Welcome to the forum.

First off, I'm unaware of small automatics being particularly unreliable, no more or less so than their manual counterparts. You have to remember of the sort of cars you're looking at - Corsa, Yaris etc - the manuals probably outsell the automatics 10 to 1, so the faulty manuals get drowned out and covered up quite easily by all the good ones.

It's difficult to recommend a car without knowing how much you have to spend, how many miles you plan to do etc but I will say I wouldn't consider a small automatic diesel. A bit automatic diesel is a lethargic enough thing without giving it a small engine and you'll never match the manufacturers claimed figures anyway. Unless you're going to do 12k+ theres little point considering a diesel, given their higher cost price and modern diesels tend to not like short trip usage. If you do intend to do that sort of mileage I'd recommend something more comfortable than a Vauxhall Corsa to do it in.

Might be worth looking at the forthcoming Yaris Hybrid - particularly if your mileage is lower than the oft-quoted break-even point of 15k miles for diesels. I currently have an Auris hybrid, and my overall average 54 mpg, but tend to do a lot of motorway mileage where hybrids arn't at their best. My local motoring is in the mid-60s. The Yaris HSD should beat these figures.

On automatics generally, I've previously had a torque converter Kia and a DSG VW without problems.

Incidently, as we're on the HJ site, and it's one of his pet subjects - the Toyota hybrid manuals include the following:

"Depress the brake pedal using your right foot. Depressing the brake pedal using your left foot may delay response in an emergency, resulting in an accident."

Do be sure to have a long test drive in any car you're considering. A couple of years ago I had a Corsa semi-automatic as a courtesy car, and the jerks when changing gear were appalling and quite impossible to avoid. Vauxhall may have improved things since then, but beware.

Edited by Avant on 05/04/2012 at 23:38

I have recently partially lost the use of my left leg. Therefore I need to purchase a smallish car with automatic transmission, preferably a diesel ....

I have recently partially lost the use of my left leg. Therefore I need to purchase a smallish car with automatic transmission, preferably a diesel engined one as economy is also a consideration. I hva looked at Opel/Vauxhall Corsa. Citroen C3. Toyota Yaris. Chevy Aveo and similar cars. But looking on various forums it seems as though all references to smallcars with automatic transmissions seem extremely unreliable.

Thankyou to all who have answered the above, certainly given me something to think about. Just to say that I drive a diesel Renault Clio ( 86 bhp) and it is a very quick little car with excellent acceleration etc. I would be happy to have a diesel automatic, but they are very rare indeed . I am now trying to pesuade dealers to allow me to test drive certain new models, something very few seem willing to do.

Again, Thank you. Robbie Nudd.

A friend of mine has been running Nissan Note 1.6 Autos for quite a few years (he is on his second). This auto is a traditional tourque converter auto with overdrive and both cars have been very reliable and surprisingly economical.