Supermini Choices

neilmcl

I'm thinking about get a new small car for my elderly parents to replace an old diesel Focus they hardly use and was wondering what to look for.

The criteria would be something in the supermini class, petrol, automatic, around a 1.4l engine, not French and not a Corsa . Also, doesn't have to be new, anything up to 3 years old would be ideal.

londonTiger

if they're quite old. 70+ they probably would want something with a more van style upright position, not compact.

bigjl

Kia Picanto the Auto is a 1.25 I think.

Or if they want to go for a car with a bit more room what about a Kia Venga.

Around £6k for a 3 yr old Auto.

Both have 4 years manufacturers warranty left.

WobblyDog

From a money-saving point of view, can I ask why the Focus needs replacing? If it's a Mk1 Focus, then current Superminis such as the Fiesta won't be much smaller, so there will be little benefit in fuel consumption or ease of parking.

I'd advise against the current 3-door Fiesta because the small rear windows make reversing quite difficult. An elderly relative has a current-model 5-door Toyota Yaris, which she is satisfied with, although she complains about the lack of torque from the petrol engine. She used to have a diesel Mk2 Focus, which had plenty of torque, and required fewer gear changes in city driving.

neilmcl

Nothing to do with money saving, more to do with moving from a manual diesel, which doesn't get used so much, to an auto for mobility reasons. They don't do anywhere near enough miles to warrant another diesel. My current thinking was Yaris, Honda Jazz, Mazda 2 or maybe something from Kia/Hyundai.

Thanks for the input so far.

bigjl

I just bought a 14 plate Picanto.

Looked at a Corsa, 208, 107, Aygo, Clio and even a couple of TwinAir Fiat 500's.

I wanted a small petrol engine that had decent economy and had cheap or free road tax.

I would rather have had a Rio but the only one at CarGiant was nearly £8k and I wasn't prepared to spend that much.

An Auto would have fitted the bill but the car will eventually be handed down to my teenage daughter for University at some point sonInallowed her some input. Hence the Venga was ruled out, I quite liked the Venga though RFL was way over what I wanted to spend.

The Picanto cost £5700 all in has under 10k miles from new and is two years old at the end of March.

One point to note is that 3 doors only come with manual AirCon and 5 doors can be had with Climate Control.

Steering is light, it feels slightly quicker than the old Clio dci though will never set your pulse racing, steering is nice and light and it is still quiet at 70mph. £30 fills it up from empty and it is showing 45mpg this morning, was on 47mpg yesterday morning but I had some local running about which brought it down.

One point regarding a car for retirement that my mum and dad mentioned to me, avoid a 3 door of possible, they had a 207 which they bought new and both my parents struggled with getting the seatbelt on and the size of the doors as they got older, they traded up to a used Qasqhai after a couple of years. Which is partly why I have put in a Venga.

Have just booked the Picanto in for its 2nd service and it is fixed at £129 and includes the body inspection check. It is also while you wait.

Not sure how that price relates to servicing the larger Venga.

[Deleted User]

Skoda Citigo, please get them to have a test drive.Everything about this little 1 litre car is spot on with the best gear change I ve used bar an MX5. They would nt need an auto gearbox with this car its a pleasure to change gear. My company run them as fleet cars.Previously we used Citroen C1 s which are also very good and reliable but the little Skoda is better. VW UP ! is the same car with a better paint job and interior and a bigger price tag.

bigjl

I looked at the Citigo, Mii and UP!

Lack of AirCon in the budget was one negative, being near to the end of the warranty and out of warranty was the other negative.

If the budget had been bigger and availability better it would have been a serious consideration.

Though many appear to have very poor equipment levels. Unless you increase your budget at which point you are competing with Fiestas and other much better cars.

I don't doubt they will have decent residuals and be a solid little car.