Think I have narrowed things down to an Audi A2.

Good size for us. Good fuel economy. Decent build (like solid things in our house) etc

Has anyone here got 1st had experience of driving one? looking at the 1,4 circa 2000 to 200s SE versions.

Thanks!

Never had one (or driven one) but how good is that going to be for taking a bike or two?

They get a good review but you probably pay a premium for the Audi badge.

Also sensible cars are boring!! Man maths made me trade in a 1.8 Celica that was doing nearly 40mpg for a 4.2, V8 supercharged Jag – maybe not the best person to give advice!! Then again I’ve got a transit crew cab for biking and camping duties…

They are getting leggy now and I doubt you’ll find a legit-mileage one thats under 90k plus your paying a premium for a Polo-sized car IMO.

Again, never owned one but they’re meant to be excellent which is why they seem to hold their value really well.

The diesels especially do something over 60 mpg I think…

Thanks for the input.

Steve – wife needs to drive it to pick me up from pub/fun places so it has to be that kinda size.

hora – good point. Not a massive fan of older Polo’s though.

DBW – diesels are pretty hard to get hold of and i reckon with our small mileage the Petrol is the one to go for.

I’m not a fan of Polos either. Think both are overpriced.

I’d personally (I’m going to get flamed…) would have a Jazz.

My mother has a Jazz. No.

Steve – wife needs to drive it to pick me up from pub/fun places so it has to be that kinda size.

????
Do you mean she can’t drive anything any bigger?

Correct. By can’t, read, would prefer something small.

In that case you’d be better spending your money on some further tuition than a new car.

Get a hummer, then she can park it however she likes…

Jazzracist

Wanna buy an a3 Quattro? Selling mine soon.

Jazz is by far the best small car. By far.

I was looking at the a bit ago, the are good but you will pay for it…they are not cheap.
Here’s a left field suggestion.
Smart forfour, they seem cheap for what you get.

I had a nosy at the A2. They’re rare as hen’s teeth, expensive to buy, and made out of aluminium and so expensive to fix if they get bumped. They also sell very quickly.

The Ibiza TDIs are capable of 60-70mpg economy and don’t change hands for such a high premium as the A2 or Polo TDI. And they are pretty plentiful so there’s lot of choice. The 1.4 TDI is the same 3cyl as the A3, the 1.9TDI is the same as the older Golfs. And the shell / mechanicals are Polo based.

Nissan Note worth a look

I thought the conundrum was to by a Panda 4×4, as “he who’s name is not to be mentionned” said

We owned an A2 for 3 years as a second car.

They are a really good car, ours was the 1.6 which was surprisingly nippy, we had a few probles
Ms with snapped coil springs on the front but other that nothing went wrong.

The back seats fold flat and can be removed, my bike went in but had to remove both wheels.

Bad points are the ride, rock hard, ours was the se, god knows how bad the sport would be. The rear visibility is poor due to the spoiler and when stationary at lights the wiper rocks the whole car. It did have the bose stereo which was fantastic, oh and it revs quite high on the motorway and is noisy. Rear legroom was better than most mid size cars

We only sold it because the resale value was good and the price of saab convertibles dropped when they went bust, which made them affordable for us

If you’re not overly bothered just trawl round the garages and pick what you can get the best deal on.

That size of car I’d be looking at a swift (would be the first one I’d test) or panda, had a panda courtesy car and it was ok for the bike. Probably get a much newer one for the same price as the A2. Yaris probably worth a look too.

My sister had an Ibiza for years. Was a really nice wee car but the road noise was horrific. Helped with new tyres but wasn’t a great place to spend a lot of time.

As long as its just a tool the Korean (Hyundai and Kia especially) are well worth a look and will probably still have warranty.

Berlingo isn’t a huge mpv and is great for shifting bikes too if your missus would be happy driving them.

Or get a tandem and she can cycle to pick you up!!

Or get a tandem and she can cycle to pick you up!!

We actually have one…

Thanks all for the input. Casting the net to all of the above suggestions. + Merc A-Class, i hear you can remove rear seats and make it into a wee van. I still have hundreds of trips to the local tip to do over the next few years so that would be a good feature.

I would simply like to refer the OP to my previous correspondence on this matter….

Buy a wee van. Stick some TBC logos on it. Get your accountant to do the tax. Sorted.

I went to the Renault dealers this afternooon to have a look at/get quote for a Dacia Lodgy (silly cheap). My independant garage owning friend has given Dacias a thumbs up, my mates that have reliable Dacias and Madame loved it. Can anyone come up with a good reason not to buy the fugly thing?

Self respect?

I think my posting history on here proves I haven’t got any of that, Druidh. The mountian bike I ride most too, a Viper Nitro. And I shop in Lidl and Leader Price… .

I’ve checked the reliability figures and Dacia comes third behind Daihatsu and Lexus. I’m doomed.

Dacia seem to be ok, BUT if its cheap to buy then chances are it will depreciate like a stone, Fine if your going to keep it for years, but not so good if you shift it on in 3 years.

This coming from a man who runs a Hyundai ( which has been faultless )

Buy a Dacia edukator you know you want to. They are cheap and realiable because they use well proven design. My car mecanics recommend them highly mainly because they are less faf to work on and therefore service bills are cheap.
If I was to buy a new car this is what I will buy, no useless gadjet, no fancy part you don’t need just the plain old basics.

Yaris 1.3.
My missus has the 1.0 and loves it.
(I like driving it too 🙂 but would probably go for the 1.3 if buyimg again)