We had a sirion 1.0se for 3 years from 2006-2009. Brilliant little car, very spacious for its size with a decent boot. Very economical, comfortable seats and performance which (despite what the motoring press would have you believe) is perfectly acceptable.

It shares the same floorpan and running gear as the mk2 yaris (toyota own daihatsu). The engine and gearbox is also (still) used in the 1.0 versions of the citroen C1, peugeot 108 and toyota aygo.

The youngest is getting a bit long in the tooth now though, and it was designed without the insurance considerations of subsequent small cars, so you should get insurance quotes before going ahead with it. I do now realise that insurance costs have more to do than just the insurance group, but bear in mind that the yaris 1.0 is group 2 while the mechanically identical sirion is about group 7 or 8. Also the yaris scored the maximum (at the time) 5 stars in the euro ncap crash tests whereas the sirion was a 4 star. And although the sirion is extremely reliable, the fact that daihatsu are no more in the UK means you may struggle to find replacement body panels or interior trim if needed.

Ultimately, the sirion is a cracking little car, but you may want to consider the mk2 yaris and the C1, 108, aygo as well.

Thank for all the comments. I have a quote for insurance on a 1.3 Sirion of £776 which seems OK considering her age/inexperience.

Worth having a look at a similar specced Yaris on the insurance, as you may find they have a price premium given the availablility of spare parts (engine aside) now that they've pulled out of the UK. Saying that, it would probably mean the price of the car should, in theory, be lower than a similar specced Yaris. Given it will be an older car, you may wish to have a think about that, given a higher number of parts will undoubtedly be requiring replacement over the next few years, just because of its age.

Might be worth looking at a basic Mazda2 mk2 (2007-15) 1.3 petrol, given they are also reliable older cars, but also nice to drive.

We have had three Sirions in the family. All 1.3 autos. The newest and lowest mileage was written off at six years old and 30,000 miles but looked like new. By contrast the other two (still going) have done about 75,000 miles each at nine and seven years respectively. They are bashed and battered, but have never failed in any way otherthan peripherals (batterty, tyres and the like). In fact the newer of the two drives better than the written off one did.

Strongly recommended.

Not only did Perodua produce a Sirion clone, but so did Subaru with the Justy.