Suggestions.. small runabout..

W123-80's

Hello all,

Currently looking for a small runabout.
Missus gone back to work and just need something handy for short trips, dropping young buck to minder, training etc

Criteria;
4 door
Less than 1.3
Test
In good shape
less than €2k
If possible less than €1.5k!!

My suggestions so far are;

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mazda-demio-1-3cc-new-nct/9233207?offset=27

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/hyundai-atoz-1-1lt-gold/9286541?offset=2

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/fiat-panda-1-2-dynamic/9158580?offset=16

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/97-toyota-starlet-for-sale/9244865?offset=1

Any suggestions appreciated.. cheers!!

bazz26

Yaris:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-yaris-1999/9285755?offset=20

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/99-yaris-new-nct/8855015?offset=7

W123-80's

bazz26 wrote: »

Yaris:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-yaris-1999/9285755?offset=20

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/99-yaris-new-nct/8855015?offset=7

Thanks. I had considered them and ruled them out again as the price tag seemed a little excessive for 15/16 year old cars.
Are they really that good? They seem to command a serious premium over the likes of the Fiat Panda.
I know they are a probably roomier, but is it justified or is it the Irish mentality towards the Toyota??

bazz26

But you have an 18 year Starlet at €1500 in your original post.

The Yaris is a very good car and very popular as a result, hence how they keep their resale value. You will get alot of that money back when you chose to move it on again.

W123-80's

bazz26 wrote: »

But you have an 18 year Starlet at €1500 in your original post.

The Yaris is a very good car and very popular as a result, hence how they keep their resale value. You will get alot of that money back when you chose to move it on again.

Oops..! For some reason I thought that Starlet was €950..!
Ya, fair point on the resale value on the Yaris.

Mervyn Skidmore

W123-80's wrote: »

Oops..! For some reason I thought that Starlet was €950..!
Ya, fair point on the resale value on the Yaris.

Panda is probably the best of the bunch you linked. Those Yarises (Yari?) are good little cars but way overpriced. Honda Jazz would be great but I doubt you'd get one at your budget. Otherwise look at Puntos, Fiestas, Focuses or maybe a Polo.

JohnBoy26

Mervyn Skidmore wrote: »

Panda is probably the best of the bunch you linked. Those Yarises (Yari?) are good little cars but way overpriced. Honda Jazz would be great but I doubt you'd get one at your budget. Otherwise look at Puntos, Fiestas, Focuses or maybe a Polo.

Yaris is not overpriced when you take into consideration the resale value and the fact that you are getting a car that is very very good, it's the best small car out there imo

Mervyn Skidmore

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Yaris is not overpriced when you take into consideration the resale value and the fact that you are getting a car that is very very good, it's the best small car out there imo

They're great cars but the prices are way too much. Resale value means nothing when you buy a 15 or 16 year old car in my opinion. Those 2 examples given above look very tatty and are asking 1500.

bazz26

Mervyn Skidmore wrote: »

They're great cars but the prices are way too much. Resale value means nothing when you buy a 15 or 16 year old car in my opinion. Those 2 examples given above look very tatty and are asking 1500.

Best of luck finding a mint Yaris irrespective of age, for €1500 or less.

Mervyn Skidmore

bazz26 wrote: »

Best of luck finding a mint Yaris irrespective of age, for €1500 or less.

There's a middle ground between tatty and mint and there's no way I'd be spending that money on a Yaris. Better spend a grand on a punto and have the rest if anything goes wrong.

bazz26

Mervyn Skidmore wrote: »

There's a middle ground between tatty and mint and there's no way I'd be spending that money on a Yaris. Better spend a grand on a punto and have the rest if anything goes wrong.

Well maybe your standards are higher but I see nothing tatty about the two ones I posted, especially the green one. I also don't see much difference in spending €1500 on a Yaris or spending €1k on a Punto that needs money put aside for possible pending repairs.

Mervyn Skidmore

bazz26 wrote: »

Well maybe your standards are higher but I see nothing tatty about the two ones I posted, especially the green one. I also don't see much difference in spending €1500 on a Yaris or spending €1k on a Punto that needs money put aside for possible pending repairs.

The green one looks ok but look at the state of the seats and gear stick and interior. Don't think I could sit in there.

