Suggestions on what car?

skysky69

I am going to have to purchase a car and would love some suggestions. Has to be reliable, can spend up to about £2,000 but would like to get something about £1,500 if I can. Cheap tax, small engine - high economy, only needs to get me 3 miles to work and 3 miles back Monday to Friday with maybe one trip to Tesco's once a week. We have been looking at:

VW Polo

Renault Clio

Smart car (although I think we wont be able to afford a decent one as they seem to hold their price - I also don't know a great deal about them from a reliability point of view.

Vauxhall Corsa (I did look at an Aguila - but again don't know whether they are any good).

Husband has said he doesn't like peugot so that rules out a 106 or a 206

Are there any great little cars that I have missed - opinions please!

Unfortunately most of the little cars that fall into this category are what people are looking for for their kids' first cars - which means if you don't get there first - a lot of them seem to have been boy racered up!

rosie383

We have a Honda Jazz and love it. My only piece of advice would be to buy a 'common' car. We got a vw polo diesel saloon last year, and have had a nightmare buying any parts for it at all. There are never any in the salvage yards, most of the good car parts people don't have the parts. They are just too thin on the ground.
If you are lucky and buy a good car like a wee suzuki swift that we had and never needed a part for, good on ya. Just don't buy a 'rare' car. We have really regretted it so much.

Dave_Z

Ford Fiesta should fit the bill. You're right about the boy racer thing though. I sure feel sorry for anyone who now owns either of my 2 Fiesta's. Just keep an eye out for a tidy one. One in Ghia trim or with 5 doors is probably less likely to have been subjected to the horrors of teenage driving.

Stigy

Small cars seem to be what most people are after these days, therefore, although still very much a buyers market, values are kept high. VWs hold their value well, so in terms of buying a Polo, for £1,500 you'll be looking at around a year 2000 model I'd imagine, on average mileage (80,000?). If you went on the other hand for a Deawoo Matiz, you'd probably get a later model, just before they all changed to Chevrolets (2003?).