Which new car for move to Wales?

hayley54321

Hi all. We are moving from Suffolk to rural Mid Wales, and whilst I have loved my super reliable Kia Piccanto with its 1 litre engine, as it's coming up to 11 years old and 160,000 miles on the clock I thought it might be time to bite the bullet and swap to something more appropriate for all the very hilly , rural driving . As you'll guess,I know nothing about cars, but what I do know is that it feels like my Kia struggles to have the power to get up the hills- is this mostly about engine size? Or is there a different criteria I should be using? I need something that will seat 4 comfortably, decent boot space for trips to the dump etc. Ideally not too huge as I'm not used to them.atm. Hoping to spend under 12,000 on something that has.done.minimum mileage if possible. I've just no idea where to start. Thankyou

AdrianC

I live in a very hilly, very rural area on the edge of mid Wales. There are PLENTY of small cars like yours around here.

If you're used to driving in the flatlands, you do know that you're going to need to change down and keep the revs up for hills, right?

Having said that, if you need something that'll seat four with decent boot space, that rules out tiny submini like a Picanto anyway...

Grumpy_chap

What about Suzuki SX4?

hayley54321

Yeah,I mean we've managed on previous trips etc, I just wondered which cars might be more naturally suitable? Or is that not a thing? Someone reccomended a Dacia Duster ,but I don't know if they're much more clued up than me( which wouldn't take much admittedly)

legionare64

Fiat Panda twin air 4x4 ... we have a two year old one which we bought for £12500 and is still worth £11000 we am buying another one which we collect today ... 85bhp, goes anywhere, lots of room as tall inside. Just paid £12998 for a brand new one (not pre reg)

tacpot12

I would expect a 1 litre car to struggle in hilly country especially if you need to carry four people. Something with a 1.6 litre engine would be better suited. 

Options would include:

Hyundai IX20

Kia Venga

Vauxhall Astra

Volvo V40

Autotrader.co.uk has a very good search facility where you can specify the maximum age of the car and minimum engine size, and other factors such as the fuel, body style (e.g. hatchback or estate) and Insurance group, while leaving the make and model blank so that you can see car that might fit your criteria. 

I would recommend that you go to see an example of each model first, to eliminate cars that you don't like, e.g. because you can't get the seat to a comfortable position or it feels too big. You should also check where the nearest main dealer is for the model on your shortlist - you might want to discount models where the nearest main dealer is in Birmingham, Chester or Cardiff. You are likley to have an good independent garage relatively near to you in Wales, but distances are all relative in rural areas. 

Your budget might allow you to look at Approved cars at main dealers, which can provide a degree of additional warranty/comfort.  

AdrianC

legionare64 said:

Fiat Panda twin air 4x4 ... we have a two year old one which we bought for £12500 and is still worth £11000 we am buying another one which we collect today ... 85bhp, goes anywhere, lots of room as tall inside. Just paid £12998 for a brand new one (not pre reg)

There's a lot of things you can say about modern Pandas, but "lots of room"? Nope. They're the same size as a Picanto. The front seats are spacious, the rear legroom is atrocious, and the boot is tiny.

Jaybee_16

If you are thinking of buying new, my first thought would be to look at dealerships for servicing. I was used to having main dealer servicing choice but moving to west Wales, the nearest dealership for my car is 30 miles away, whereas in my last place it was about 5 miles. 

If buying a used car, of course none of this applies anyway.

Vegastare

Have another view point and that is servicing,  which car is easy to service if still under warranty or need the main dealer etc ....Dacia might find couple dealer up in north and good few in south.  Not that theres a lack of good garages just some areas have less dealerships.

GunJack

I'd wait until you get here and get something local to where you're going to be - this will let you suss out your new area and better advise on the sort of car you'll want for coping with it. Also, it'll be a lot closer to take it back if there's a problem than trekking all the way back to Suffolk  

Stubod

..rather a too open ended question....you need to have a think about what you want then go onto Autotrader and type your preferred options into the various filters. eg, min/max year, min/max price, type of car, (eg saloon, suv, hatchback), petrol/diesel, auto/manual.

This will then show all the cars that are available that meet your criteria. You can then filter by "distance" using your new post code as you want to purchase something "local" to you new area.