Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 22:51
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - neilp123

Hello all,

I'm looking for a bit of advice. My wife currently has a (pink!) Daihatsu Charade, 04 with nearly 100k on the clock. We've had it for around 6 years, and I suppose you could say its done the job albeit it with a few hiccups here and there.

It now really seems to be on its last legs. Had a few trips into the garage recently, but things keep going wrong. We're hoping to buy another one for her now, but unsure which to go for.

We have a little boy, so it needs to be 5 door. It also needs to be small, as my wife isn't the most confident of drivers. Budget is around 4k (preferably a bit less) and we just want something reliable and safe. Bells and whistles are not necessary!

Seen lots of Chevrolet Matizs, Pandas, Fabias within range, but I'm not sure if its worth spending a little more for a Fiesta or something similar.

Thanks for yuor help!

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 23:14
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - Graham567

You could look at the Citroen C1,Toyota Aygo or the Peugeot 107.They are all the same car underneath and built by Toyota so reliabilty should be good.You should get an 08 plate for 4 grand with low miles.

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 23:19
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - Bobbin Threadbare

Seconded - My mum has an Aygo - she bought it new about 6.5 years ago and it's still a good little runner. I have thrashed it on the motorway a few times and it was quite fun to drive. Turns on a pin so parking is very easy. £20 tax and group 1 insurance. We have comfortably seated 4 adults and a small dog in her Aygo; they're not as diddy as they look!

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 23:38
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - daveyjp
Our Aygo started showing its French traits after 6 years. Only the engine and gearbox are Toyota (the engine started life in the Charade, plenty of flexibility and no issues whatsoever, 45 mpg as a minimum) the rest, including the all important electrics are French and ours were starting to fail. Heater blower motor and central locking in particular.

It also began showing an all too familiar problem in Aygos, water ingress into the boot. This is not an issue in C1s and 107s as the rear light clusters are different, but water ingress around the doors is not unknown on them all. So if looking at an Aygo check the carpets, remove the spare wheel cover and check the spare wheel well for signs of water.

Don't believe the low insurance group means cheap insurance, our current group 9 costs less to insure. As they are group 1 they are popular as first cars which means claims from inexperienced drivers.

Edited by daveyjp on 17/04/2013 at 23:41

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Wed 17 Apr 2013 23:54
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - neilp123

Thanks for that - I hadn't thought of any of those to be honest!

Struggling to find a deal quite that good (08, low mileage, 4kish) on autotrader, but will keep looking!

Thanks all

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 01:13
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - Avant

If I were you I'd go for a Toyota Yaris, preferably a 1.3 as the 1.0 is a little underpowered. My elder daughter had four in a row, only changing to a Hyundai i10 last year as it was so much cheaper. But this was buying new, and I'm not sure whether i10s last as long as Yarises.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 12:11
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - neilp123

A Yaris would be nice, but I think it'd be likely to push our budget a bit too much. I've seen an Aygo for 4.5k with 18k on the clock. Its a 2007 car, but hopefully has lead a gentle life!

A lot will depend on the price we can get for hers in part-ex.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 21:51
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - daveyjp
" I've seen an Aygo for 4.5k with 18k on the clock. Its a 2007 car, but hopefully has lead a gentle life!"

Same age and only slightly less mileage than the one we traded, so check it carefully. Like us the owner may have got rid because the problems were starting.
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Thu 18 Apr 2013 08:46
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - TeeCee

You might consider sticking with the devil you know and getting a Daihatsu Sirion.

An alternative to think about, from the same stable, would be to go down a size to the Cuore. That's also available as a five door and is surprisingly capacious for such a tiny car. Cheap too. You should get quite a recent one for that money.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 08:58
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - Graham567

How about this..

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304086160000/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/5000/maximum-mileage/up_to_40000_miles/transmission/manual/quantity-of-doors/5/price-from/4000/maximum-age/up_to_4_years_old/model/107/make/peugeot/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/fy38lf/radius/1501/page/1?logcode=p

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 14:40
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - Chris M

Four adults in a CI/107/Aygo would only work if they were all moderately vertically challenged.

You don't say how tall your wife is or how old your boy is, but I'd suggest you plan ahead. If you think you'll be keeping the car for a few years and the boy will be a teenager with teenage mates, a C1 will not fit the bill.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 14:47
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - Happy Blue!

Alternatives to the Daihatsu Sirion (which is a great car) are the Hyundai Getz and i20 or the Kia Rio. All simple and very reliable cars. I have driven all three as rental cars, all have been hard used but appear to sustain their injuries well.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 15:13
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - neilp123

We wouldn't need 4 adults to fit in the car. At the moment, its just me, my wife and our boy, who is 4.

9 times out of 10, it will just be my wife and the boy. She's about 5 foot 6, so quite small. She has specifically requested a small car.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 16:27
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - tony g
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Suzuki swift .ine bought and sold a few of the modern suzuki s recently and they seem to be good cars .

I currently have a .2008 swift on autotrader for sale at £3995 ,one owner ,56000 .new mot etc .

Sadly it's a 3 door so not what you would want ,but you should be able to find a 5 door 2007 for less than £4000 .I think they're made in Hungary ?

Good luck with your search .
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Thu 18 Apr 2013 16:48
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - SteveLee

Mitsubishi Colt 5 door - superb little car, roomy, reliable and very cheap.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 18:51
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - Bobbin Threadbare

Four adults in a CI/107/Aygo would only work if they were all moderately vertically challenged.

You don't say how tall your wife is or how old your boy is, but I'd suggest you plan ahead. If you think you'll be keeping the car for a few years and the boy will be a teenager with teenage mates, a C1 will not fit the bill.

My 6ft 3 husband finds it comfortable - his legs are a bit squashed in the back but he was surprised at the room the driver has.

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 08:13
Small 5-Door Used Car - Budget £4k - Chris M

I'm 6ft 2 and agree that as a driver it's comfortable enough however, that's with the seat as far back as it would go. In that position, there was a gap of about 3 inches for a rear seat passengers legs. Even with a short driver, there wasn't enough headroom in the back for me.

It doesn't sound as though interior room would be an issue for the OP with a shortish wife and a young son, so in my view, definately a car to consider.

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