time to swap my smart for four

luvchocolate

its 9 years old and I fancy a change its been a great little car. Looking to spend no more than £5k plus mine in part ex.
about 6000 miles per year hardly any motorway and live where its flat.
looking at the usual small cars but like the Hyundi i10 that seems to be liked on this forum and the suzuki alto. petrol 1.2?
I use my car every day for work.
any advice as I am a woman in her 60,s and never bought a car on my own before.
thank you for reading x

oliverr

The Hyundai i10 is a great little car, had one as a courtesy car last year and it was easy to drive, nippy in town and was economical. The Alto is the same car as the Nissan Pixo which having sat in both - the Hyundai is by far the better quality product.

There is also the Toyota Aygo, Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107 which are all essentially the same car, some people love them - some hate them. Can't really comment on them as I haven't spent much time in them. I think the i10 seems a better quality car and is also a bit more spacious inside.

Oh, just to add - also worth noting the new VW Up, Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo - great little cars that came out last year. All the same underneath just slightly different looks. The Skoda will be the cheapest with the VW a bit more expensive, and the Seat somewhere in between. They are all quite new as they came out last year but if you managed to get find one in your budget I would consider having a look.

All the cars I have mentioned above, while some may be a little bit bigger or spacious than another, they are all much smaller than your current car. Though you've probably taken that into consideration already.

jackc12

I test drove several small city cars last month, the i10 and the VW up were my favourites, particularly the latter. Problem is with the up you need to go beyond the basic engine/trim to get good value, otherwise you might as well go for one of it's sisters from the other makes.

A word of caution on the i10 though, in researching them I had a look through the hyundai forums to see if there were any common complaints, and a lot of people are complaining about them stalling at junctions (without user input). There was talk of a software patch but then owners complaining that it hadn't fixed anything, and some of their cars were brand new. Ultimately I decided it's not worth the hassle.

1jim

Have a look at the Kia picanto, very nice

CFC

Picanto and i10 are sisters under the skin.
I've had an i10 for 3 years, I love it. Can't answer for the latest models which have had a face lift. I get 40mpg for round town driving, it's also fine on the motorway. A very nice car.

I'd TD the i10 and the Up! and the Suzuki for starters. Don't forget the Aygo but I hated the boot.

1jim

CFC wrote: »

Picanto and i10 are sisters under the skin.
I've had an i10 for 3 years, I love it. Can't answer for the latest models which have had a face lift. I get 40mpg for round town driving, it's also fine on the motorway. A very nice car.

I'd TD the i10 and the Up! and the Suzuki for starters. Don't forget the Aygo but I hated the boot.

But the picanto looks so much better than the i10, more edgy sporty look

luvchocolate

thank you for all your replies.....very helpful will have a look, I also liked the up as I have had a polo and a golf in the past but just out of my price range now.
thanks again x

aileth

My father in law has an i10 and LOVES it!