Cheap car, which one Micra, Fiesta, Punto or Clio

[Tinuel]

Morning all,
I have a limited budget, as my OH will only need the car for the day to day chores. Our budget is at 600 quid max. We have also decided to go for a small city hatchback as she feels more comfortable driving those.

Shorlisted we have:

Nissa Micra (£500), a 1998 Fiat Punto SX 85, 1299 cc for £450, a Renault Clio from 1997 (£450) and a Ford Fiesta from 1997, 1299 cc (£400). The only one with power steering is the Punto.

As mechanics isn't my strongest, which one is the more reliable out of those? I read that Fiestas are decent little cars.

Many thanks,

[anewman]

Out of those I'd vote for the Micra in terms of most reliable - although you don't state the year or engine size. I'd put the fiesta second on the list.

You don't need power steering, especially on a car of this size/weight. It's just one more more expensive thing to go wrong if it does.

[Tinuel]

Out of those I'd vote for the Micra in terms of most reliable - although you don't state the year or engine size. I'd put the fiesta second on the list.

You don't need power steering, especially on a car of this size/weight. It's just one more more expensive thing to go wrong if it does.

Thanks for the info, forgot include the Micra, it's a Nissan Micra S, 1997, engine 998cc, 3 door going for £495.

[negg]

Micra is probably the most reliable, the Fiat likely the worst. One simple way to decide which is the most reliable, is to have a drive around, counting how many are still on the road from that age range. You'll probably find plenty of of Micras, large numbers of Fiestas, less Clios and very few Fiats left.

The disadvantage with the Micra will be the spare parts will probably be a little more expensive than some of the other makes. Hopefully it should need less of them and it should work out as six and two threes! It's better to get one six and go to the garage once, than two threes and get more hassle and have to go twice! :rotfl:

Of course it does depend on the particular car from that age as well. If the Micra has been thrashed and is falling to bits but the Fiat has been looked after...it could be a different story!

[AdrianHi]

No question Micra. Used to have them as courtesy cars, pretty decent little things that do OK on the motorway too.

[Inactive]

Another vote for the Micra, good little cars.;)

[AdrianHi]

Micra's were made in Sunderland UK and all the time I had Nissans I found parts (no wait, the one part I ever had to buy because these cars almost never go wrong) to be no more expensive than Ford.

[nullogik]

I would rank them in this order (best, top - worst bottom):

- Nissan Micra
- Ford Fiesta
- Fiat Punto
- Renault Clio

Definitely if it were me, I would be going for the Micra everytime.

[scubaangel]

I had a Micra slightly older than that one which I loved, reliable and cheap to run, I followed it up with a 1997 Clio and hated it, it was a horrid drive and felt very very heavy to steer (neither had power steering), and my first car was a 1998 Fiesta, liked it, but only had it 3 weeks before I wrote it off so couldnt really comment fairly, but my family had run it since new and had very few issues.

I would definitely go with the Micra as the first choice but make sure to check it for rust, mine had alot of rust on the underside and not visible which would have cost me alot to get fixed at MOT time, hence I changed it.

[Tinuel]

Thanks all, I just rang the Micra and Fiesta owners to view them tonight. The Micra has got 112000 miles on the clock and the Fiesta 109000. Would that be average or high mileage for a 1997 car?

[scubaangel]

My 1997 Clio has milage of 125k, which was greater than the milage on the Micra, but the Micra had been used mostly as a student run around. So I would imagine those milages to be fairly average.

[nullogik]

Thanks all, I just rang the Micra and Fiesta owners to view them tonight. The Micra has got 112000 miles on the clock and the Fiesta 109000. Would that be average or high mileage for a 1997 car?

I would say those mileages are quite high for what are cheap city run arounds. That said mileage isn't everything particularly if they can provide a whole pile of service history that proves the car has been well maintained and looked after.

I would be inclined to go for something with a little less mileage. Sure if it were a Mercedes or BMW I wouldn't worry about 100k+ mileage, but on a small city car it would always be a bit of a concern.

[ArsenalFC]

I would say micra for the general proven reliability. Having had the micra and currently driving a 1998 fiesta, I would say i favoured the fiesta more as it has a better chassis/drive than the micra.

If you're looking at the fiesta then make the 1.25 16v top of your list as it's much better than the 1.3. Mileage on both cars quoted are on the high side. I got my fiesta 1.25 top model ghia 1998 for £600 last year (09-08) comes with air con and heated front screen, 71k miles. I should add that I got a very good price for this.

Check around gumtree/ebay.

[mikey72]

If you want reliable they're all good or bad, and they've all lasted over ten years.
At that age go for the one with no oil leaks, good tyres, long MOT, best tax, some service history, etc, or you could pay as much again in a few months.
Power steering is nice as well.
We recently bought a 97 diesel 106 for £475, excellent car for the money.
Only thing missing is power steering, it's heavy to park and the turning circle is poor.

[Quinny]

I would say that the mileage is a little high for the type of car.

Keep looking as there are plenty out there.

And iirc,power steering was standard on Micras post 97 from what I read.The wife had a 97 P 1.3 SR,and it didn't have it,and it was heavy at times,although because it was the type of car it was,it was still light in comparison.

If it was my money,then....

Micra
Fiesta
Clio/Punto joint last.

Ken.

[goldspanners]

Only thing missing is power steering, it's heavy to park and the turning circle is poor.

stick a few extra psi in the front tyres,it will help with the heavy steering.

[geordie458]

Can i suggest a Skoda Felicia. They have more room than a smaller hatch, reliability isn't a problem and you should be able to find a nice one within budget. We have one in the family and it's a lovely car for the money. Just a thought.