Small automatic cars

AGa206

I am thinking of getting a small automatic car. At the moment I drive a Ford Ka that I love but am having problems with my left leg and can't use the clutch. I just wondered which cars were the best.

bungle4by4

small auto's tend to be a little poor in my opinion. a small engine and an auto gearbox are not well suited, as small engines rely on lots of gear changes to make up for less available power. And small is subjective, so can you give some idea of engine size your after, Budget and mileage you drive.

For example, would you be better off buying a slightly older auto with a few miles and a bigger engine, or are you specifically after a small car for city driving.

hope this makes sense

AGa206

I am looking for something less than 1.5 litre engine, less than about £15000 and I drive about 10000 miles a year.

vax2002

They are now two types of auto, full and semi.
A semi auto uses and electronic box to change gear for you and has exactly the same engine and gearbox as a normal car.
They are not a smooth as full automatics but are far more efficient.
Vauxhall make a corsa called easytronic, basically has an electronic clutch so you can still change gear without using a clutch or you can select it to change for you

verityboo

I'd recommend looking at a 1.2TSi Petrol Skoda Fabia with the DSG autobox. Brilliant car and list prices start at £12,410 (and you would get a good discount on that) - best spec is the SE model at £13345 list

bungle4by4

you dont do huge miles, so a diesel is probably a more expensive option for you, if it was my money, i would be looking at this http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201141420902984/sort/priceasc/usedcars/transmission/automatic/price-to/15000/price-from/12000/engine-size-cars/1l_to_1-3l/page/1/radius/30/postcode/st64jb?logcode=p

ranchero

Have a look at electric cars from Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi etc. Electric cars don't use gears.

bungle4by4

ranchero wrote: »

Have a look at electric cars from Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi etc. Electric cars don't use gears.

I think the OP may do too many miles for an electric car, they have a very limited range and long charge cycles. But do you get a £5000 allowance towards purchasing a plug in electric car?

verityboo

bungle4by4 wrote: »

I think the OP may do too many miles for an electric car, they have a very limited range and long charge cycles. But do you get a £5000 allowance towards purchasing a plug in electric car?

Yes, the £5K subsidy reduces the price of the Nissan leaf from £30,990 down to a bargain £25,990.

Given the OP's stated budget of £15K and mileage I think they should stick to considering new / nearly new petrol autos

Lum

As mentioned at the start, a traditional automatic gearbox does not go well with a small revvy engine as they tend to have a bit of a thump when changing gears. I've driven things like a 1.4 automatic Corsa and it really wasn't nice.

The newer style "sequential manual" or "direct shift" gearboxes (different names for the same thing) are probably what you want to look for, they're basically a manual gearbox with some gagetry that does the clutch and gear changing for you.

Personally I can't stand them but with a small engine they're the best option.

It might also be worth looking for cars with a CVT gearbox (made infamous in 70s DAF cars) as correctly set up they are awesome. The article I linked has a bit at the end saying which cars are available with them.

Joe_Horner

CVT is, as Lum says, absolutely brilliant IF it's set up right and you have it maintained properly. If you don't then it can get expensive because they tend not to be as abuse tolerant as big metal gears.

Some people also find they just can't get used to the "slipping clutch" effect you get when driving them - put your foot down and the engine goes to full revs, followed by the car catching up in its own sweet time

They also have an odd twist that you get best efficiency from them by accelerating with your foot hard to the floor because the engine gets to run continually at it's most efficient revs that way. Properly designed, maintained and driven they're a very efficient transmission and as smooth as it gets!