprisingly nippy for a small auto.
If he’s just passed, a hearse is probably your best bet…
(IGMC…)
Toyota Aygo, Citroen C1 or Peugeot 108 (I think that’s the model number). They’re all fairly small, share the same basic mechanicals, in fact they’re the same car, but the Aygo is much nicer looking. The auto actually has paddle shifters in Sport mode, and having driven lots of them, I actually enjoyed them, to the extent that, if I needed a small runabout, I’d have an Aygo, or the other option, a Smart fourtwo, which would be a great alternative. There’s plenty of room to fit a 6’ driver, and a surprising amount of space for a large sports bag or two behind the seats. Again, I’ve driven a few, including a couple of hundred miles on motorways, and they’re great little cars, their only real issue is side winds on motorways overtaking trucks; if you’re not paying attention, they’ll try to leap into the next lane, but that can be adjusted for.
A few years ago now, but we ended up with a pre-dented 2006 Corolla 1.6 auto, 120k miles, £1350. It was the same sort of insurance as Jazzes etc, is much more grown up feel all round, nice ride to it. We've had it 3 or 4 years now, in that time has only needed the brakes sorting for stickiness, a new gearbox linkage (£350, IIRC), and it survived a 20-odd mile drive with the aux belt shredded! I was driving it today to give it a run as it's been sat for a couple of weeks, and it's a perfectly nice car I would happily shed myself.
They're boring and uncool but for under £5k you can get a reasonable mileage Toyota Prius. They're extremely well made, very reliable, surprisingly spacious, easy to drive, cheap to insure and cheap to fix.
Toyota Corolla also underrated in the UK. Buy petrol not diesel.
Toyota Aygo is built in France - not a proper Toyota.
Mother in law is wanting an auto so I’ve started to do my homework.
Mazda 2 is on my list only for the reason that an elderly friend has had a few of them and they’ve been 100% reliable and available in an auto and five door.
I’ve not started to look into long term ownership foibles of them but they are another option alongside the default Jazz.
Mazda 2 are great little cars, MrsMC sometimes gets them from work, but they are usually more expensive.
Thanks for all the suggestions, really helpful. So his search has indicated that his budget is now £3500 as insurance is higher than expected. He's liking Toyota options, but also has been taken by a low mileage VW Golf, 2000, 2 owners, well within budget, pics look nice ... any thoughts on a VW?
If going for Aygo's etc, try and get the facelift versions. The early ones leaked a lot (all three C1, Aygo..) and need a bit of work to stop it (hatch rubbers, bump stops, rear lights). Also watch where they have come from - North East and Scotland = lots of salt and they rust badly underneath. We had one for about 3 years. Mechanically great, but had lots of jobs done (which thank goodness are cheap) as the previous owner just drove it.
A lowered vauxhall nova, with cheap alloys, a badly fitted oversized aftermarket wing and a cherry bomb on the exhaust.
any thoughts on a VW?
Ime VAG expensive to maintain, less reliable, and worse quality than equivalent Honda or Toyota. YMMV.
Just looked at Autotrader, the £3-4k corollas on there actually look tempting
if the golf is in ok nick I’d be interested, I’m on my 3rd Passat and we have a polo that replaced a golf. All have been reliable
A 25 year old Golf will be a liability , whilst the parts are cheap and available all the rubber and wiring will be fragile, cam belts or cam chains are a concern depending on the engine and rust is a risk.
Japanese and newer , research on specific models and drivetrain essential, whilst cvt are less nice to drive they are easy to maintain- generally just oil change - small car auto boxes always need background checks , Ford possibly being the worst of all.
Toyota Corolla also underrated in the UK. Buy petrol not diesel.
Sorry - I meant the Toyota Auris.
... any thoughts on a VW?
Not sure about VW but my 2005 Corolla automatic 1.6 (beware fuel consumption can be slightly high) is still running very well. I will be replacing all the absorbers soon due to wear and tear (still on original set but getting rather soft).
Used Citroen Ami?
Cheap to run but might be too slow on the main road?
Thanks again for all the suggestions.
Additional question - assuming a car (and we're looking at small-ish engines, 15-20 years old, small cars so maybe more local miles than motorway miles) has some service history, mot history is good (i.e. not too many fails, nothing significantly worrying), condition suggests reasonably well looked after ... is mileage of 100,000+ something to be OK about or shy away from?
Cheers
I'd far rather have a 15 yr old car with 120k miles on the clock with a documented service history and obviously cared for than something with half the miles and sketchy history. Cars are capable of far higher mileage than 'we' in the UK use them for...we have become a throwaway society as far as cars are concerned.
The Aygo we got had done 90k. Only issue was underneath was crusty so I cleaned it up and rust treated it. Did have a fair bit spent, cat manifold bracket corroded, then the new one did similar 4 years later, although lower down (they are made of cheese and not cheap). Bodywork was pretty good. My son did hammer it though and put on another 40k when he borrowed it (it was a spare car).
The MOT history was good. Go on condition and MOT history. Double check underneath, as you can tell a well looked after car, and one that's not - I had my last car 20 years - Nissan Primera, and only sold it last year as I wanted a van people carrier/camper/bike lugger. MrsF had a Yaris for 17 years, then we changed for a Qashqai that's now 13 years old and doesn't go wrong.
My son started with a 5 year old Fabia 1.2 Monte Carlo - insurance wasn't too bad despite it being 'sporty' because it had the collision detection.