What car to buy my mum?

hjf12345 · 12 January 2018 at 10:30PM

My mum (aged 73) has been driving a 2.0 litre Ford Focus for the past 10 years. It keeps breaking down and costing her lots of money to fix.

I’m going to buy her a replacement and have a budget of £6k. She’s adamant she doesn’t want a ‘granny car’, such as a VW Up, so I’m considering a supermini - e.g. Ford Fiesta or Skoda Fabia. A used car with relatively low mileage.

Ideally it would be economical to run, to fix and to tax. She does a fair amount of motorway driving as well as around town. It has to be an automatic, and I’m slightly nervous about her having anything more punchy than a 1.4l engine. She’s not as confident behind the wheel as she used to be.

I don’t know much about cars and was hoping someone could give me some good advice on what to go for?

Thanks in advance

neilmcl · 12 January 2018 at 10:41PM

Honda Jazz.

Gloomendoom · 12 January 2018 at 10:49PM

I bought my mum a Nissan Qashqai auto. She loves it.

hjf12345 · 12 January 2018 at 10:58PM

I think the Qashqai is too big for her. Something small but not tiny would be ideal!

knightstyle · 12 January 2018 at 11:59PM

Unless she does long journeys how about an electric car? I have seen Nissan Leafs around for under £6k.

Crabman · 13 January 2018 at 1:06AM

Search 'nissan' on this and other consumer forums and you'll quickly realise that Honda is a far more sensible option unless you have the energy to battle a manufacturer that has very low expectations of its customer service staff.

WobblyDog · 13 January 2018 at 7:54AM

I've got a 3 door Fiesta, and my only complaint is that it's difficult to reverse because the rear windows are so small. It would probably be even worse for an elderly person with limited neck/back flexibility. So don't buy one of those unless it has a reversing camera. The 5 door is probably a bit better.

vikingaero · 13 January 2018 at 10:16AM

Something Japanese or Korean - the Jazz is a very good suggestion. She will appreciate the light steering and controls. You have to think differently for older people. I test drove a Merc for my 80 year old Dad and the Sport model had jiggly ride with the sports suspension and 19" alloys, and the steering needed constant correction over bumpy roads. The SE version suited him better because of the 17" alloys, standard suspension which made the steering better.

loskie · 13 January 2018 at 10:23AM

I would suggest Jazz too. but she may see it as a granny car. It will be spacious, reliable, easy to get in and out of. Good visibility from it. All the things that she would need.

agrinnall · 13 January 2018 at 10:25AM

neilmcl wrote: »

Honda Jazz.

An archetypal "granny car", as tested by the Top Gear mothers. Not that it isn't a good car, but seems to be exactly what the OP's mum doesn't want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qLZMKpWsjk

RichardD1970 · 13 January 2018 at 11:45AM

Maybe a Kia if a Jazz is too "Granny".

Something like a Rio, smaller than her Focus but not too small, for £6000 you could get quite a nice newish one with the balance of the 7 year manufacturers warranty and usually better specc'ed than the more mainstream manufacturers.

What car to buy my mum?

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