Secondhand Supermini £2.5K

[mosfet]

I’m looking to buy a secondhand supermini as a second family car. To be used by Mrs m for regular short distance local trips. Budget of around £2.5K. Priorities are cheap to run, maintain, tax and insure. Reliability, as always, is also particularly important.

At the moment the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Micra or small-engined Fiesta are near the top of the list. Any further suggestions to this list? Or ones to avoid perhaps?

The main family car, a VW Golf 1.6 FSI bought new on a 05 plate last year, will continue to be used for longer journeys.

 

[T.white]

Mossie,

I'd definitely be considering the Micra :^and maybe even the Yaris if you can put up with the odd looking cabin facia uke:. Toyota Starlet is also a good (but not so common) buy for that sort of cash.

As for the fiesta, well I'm not a huge fan, though they are a reallynice drivers car,

but expect less on the fuel economy andpossibly patchy reliability. I'd also stay away from the French cars - Clio, 106, C3 etc . I've owned a Clio from new and while the thinking behind theengineering is sound enough and there's a good level of equipment , build quality lets them down badly and in petrol form, they're not too economical either. Diesels are much better though and VERY economical55 - 75 Per gallon , but avoid the old low BHP model and go for the 80+ BHP, good performance/economy, but still dodgy build.

VW Polo is also another solid car, but poor economy and rather dated appearance for the model that sort of money would buy, would put me off it. Newer Corsa is not too bad, especially if you can get a diesel, but in petrol form I'd pass personally.

All in all, I'd say the Micra is a great buy, they have a feel of quality about them, and, although they've not got the greatest image, I feel there's something kind of funky about them (in a fuck what everyone else thinks kinda way). They are rediculously reliable, cheap as hell to run, tax and insure, and will more than likely give you years of no problem service.

It's what I'd look at for the needs you've specified.

:^

 

[rockmeister]

If you want to be a bit different, fancy the most reliable car in the world (JD power and Which), I'd look at a mazda 323. For 2500 your looking at a 2000 reg with maybe 50,000 on the clock? They come as coupe's or hatchbacks and are rugged, fun and practical. Look at autotrader online. I ran an old one for three years and it was totally faultless over 37000 miles. Swapped it for a polo which was nothing like as reliable, tho a bit softer.

 

[mosfet]

Cheers TW.

I do have something of a soft spot for the Micra because it was the car I passed my test in (some sixteen years ago now). The Yaris, from what I’ve read so far, is the one that does consistently well in terms of reliability. The Micra not far behind. So I think it may come down to a toss up between the two.

I’m not concerned at all what the car looks like on the inside or for that matter the outside. We’re talking mode of transport only here.

French cars? Not if I can help it! I did for a while work part time in a motor factors and they were rather popular for all the wrong reasons. Not as bad as Fiat tho’ from what I remember.

 

[JamPal]

Micra is a horrid car to drive and look at though. Ford Focus or Fiesta will be more comfortable, cheap to service and nioce and reliable.

 

[mosfet]

Mazda 323 meister? Ok, will look at that one aswell.

 

[AnilS]

We used top have an X reg Toyota Yaris (1.0 GS 5 door) and it was fab. Did 40K in 4 years and never missed a beat but was cared for. Never dropped below 42 mpg and was spritely enough when required. Now replaced by a Golf GTi (1.8T) and wished we kept the Yaris.

Failing that, stick with Japanese if you can.

 

[T.white]

HiFiWigWam wrote:

Micra is a horrid car to drive and look at though. Ford Focus or Fiesta will be more comfortable, cheap to service and nioce and reliable.

I don't agree that the Micra is a bad drive, especially not for most females and for town type driving.

Ford have got better over the years but still ain't the last word in reliability. The Focus would be too big for Mossie's needs anyway by the look of it, if it were'nt there'd be a multitude of others he could consider.

As for fuel consumption, a 1.0 ltr Micra would return approx 50 to the gallon but would still be quite nippy. I reckon they are hard to beat in that category (cheap town runabout)

Take the missus to a dealer Mossie, let her drive a few cars and see how it goes.

 

[Leonard Smalls]

Micra's a perfectly good car, though it does handle like a roller skate if you even attempt to push it...

However, I'd be a bit careful of Fords. My folks recently got rid of their 52 reg Ka - they had it for 2 years and in that time it went through a steering rack and2 clutches. I drove it once and the gearstick came off in my hand (it's held on by 2 cheap plastic clips) and is completely gutless - we're talking 1st gear uphill with 4 people in it.

They've just swapped to a Skoda Fabia, which is a 1.2 3 cylinder, but has much more grunt than the 1.4 Ka did, averages over 50mpg on a Swansea - Shropshire run and is built like a RollsRoyce next to the flimsy Ka..

