Which car?

Sheldor

I have a car dilemma that I really need some help with.

In the next few months, I'm going to need to get a car.
What I want is something of a tardis - big on the inside but nothing bigger than a golf on the outside. Most of the time it will just have me in it with the back seat down and loads of stuff in the back so a big interior space with a wide-opening back door and a flat interior boot space is essential.

I haven't had my own insurance for many years so I want to avoid anything that comes with a high premium.

I'm open to new, second hand (providing it's a car with an excellent track record) or leasing for at least 6 months.

Visually, the VW polo and golf are top of my list at the moment (although i expect the golf has high insurance) but i am open-minded.

One thing that is really important to me is to be able to see the speedometer clearly at all times. I recently drove a VW Up and spent all my time wriggling in my seat to see the speedo (I was in OTT speed camera land!) and at night couldn't see the numbers at all - just the orange tip of the pointer). Other than that I don't really care for much in the way of interior clutter. The only car i've ever owned is an old VW Beetle and that set a very low bar for gadgets.

Do any of you have any tips or recommendations or cars that I should avoid like the plague? Any helpful information would be much appreciated, thanks.

fivetide

Budget would be useful - also what are you hauling in it? Do you need it to be more van than car for example?

(Thinking Skoda Yeti v Citroen Berlingo here)

Sheldor

Thanks fivetide. Just hauling DIY type stuff and luggage. I'm going to be selling my house and becoming a bit of a renting nomad for a while but i'll be living in Bath where i believe parking can be a bit of an issue so i want as small a vehicle as possible - but not so small that it's useless for anything other than grocery shopping.

Sheldor

Oh, and as for budget, I'd like to stick to below £10k. And i'd quite like it to be grey (I was eyeing up the Panda Pop but it only comes in red and white!)

WTFH

Fiat 500L?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/fiat/500l/postcode/ba11aa/radius/50/price-to/12000/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/sort/default

But if you want a grey Panda Pop...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201311200034000

wba31

Honda Jazz.

Missus has the old shape and its a tiny car, cheap to insure and huge inside, and has magic seats (fold flat into the floor or the bottom bit folds up).

I think the newer shape has the similar set up...

Hintza

Fiat Panda.

Sheldor

Thanks WTFH - do you have a fiat? I want something that will last forever(ish!), not start falling apart on me after a short while and I know Fiats used to have a bit of a bad rep.

And WBA31 - my dad has a Honda Jazz. I'm not sure I could go there! Unless I could talk him into giving me his, of course.

WTFH

Sheldor wrote: »

Thanks WTFH - do you have a fiat? I want something that will last forever(ish!), not start falling apart on me after a short while and I know Fiats used to have a bit of a bad rep.

Fiats had a bad rap in the UK in the 1970s & 80s. In the rest of Europe they got over it fairly quickly, but we seem to have selective memories in this country.
Possibly the best 4x4 car ever produced is the Panda. The old model would go forever and was very popular in alpine regions of Europe, but over here we said "no, they're rust buckets".

I don't have a Fiat (although my car is from part of the Fiat group), but I've been in a few and had contemplated getting a 500L or Panda for my wife.

Sheldor

Thanks, I do rather like the 'box on wheels' look of the Panda - although I just compared its boot space to that of the Jazz and it didn't come of favourably. Maybe I will have to talk my dad into giving me his after all!

Hintza

We have the pre-facelift Panda which was produced in Poland. The new ones are being made in Italy.

The 1.2 Fire engine is non-interference which means if the cam belt fails you won't wreck the engine. I think it is the engine of choice unfortunately it is not that cheap on VED.

I bought our car as salvage and repaired it, it is now 10 years old and in the last two years the front lower arms have both been replaced and it had an alternator last year. Apart from that it has been rock solid, we abuse our unmercifully on the farm track (probably why the lower arms were knackered ). It still has the original exhaust!!

The Panda can carry very big loads Two bales of hay frequently and recently 220kg of feed bags. We have a Jeep Cherokee as the tow vehicle and a fixed dog guard but the Panda takes just as much.

The residuals are great on the car and there are plenty of reviews that you can read online. Look at the owner reviews at "What Car".

I did however suggest to my niece that it would be a good car and she thought I had gone mad, it is not very cool. My daughter didn't have a choice and learnt to drive in one when she was 17 which still owns at 24.

So we have had two in the family for about 7 years and I will be getting another unless I can find a Chrysler Ypsilon (read Lancia) as cheap salvage!