I have a friend who has recently had some trouble with her 53 registration Nissan Micra 1.2se which has been diagnosed as having a stretched timing chain, Nissan are asking for £1200 to repair it. The bodywork on the car carries several battle scars and the car has been valued at £1500 as it currently is.
She is tempted to trade it in against something newer and has asked me for some suggestions. As she owns a horse the car needs to be able to take two or three large bails of sawdust in the boot/ with the rear seats down.
The only car she has seen so far that takes her fancy is the 2006 mk3 Renault clio, I heard some of mk3 clios use Nissan engines now, is this true? Are there any issues to worry about with these?
Also any other recommendations for suitable replacements would be appreciated. I was thinking along the lines of ford focus, Toyota yaris, vw golf, polo, Suzuki swift.
Thanks
slt
Edited by Pugugly on 09/09/2009 at 14:50
|
If she's old enough not to be penalised by the insurance costs of a slightly bigger car, she'll find that going one size up may actually be cheaper. (The demand for cheap-to-insure cars keeps their s/h price a bit higher).
If she's prepared to look a little bigger at Focus, Astra, Almera, Corolla, Leon etc she may find some good bargains amongst the less trendy models -- e.g. a s/h Astra usually costs less than a Focus in similar condition, and an Almera less than either of those.
|
Just to prove I don't see everything through Focus-tinted spectacles...
I think they can be a bit heavy to drive, so for a woman coming from a Micra, a Toyota Corolla might be a better bet.
|
MowWheels suggested "If she's prepared to look a little bigger at Focus, Astra, Almera, Corolla, Leon etc"
A good idea! The Skoda Octavia is especially worth a look because of its large boot, as load carrying ability is important.
|
|
|
Just to prove I don't see everything through Focus-tinted spectacles... I think they can be a bit heavy to drive so for a woman coming from a Micra a Toyota Corolla might be a better bet.
Corolla's a good car if you want no-fuss reliability and light controls, but used Corollas tend to be expensive. An Almera doesn't have as nice a ride, but it's cheaper to buy, and should be just as reliable.
|
My experience of Toyota service and reliability means I would not buy any other make...
|
|
would happily recommend a megan estate - loads of room, might get two bales of hay without adjust seatings? No reliability problems with min (57 plate, 40,000miles), cheap to service, tax and insure.
|
Toyota's & Honda's are good, but the Almera is such good value ... I paid circa 8k for my 05 1.8SE automatic 2.5 years ago. p/x is under 4k now so - my loss is your gain!
The oil has to be changed as per makers recommendation, but ideally twice a year with top spec oil.
|
|
|
|
|
Most of the women I know (who drive powerful saloons and sports cars - yes they can even handle RWD 200 bhp ones !) would happily punch you on the nose for that iffy. :-)
|
..Most of the women I know (who drive powerful saloons and sports cars - yes they can even handle RWD 200 bhp ones !) would happily punch you on the nose for that iffy. :-)...
And I'd probably quite enjoy that - in a Max Moseley sort of way. :)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Renault Kangoo or Fiat Doblo or similar.
A square boxy car like these will take her bales of sawdust, tack and anything else whe cares to chuck at it.
|
|
|
:no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/def4d05c144df8dc5fc0df7bf5f07533/b1c72ec0dc6815e128d504fec2b24621.jpg)
:no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/e6f1166588368227d2acbb8bd83d842e/70ca0d1fd0b5f9304cacb33b6b227efa.jpg)
:no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/3591de7c215ced3dd33aa51ee70665df/7ff1e8ca4f5cfef459859a36fd1eb55f.jpg)
![2018 SEAT Arona 1.0 TSI 115 Xcellence Lux [EZ] 5dr](https://img.common.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/unsafe/trim/90x60/smart/filters:quality(70):no_upscale():format(webp)/https://cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/0e3ddd6f1c2007d19a43c2c6b9c67109/408c8056e36a12e5f951c9099cbfcf9f.jpg)
