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Widow’s wheels

I would be grateful for suggestions. I am recently widowed, and need advice on choosing a suitable car. My husband had a Rover 800, which has been sold. I have a Mazda 323, R registration that I like very much. It is from the days when they had a sporty look about them. I do not like boxy looking small cars. I can claim the £2,000 and buy a new one, or go for a second hand one, 2 or 3 years old. Looking at £15,000 or less. Can you suggest a character car, which is not the boxy type I dislike. I have thought of the Mercedes A Class, Peugeot Sports, VW Golf, but my experience does not go farther as I have not started to look seriously yet. I want automatic and comfort. Have you any suggestions please? I want something with character, if not too expensive. I had considered the BMW 1 series but I have been discouraged. Does Audi do a small car?

Asked on 29 August 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
If you really like Mazdas you could use scrappage to swap to a new Mazda 3. I actually preferred the 1.6 petrol model to the others, and several colleagues have said the same thing. Other possibilities are a Honda Jazz that now looks much nicer than the original version, the Mercedes A Class you mention, possibly a MINI (they now start at £11,000, so £9,000 on scrappage), or, if you fancy a coupe convertible, a Peugeot 207CC.

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