Small car advice sought please

Valli

DD has been saving hard for her first car, she wants a small one, 3 door, low tax, approx 1000cc.

Her Grandma is concerned because DD will be doing some motorway driving; she'd like DD to be in something meatier with a bigger engine. (1300 cc)

We would appreciate any comments/advice/cautionary tales and all round opinions please!

Nobbie1967

What about a 107/C1/Aygo, low tax, cheap and plenty around. I used to do a 300 mile round trip each week in one and it was fine at 60-70mph. A bit noisy, but nothing to worry about as a first car. Cheap to repair and service.

luvchocolate

Hyundai i10....£20 road tax never let me down, great small car

Chucky1234

I'd go for a C1 or something similar.

~Beanie~

I've got a Peugeot 107 and I love it. I down graded from a 1.3 engine to this 1l but can't really tell a great deal of difference, the 107 is very nippy. Free tax and cheap insurance as well, it's great!

SensibleSarah

Another vote for a hyundai i10 as long as she won't be doing LOTS of motorway. Was my first car after passing my test & great for around town. Fine on motorway generally (I used to do 300+ motorway miles a week) but mine was a 1.2 (12 plate) and I wouldn't have wanted any less engine power than that on longer journeys on motorways.

Valli

SensibleSarah wrote: »

Another vote for a hyundai i10 as long as she won't be doing LOTS of motorway. Was my first car after passing my test & great for around town. Fine on motorway generally (I used to do 300+ motorway miles a week) but mine was a 1.2 (12 plate) and I wouldn't have wanted any less engine power than that on longer journeys on motorways.

That's a really useful comment about engine power, thanks, exactly the kind of information/opinion that helps.

bigjl

The current Picanto is not as bad as I thought it would be at motorway speeds.

Same underpinnings as the i10.

The road tax is free on mine (1.0 City) not sure about the bigger engines 1.25.

If I was in the market for another I would go for a 1.25. Not due tomorrow being that underpowered, I just don't like having to rev the guts out of a car.

gilbert_and_sullivan

The 1000cc cars are ok for town work and nipping about, and yes they'll keep up with motorway traffic and easily lose you your licence if you so desire, but they get raucous and need to be worked hard at higher speeds when acceleration or hill climbing is called for.

Toyota Pug Citroen missed a trick here with the shared Aygo 107, they could easily have put the turbocharged version of the 1.4 Diesel in and that would have been a cracking little car, as it is the 1.4 Diesel is a bit of a dog.

1.3's come in the Yaris though, and also the rather unusual Toyota IQ, and i would always advocate that slightly larger engine for easier motoring, the VED difference is hardly worth bothering about.

barbiedoll

I've just gone from a 1L Picanto to a 1.2 i10 and I'd definitely recommend going for a slightly larger engine if she's going to be doing motorway miles.

My Picanto was fine for urban driving and the fuel economy was good but as bigjl says, you really need to thrash the guts out of a small engine, especially when you need the extra power to overtake etc.

[Deleted User]

I can t understand why no ones mentioned the Skoda Citigo, car of the year it says on a sticker in my rear window. We drive them as our latest fleet cars and they are easily the best all round little car we ve had.Previously we used Citroen C1 s which are also very good but the Citigo has a dream of a gearbox, nice quiet engine which cruises easily at outside lane motorway speeds. Everything about this car feels right, unlike the Fiat 500 I had for a couple of weeks.Truly awful..every thing was inferior to the Citigo Please test drive one of these, they look a bit boxy but are a quality little car and they dont feel stressed at all at 75mph unlike most of the other small cars Ive driven.I wish I d bought one rather than the Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 I ve got now.