Best equipped smallish car

thegreatiam

Be looking to buy soon. Anyone know off the top of their heads which cars are often best equipped?

Want Bluetooth and USB for defo plus any other cool gadgets. Any year between 09 and 12/13

colm_mcm

It comes down to budget really. There are premium small cars, mid range stuff with optional extras etc,
Tbh, Bluetooth and USB aren't that exotic. They're either standard or optional on pretty much every small car.

Try and get a list of what stuff you'd like
Eg
Leather interior
Self parking
Reversing camera
Parking sensors
Touch screen
Cruise control
Glass roof
Alloys
Keyless start
Satnav
Heated seats
Automatic transmission

That kinda stuff, then consider the rest of the car. Do you need back doors? Does it have to be stylish? Do you need/want diesel? How small is small?

thegreatiam

Thanks
The car will be my wife's main commuter but I'll be in it for longer journey so I want it to be comfortable or fun.

BT USB music / sd card radio, almost a must. would prefer these built in cos I want to avoid a 3rd party device

Basically I just want some fun gadgets to play with, so these are just bonus not deal breakers.
In order of preference
Keyless start
Parking sensors
Touch screen
Reversing camera
AWD
Heated seats
Self parking
Satnav
Cruise control
Alloys
Glass roof
Leather interior

I was thinking mazda 3/2 ford focus/ fiesta suziki swift. Kia pro,ceed, astra, golf etc
The wife really like's the fabia or a suziki sx4
Hyundai i20/i30/i35
We're being flexible in car choice as we have around 10k, looking at between 09 to 13 years.

Any of these stand out with that equipment? Hard to find certain models on dealer site/done deal as they don't always list all options. Not looking to specifically find these items but if it's a choice between say a swift and a fabia for the same price but the swift has BT connectivity then I'll get the swift

I looked at some of the 14 year fabia but couldn't tell if they had BT or not, the skoda website only has specs for the new 15 year, which does

And I dont want to spend ages googling each model year spec if someone might know off hand that the 2010 pro,ceed definitely has USB stereo as standard for example.

colm_mcm

I would look at a Lexus CT200h from the UK Tbh. They're mechanically the same as a Prius, but in a nicer package. The higher spec ones are loaded with nice things. They're far cheaper in the uk than they are here. VRT is tiny, and the Prius drivetrain is well proven at this stage.
Not 100% sure what €10k gets you, but I was pricing some fr myself last month and they were there or thereabouts.

Edit, a 2011.SE-L model would be more like €12k with VRT.

That would have a huge spec though, stuff you didn't even know you wanted

thegreatiam

colm_mcm wrote: »

I would look at a Lexus CT200h from the UK Tbh. They're mechanically the same as a Prius, but in a nicer package. The higher spec ones are loaded with nice things. They're far cheaper in the uk than they are here. VRT is tiny, and the Prius drivetrain is well proven at this stage.
Not 100% sure what €10k gets you, but I was pricing some fr myself last month and they were there or thereabouts.

Edit, a 2011.SE-L model would be more like €12k with VRT.

That would have a huge spec though, stuff you didn't even know you wanted

Nice car. However We're stuck with a loan from our bank here. So UK car is out.
Also wife is due for her test so wants a manual.

Didn't even consider that car as an option so didn't mention those requirements.
No extras restrictions are manual, hatchback/crossover, and Irish dealer.

Thanks for the suggestion though. Wish I could look deaper into it

cnocbui

Fiat 500 Abarth is the best 'equipped' small car I can think of. ;-)

johnk123

cnocbui wrote: »

Fiat 500 Abarth is the best 'equipped' small car I can think of. ;-)

Sorry to hijack,....

Anyone ever driven one of these??? Was looking at them via UK lately....

colm_mcm

A Renault Megane 2dr GT line or Tom-Tom model would have loads of toys, and because the previous Megane was such a heap, prices are soft. The newer model Megane is known to be a very good car with good reliability.

thegreatiam

I'll take a look, but if you think of any more. Especially from the ones I mentioned then feel free to let me know.
I want to remain flexible so as many possible choices as I can find will help

blackbox

Lexus CT200H

grogi

cnocbui wrote: »

Fiat 500 Abarth is the best 'equipped' small car I can think of. ;-)

If I wanted to be pedantic, Abarth it is not a Fiat, it is just an Abarth...

colm_mcm

You would be wrong though, surely?
Isn't an Abarth just a trim level in the same way that Ghia is a former brand that became a trim level.

ba_barabus

colm_mcm wrote: »

You would be wrong though, surely?
Isn't an Abarth just a trim level in the same way that Ghia is a former brand that became a trim level.

To be fair Fiat launched it as a separate brand with big ambitions for stand alone models. There was plans for separate show rooms too in certain areas. It did get slightly off the ground in the UK but not here.

I think it's fair to say it did just turn into a trim level as time went by.

grogi

colm_mcm wrote: »

You would be wrong though, surely?
Isn't an Abarth just a trim level in the same way that Ghia is a former brand that became a trim level.

No, it is a separate brand withing FCA Italy. Not as separate as Ruf from Porsche I guess, but still. They are sold as Fiats in US though.