£7k to spend - Micra, Polo or Fox?

[spanglesugar]

I have £7k to spend on a new/nearly new car. The only 3 in this price range I like are the Nissan Micra, the VW Polo and the VW Fox.

I've done test drives in all of them and like them all.

I've checked lots of reviews and reliability indexes, but what I haven't been able to get is opinions from people who have experience of them.

What do you think?

[a&akay]

Ditto on cost but I want a new car and can only give my opinion on the Fox of the 3. I test drove it today, 1.4 Urban. I thought the steering, brakes and room for 4 adults were excellent. I used very uneven, poorly maintained B and C class roads at the limit, as these are what I encounter for commuting to work. The ride was 'jiggly' as reported by some on their test drives but no roll on corners as they commented on. The comfort, with the adjustable seat height and steering wheel and the ability to get in at this adjustable height were also good. It was fine on normal roads. Very poor acceleration as reported but I don't need this for overtaking etc. Quote for insurance on the 1.2 Urban, my choice, including 17 year old daughter (newly passed test) and spouse fully comp was £460 (Direct Line) which I was pleasantly surprised at. I am hopefully buying tomorrow via New Car Discount at £300 off. No offers from the VW dealer I test drove it at.

[K9cuddles]

Well I reckon a Polo will hold it's price best out the 3!! Have you been on Parkers website (http://www.parkers.co.uk/)?? Very good info listed normally.

[Graham_Devon]

Micra will drop in price like a lead balloon. VW's will always hold their prices better. I've owned 6 in the last 3 years. Build quality is good, same problems across the range, nothing major though.

I've driven a micra as a courtesy car and I thought it was a rollerskate on wheels. But I'm used to a 3.2l V6 golf, so probably not a good comparison.

Also drove a polo as a courtesy car, and the polo, to me, seemed far superior to the micra. Just have a look at the interior quality for staters.

[balsingh]

I'd go with the Polo. The Micra is an aquired taste and will lose its value quicker than a VW. Out of the Polo or the Fox, the Polo is next model up from the Fox so I assume it would be a better car in terms of equipment, quality and more importantly space/size.

[Quinny]

Wife's first car was a Polo 1.3CL Coupe.Built like a panzer tank,and felt good and solid.

She now has a 97 Micra SR.Goes like a rocket,but doesn't seem to have the same build feel.

Ken.

[vansboy]

Fox is as big as older Polos & has excellent 'all in' cost per month, if you've got to budget this way.

Polo - as big as older Golfs - always be a seller.

Neither are built like VW's once were, unfortunatly!!

Micra - more on the courtesy car & driving school fleets, so poorer, but OK value, a few years down the line.

Have you thought of Panda - now getting better discounts & excellent reputation as practical & well built car.

New Punto will be at your budget, in numbers soon - looks like another winner for Fiat.

Check out http://www.honestjohn.co.uk clik on the links on the right of his site on This Weeks Best Deals. Genuine up to date prices of loads of models.

Also post the same Q in there, too - clik The Backroom - Discussion & you'll have loads of sensible response!!

VB

[spanglesugar]

Thank you for all your comments.

My current car is the old style Micra, and as much as I love it, I don't love the new style as much!

I think I'll go for a VW, but still don't know whether to go for the Polo or the Fox. When we did the test drive, the Polo was a couple of years old and felt very worn in (even though only 20k on the clock). The Fox felt like a much firmer ride. Maybe I ought to test drive a different Polo - just in case it wasn't a good example! I do like the space in the Polo.

[Ant1974]

The Panda is a fantastic little car, Euro car of the year and numerous other awards.Alloys, 5 door, Auto climate control and brand new all for £6,800. Take a test drive.

[spanglesugar]

The Panda is a fantastic little car, Euro car of the year and numerous other awards.Alloys, 5 door, Auto climate control and brand new all for £6,800. Take a test drive.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm already decided on either the Fox, Polo or Micra.

[lellie]

out of those three i'd have thought it was an easy choice. The polo.

[merlinormartin]

Three words .... NOT THE MICRA!

[spanglesugar]

Thanks for your comments lellie and merlinormartin. Could you explain why?

[piggeh]

Polo best choice. Fox is way too basic. Also the Fox will not necessarily have the same strong residuals as the Polo as it has no history, unlike a Polo/Golf.

TBH I am surprised you have not looked at the other cars in the VAG group (seat & skoda), as they are pretty much the same as the VWs, but normally better priced. Both have the VW build quality.

I drove a new Almera the other day - as they're both by Nissan, I can say the build quality between the Nissans and VAG cars is miles apart.

[tomstickland]

The reliability of Nissan is very good though.

[balsingh]

The reliability of Nissan is very good though.

It was ... before they started hanging out with the guys at Renault :D

[mvteng]

As above, check out Skoda.

