Requesting suggestions for superminis to test drive

Idomeneus

I’ve owned a 2004 Honda Jazz automatic for nearly 12 years now. It has been a superb car for us, but it is now showing its age. We held on to it longer than we might otherwise have done because we were waiting for the Mk3 Jazz to appear in the UK, which it did last September. Unfortunately, when we did eventually get to view the Mk3 Jazz and test drive it, we were a little disappointed. As a result, my wife and I are currently viewing other cars and test driving them in order to determine whether any can satisfy our requirements better than the Mk3 Jazz.

So far, we have test driven a Peugeot 208, a Volkswagen Polo and a Ford Fiesta. Can anyone suggest any other cars that we should really view and test drive before making a final decision on what to buy?

Our “must have” requirements for a new car are as follows:

• Supermini 5 door hatchback costing less than £20K
• Automatic transmission (but not an automated manual gearbox)
• Large enclosed boot with the backs of the rear seats up (the floor area in the boot, minus the difficult to use recesses, is a more important measure than the total volume in litres)
• Plenty of storage space in the interior for tissues, medicated wipes, spectacles, sunglasses, travel documents, yellow visibility vests, breathalyser kits (for France), guides, maps, atlases, bottles of water, and so on
• Comfortable amount of leg room for a tall driver
• Economical to run (= high mpg)
• Low CO2 emissions (= low or zero road tax)
• Very reliable
• Good for all kinds of motoring: town, country and motorway (we travel a lot in the UK and the near Continent)
• Comfortable and easy to drive
• Quiet (= low engine noise, low tyre noise, and low or zero wind noise)

Style, sporty, fast acceleration, fun to drive, plenty of leg room in the back seats, and cosmetics are just not considerations for us, although I am put off by an interior that looks too “plasticky”.

lsire

Think the Ford Fiesta is probably the best super mini at the moment imo. The new Renault Clio is quite nice but not a lot of interior storage, big boot though, worth a test drive. Hope you find what you're looking for

ElefantEd

We recently did a similar analysis (though we were looking at cars 3-4 years old. We eventually went for a Nissan Micra - decent leg room, high mpg (50+) reliable, £20 road tax, quiet at a constant speed, though noisier when accelerating (though this may be just compared with our other car, a Leaf). Easy to drive, so far anyway! Definitely not sporty, interior is fine, ours has a computer for displaying mpg etc, and an MP3 player port which is nice.

agrinnall

Why do you insist on an automatic? I'd say that's pretty much going to rule out good acceleration in a car with a small engine. If you want an automatic, buy a car with a big engine that has the power to spare to deal with the transmission.

Idomeneus

agrinnall wrote: »

Why do you insist on an automatic? I'd say that's pretty much going to rule out good acceleration in a car with a small engine. If you want an automatic, buy a car with a big engine that has the power to spare to deal with the transmission.

I've been driving automatics for over 20 years now and I am totally sold on them. I just cannot understand the need for all the mental and physical effort involved in changing gear when the technology is there to do it all for you.

As I implied in my original post, good/fast acceleration is just not a requirement for us. Our current 2004 Honda Jazz with a CVT automatic transmission has an 82 bhp engine which has been quite adequate for us over the 12 years.

weeowens

Go with the new Jazz. Other than internal storage it is a great car for what you need. The auto is more economical than the manual plus there are some good deals on nearly new at the moment. I bought one in December. It is my 6th Jazz in 14 years.Any questions you want answering I am happy to answer for you.

F1F93

If you're considering a vw polo, also consider the SEAT ibiza or Skoda Fabia. Depending on how new you go, both do a 1.2tsi petrol engine with a DSG auto box (I have a 2011 ibiza with the above combo but having recently looked at new ones they have discontinued the above combo at some point so buying new is not an option)

Both come in estate forms with a cavernous boot for a car of its size. My Ibiza is tax band D (£120) and does mid 40s, low 50s is achievable if you're careful (small amount of town driving, mainly a roads and motorways). I'm currently looking at swapping it in for a Skoda Rapid Spaceback with the same engine which is only £30 tax. 0-60 times are around 9.4 seconds (which, compared to 14 seconds for your Jazz will feel more than fast enough).

worried_jim

Suzuki Swift all the way.

loskie

Look at a Ssangyong Tivoli uses same auto box as the Mini

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/ssangyong/tivoli-2015/

agrinnall

Idomeneus wrote: »

As I implied in my original post, good/fast acceleration is just not a requirement for us. Our current 2004 Honda Jazz with a CVT automatic transmission has an 82 bhp engine which has been quite adequate for us over the 12 years.

Sorry, I misread your post, makes more sense now.

bigjl

I had the old Fiesta Auto as a courtesy car when my V50 went in for a recall years ago, last year before the Powershift Auto was introduced.

I thought it was a great little car, great driving position, handling was excellent.

I have done a few miles in a Galaxy with the Powershift Transmission and I thought that was a very good gearbox.

You could consider the Kia Rio but don't know much about the Autobox that's in it.

I have driven a Jazz (only once and not for that long, it was a 1.2S I think) I thought it was nice enough but I wouldn't buy one.

Corsa might be another good one to try, the outgoing Corsa wasn't bad, maybe a bit bland, but the new shape one could be better in that respect.

Clio is a no go isn't it? As I thought that had an automated manual box rather than a double clutch automatic? I know the gearbox was slated in the go faster version, the old Clio Auto had a normal Torque Convertor Autobox.

Though one thing to consider is your expected ownership period, Kia's have a 7 year Warranty and Hyundai/Toyota Five years so another good option would be to test drive a Yaris, you could try the Hybrid.

A completely left field choice could be the Renault Zoe.