Used Automatic Car with Hill Assist

mackshaw

Hi

I am looking for a used Automatic car with

hill assist (shouldn’t go back on hill)
automatic
hatchback or small SUV
rear camera

budget is £5k-6k

car should be reliable and long life. I need to pass my driving test

Thanks
Mack

Goudy

Most automatics creep, ie when you take your foot off the brake it will crawl forward (or backward if you are in R) slowly without any accelerator input.

This means auto hill hold/assist isn't really needed because as soon as you lift your foot off the brake it's moving forward.
You will find Hill Assist is fitted to mainly manual cars which are more prone to rolling back until the clutch disengages.

Of course there are different types of automatic and some will not do this creep.
Generally automated manual gearboxes won't creep, you need to two foot them, one on the brake and another on the accelerator OR use the handbrake.

You old school torque convertor auto will creep as do most dual clutch systems (like VW's DSG) and CVT's.

Hill assist isn't always a good thing anyway and may cause you more problems than it solves.
It's designed to detect when you are on an incline and hold the brake on for a few seconds while you pull away.

Trouble is it will only work on a incline of a certain degree and you are never sure if it's activated until you release the brakes, there's no dash light to tell you it's holding.
There will certainly be times you think it should be holding for a few seconds and it isn't and you start to roll back (not good on your test obviously).


Some modern autos have electronic handbrakes and they usually come with a selectable option of "auto hold".
It's similar to hill assist but every time you stop on the brakes (on the flat or on a hill) it will hold the brakes on for you indefinitely without your foot on the pedal until you press accelerator again to move off, then it automatically releases the brakes.

It also comes with a light on the switch to tell you it's been turned on and a light on the dash will also light up every time it's working/holding so you know it's holding.

The electronic hand brake with the auto hold function tends to be either an cost option or is fitted to higher end, later cars that are probably out of your budget.
I have it on mine but it was only available on the top trim model in the range and as part of an expensive option pack that included other options.
It works well but is a pain when the stop start function is working as the engine will only restart when pressing the accelerator, when the auto hold is off it restarts as you left your foot off the brake, which is quite a bit sooner.

I would suggest try to find a suitable auto gearbox car without hill hold and try that on a hill (or get someone to try it for you).
A car like a VAG product with a DSG gearbox or perhaps a Yaris Hybrid with it's CVT gearbox (my colleagues says hers never rolls back and it has no hill assist).

fatbelly

I think you need to keep one eye on insurance group. How much are you budgeting for insurance?

A small hatchback with top spec might suit you, but top spec autos tend not to be paired with the smallest engines. Also there are not many around so your choice is going to be limited. Are you going to have an auto-only driving licence?