I want a smaller, greener car

beetplek

I`ve had a 5 door Corsa and the only things that ever went wrong were the exhaust box falling off every other year, thats about 30 quid to fix and a replacement battry. I had it for 5 years, and has been the best car for the money. But now I`m driving a Ford Ka, they all only have 3 doors, but superb to drive and very cheap to run, i`m pretty sure there all 1.3, so I`d also recomend one of these if you could afford one.

wifeforlife

PabloNeruda wrote:

I've had a look online at this car, which I'd never heard of before, and I have to say it looks exactly the kind of thing I'm after - eco-friendly and also cheap to run. The only downside is it is quite a new model by the looks of it, and therefore the second-hand market is somewhat limited at the moment. Having said that they are very cheap cars to begin with. I think this may well be what I go for. I guess I'll just have to keep a close eye on Auto Trader etc over the next few weeks to see what the market for them is like. If anyone has any advice about where to buy or not buy I'd be very grateful. In the meantime Many thanks.

Hi just to follow on from the Aygo, its the exact same car as the citroen c1 and the peugot 107, they where all built together but I THINK the only difference is the bumpers and badges. The toyota is the most expensive probably because of their reputation, but I've had this car on a 2 day test drive and found it very roomy (no boot space really) but for passengers fantastic. I'm definately getting one when I am out of debt!

Good luck with things

Cath

Ken68

I have had no end of vehicles, and rate this one of the best for safety and economy. 5 doors and below 1 litre.

http://images.google.co.uk/images?sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2006-43,GGLD:en&q=suzuki%20wagon%20r&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

sleepymy

crox wrote:

Can you do without the short trips? - they're car killers

Can I ask why?

paulow

The Fiat Panda is reckoned to be a very good car, you can even get a brand new one for around £5000 so they may be relatively cheap second-hand?

tr3mor

cathy2702 wrote:

Hi just to follow on from the Aygo, its the exact same car as the citroen c1 and the peugot 107, they where all built together but I THINK the only difference is the bumpers and badges.

The real difference is not having to go to a Peugeot or Citroen dealer If you're after one of these I'd definitely go for the Toyota!

Another car of a similar size but a bit closer to your price range would be an older Seat Arosa or VW Lupo. If you go for the diesel they'll do 70mpg!

Marsh_Samphire

I got a new Fiat Panda 1.2 in January and I absolutely love it, 5 doors and roomy inside for a small car, it looks cute and so economical on fuel even driving in town, which is what I mostly do, to and from work. I love the high ride and good visibility. There's an option on them where the rear seats move back and forward to give you more legroom in the back or more boot space which might be handy for you and the girls. The 1.0 would get you in the lowest car tax bracket, I have a friend who has that one and she loves it too.
Would definitely recommend it. And James May from Top Gear has got one too, I heard them joking about it the other week!

Marsh_Samphire

p.s. I test drove the Aygo and Peugeot 107 but the minute I got in the Fiat Panda I was sold!

ailuro2

Short trips kill cars because the engine doesn't warm up properly, is not properly lubricated, the brakes don't heat up enough etc.

Low mileage cars in general go through more exhausts because there's more condensate sitting in the pipes where they didn't heat up.

kittiwoz

I think the Panda is a good suggestion. Fiat's are designed as city cars and are more suited to stopping and starting on short trips than most cars. Rubbish if you do a lot of long journeys though.