Best Small Car

IvanOpinion

Mother has decided to change her car which, as usual, means that I have to do all the leg work and find her one. She is only interested in a small 5 door car, performance etc. is not vital to her since she generally only drives it about town. I have managed to construct a reasonable short list and am thinking about
- Honda Jazz 1.2
- Suzuki Swift 1.3
- Ford Fiesta 1.25
- Nissan Micra 1.2

I would have added Renault CLio (but mother does not want one of these since she thinks her current one is nothing but trouble), a Volkswagon Polo and a Mitsubishi Colt (however there is no dealer for either handy).

Any thoughts?

Ivan

PS: just found out the Honda Jazz is smaller than the Ford Fiesta ... it sure as heck does not look it.

Need_More_Money_2

Everyone I know with Renault cars seems to have a lot of problems with them. Toyota Yaris seems to have very good reputation for reliability

rrockettman

According to Which? Taking into account running costs and price over three years, the Chevrolet Matiz works out the cheapest.
Of the cars you've listed, The order they appear in is: Honda Jazz 12th, Nissan Micra 15th, then Ford Fiesta22nd. The Toyota Yaris always scores highly for reliability, build quality and owner satisfaction appears 7th on the list.
I hope this helps.

shabani

My wife got a Toyota Aygo.The car drives well enough. so far no problems at all.only thing the boot is so tiny and it is a 4 seater.
The best thing is the fuel consumption. very economical that sometimes you wonder if the the fuel gauge is working.

vansboy

From your list, I'd go in this order...

Swift
Jazz
Fiesta
But not keen on Micra


have you considered Picanto - it's smaller than your selection, but good value for £$£$

& the new Fox should help restore reputation of VW.

Go to http://www.honestjohn.co.uk clik Car By Car breakdown for good AND bad all models. Sensible road test reports there too.

VB

italiastar

Everyone will have their own view, but for what it's worth I don't think you can go far wrong with the Jazz if you like it's looks - same for the Micra - I had one (diesel 1.4) on hire for two weeks and loved it. My wife didn't like the looks so we got a Skoda Fabia VRS - fantasic car. As for non-mainsteam cars like Dawoo, Chevrolet, Suzuki - you get what you pay for and resale will be lower and more difficult. Ultimately make you own mind up as we all have our own experiences.

Ken68

I have a Swift...cheap, economical but the seating is low, not easy to park, otherwise light and nippy.
The Honda Jazz is quite a bit dearer than the rest.
My preference would be a Toyota Yaris, Honest John's favourite.....

ChrissieI

What about a Vauxhall Corsa. They were doing 0% finance at my local garage recently.

balsingh

The Swift looks amazing .... Suzuki's first NICE looking car.

vansboy

ChrissieI wrote:

What about a Vauxhall Corsa. They were doing 0% finance at my local garage recently.

Corsa is currently promoted, 'cos it'll soon be replaced.

The new model is based on the latest Punto - so ought to be a good BIG small car!!

VB

DealDrivers_company_representative

One thing you may need to consider before going for the Jazz is that they are about to move to long leadtimes whilst Honda divert production for launching it on the USA market. Stock is being grabbed quickly as there will be long waits over the summer for build slots for the UK market. If there's a specific Jazz she's interested in check stocks now, by the end of May you'll be in a very long queue.

Residual values on the Swift are likely to be poor and with a narrow market for re-sale, there's always a buyer for a Fiesta and there's always a servicing centre close by in most parts of the UK. Corsa is looking very tired, hence the finance deals to start moving stock. Micra seems to be a lot of cash for not that much car compared to the current deals on Citroens and Fords.

Hope that helps!