 

[Guest]

Leonard Smalls wrote:

Micra's a perfectly good car, though it does handle like a roller skate if you even attempt to push it...However, I'd be a bit careful of Fords. My folks recently got rid of their 52 reg Ka - they had it for 2 years and in that time it went through a steering rack and2 clutches. I drove it once and the gearstick came off in my hand (it's held on by 2 cheap plastic clips) and is completely gutless - we're talking 1st gear uphill with 4 people in it.

They've just swapped to a Skoda Fabia, which is a 1.2 3 cylinder, but has much more grunt than the 1.4 Ka did, averages over 50mpg on a Swansea - Shropshire run and is built like a RollsRoyce next to the flimsy Ka..

dead right leonard stear well clear of fords.had a friend who had a 03 fiesta and the thing fell to bits. of the ones i,ve had they've been nothing but grief.me and fords:nup:i'll never own another one.

i would recomend the saxo as a good runner round i,ve had 4 of them and one went wrong at all. sold my last one a p plate and it was still like a brand new car inside,outside and underneath.

 

[Defiant]

Had a Fiesta - T Reg one, in the two years I had it (it was 6 months old when I bought it) the heater matrix failed, it had a water leak at the bottom of the drivers door and the passenger footwell so both carpets were always damp - I believe not much has improved.

The Clio is a good run-around and quite nippy too, no reliability issues so far and it's comfy on long runs. Totally agree with T.White about petrol versions being a bit thirsty on fuel though, normally get just over 300 miles out of a full tank....never feels like it's enough from a 1.4 with a 55 litre tank really (maybe thats why it feels faster than most other brands of car with the same engine?)

 

[Jezzer]

If you like VW's then how about a Polo 1.0/1.4/1.6 whichcan be had for around 2.5k. One of our neighbours hashad had one foryears... Trouble-free motoring...

Having said, that the Yaris is a very good small car...

 

[andrew1810]

I have a 97R Fiesta 1.3, bottom of the range job which has just passed 100,000 miles and so far its only needed a battery and a headlight.

Compare this to previous cars we've had:

Yaris - 4 clutches and a new ICU

Daewoo Matiz - New sump, head gasket, brake pipes, discs and eventually dead engine

Saab 93 - Blown turbo

 

[mosfet]

Thanks for all the suggestions / comments / experience.

The Fiesta has now been on and off the list at least twice! I’m erring away from it now although there are lots of them about to choose from. The Micra has also slipped down the list a little as I’ve read of issues with the timing chain and the need for clean oil. The Nissan Almera has been added to the list and both cars are still contenders.

Toyota Yaris are pushing the budget a bit (not that many around less than £2.5K) and so the Toyota Corolla has been added to the list. At the moment the Mazda 323 is coming out on top for preferred choice. Much depends on what’s available when I make the move to buy in a couple of weeks from now of course.

Renault / Citroen: not keen on. VW Polo I suspect will be high mileage models with the given budget.

 

[andrew1810]

Is the Focus too big/expensive?

It seems to win a lot of reliability awards and the parts are cheap.

Have a look at the Honest John website too, it gives a good review on them all.

I went for a cheap car with very little to go wrong (no power steering, electric windows, central locking etc.)

 

[Leonard Smalls]

There is always the option of a Skoda Felicia...

For £2k you'll get a very low mileage X reg with one old lady owner, in fact you'll get a near perfect one for £1500...

I had one (a Felicia, not an old lady:shock for years without a single problem despite putting 100k miles on it! And you can get 55mpg out of the 1.3 if you're gently with the accelerator!

Here's a number on autotrader:

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW/cars_search.asp?page=2&nU=0&make=SKODA&model=FELICIA&min_pr=75&max_pr=2000&postcode=w93lu&miles=40&max_records=50&modelexact=1&photo=1

 

[Injector]

I've just bought a one owner Peugeot 106, N-reg, 32k with FSH, all old MOTsand it's a diesel! Should go on for ever. Just had a new radiator, full exhaust system and tyres. It looks and drives like a 2 year old car and all for the princely sum of £750. Belter. I've driven it for 600 miles so far with no problems whatsoever. Asit's a 1.5 litre the road tax is £110 for 12 months and it costs peanuts toinsure. The diesel engine returns 50-60 mpg. Bargains are out there so for £2.5k you should be able to bag a winner!

 

[T.white]

Injector wrote:

I've just bought a one owner Peugeot 106, N-reg, 32k with FSH, all old MOTsand it's a diesel! Should go on for ever. Just had a new radiator, full exhaust system and tyres. It looks and drives like a 2 year old car and all for the princely sum of £750. Belter. I've driven it for 600 miles so far with no problems whatsoever. Asit's a 1.5 litre the road tax is £110 for 12 months and it costs peanuts toinsure. The diesel engine returns 50-60 mpg. Bargains are out there so for £2.5k you should be able to bag a winner!

They ain't too bad in some ways, but there are others I'd place well in front of a 106 diesel, besides this car is for Mrs Mossie, so I can't really see her falling in love with a car with no power steering like the 106.

 

[darrenm]

I'm sellig my 106 at that price. You can take on track at the weekends too