Supermini shite... which is the best?

[Lankytim]

As Mrs Lankytim and I have now spawned a small family and money needs to be accounted for, rather than spunked on any number of shit cars and gas guzzlers, we are considering chopping in the Volvo and getting something small, nippy and economical.

 

The car needs to have 5 doors and be GR9 on fuel, not to mention mega cheap to buy and have a modicum of reliabilty. Needs to be modernish and capable of tackling motorways with relative ease, so no suggestions of A30s or anything.

 

I'm kinda drawn to the Daewoo Matiz, as they seem to be mega cheap to buy, dont look like the go rusty and i'm guessing they are pretty reliable too.

 

The side of me that likes to live dangerously (and doesnt know the meaning of the word shame) likes the idea of a Rover Metro. Again, cheap to buy, but probably not capable of long term ownership without failing an MOT dismally or exploding on the motorway.

 

Any advice/tales of woe out there?

[Alexg]

Fiat Pandas are great. Low tax, insurance and running costs. Fun to drive and new ones are 5995

[barrett]

My mate Luke has a Daewoo Matiz, and it just passed it's MOT with flying colours. It's the first car he's ever owned that has gone through an MOT without needing anything doing, so make of that what you will. He's super impressed with it, takes a lot of abuse and never lets him down.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

What's your budget?

I like 106s (and Saxos by default), they are good to drive even with the smallest petrol engines and though flimsily built are rugged where it matters. Most of them, and other popular small cars aren't great value for money though due to being GR8 4 new drivers.

I'd also look at the slightly oddball Daihatsu Sirion, they are a good bit roomier than most superminis.

[Lankytim]

Id love a panada.. I mean the wife would love one. They seem to be temptingly cheap secondhand too. It wont be long before they end up in the sub £1000 category. Unfortunately im looking at more sub £500 ATM.

[Akron]

Skoda Felicia 1.6 my missus has one great cars just about bomb proof, cheap parts even genuine just paid £46 for disks and pads from a dealer. Good on fuel too and if you go for a face lift car you will get PAS, leccy windows, central locking etc and a low mileage well maintained 1 or 2 owner car for well within your budget.

[Father Ted]

K11 Micra - just watch for crispy front crossmembers.

[Cavcraft]

*See my signature.

 

One thing that might be worth considering about the Matiz is that they have an appalling safety rating.

Even sub five hundred sov's you should still get a fair choice of runabouts Tim.

[Mr Lobster]

Citroen AX 5dr Diesel. Cheap as chips to run and as has previously been established they are GR9 in accidents.

[Lankytim]

I had heard about the matiz's poor record... surely most cars of a similar size are just as bad?

 

Hmm, a Corsa. I dunno why I didn't think of one of those! They pretty much tick all the boxes. Popularity means a cheap one will either be very old, or worn out. An unpopular korean/jap pox box should provide a late reg at a cheapo price.

[outlaw118]

This looks ok.... Mrs will think its a new car, you know it's shite...

http://i.ebayimg.com/15/!B)ww3p!!2k~$(KGrHqEOKm4EvyFnhzgGBMO3)OSgOQ~~_12.JPG

[outlaw118]

shit, what have i done now?

[Pete-M]

You haven't?

[lancashireclamper]

Toyota Starlet?

 

Might have to travel to find a decent one for 500ish but must be worth considering, unless of course a Subaru Justy rears its head..............

[ashmicro]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

 

Our next door neighbour got one exactly the same as this for £1900. A1 nick, less miles than the AT one, from a KIA dealer with a 1 year dealer warranty. A nice motor that goes well. Pure gold* Autoshite.

 

 

*It's silver, but you know what I mean.

[Lankytim]

Those Kias look a bit too big for what we need. I forgot to mention, were trying to squeeze two cars onto our drive, ATM one has to live on the road as the Volvo is just too long!

 

Starlets look like good motors, but I just dont like the look of them, plus theyre not cheap and shite enough.

[Cavcraft]

Bubble Micras defo worth a shout. Can rot (as FT said) but reliable and very cheap to run.

[The Moog]

My mum has got a matiz and after 3 years it feels like it is getting on .. bits are starting to drop off and it is making funny noises. Developed a bit of a flat spot driving as well.

 

Are pretty awful on the motorway as they are blown about by the tiniest bit of wind/lorry passing/dog farting. Dont use much fuel but definitely not worth it unless dirt cheap.

 

She is going to get something else once the lease is up.

 

Would second K11 Micra. Aim for a 1.3 though as they are a bit better than the 1.0

[Lankytim]

Mrs Lankytim says she doesnt like bubble Micras! Its because she had an ex-BF who drove one, and his mum was nasty to her. So basically theres a very good reason why K11 Micras are out of the question, despite ticking every box .

