Small/medium petrol car - €5kish budget

Francie Barrett

Son is looking to upgrade his aging 1.4 VW Polo for something a bit newer and a little bit bigger. Historically, we've always owned VAG cars, but I am finding myself going off them a bit. Between the Polo, we also run a Passat and a Golf and all cars have had annoying and expensive issues that went beyond usual maintenance of things like bearings, springs, etc. He's not a speed freak, so anything with 80-100hp would be perfect, would also keep insurance reasonable. He's a broke student as well, so fuel efficiency is fairly important. Most of the driving will be around towns and the city, so the car should be too big and shouldn't drive well at low speeds. Hatchback would be nice as well, often having to lug stuff in and out of the boot. Value seems to be in petrol cars, so would rather get a petrol that's maybe 1-2 years newer and a bit less worn out. Reliability is going to be absolutely key though. Our mechanic is fairly old school and some of the computer faults have left our mechanic scratching his head at times. Not going to be dogmatic about any particular make, so open to anything really, here's a few we were thinking of.

Citroen C4 1.4
Fiat Punto 1.4
Kia Ceed 1.4
Peugeot 308 1.4
Toyota Corolla 1.4
Toyota Auris 1.4
Vauxhall Astra 1.6

These are the kind of cars we are looking at. Has anyone got any thoughts on these, or something similar?

bazz26

Kia Ceed or Toyota Corolla would be the best in that bunch.

Francie Barrett

I hear that the Punto and the 308 have improved lots in recent years? The only reason I bring them up is because compared to a Toyota, you'd nearly get a car 3 years newer. Is it worth it? Guess you'd need a few Punto/308 owners to give feedback.

Kaiser D

The newer model Punto is a nice car. They're decent to drive and servicing/parts won't break the bank. They're cheap because they have a bad rep from the previous models, which weren't all that bad really.

How long do you want to keep the car for? A Corolla will hold its value longest out of everything on your list, whereas a Punto will depreciate pretty rapidly.

JohnBoy26

get a corolla but get the 02-07 model and not the newer 07-13 shape.

For your criteria its about the best car out there.

colm_mcm

Keep the hyundai i30 in mind too.

bazz26

You will struggle to find a decent i30 for €5k I'd say.

Punto is from he class below the rest of the cars mentioned above so they are a smaller car. Punto is more a Fiesta, Yaris rival.

Francie Barrett

bazz26 wrote: »

You will struggle to find a decent i30 for €5k I'd say.

Punto is from he class below the rest of the cars mentioned above so they are a smaller car. Punto is more a Fiesta, Yaris rival.

Yea, the i30 looks too expensive.

Looks like Toyota might be the way to go. Has anyone got a comparison between the Auris and the Corolla in terms of reliability? It seems like you get much better value for money with the Auris.... Is it no basically the same car as the Corolla, or have they thrown in a a load of faulty electric gimmickery?

Francie Barrett

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Has anyone got a comparison between the Auris and the Corolla in terms of reliability?

Just reading some owner reviews, it looks like a lot of people who transitioned from the Corolla to the Auris are not happy. That'd explain the poorer depreciation on the Auris.

bazz26

Corolla and Auris share alot but the Auris has a bit more space and headroom. I'd honestly choose a Kia Ceed over the Auris or Corolla saloon. €5k should get you a good 07 Ceed.

lalababa

hyundai getz, very reliable

MuppetCheck

lalababa wrote: »

hyundai getz, very reliable

Only positive about them though.

bazz26

Again the Getz is from the class below what the OP has been mentioning and while they are a good car in their day for what they were, they are totally old hat these days and worth considering if the OP had only half his current budget.