I've bought Skoda Fabia, Seat Ibiza & VW Polo all new within the last 6 years.

Seat quality & finish is very noticeably poorer than both VW & Skoda, but the Skoda & VW are both very good.

Skoda prices should get you a lot more for your money than VW

[JonathanA]

I think probably all 3 are good cars. I'd echo some of the sentiment here that VW aren't to the same high quality they used to be, but they are still in demand so residual prices are better. Personally I would only look at the nearly new option - let someone else take the initial depreciation hit. Having owned a Skoda and a VW, customer service was much better at the Skoda dealer, but the Micra my mother in law currently owns has not put a foot wrong in 3 years of driving & costs very little to run.

If you but new, shop around, look at some of the car broker sites like drivethedeal for competitive prices. At the end of the day, buy the car which you like the most - especially if you are going to keep it for a long time. Is there a convenience factor surrounding which dealer is nearest?

The Fox is, I believe, the successor to the Lupo, and is positioned as a budget car and priced accordingly. The Polo design is older, but new Polo cars are about the same size as the Golf when it first launched in the 70s. Do you need the larger size of the Polo?

Whatever your decision, don't rush it as you'll have to live with it for a long time - or it could be costly to change your mind! I think all are good cars, little to choose between them, other than personal preference.

I'd have the Micra - secondhand so that someone else had been stung by depreciation and save the couple of grand on my budget. But then I'm tight!!!

Happy choosing.

[fatboyonadiet]

Polo for sure, got the TDi TWIST myself and very good, can't complain at all. Would imagine it would be a better buy then the fox, given your budget you'll be looking at an older one and hence won't lose as much on depreciation. The foz will be newer and lose more, plus I think the polo will sell better when you want to sell it.

[Equinut]

polo for me, every time.

why not the micra or the fox?
well, for the polo...

build quality is dependable.
value for money is high.
depreciation isn't as bad.
parts are cheap and plentiful.
plenty of specialists who can service, too.
they run in well and engines can take a fair deal of mileage.

i can't say the same for the other two. happy motoring.

[lellie]

The polo won't depreciate as much as the micra (and probably the fox). It's also bigger and has better features than the fox - when the polo is essentially the next model up, if you can afford it, it makes more sense.

I would add that if I was buying a similar car I'd go for the fabia - they also don't depreciate much really and they're great cars.

[Ant1974]

It was ... before they started hanging out with the guys at Renault :D


Very true.

[iceicebaby]

I bought a brand new polo in april last year, paid 8.5k for a mid range one.

Its great and I love it! (and its blue!)

Just from a girl's perspective!

[kitchpoo]

i would go for the Polo also - the Micra does depreciate mainly due to volume sales to hire fleets - when these it the marketplace it effects the residuals hard, the new shape also has lost many of the loyal following, forcing nissan to lower prices and cashback - which again knocks on to the used market.

The Fox is new - maybe too new to find as an ex-demo unfortunately, it is built in Brazil if I recall, is roomy but the interior trim is a little flimsy and it is a top heavy car - it sits higher than the Micra and is marginally smaller in track, making it slightly more unstable and suseptable to crosswinds.

Leaving the Polo - avoid the Dune, But a well built if slightly anonymous car but perfectly capable, the 1.2 is a good powerplant and the diesels are superb.

If I was looking - without your shortlist - I would also consider....

Honda Jazz - strong residuals, some nice design features leading to class leading interior space and is well built.

Smart ForFour/Mitsubishi Colt - Smart 1.1 comes in very cheap and the Colt 1.1 Black is exceptional value for money - the Smart is a bit Garish and there is a questionmark over the future of Smart at the moment - but the Mitsubishi makes sense and looks more grown up.

Fiat Panda - as previoulsy mentioned

Seat and the Skoda Fabia and Ibiza

Suzuli Swift - Probably my personal favourite at the moment - a competant all-rounder , strong reliability (I think these have Toyota's engines), and a clean cut design looking modern and chunky.

Toyota Aygo - Rock solid residuals - and a severe lack of quality plastics or bootspace.

Vauxhall Corsa - New corsa launched a month a go - some may be appearing as ex-demos under budget, I would avoid the 12v engines, but otherwise a decent car.

[Marsh Samphire]

I have a 7 year old VW Polo 1.6 and it's been absolutely fantastic but I'm picking up my brand new (automatic) Fiat Panda 1.2 on Saturday. I would have liked the Fox but there's no automatic, and I would keep the Polo if I could. I bought it brand new in Oct 1999, personal import from Holland, arranged everything myself and saved £4k. I'm not PX-ing it and haven't put an ad in the paper for it yet - is it possible to get emotionally attached to a car?

[Hintza]

For fun I would add the Panda to your list!

[Anthony74]

For fun I would add the Panda to your list!


