I'm scared

[Skyedriver]

Posted this in the engine & transmission forum to get thoughts on small engines but Mods have moved it here, sorry.
Having read the the tale of the 3 cylinder Polo on another thread here and countless tales of the Ford Eco etc wet belt engines, is there actually anything safe and reliable?
Looking for a first/learner car for son and beginning to think there's nothing out there without a risk.

Edited by Skyedriver on Saturday 31st December 16:30

[Normodog]

I'd say anything Japanese/Korean petrol N/A engine would be a good start

[QJumper]

Nothing is without risk, all you can do is try and minimise it as much as possible. If reliability is your biggest concern, then I agree with the above poster, and would be looking at Japanese/Korean.

[105.4]

Peugeot 107 / Citroen C1 / Toyota Aygo? Maybe a Suzuki Swift?

What about something really left-field like a Mercedes 190? Or a Jaguar X-Type?

They might be cheaper to insure than you might think?

[bmwmike]

3 cylinder astra "k" 1.0t engines are pretty solid

[InitialDave]

Skyedriver said:

Looking for a first/learner car for son and beginning to think there's nothing out there without a risk.

You're correct, there is nothing without a risk.

But something like a cheap Aygo or Jazz is probably as good as you'll find on that front, and fundamentally, if it's cheap enough you can just say "ah well" and walk away if it properly vomits its guts out.

[jeremyh1]

It is common on this site for everybody to worry about the age of the car
The OP would obviously like to put his or her money else where and does not want to be spending it on engine rebuilds
So I would say an early 2000s to mid 2000s Peugeot diesel

[ZX10R NIN]

OP how much do you want to spend?

I can recommend the 1.4L

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211292...

0.9 twin air Mito's:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212252...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212032...

Are very robust & reliable.

[Belle427]

The Honda Jazz is an excellent car, we have a few in the family and I’d consider one myself but they do lack a little bit of poke.

[HJG]

Belle427 said:

The Honda Jazz is an excellent car, we have a few in the family and I’d consider one myself but they do lack a little bit of poke.

I'd say it is a bad learner car. I drove one and it felt like the steering rack was actually an elastic band. I thought it felt dangerous.

Persinally I'd be looking at a cheap Fiesta 1.25 from 2010ish

[Brob]

HJG said:

I'd say it is a bad learner car. I drove one and it felt like the steering rack was actually an elastic band. I thought it felt dangerous.

Persinally I'd be looking at a cheap Fiesta 1.25 from 2010ish

I'll second this bought the 60hp version as my first car for 2k, done 50k miles in the three years I've had it and it's never missed a beat, at 165k now and still runs and drives like the day I bought it.

[stevieturbo]

Skyedriver said:

Having read the the tale of the 3 cylinder Polo on another thread here and countless tales of the Ford Eco etc wet belt engines, is there actually anything safe and reliable?
Looking for a first/learner car for son and beginning to think there's nothing out there without a risk.

What age and price range are you looking at ? petrol ? diesel ?

Old ? Old Nissan Micra hard to beat, Toyota Corolla ?

But nothing is without risk.

Or as others say, a semi modern ish Fiesta would be hard to beat

[nismo48]

Micra K11 1.3
Old but goes on forever..
I've owned a few cars and these are with out doubt awesome capable cars..

[magpie215]

nismo48 said:

Micra K11 1.3
Old but goes on forever..
I've owned a few cars and these are with out doubt awesome capable cars..

Great cars...getting on a bit now but if you can find a decent one it's a good shout.

[maz8062]

Depending on your budget, the answer is always a VW UP! There are the Skoda and Seat variants of the same but the UP will get the better residuals when you come to sell. I had a MY14 High Up that achieved 77 mpg on a run, and they’re so easy to work on it’s ridiculous.

[Trevor555]

maz8062 said:

Depending on your budget, the answer is always a VW UP! There are the Skoda and Seat variants of the same but the UP will get the better residuals when you come to sell. I had a MY14 High Up that achieved 77 mpg on a run, and they’re so easy to work on it’s ridiculous.

+1

We have one of each in the family

Me = Seat Mii design, I'll keep it until I no longer drive.

Daughter = VW Up Move

Son = The sporty looking Citigo Sport complete with racing stripes.

They're all still worth what we paid for them, daughters UP maybe a little more.

Best I've had on a run is 68Mpg

All been reliable so far.

[Skyedriver]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I had a thread running a while back on car buying and many of those options came up.
Trouble is he's a BIG lad and just doesn't look right in a 500/up/C1 size car.
I'd thought Jazz so interesting knock down above.
He fancies a Fiesta 2009/2010 era so is the 1250 ok. I read about the 1.0 ecoboost and wet belts etc. Ouch.
Thought the VW polo of similar vintage would be ok but the thread about the 3cylinder motor sounds scary.
1250/1400 Fiesta it is then.

[ZX10R NIN]

1.25 & the 1.4 will be fine as will the 1.5 in the Mazda3:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212292...

[valiant]

Skyedriver said:

Thanks for all the suggestions, I had a thread running a while back on car buying and many of those options came up.
Trouble is he's a BIG lad and just doesn't look right in a 500/up/C1 size car.
I'd thought Jazz so interesting knock down above.
He fancies a Fiesta 2009/2010 era so is the 1250 ok. I read about the 1.0 ecoboost and wet belts etc. Ouch.
Thought the VW polo of similar vintage would be ok but the thread about the 3cylinder motor sounds scary.
1250/1400 Fiesta it is then.

Ecoboosts are decent enough. The early overheating thing was dealt with by way of recall and you have to remember that Ford made this engine by the million and shoved variants of it in nearly everything.

You get problems when people skimp on proper servicing and using incorrect oil or ignore low coolant. Although early ecoboosts are now due their first belt change and that is an expensive and time consuming job and looks like it’s a main dealer job to do.

[georgeyboy12345]

As ZX said, you need to tell us your budget

These could be worth a look, all pretty reliable, low insurance group and not too small

Ford Focus Zetec 1.6 with recent cambelt
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210080...


Alfa Romeo Giulietta TB with recent cambelt and 24 month warranty
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212022...


Kia Proceed 1.4 SR7
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207218...


Mercedes A180 SE
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212012...


Mazda 3 1.6 Takuya
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208098...


Honda Civic 1.8 i-VTEC
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212132...


Couple of coupes

Vauxhall Astra GTC 1.4T
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205246...


Volvo C30 1.6
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211041...