New driver - Small car suggestion

[geeksy76]

Hi,

Please could I get some suggestions for a car for a new driver.

1. Automatic
2. To be used very occasionally for local shopping
3. Height adjustable driver seats ( I am 5ft )
4. Small size, similar to Yaris/Aygo
5. Low insurance group
6. Less than 5k

I was fixed on Yaris mid 2000 models but the MM drive has negative reviews and I test drove a Yaris. The gear change is so noticeable, didn't really like it. I then looked at Fiat 500 and Mini hatch but their reviews are not great either.

Please could I get some suggestions on a reliable car with the above requirements?

Many thanks in advance.

[Hoofy]

Reliable? Small?
Aygo. The gear change is slow but it's a pretty decent car in that car group. I mean, it's unnervingly slow but you get used to it! If you're used to driving a DSG then you might panic as gear changes take a long time but otherwise you should be fine.

[Shabaza]

Not sure about the height adjustability but a Suzuki Alto can be had with a 1.0 automatic.
Have you considered a smart fortwo?

[Mr E]

Cheap Zoe.
No gearbox. Limited range shouldn’t be an issue for this usage pattern.

[thatdude]

Honda Jazz?

What sort of budget have you got?

edit - under £5000, just re-read that.

edit again; plenty of honda Jazz' under 5k, with CVT transmissions (so should be quite smooth). Plenty with reasonable mileage too.

Edited by thatdude on Thursday 3rd August 11:39

[anonymous-user]

A £5K small automatic must be the most in demand car sector at the moment. It seems to me a small automatic is worth double the equivalent manual so I think you have a difficult search on your hand.

I understand that a lot of those Toyotas are a robotised manual, and as you have found rubbish.

What about a Vauxhall, I believe they use a traditional torque converter slush box.

[geeksy76]

Thank you all so much, didn't quite expect such great and quick responses.

Aygo - Dropped it off my list as it is MM from what I saw.
Alto - Haven't considered, had a look now and found few cars so added to my list, thank you.
Zoe - Never thought of Electric, looks interesting as for a small budget, can get a relatively decent newer car. added to my list, thank you.
Jazz & Vauxhall - tbh, haven't looked them in person but feels like slightly bigger to my liking. could be just the pictures, will check out some cars in person. thank you.

Thank you all again.

[ChevronB19]

geeksy76 said:

Thank you all so much, didn't quite expect such great and quick responses.

Aygo - Dropped it off my list as it is MM from what I saw.
Alto - Haven't considered, had a look now and found few cars so added to my list, thank you.
Zoe - Never thought of Electric, looks interesting as for a small budget, can get a relatively decent newer car. added to my list, thank you.
Jazz & Vauxhall - tbh, haven't looked them in person but feels like slightly bigger to my liking. could be just the pictures, will check out some cars in person. thank you.

Thank you all again.

Up/Citigo/Mii?

[texaxile]

hyundai i10, but I think only the premium and SE models have height adjust on the drivers seat. (My daughter just uses a cushion).

relatively cheap to insure with a black box fitted, cheap and easy to maintain and a cracking little city car. It's my daughters first car at 18 and has been ideal.

We've had ours a few years, cheap to service maintain and run. Auto's are hard to find though, but here's one (premium spec) within budget:

https://www.motors.co.uk/car-68100061/?i=1&m=s...

[anonymous-user]

ChevronB19 said:

Up/Citigo/Mii?

Check for rust around the filler cap, it's a big thing on these now.

i10 is a good shout, 4 speed traditional torque converter auto I believe.

[geeksy76]

texaxile said:

hyundai i10, but I think only the premium and SE models have height adjust on the drivers seat. (My daughter just uses a cushion).

relatively cheap to insure with a black box fitted, cheap and easy to maintain and a cracking little city car. It's my daughters first car at 18 and has been ideal.

We've had ours a few years, cheap to service maintain and run. Auto's are hard to find though, but here's one (premium spec) within budget:

https://www.motors.co.uk/car-68100061/?i=1&m=s...

Thank you, will have a look

[Hoofy]

geeksy76 said:

Aygo - Dropped it off my list as it is MM from what I saw.

What's MM?

[anonymous-user]

Hoofy said:

What's MM?

Multi Mode = automated manual transmission.

Probably best avoided.

[595Heaven]

Joey Deacon said:

ChevronB19 said:

Up/Citigo/Mii?

Check for rust around the filler cap, it's a big thing on these now.

Definitely worth considering these. My son has one as his first car and it is fun to drive, cheap to run and insure and so much safer than anything I drove at this age.

Also check for water ingress from around the high level brake light into the tailgate. There doesn’t appear to be any drain holes in the tailgate and his must have had over a litre of water in it. Only noticed when there was a rush of water when the tailgate was opened!

Proper is a new brake light as the rubber seals perish / harden, but a cheaper repair can be done by running a little bead of clear silicone around the light casing. I now remove one of the rubber boot bungs at the bottom every so often to check it is still watertight. So far so good.

[Hoofy]

Joey Deacon said:

Hoofy said:

What's MM?

Multi Mode = automated manual transmission.

Probably best avoided.

Thanks. Yeah, it wasn't a great experience. I mean, it changed gear but it was really slow and you wondered in the fortnight that it took to change up that it hadn't missed a gear.