Looking to buy a small/medium sized car with a soft, gentle clutch due to hip problem

EndlessStruggle

Hello everyone, I am looking for advice on a hatchback with a soft, gentle clutch.

I have hip problems (arthritis) and don't have as much strength as I would like, especially in the left hip.

I am looking for a car with a clutch that is easy to press in, not too high, easy to hold at the bite and with little kick back (if that makes sense)

I tried a 09 Fiesta today and that was too hard to push and hold and I was nearly kicked out of the car backwards by the kick back on a 11 plate Agila.

The guy at the car lot we visited was very helpful and suggested a VW Polo and a Peugeot 308 so those will be ones we look at next.

But I'm seeking some more ideas especially from those with similar hip issues.

Ideally I want to spend up to £4,000 but budget is flexible.

I really don't mind what the car looks like as long as I can drive it. It will be mainly rural/town driving, the odd dual carriageway on rare occasions. 

(I am open to the idea of an automatic if the search for a nice clutch fails but I'm looking for manual so I don't need to retrain my driving brain)

Thank you in advance to all those who post

onlyfoolsandparking

Just go for the automatic, not much 'retraining' involved in that, in fact an auto is a much more pleasurable drive imo.

tacpot12

I think you will get a lot of suggestions to move straight to an automatic on the basis that the sooner your start retraining your brain the better, but I hope you also get some useful pointers towards vehicles with highly assisted clutches. 

Goudy

Your problem is clutches wear and as a result will often stiffen up the pedal, so what's soft now won't stay like that forever.
Most cars now have hydraulic clutches rather than cable, so it might be possible to add a remote servo to the system.
You need to get the right ratio of master cylinder bore and assistance or sometimes you can just fit a larger bore master cylinder which softens the pedal up. I've done both to Land Rovers but they are a lot of messing and clutch servo kits can be expensive and take up room that might not be available under your average bonnet.

The answer is fairly obvious though and you know what it is already, an automatic.
They come in different flavours these days, old school torque converters, dual clutch, single clutch and CVTs and get called things like Powershift, Dualogic, EDC, DSG, Xtronic and so on.

I'd steer clear of the single clutch systems, they drive pretty rotten and can give a lot of problems, so no Fiesta Powershift or Fiat Dualogics.
VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda use a dual clutch "DSG " system, some are better than others though they can go wrong sometimes particularly the dry clutch versions in smaller cars. I've a Renault with a similar EDC system, it's too new to tell about reliability, but it drives pretty sharp.
The Japanese have been using CVT's for a while on small hatchbacks and the system in the Nissan Micra is very good, it's a far cry from the old Daf's with Variomatic CVT's of the 70's though they still "Moo" a bit when you accelerate hard.
Hyundai and Kia have been fitting old school torque converters to their smaller cars, it increases emissions (road tax on some years) and spoils the mpg a bit, but they tend to be pretty robust and drive fairly well for a small engine with a hungry gearbox.

As for driving, you soon get the hang of it.

AdrianC

There are so many automatics in your target size/budget range now, and - let's be honest - your hip is not going to get better, is it?

EndlessStruggle

It is likely I will have two new ones within the next 5-15 years   
It is also the back of the hip so lifting/moving foot for clutch that is the worst.
Automatic is seeming more likely.

I was avoiding it as OH would also take car once a week to work and he didn't want to swap between manual and auto but he is now warming to the idea if it gets me back on road.

I'm going to look at some cars this weekend and if it is a no go I will book a few refresher lessons in an auto as I haven't driven much over last 3 years and move onto looking for autos. 

victor2

EndlessStruggle said:

It is likely I will have two new ones within the next 5-15 years   
It is also the back of the hip so lifting/moving foot for clutch that is the worst.
Automatic is seeming more likely.

I was avoiding it as OH would also take car once a week to work and he didn't want to swap between manual and auto but he is now warming to the idea if it gets me back on road.

I'm going to look at some cars this weekend and if it is a no go I will book a few refresher lessons in an auto as I haven't driven much over last 3 years and move onto looking for autos. 

Well worth trying an automatic, but there's nothing to learn, apart from not having to do anything with the left foot. It's much harder if you go back to a manual after years of driving an auto! Can be harder to find an instructor with an automatic, but they are out there and it will be worth it just to give you confidence.

I've had autos for many years and the only thing I've found really useful is having somewhere to rest your left foot on longer drives. Some cars have a footrest built in to the footwell, some don't.

Herzlos

As said you may as well just go for an automatic/clutchless, it takes all of the hassle out of it and you don't need to worry about the clutch wearing and getting harder to use.

Misslayed

I also have arthritis in my hips, my car is a Skoda Fabia, which is automatic, but it has a 'magic button' on the gearstick (sorry I don't speak mechanic!) which changes it to manual, which Mr. M mansplained was for driving in low gear in very icy conditions. My brain was retrained in about ten miles , I love it. Mr M is a bit of a petrol head and he likes driving it, in fact he chose it (I let him)

DoaM

This is from a long time ago, but ... I learned to drive in a Peugot 205 (I think) and the clutch was OK. Whilst learning (and after passing my test) I would sometimes drive my Dad's Nissan Micra (EnnnXXX, so you can see how long ago this was ) ... I noticed that the clutch was really light, as well as the brakes being heavily servo-assisted - all the controls were light. So maybe look at a Nissan Micra or similar?

After passing my test I bought a C reg 1.3GL Nova ... boy was the clutch heavy on that, and the brakes felt like you needed to stamp on them ... compared with the Micra anyway.  

lordmountararat

Hyundai and Kia have been fitting old school torque converters to their smaller cars
Unfortunately the Hyundai i10 and Kia Picanto automatics now incorporate horrible jerky electro/magnetic semi automatic gearboxes, but you might be able to get one a couple of years old with a reliable and well tried torque converter 'box.