5 door hatch £5k ish

[Gad-Westy]

We’re in the process of buying a new car for my mother in law. She’s quite sensitive to seat comfort and has tried quite a number of cars on for size and rules quite a few out. I think the short list is down to these few so would appreciate any thoughts.

VW polo 2012 ish probably a 1.4 non-TFSI
Hyundai i20 2014 ish
Suzuki Swift 1.2 2014 ish
Ford Fiesta 1.6 2011 ish

Polo is her favourite though I have reservations about dependability vs other options (though 1.4 seems robust). I can’t help noticing they’re much expensive car for car vs others.

I20 - bland but seem a good buy
Swift - ditto
Fiesta - she likes these but wet belt models would have been a no no. 1.6 escapes that but fewer to choose from.

Budget is £5k but I like the idea of spending a bit less and throwing the change at a robust service and a good set of tyres.

Must be 5 door. Polo rather than Up! or golf size cars. Petrol manuals.

Edited by Gad-Westy on Friday 15th November 21:35

[66HFM]

Skoda Fabia,
Seat Ibiza,
Audi A1,
Mini
Or dependant on your Mother's age - Honda Jazz, the default car for retirees where I live, closely followed by a Toyota Yaris

[blue_haddock]

We have just bought for the missus a Hyundai IX25, not exciting inthe slightest but its been main delaer serviced from new with a perfectly clear MOT history.

We paid under £3500 so plenty left in the pot for repairs but hopefully it should be reliable enough to not need much.

[Gastons_Revenge]

Given how VAG stuff seems to like to start falling apart at 12 years old, I'd steer her away from the Polo/Fabia/Ibiza/A1.
May I suggest considering a Mazda 2 as well? By all accounts they're pretty decent little cars.

[edc]

Seat size and comfort is very personal and subjective but how about Merc B class or Volvo V40.

[ZX10R NIN]

The Fiesta in 1.4/1.6 Titanium spec is the pick from your list:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406060...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411055...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411015...

Manual:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411126...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410305...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410275...

[Gad-Westy]

Cheers for all the input folks.

I should maybe have addressed some of these in my opening post. Fabia and Seat, she didn't like. I don't know if seats were different or spec dependent etc but she's not keen so I wasn't going to push it. A1 is of course an option but more money than a Polo which is already not looking great value against some of the alternatives.

Mazda 2, Jazz and Yaris were the first things I suggested. Particularly the Yaris. She sat in them all and likes none of them!

V40 or B-Class probably the next size up to what's needed.

IX25 wasn't on the radar but I'll take a look, thanks.

Fiesta still sounding promising. Had Ford sorted out their corrosion issues by the time these cars appeared?

[edc]

V40 or B class more Golf size of course per your post.

[Gad-Westy]

edc said:

V40 or B class more Golf size of course per your post.

Maybe my wording could have been clearer but I was trying to say she's after something polo sized rather than the next car up or down size range.

[Silvanus]

Worth taking a look at Kia Ria and a Dacia Sandero Stepway

[Alfa Pete]

Gad-Westy said:

Cheers for all the input folks.

I should maybe have addressed some of these in my opening post. Fabia and Seat, she didn't like. I don't know if seats were different or spec dependent etc but she's not keen so I wasn't going to push it. A1 is of course an option but more money than a Polo which is already not looking great value against some of the alternatives.

Mazda 2, Jazz and Yaris were the first things I suggested. Particularly the Yaris. She sat in them all and likes none of them!

V40 or B-Class probably the next size up to what's needed.

IX25 wasn't on the radar but I'll take a look, thanks.

Fiesta still sounding promising. Had Ford sorted out their corrosion issues by the time these cars appeared?

We have a 2011 Fiesta and it’s pretty solid underneath .
We had a focus before that succumbed to rust but it was 22 years old by the time we scrapped it .
Try and avoid the 1 litre 3 cylinder and get a late 1.25 or 1.4.
Our is a 1.5 tdci but it gets a good motorway run reasonably frequently to avoid dpf issues.
It went through the last MOT with no advisories and it’s done nearly 130k miles .

Edited by Alfa Pete on Saturday 16th November 10:52

[Jiebo]

ZX10R NIN said:

The Fiesta in 1.4/1.6 Titanium spec is the pick from your list:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406060...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411055...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411015...

Manual:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411126...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410305...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410275...

Absolutely crazy money. These should be 2-3k. They would have cost the first owner just over £10k brand new in 2012.

Here is a much better option:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409254...

2019 Clio 0.9 petrol, 71k. Solid engine in these. OP don't spend 5k on a 13 year old Fiesta.

Edited by Jiebo on Saturday 16th November 11:24

[dan98]

The Polo holds value better than the others, so you'd potentially be able to sell it on for more at the end.
The 1.4 manual should make a solid and dependable car.

But if we're talking about seat comfort the Fiesta is much better IMO, especially for longer journeys.

[decafbeermerchant]

Jiebo said:

2019 Clio 0.9 petrol, 71k. Solid engine in these. OP don't spend 5k on a 13 year old Fiesta.

Edited by Jiebo on Saturday 16th November 11:24

Meaningless ChatGPT-written description aside, this actually looks like a great example. Didn't realise you could get such a tidy MK4 for such little cash.

I highly recommend these Clios. I learned to drive in a pre-facelift dCi model and I really liked it - it was lovely to drive, refined, comfortable and had a really pleasant cabin. Build quality felt pretty good too, even if materials quality was a bit naff.

My mother in law actually had one in this exact spec for a few years. We were all fond of it. It looked great, it was totally reliable, it cost her buttons to run and it actually went pretty well with that TCe engine. Okay it's not the fastest thing ever but it was perfectly usable day to day and even sounded good. She averaged something like 52 mpg during her ownership. I remember the ride being a little firm and the back seats being dark and claustrophobic, but those were the only issues that spring to mind.

OP, you're onto a winner here. I'd have one in a heartbeat.

[ZX10R NIN]

Jiebo said:

Absolutely crazy money. These should be 2-3k. They would have cost the first owner just over £10k brand new in 2012.

Here is a much better option:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409254...

2019 Clio 0.9 petrol, 71k. Solid engine in these. OP don't spend 5k on a 13 year old Fiesta.

Edited by Jiebo on Saturday 16th November 11:24

Nice car & a good deal but what better alternatives do you get for the same money as the 2015 5.5k Fiesta's I listed.

[MrGTI6]

The 1.4 NA engine in the Mk5 Polo should be OK but avoid the DSG 'box. Also worth noting they have a tendency to rot like buggery, particularly the sills.

[mikef]

I have a 1.25 5-door Fiesta that’s surplus to requirements. One owner (me), dark blue, utterly reliable, a hoot to drive, 57,350 on the clock, full Ford service history, had all the electronic driving aids as options, as I wanted my daughter to learn in it. Available for much less than £5K

Reason for sale, she just bought a flat in London and absolutely refuses to drive there (doesn’t need to)

Am I allowed to post this sort of thing on here ?

[mikef]

Jiebo said:

They would have cost the first owner just over £10k brand new in 2012.

Closer to £15K

Edited to add Top Gear’s video review of the Mk 7 Fiesta, in case anyone hasn’t already seen it (sorry for the Dutch titles)

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/327701/a06fb55c/to...

If it’s good enough for the Marines, …

Edited by mikef on Saturday 16th November 19:36