[Guest]

I'm presuming we're looking at 90s-era Far Eastern stuff since it's for the missus. I wouldn't recommend the Matiz, they're not great up against their competitors - not sure why people recommend them, I reckon they have the worst engine of the lot. The Suzuki Alto uses the same engine I think, they seem to drive alright but the interior is really tinny and noisy, bet they're a right horrorbox on a motorway.

 

Out of the lot, I'd put it down to either the Daihatsu Cuore or the Hyundai Atoz, never driven the latter on a motorway but I reckon it'd be alright (in its context). As for driving Cuores on the motorway, they don't like cross-winds much but I don't imagine much of that size does - they also rev quite high, but it's a given. They seem to prefer buzzing away near the end of the rev counter anyway.

 

To be honest, unless it's completely out of the question I'd seriously considering going up slightly in size - none of this narrow Kei-car stuff does well on motorways, whereas something like an old Mazda 323 would be no bother - nice even!

[Lankytim]

Thanks for that Hirst, I was racking my brains for some far eastern chod to blitz ebay with and had had a bit of a mental blackout.

 

The Atoz looks to be a good buy with lots of low mileage late models about at reasonable prices. The Hyundai brand should mean theyre reliable too.

 

A mazda 323 also looks to be a good choice. All the online review sites rave about them. Possibly getting a bit big though.

 

Humm the peroduia nippa seems perfectly awful. But cheap.

[Guest]

The Atoz is a lovely car, I even think they look nice! I want to hoard some ex-pensioner one away at some point, preferably a cherry red one with those little yellow foglights.

 

The weird thing is that don't seem to carry the prices of some of the competing stuff, yet they're better. Even stranger when the Hyundai name seems to have the best brand image of the Korean makes. The interior in the Atoz feels a lot more substantial and better soundproofed than the rest, feels like a narrowed Accent.

[Mr Lobster]

I had an Atoz as a hire car in the Greek islands a few years back and to be honest I was amazed with how good it was. I probably wasn't expecting much to be fair but it was a cracking good car. Same as the Getz we had elsewhere, seriously impressive and underrated by the buying public.

[warren t claim]

~Might I suggest a Pug 205? For £200. With t+t???

[Lankytim]

~Might I suggest a Pug 205? For £200. With t+t???

NO.

[ashmicro]

Good call Hirst. My mate has a Hyundai Accent CRDi, 2003, and I keep it "right" for her. Cheap parts, easy to work on, not a bad looking car and it isn't terrible. Mingebag motoring - I put new pads on the front 2 weeks ago - £13 for Apec. It has the second-narrowest powerband of any car I have ever driven mind you. CRDi GSi for that year has PAS, leccy front windows, Panasonic Stereo (although that may have been a Hyundai NI promo) alloys (5).

 

It's a last-gen Hyundai, so if it breaks down (unlikely!) just clobber the offending part with a hammer, and it will start working again (like OSF)

[dollywobbler]

I loved my Matiz, but it was the only car I've ever bought brand new, and I sold with it 18k on the clock, so it didn't have time to break.

 

As for being awful on motorways, well I'm comparing it with a 2CV, so it's both speedy and stable in crosswinds, if only by comparison with a lightweight peasant's car built by Galoise-smoking Frenchmen.

 

They do seem a touch fragile. The sensible choice is a 106/Saxo. They're getting stupidly cheap now and they're pretty darned good. Annoyingly. Of course, you could attract everyone's hatred (apart from Pandemonium and myself) on here and get a Prod-her Nippa!

[ashmicro]

They do seem a touch fragile. The sensible choice is a 106/Saxo.

If they're fragile compared to a 1no6 or Spaxo, they must be really fragile. Coincidentally, I saw a Kenari today, on a private plate!

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Good call Hirst. My mate has a Hyundai Accent CRDi, 2003, and I keep it "right" for her. Cheap parts, easy to work on, not a bad looking car and it isn't terrible. Mingebag motoring - I put new pads on the front 2 weeks ago - £13 for Apec. It has the second-narrowest powerband of any car I have ever driven mind you. CRDi GSi for that year has PAS, leccy front windows, Panasonic Stereo (although that may have been a Hyundai NI promo) alloys (5).

Is that the 3 cylinder engine?

[Lankytim]

I remember Cavette sold my mate a 5 door bog standard petrol 106 a couple of years ago (I was a sort of non-profit making go between) Its been a great car and he still has it now. I remember at the time I wish id had it instead! A 106 or Sax does seem a bit too obvious though.. Plus I just dont like Saxos!