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Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 7:27 pm
by V8Granite
My dear old Mum wants her first nice car. The budget is an absolute max of 5k but must be 5 door, manual, petrol, no larger than a mk1 Focus.
I was thinking Suzuki swift, Fiat panda, VW, Skoda Fabia etc. It looks like the Panda is a bit sketchy reliability wise and the Yaris seems a pretty safe bet. A bit of colour would be important to after a sea of dull silver cars.
Any good reliable cars to think about, it’s not a section of the market I’ve ever really looked at. Reliability is a must as in 48 years of driving they’ve never had an unreliable car
All ideas welcome.
Dave!
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 7:43 pm
by IanF
Ford Fiesta or VW Polo?
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:12 pm
by DeskJockey
My friend has a mark 1 Yaris that's never been taken care of and very infrequently serviced. It hasn't gone wrong in 10+ years. I'd look at something like that.
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:38 pm
by integrale_evo
Jaaazz Niceeee.
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:41 pm
by Carlos
Used Duster ?
My 70yr old Dad has a new one and as a workhorse for shopping, bike, kids etc it's awesome.
My uncle has had 2 and my father in-law has a new one. All petrol low miles and been faultless.
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 3:58 am
by Gwaredd
Mazda 3
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:19 am
by V8Granite
A Peugeot 108 has a very cool set of heating controls
Dave!
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:06 am
by speedingfine
Very pleased with our '08 Mazda 2 so far. Much cheaper than 5k too.
Stands out, and we haven't even cleaned it yet
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/mazda/2-2007-2014
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:09 am
by Rich B
Are there inherently “unreliable” cars these days? Even in the £5k market I’d expect a car to be reliable by default. Sure there are shit examples out there, but surely not shit models?
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:43 am
by JonMad
i10.
Great little things.
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:09 am
by dinny_g
Isn't this the correct choice - isn't it what all old people drive ???
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:41 am
by Richard
Rich B wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:09 am
Are there inherently “unreliable” cars these days? Even in the £5k market I’d expect a car to be reliable by default. Sure there are shit examples out there, but surely not shit models?
I agree, as long as its newish, surely everything reliable
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:52 am
by Nathan
Noticed how they are disproportionately cheap ?
Mk7 Fiesta underneath and look at the price of them
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:56 am
by Richard
I always think those Mazda 2’s look alright, from the outside. I wonder if they’re very horrible inside? Worth a look, I’d say
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:58 am
by Richard
Mazda’s engineers went to great efforts to shave the weight back when developing the 2. Shortening the rear suspension’s trailing arms saved 13kg, the radio speaker magnets are smaller and the wiring loom shorter, which alone saved nearly 3kg.
You could imagine reading this in the press release for a new RS Porsche
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:12 am
by NotoriousREV
Richard wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:58 am
Mazda’s engineers went to great efforts to shave the weight back when developing the 2. Shortening the rear suspension’s trailing arms saved 13kg, the radio speaker magnets are smaller and the wiring loom shorter, which alone saved nearly 3kg.
You could imagine reading this in the press release for a new RS Porsche
Shit speakers as a selling point
My Monster-in-law has a 1st gen i20. It's absolutely fine for her. Other than the battery going flat because she goes off to Rhodes for months at a time, it's never gone wrong.
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:20 am
by Gavin
Are Yetis within budget? Other than crappy thin paint ours was grand.
Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 11:13 am
by speedingfine
The speakers are indeed shit

Re: Car ideas for my Mum
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 12:34 pm
by V8Granite
Gavin wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:20 am
Are Yetis within budget? Other than crappy thin paint ours was grand.
It’ll be too big for my Mums car. I think my Dad will end up with one of the last 2017/18 models before they changed to the new model though as he needs a car you can slide into due to a bad knee. I’m a big fan of the Yeti, really good design.
I forgot about the Mazdas, lots in nice colours too.
I had a nose around a Citigo this morning. A nice deep boot, more than enough space for me to get comfy and good visibility. One to geek about a bit more.
Dave!