What small car to chose?

frobisher

I'm after a small car 1.0-1.2cc about 5 years old.
I've been told that Polos are great and carry a few years very well. Price isn't a major issue, I'm happy to pay the going rate for whatever I pick.
Any thoughts/advice/horror stories?

Sparky

A Peugeot 206 http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=253073

VW polo http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=338661

Seat Ibiza http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=337274

Fiat Punto http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=310791

There just a few i picked i know they are all 03's but consider them 3 yrs old by now, have a good look around carzone.ie thats where i got my car from.

I know you said your not worried about price but whats your budget?

colm_mcm

I don't buy into the whole Polo thing

they are seriously over rated and the 1.0 engine is seriously bad, when you compare it to a Yaris

scuba steve

think about 206, punto, Ibiza as your 3main ones. Whats the top price you would pick for a 3/4 year old car? Shop around anyway whatever you do, dont get ripped off

scuba steve

colm_mcm wrote:

I don't buy into the whole Polo thing

they are seriously over rated

and over priced imo

lomb

polos handle safer though, the yaris is a dangerous overstearer. terifying in the wet and on country roads...id go with a polo or the equiv skida or seat. the very late 97 early 98 corolla is a safe handler strangely, if u want the next class up.

colm_mcm

lomb wrote:

, the yaris is a dangerous overstearer. terifying in the wet and on country roads...

:rolleyes: ?

ds20prefecture

If price really isn't an issue, the new shape Fiat Panda Diesel. If you can find one. Ditto the Honda Jazz, probably the best small car on the market, but priced accordingly.

Polo is an overpriced and overweight badge.

colm_mcm

The Jaz is probably the best choice if you want a kind of "grown up" small car. although the €11,000 and up being asked for 02 Jazz's ( a car that costs a bit over €16,000 new) seems very high, especially as older models are 1.4 and priced very close to Civics (4 years depreciation €5,500) that said you get a cracking car, with good levels of equippment

stratos

Wow the old buy a 80 year old bmw 740 il reply is finally over.
I have a friend came out of the womb in a starlet, is still driving it, never services it or looks after it .
still going awesome reliability.

bazz26

frobisher wrote:

I'm after a small car 1.0-1.2cc about 5 years old.
I've been told that Polos are great and carry a few years very well. Price isn't a major issue, I'm happy to pay the going rate for whatever I pick.
Any thoughts/advice/horror stories?

I have recommended it before and will do so again now but the Fiesta seems to fit your requirements here. The one to go for is the 1.25 litre which is a Yamaha designed engine and is one of the best in this class of car. It has about 75bhp, it is very nippy and fun to drive. I don't know what your budget is but if you can stretch to 2002 you could pick up a late old type Ghia model which has lots of toys such as alloy wheels, cd player and even air conditioning. The downside of this is that the rear is cramped and the boot is not that big. Alternatively if you go for a late 2002 onwards new model it is a bigger car with a nicer interior but not as well equipped and more expensive.

Either way the Fiesta is rock solid, will last and not nearly as overrated or expensive as the Polo.

Atomic Pineapple

bazz26 wrote:

I have recommended it before and will do so again now but the Fiesta seems to fit your requirements here. The one to go for is the 1.25 litre which is a Yamaha designed engine and is one of the best in this class of car. It has about 75bhp, it is very nippy and fun to drive. I don't know what your budget is but if you can stretch to 2002 you could pick up a late old type Ghia model which has lots of toys such as alloy wheels, cd player and even air conditioning. The downside of this is that the rear is cramped and the boot is not that big. Alternatively if you go for a late 2002 onwards new model it is a bigger car with a nicer interior but not as well equipped and more expensive.

Either way the Fiesta is rock solid, will last and not nearly as overrated or expensive as the Polo.

yeh my first car was a 1.25 zetec Fiesta, really good power in it for a small car and i'd definitly reccomend it to anyone, even though mine did just seem to conk out at 48000 miles

pontovic

The polo is a great car, but they can be abit boring to drive. I used to have a 1997 polo and it was an ok car for reliability. The Golf is a much better car, but having said that, I don't know what the new polo's are like.

Maybe consider a Yaris ? Although I have never driven one, I have heard alot of good things about them. The following sites are very useful and contain comprehensive information and reviews about loads of different cars.

http://www.parkers.co.uk
http://www.honest-john.co.uk

alias no.9

lomb wrote:

the yaris is a dangerous overstearer

Toyota are known for setting up their cars with lots of predictable understeer. I've only driven a yaris once and I can't say I pushed it, but a yaris overstearing? Next thing you'll tell us you had to use loads of opposite lock to correct it.

chuckles30

The fiesta that was introduced late 2002 is a great car, plenty of space and very reliable. I had an older fiesta before that too, but if you can afford it, go with the newer model.

dcGT

bazz26 wrote:

I have recommended it before and will do so again now but the Fiesta seems to fit your requirements here. The one to go for is the 1.25 litre which is a Yamaha designed engine and is one of the best in this class of car. It has about 75bhp, it is very nippy and fun to drive. I don't know what your budget is but if you can stretch to 2002 you could pick up a late old type Ghia model which has lots of toys such as alloy wheels, cd player and even air conditioning. The downside of this is that the rear is cramped and the boot is not that big. Alternatively if you go for a late 2002 onwards new model it is a bigger car with a nicer interior but not as well equipped and more expensive.

Either way the Fiesta is rock solid, will last and not nearly as overrated or expensive as the Polo.

My thoughts exactly. The Fiesta is a solid, nippy, great value motor. The 1.25 Zetec produces the same horse power as the 1.4 Focus (though not as much torque). As already mentioned, keep an eye out for air-con and the heated front windscreen...VERY handy on those icy mornings!

DC.

Carb

frobisher wrote:

I'm after a small car 1.0-1.2cc about 5 years old.
I've been told that Polos are great and carry a few years very well. Price isn't a major issue, I'm happy to pay the going rate for whatever I pick.
Any thoughts/advice/horror stories?

Hi, I'm trying to offload a 00 Corsa 1.2 (3 door) if you happen to look at Corsas. Year 2000, NCT to May 07, 55000 miles. It's the Champion Model so it has a factory fitted boot spoiler, CD player, central locking. The colour is blue.

ds20prefecture

alias no.9 wrote:

Toyota are known for setting up their cars with lots of predictable understeer. I've only driven a yaris once and I can't say I pushed it, but a yaris overstearing? Next thing you'll tell us you had to use loads of opposite lock to correct it.

How else would you correct oversteer? Lift off oversteer is easy to provoke on a slippy road with skinny tyres.

prospect

Skoda Fabia is a good option worth considering also.

lomb

ds20prefecture wrote:

How else would you correct oversteer? Lift off oversteer is easy to provoke on a slippy road with skinny tyres.

exactly, the car not only suffers from lift off overstear but braking on slippy roads with no abs makes the car very unstable and twice its oversteared on me.
personally i think a new set of michelins on wider toyota yaris alloys (original steel wheels at moment with bridgestones) will fix the problem but who knows?
nice car otherwise though.