Small automatic family car?

The One Doctor

Hi all,

First time on this forum, and although I know a bit about cars I'm looking for some advice. We're looking for a small 4/5 door family car, between €3.5k-€5k, but since we both have auto licences, we obviously need an automatic. I don't have any preferences regards make, but it will ideally be a petrol car with an engine below 1.6. My first thought was a Honda Jazz but frankly they're abit out on our budget range. The next idea was a Grande Punto but it's rare to find an automatic Fiat. My yardsticks are:

Safety
Reliability
Economy

in that order. We currently drive an auto Opel that does about 40mpg at a push, which is fine. Not a fan of diesels due to noise, DMFs and pollution. Any ideas?

MuppetCheck

A diesel auto won't have a dmf usually.

A guy in work with has a new-ish grande punto auto and he's had more than a few problems. Some were very minor but it's on its second gearbox. His is a facelift model which should be better.

I'd look at at a civic in your price range. The 5 door is huge inside if a little tinny and not too big either.

bazz26

VAG DSG boxes have a DMF even on the petrols.

MuppetCheck

bazz26 wrote: »

VAG DSG boxes have a DMF even on the petrols.

Tough to get one for the budget though!

bazz26

Agreed. Small automatics hold their value really well as they are thin on the ground.

2003 Honda Jazz/Fit here:
http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Jazz/GD1-5DR/38813916325872530/

The One Doctor

bazz26 wrote: »

Agreed. Small automatics hold their value really well as they are thin on the ground.

Hmm, maybe going bigger is a better idea.

bazz26

To be honest generally there is a poor selection of automatic cars 2.0 litre or smaller, in Ireland. Ireland traditionally has been a mostly manual car liking country especially with anything main stream.

Nice spec, low mileage Octavia here. Should be able to buy it close to the top of your budget:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Skoda/Octavia/ELEGANCE-AUTOMATIC/44013932633655320/

Another nice spec Civic here, mileage is above average but I would not worry too much about that with a Civic:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.6SE-EXECUTIVE/43413946368671220/

Or a low mileage Focus within budget:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Ford/Focus/AUTOMATIC-ZETEC/42713957565697060/