Best though life value for money supermini? (Jazz, Yaris or other?)

DaveKlein

Hi all,

My car (a 2003 Clio, which was a pass me down from my parents) has become uneconomical to repair. I'm looking for a replacement, but having never bought a car before I'm finding it hard to accurately compare my options.

My requirements are very simple. I'm looking for a car that will offer me best though-life value for money. I have savings, so I'm happy to pay more up front if this means I'll save money on repairs and get better fuel efficiency. My only other requirement is that, due to my work, the boot needs to be a bit larger than on the very smallest superminis (e.g. Hyundai i10 is too small). I think I need at least 270 litres.

I use the car primarily for work and do about 10,000 miles a year on work time, plus another 7,500 miles for commuting to work plus leisure.

I've primarily used Which? to find recommendations. I've come up with the Toyota Yaris and Honda Jazz, and would be looking at their most fuel efficient petrol models around 3 years old for about £6,000. They seem to be reasonably fuel efficient and have very good reliability records.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'd very much appreciate any help!

Thanks,

Dave

nw_mum

Yaris is a good choice, as would be a Polo, Golf pretty reliable cars

DaveKlein

Thanks for the thoughts. The Golf/Polo are a bit more money, which is why I hadn't looked too closely at them.

How about the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive? The 1.2 diesel does 80mpg combined....

ali-t

I had a jazz for 5 years and loved it. It wasn't very economical (around 37mpg) but that was probably more of a reflection on my driving style. They are really spacious and the folding down seats make the boot space huge but they are very much a pensioners motor as they seem to be the only people (apart from myself) that drive them.

I found my jazz to be very reliable and for a small car I felt very safe in it.

nw_mum

DaveKlein wrote: »

Thanks for the thoughts. The Golf/Polo are a bit more money, which is why I hadn't looked too closely at them.

How about the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive? The 1.2 diesel does 80mpg combined....

Are you going to be doing any motorway driving?

DaveKlein

nw_mum wrote: »

Are you going to be doing any motorway driving?

Probably about 50% of the miles will be motorway...

nw_mum

DaveKlein wrote: »

Probably about 50% of the miles will be motorway...

Ok, if it were me My choice would be between the Seat and Yaris. The Jazz suits a much older person

iolanthe07

The 1.2 diesel does 80mpg combined....

Be very wary of these claims. They are based on EU directives and the tests are done in laboratory conditions very far removed from real life driving conditions. See Honest John's website for true MPG figures. I don't have a link, but google 'honest john'.

AutumnMist

I'd have to recommend the Yaris, having had 3 of them over the years. They've always been fantastic cars and never had any problems with them. As Which has said, a Yaris is a reliable and good buy.

There's no spare wheel in the Honda but there is in the Yaris.

TradePro

nw_mum wrote: »

Polo, Golf pretty reliable cars

I disagree 100%, in case it helps - the cars you are already considering are both great options.

facade

Don't forget consumables: you are going to be putting starship mileages on the car, tyres might only last you 2 years and some of these silly low profile things cost £100 plus each.
Then there is servicing.........

Assuming you get a low mileage car in the first place 15,000 or so, then expect to write your investment off over 4 to 5 years before you start needing major replacements, so the car is going to cost £1500 + fuel +servicing +tyres per year.