The Panda will be easy on your pocket and put a smile on your face. And six car awards:D

[spanglesugar]

Thank you all for your comments.

It's interesting to hear all the other cars you recommend. I have looked at quite a few of them, but they weren't right for me. Despite the fact I only need a very small car, I need one with a big enough boot for the buggy. The Aygo would've been on my list if you could fit more than a carrier bag in the boot!

I've also had a lot of problems with the Nissan dealer whenever I've taken my car in for an MOT. Very poor service.

I have to admit I love the heavy feel to the VWs - the doors make a reassuring bang when I close them! I'm not a fan of the new Micra shape.

So, it'll be a VW. This decision has been backed up by all of your comments, which is fantastic. I keep hearing bad things about VW, so to hear good things from actual owners is very reassuring.

No-one seems prepared to do a deal on the Fox. :( And that is my favourite - it's smaller and that's all I need. And I need to sort it out in the next day or two. :(

[JonathanA]

Deals will be hard to come by on the Fox because it is so new. There aren't any secondhand about at the moment & demand will be relatively high due to its newness. But shop around. Drivethedeal.com will discount by £100 on the base 1.2 - not a lot I know, but it's a start. Friends of ours have also bought through carfile.net (broker) and said very good things about the service from them & the supplying dealer. Again may be worth a try. If nothing else, you can take these savings to your local dealer and ask them to match the price.

hope you find the car you're looking for.

[DealDrivers company representative]

I'd also support the suggestion of Polo....good residuals (which the Panda does not have) and the Jazz...as previously suggested.

Fox suffers as it is built on the other side of the world (along with Jetta and Beetle) so leadtimes are extended to ridiculous levels due to an extra 4-6 weeks needed for shipping unless you can find spare stock already in the UK and margins on them are severe...we usually get around 3-5% depending on the exact final choice so it's not a car where you can make great savings...Polo gets around 8.5-9% dealer discount unless its a 55ps engine....

Jazz is another where savings on brand new/1st owner deals are meagre because of the way the manuf'r structures the background deal into its dealerships...we generally get around 5.5% which is more than many brokers.

The best deals in terms of actual cash-off-list-price are always with Peugeot, Ford, Vauxhall, Citroen etc but the residuals suffer in direct proportion.

Skoda fabia are good value too...as are Hyundai Getz/Amica.

Hope that helps

[spanglesugar]

I'm going to order a Fox tomorrow. I rang around a lot today and got offered a set of mats and 2 years servicing, which seems quite good ( a full tank of petrol is standard apparently).

Why is it that they reward people who take out the finance offer with 3 years servicing? I'm paying cash and don't qualify for anything unless I haggle for it. Why do they use incentives to encourage people to go into debt? It's ridiculous!

[kitchpoo]

Car dealerships arnt interested in selling cars, they want to sell the finance, the benefit of you paying a low (relatively) APR on a £6000 sum is enough to counteract the trade cost of a service and mats. Has the Fox been launched with a 2 year service interval after the first 1000 miles anyway? - EDIT - checked - Oil change only at 10k/1yr then inspection service at 20k/2yrs

You will find dealership salesmen are more conversant with the ins and outs of the loans and monthly payments than the specifications of the car.

I would also advise against GAP insurance, which I am in no doubt you were offered as well.

[a&akay]

I paid £6765 for my new Urban 1.2 Fox through Broker4cars including free delivery, arriving next Fri. No offers from dealers at all as too new.

[DealDrivers company representative]

Sounds like a decent price if you are first registered owner on that deal.

[DavidHM]

Of the three, if it really mustn't be a Fiat Panda, a Kia Rio, a Skoda Fabia or a Toyota Yaris, I'd go for the Polo.

But any of those four would be ahead of your shortlist for me. Only problem with the Polo is finding a decent one within your budget as the 1.2E is really slow and basic and you're actually looking at £8k to get one with the 64 bhp engine and five doors, which is what you will need with a baby.

Compare that to £7,100 for a new Skoda Fabia with three years' interest free finance or £6,500 discounted for a Kia Rio with air con, electric windows and a more powerful engine and the Polo makes less sense. (And whilst the thunk of the doors might not be quite the same, both of those should be more reliable than the Polo too).

[Crabman]

Stay away from Nissan, they don't give a !!!! about you once you've bought it especially Head Office. :rolleyes: There's nothing solid about their newer cars, they rust within a few years and the road noise is still terrible, it's like they can't grasp a simple sound proofing concept that almost every other manufacturer had the hang of years ago :rotfl: :rolleyes:

I drive a new shape Yaris which is a dream. It's the 1.0VVTi with sat nav and climate control which is just luxury. The drive is smooth, visibility good, handling excellent. Toyota are bringing out the Auris which replaces the Corolla so look out for knocked down corollas although this could be too large for what you're looking for... :think: