Which car for my mother?

trevormax

My mother will be trading in her 7 seater soon to buy a much smaller car for work to save on fuel.

She does quite a few miles for work (care work for the elderly), around 350-400 per week with 50% being town miles. She wants a small(ish) car BUT it has to have 4 doors.

She is getting a second hand car, is looking to spend around £5-6k from a dealer and we have found and shortlisted 3 cars. I would like opinions from anyone who has owned one or knows a fair bit about them.

These are:

1. Pug 307 1.6 HDI 90 S 06 plate with 35k on the clock,
2. Citroen C3 1.4 HDI Desire 05 plate with 24k on the clock,
3. Toyota Aygo 1.4 D L+ 06 plate with 40k on the clock (might be too small).

At the moment, my mother is leaning towards the C3 as it is the cheapest and has done the fewest miles, however, some reviews I have seen online say its not the most reliable car with things often falling apart (like the trim).

Basically, looking for common faults, opinions on performance, anything to look out for etc.

Thanks.

jeannieblue

My opinion..... for what it counts :rolleyes:

Forget the first two. And forget the third - yes it has four doors but absolutely no boot.

I recommend Yaris or Fiesta.

Besides, you can't go from 7 seater to something so scarily small! Does the 7 seater really have to go?

harveybobbles

Out of the rather naff list above, I'd chose the 307 as it offers the best driving position. The C3 will run on fresh air, but that is what Citroen use for the seats - so you feel like you're sitting on the floor.

kiddy_guy

French car debate again...

Which? Car editor Richard Headland said: 'It's no surprise that owners love their Japanese cars.
'They're reliable, reasonably priced and cheap to run. But down in the hall of shame, owners of some French cars seem to be less than enamoured with their motors.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1214296/Why-Japan-land-rising-car-satisfaction.html#ixzz0RgEWqZNK

I wouldn't touch any of them. Your mum's doing 20k a year minimum, so get her to buy a decent make.

lincroft1710

If she buys the Aygo in 2 yrs time she'll have a 5 yr old car with 80K on the clock, so a definite NO!

McKneff

I have just sold my Aygo sport.
The major and only problem i had with it over 4 years is the size of the boot.
2 bags of shopping and it was full, it was even a struggle getting the bags into it at times. Other than that a real funky little car which went forever on a tank of petrol

Pssst

Dont buy a French car. Also buy a petrol driven model. Dont buy turbo diesel anything.

Yaris sounds good. What about Fiesta?

jeannieblue

Pssst wrote: »

Dont buy a French car. Also buy a petrol driven model. Dont buy turbo diesel anything.

Yaris sounds good. What about Fiesta?

Agree with you - though think you are agreeing with me! Should be able to pick up a Fiesta cheaper than a Yaris. But the Yaris is very economical to maintain and the Fiesta not far off. The Yaris (the new one) is a bit bigger and may suit the OP's mother better. Personally I would suggest a Land Cruiser Amazon.... Seriously, what about a Rav 4? Not too big but practical for getting in and out of easily, being that bit higher up.

trevormax

Cheers for the quick repy's

@ jeannieblue - Well the 7 seater (zafira) was bought because my mother was often taking care of the grandkids (5 of them) but with the amount of work she now does, there really isn't a need for the 7 seater. Shoping is done online and delivered so shouldn't be a problem and she can always use my fathers car or borrow my car if there is a ny need for space. We were looking at a Yaris but unfortunately, the garage she will be using doesn't have a diesel yaris or Fiesta in her price range. We were also looking at an 06 plate Corsa but it didn't have any pics on their website which put my mother off a little.

@ Harveybobbles - Agreed it isn't the best 3 cars but the garage she will be using hasn't got a massive stock and she is limited as to who she can get finance from (this garage being one of the places). I personally prefer the 307, I think it looks better and I have driven one which wasn't too bad in my opinion.

@ lincroft - Agreed, although it will be a similar situation whatever car she buys (the 307 will have 75k in 2 years time :eek:) This is why we are thinking of mainly diesel cars as (apart from diesel cars going further on a full tank) a higher mileage on a diesel doesn't put people off as much as it would on a petrol.

@ McKneff - This was one of the main things that attracted her to the Aygo.

@ Kiddy Guy - Cheers, I think I will have a gander at that Which? list

jeannieblue

OP - can you not travel to get the car you want? Do a search on Autotrader etc?

Where abouts are you - roughly?

slummymummyof3

I have a diesel Micra 1.5 (having had a much bigger car) and its fuel economy is phenominal!!! Ok, it isn't the most eye catching car on the road, but from a practical point of view, it is great!

Boot space and indeed rear leg room is much better than most small cars. Worth a look.