OV9

...by which I mean replacement cheap old car.

Long story short, I need to swap out the old Saab for something smaller to get my wife driving again as little'un will be starting at a pre-prep school later this year and its a pain to get there by bus/walking and I can't reliably drop them / him off every morning without them being there too early.

Requirements are:

Under a bag of sand;
Small as can be but with four doors;
Petrol;
ULEZ compliant ideally (though I'm sure I'll swap it out before 2021);
Automatic;
Sensible-ish mileage.

I think a Merc A-Class (the first gen one, facelift version) is possibly the best bet. I'm sure I'll have to hang around a while to find one which doesn't look like a landfill site inside / has been ramraiding, but I'm in no particular rush. Most other options seem to be too expensive as they appeal to da kidz innit.

Diesel Golf and F40s disallowed by virtue of running on the devils fuel and being 2 door, respectively.

The Fiat Panda 4x4 that was linked to in the Jobbo's buying a pick-up thread.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-Fiat-Pa ... 0005.m1851

Not ein auto.

Fiat Panda was something I thought about but there aren't many automatics out there. Flaky Fiat build quality also worries me though.

Honda Civic/Jazz is surely the answer.

Civic too big.

Jazzez are too popular with the oldies so most I looked at were >£1,000

ETA: yep - Jazz all over budget.

Chevy Tacuma - though the autos are in the higher VED bracket which is disproportionate to their performance.

Would she not need a bigger boot than an A-Class provides? If boot space isn’t important, Ford Ka? Or a Smart Four thingy?

Tacuma too big anyway even disregarding the high tax.

No Ford Ka's available with autoboxes and they're 2 door.

Only Smart ForFour with auto is £1495 and has 115k miles on the clock.

It's actually a pretty hard game this! A class boot is actually deceptively big - hilarious Merc archive pic below:

Make sure you get the full auto A class

NOT that semi auto ACS

If you come up with anything otherwise suitable but too big, let me know - I can't think of anything much for under a grand, auto, with sensible miles.

GG. wrote: Fri Feb 22, 2019 5:13 pm Tacuma too big anyway even disregarding the high tax.

No Ford Ka's available with autoboxes and they're 2 door.

Only Smart ForFour with auto is £1495 and has 115k miles on the clock.

It's actually a pretty hard game this! A class boot is actually deceptively big - hilarious Merc archive pic below:

Is that a LWB!? We had one in Menorca for ~8 years. I hated it, but it was perfect for leaving on the Paseo Maritimo, bumping bins/other peoples cars out the way! The rear seat back angles back, so there’s less space in the boot at the top of the seat back than the bottom: if you still use a big buggy, it won’t fit. We bought a travel buggy which worked fine. Failing that, I think it has a split rear seat, so you can fold it down for the big buggy.

Personal preference, but I’d want a bigger car for my wife to drive my kids around London in. Uber drivers are scary!

There seems to be a competition going on for buying the worst car for ones spouse.

Also, at these prices; how reliable are the cars going to be? It’d get old pretty fast if she phones you once or twice a week whilst you’re at work to say the car won’t start.

IanF wrote: Fri Feb 22, 2019 6:29 pm Also, at these prices; how reliable are the cars going to be? It’d get old pretty fast if she phones you once or twice a week whilst you’re at work to say the car won’t start.

Hence the Glaucomas.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified ... asc&page=2


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified ... New&page=4

She’s happy to drive a <£1k shitter while you tool around in a 911? She’s a keeper!

Just have the balls to tell her it’s over and you want a divorce instead of this passive aggressive bullshit.

Suzuki swift or Alto?

Whatever ticks the box’s on the auto and up to £1500 on the local gumtree site +20 miles.

Trying to pick a specific car local is like a needle in a haystack.

240PP wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 9:02 am She’s happy to drive a <£1k shitter while you tool around in a 911? She’s a keeper!

These law mongers are hilarious - their wives get stuck with knackered shitters (pun intended) whilst they drive expensive cars!