Recommendations for a small car.

Bongedone

My 2002 C3 diesel is in the low tax band. I've not had any issues with it yet.

shortchanged_2

Bongedone wrote: »

My 2002 C3 diesel is in the low tax band. I've not had any issues with it yet.

The Mrs likes these!

jaydeeuk1

Fiat panda surely? You can get them for barely under £2000 which is fantastic value imo

nancyo

I found the Renault Clio a great small car - unsure about the tax bracket, but it was cheap on fuel and comfortable to drive

bigjl

The Clio 1.5dci should be around in that price bracket but it won't be the current shape or pre facelift current shape.

But the 1.5 Dci has £35 tax in the wifes 2006 car.

Does around 60mpg mostly around town.

The only concern I would have is the build quality of an older Clio.

Though you may be able to find a prefacelift new shape for around your money if you go for a small engined petrol car.

The interior is much improved in the newer ones. And a more basic model won't have all the little electrical gizmos fitted to the top models which in a Renault have a habit of causing problems.

Horizon81

As Hammyman says, stop obsessing about cheap tax. It's not the be all and end all. Look at the bigger picture! There's plenty of older diesel cars that fit the cheapish tax bracket like fiesta/fusion, clio, modus (possibly), C3 but just buy a small engined petrol car instead, with tax around the £100 mark. The Colt 1.1/1.3 would be a good choice, equally Micra or Yaris could be had for that money. Fabia could also be worth a punt.

Oopsadaisy

Micra, Panda, Yaris, Aygo/C1/107, Fiesta, C3, Fabia.

All pretty decent.

Oopsadaisy

shortchanged wrote: »

It will be the 2nd car so ideally want one that is as cheap as possible to run.

It's not all about running costs it's all about TCO,,,Total Cost of Ownership.

So assuming keeping 5 yrs....

Price now + running costs for 5 yrs - resale value in 5 yrs = TCO

So a £1000 car will depreciate less [say £800] than a £4000 car [say £3200] but might have higher maintenace bills...but then again £2400 pays for a lot of repairs.

System

Hammyman wrote: »

And forget being obsessed with the cheap tax bracket. One at the £100 mark is only going to cost £70 more which is a drop in the ocean in the running costs of a car and if you can't afford the extra £70, you can't afford a car in the first place.

op has cheap tax as a criteria for her car, id hardly call that obsessing , oh has a c3 diesel and its only £20 tax.

Cool_Mint

Nissan Micra would be top of my list, you can't go wrong with it. It's simple but well built and reliable and it won't sting you when you need to replace parts either.