26000 Elephants

bazz26 wrote: »

Well maybe your standards are higher but I see nothing tatty about the two ones I posted, especially the green one. I also don't see much difference in spending €1500 on a Yaris or spending €1k on a Punto that needs money put aside for possible pending repairs.

Point is that you have 500e in your pocket if it does. if the 179000 mile yaris breaks, you have no fund.

Unless you are suggesting that the Yaris will not break....

26000 Elephants

Mervyn Skidmore wrote: »

The green one looks ok but look at the state of the seats and gear stick and interior. Don't think I could sit in there.

half an hour with a bar of Astonish will have that like new again. It actually looks well (exterior), bar the dent on rear door, but 1500e is half again what it should cost.

JohnBoy26

26000 Elephants wrote: »

Point is that you have 500e in your pocket if it does. if the 179000 mile yaris breaks, you have no fund.

Unless you are suggesting that the Yaris will not break....

It has a lot less chance of breaking than one of those puntos and at the end of the day it's a much nicer car in every way too. €500 is a small price to pay for the big step up in quality.

JohnBoy26

26000 Elephants wrote: »

half an hour with a bar of Astonish will have that like new again. It actually looks well (exterior), bar the dent on rear door, but 1500e is half again what it should cost.

€1500 is cheap for that car. You will get that money back easily if you decide to sell it on in a year or two. Yaris's are nearly non existent at €750

26000 Elephants

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

It has a lot less chance of breaking than one of those puntos and at the end of the day it's a much nicer car in every way too. €500 is a small price to pay for the big step up in quality.

16 year old car with 179,000 miles... I'd say the odds are about equal for both. any difference you see would be subjective.

and €500 is a considerable amount at this budget (50% of the punto, 33% of Yaris)

Resale value is a diversion as well, At 15 years old, you will get back your Punto's purchase price as much as the Yaris, as long as its looked after and you sell with an NCT. Legal, cheap to run cars tend to have a minimum value.

The only difference with the Yaris is you are relying more on "Greater Fool" economics, i.e relying on another person believing in the Toyota premium thing as well.

26000 Elephants

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

€1500 is cheap for that car. You will get that money back easily if you decide to sell it on in a year or two. Yaris's are nearly non existent at €750

Sorry, bad math! I meant a third more. I think any 15 year old clean, tidy 1.0/1.2 small car with long NCT should be no more than €1000.

W123-80's

Thanks guys.
Update; I picked myself up an '04 Panda 1.2.
Got it at very good money from a dealer as it needs a test.
82k miles, belt done at 66k with receipts. Plenty of service history too. Dealer done all work on it for the last 4 years.
It needs four tyres and a clean. Should go through the test handy enough. Delighted with it. Cool little car.!
I'll post some pics in the photo thread when I have it ready for road..

166man

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

It has a lot less chance of breaking than one of those puntos and at the end of the day it's a much nicer car in every way too. €500 is a small price to pay for the big step up in quality.

Punts is actually a far nicer car than a Yaris. Drives better, nicer interior, looks better. Sure the Yaris might take more abuse, I don't doubt that, but a well looked after Punto will be as reliable as most little cars.

OP, good to hear you got something nice, hopefully it's a good car for you! Well wear!

W123-80's

Just wondering if anyone has a recommendation on the best brand of tyre to put on my new purchase. ('04 Fiat Panda)
I'm putting 4 tyres on it and I want to put the best I can on it. Is it just a matter of picking one of the big brands (Bridgestone, Hankook etc..) and ordering 4 or is there any particular manufacturer that make a very good small car tyre??

MODs; Wasn't sure if I could start a new thread as this query relates to this thread...

Thanks..

26000 Elephants

Dont think there is a 'best' tyre for a small car like that. You can compare them on some sites by noise, wet grip/dry grip, wear, etc

Pandas can be susceptible to road noise, so pick as quiet a tyre as you can ( without sacrificing wet grip).

I have good year eficientgrips on my punto. But to be honest, you wont see much difference.

W123-80's

26000 Elephants wrote: »

Dont think there is a 'best' tyre for a small car like that. You can compare them on some sites by noise, wet grip/dry grip, wear, etc

Pandas can be susceptible to road noise, so pick as quiet a tyre as you can ( without sacrificing wet grip).

I have good year eficientgrips on my punto. But to be honest, you wont see much difference.

Cool. Thanks.
Will keep an out for road noise when looking.