Hello room.
Considering getting my first car. Must have automatic gearbox.
A true automatic, not easytronic,cvt, speedgear etc.
Must be cheap to buy, fuel and insure if possible. Not too bothered about performance, image etc.
I have made a shortlist below:
Seat Arosa 1.4 S Auto.
VW Lupo 1.4 E Auto.
VW Polo 1.4 S Auto.
Skoda Fabia 1.4 Classic Auto.
(All above same engine and box, I have heard there have been problems with the above)
Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 Auto
Vauxhall Astra 1.6 8v Auto
My current favourite is the new Daihatsu Charade 1.0 EL Automatic, £6700. Which comes with excellent kit and is nice to sit in, spacious.
Are Daihatsu's any good ? I know the Sirion is similar but has a slightly different box. Can anyone comment on whether they are ok, reliable etc. And whether they have good auto boxes.
Or can anyone recommend a good, smooth, reliable automatic other than those mentioned above? I guess the Yaris is favourite although they are a little dear, for me at the minute.
Regards
mr automatic
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I was surprised at your 'Yaris = dear' comment until I saw what they've done to the range. The auto is now only available on the T-Spirit, which is £10kish discounted. A T3 model would make much more financial sense, equivalent to the old GS, which was available as an auto IIRC.
The new Charade should be very reliable, and it's excellent value, but it is a very small car and resale might be difficult as it's not going to sell. Your average small car buyer's response is likely to be - what the hell is that?
Probably I'd stay away from the Astra as well - it's up for replacement, it's not especially cheap, and the 1.6 8v is slower than a slow thing and not likely to be especially economical compared to a supermini. The Fabia, especially, is likely to be damn thirsty too. The Arosa and Lupo are very small and a little old fashioned now, so if you can afford it, probably the best of the VW group cars is the Polo.
I don't know much about the Corsa as an auto but aside from the box I would say that the Polo is the better car. The Corsa should be about £9500 and the Polo £8780 from www.ukcarbroker.co.uk - virtually the same price as the much inferior Lupo (!)
The Renault Clio is also available as an auto, I believe, but for me the obvious choice would be a Nissan Micra. It's tough, cheap, modern, stylish (if you like that sort of thing), economical, has free insurance, and will be a doddle to sell on in a few years' time. Or you can keep it and run it into the ground in about 15 years, it's up to you. (I think it is a true auto, but there have been some negative comments about it so get a test drive first.) There's not much chance of a discount on them, it seems, but it's worth shopping around anyway.
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How about a new shape Fiesta? I think the auto boxes are finally of a decent quality! :-)
And it's a great car!
Blue
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The www.fordjourney.com website describes it as 'advanced manual' which I guess means semi-auto, either clutchless manual or paddle shift, which is not what the poster wants.
If there is a proper auto, or you can drive certain forms of semi-auto, it's definitely worth considering.
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I "potentially" disagree with DavidHM's comment that the Fabia would be especially thirsty. It is the old original Skoda 1.4 8v pushrod engine that is the thirsty one. The auto uses the 1.4 16V 75bhp engine which is the same one as in my Octavia. This engine has proved very econmical (currently 45mpg+) and suprisingly tourquey at low revs for its size. I would imagine it would suit a "small" automatic car, I have not driven the fabia auto though.
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