My Mum Needs A New Car

[rvalkass 5]

My mum's car has now reached the end of its life, so she's looking for a replacement. Previously she had a Ford Fiesta, and is looking for something around the same sort of size if possible (small-ish hatchback). We're getting it second hand, so I'm wondering if anyone has a small hatchback a few years old (2004-ish) they could recommend as being good, or tell us to avoid! You only really get to know what a car is like to live with every day after a few years, and that is when problems can start to appear, so we're just looking for mini-reviews of cars people have at the moment - do you recommend it or not, and why? Any horror stories?Also, we have so far been told by a mechanic friend that the gearboxes on Vauxhall/Opel Corsas are notoriously bad and very expensive to get replaced - anyone had experience of this?

[Nameless_ 1]

I must say I have absolutely no experience of cars... but my family uses Toyota's cars... it's one that's similar to Picnic, but unfortunately I forgot the series of the car... (stupid me!!! It's my families car!!!) I don't know though... I think the only reason I remember the word "Picnic" is because it is much much more easier to remember than my family car's series. It starts with C though.However, I am quite sorry to inform you that all the cars that my family buys are quite big, for example, they are all seven seaters, so this will not suit your needs... My parents believe that the bigger a car, the safer it is... and we can also car pull lots and lots of people, often squeezing in up to nine people without feeling cramped at all. Just a recommendation if you mother wants to buy big cars...

[Baniboy 3]

Well, I obviously don't live in England, so I don't know much about your cars over there, but I decided to spam this topic anyway!

I found a website that might help you out: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Now isn't that spam goooood?

[truefusion 3]

My family has owned mostly Toyotas, and from my experience with them they are pretty stable cars. The Toyota cars were Corolla and the Matrix. Personally, i would consider the Prius, even though i've never tried it myself. But Yahoo! cars has a lot of reviews from random users. The rating for the Toyota Prius is pretty good.

[Tramposch 1]

I would say a Toyota Yarus, a Vdub golf, or a vdub polo, or a fiat 500.

 

 

Hope that helped. I would choose one of the Vdubs

Edited August 27, 2009 by Tramposch (see edit history)

[Watermonkey 0]

Me too. I hear the new Rabbit is real nice for the money, but if she's looking for a used car, then I'd ask her to consider a diesel Golf, 4motion if that's offered. Nice car.

[livepcportal 0]

I think you should first look for Honda Civic if it is available in your country. The brand new Civic will cost you little bit high. But, since you are purchasing a second hand car so if you are lucky then you may probably find a second hand civic in a good condition at a very cheap price. It will be good buy for you. Otherwise, you may look for Chevrolet Aveo. It has got good looking interiors and overall space inside the car is almost decent. Also ride quality isn't bad either. But like other cars it has also some negative points thats why it is priced less. The main problem of this car is that its gear box is little bit squishy and also, the handling, well , isn't enthusiastic either. But overall it will be a good alternative for your old Ford Fiesta and hopefully your mum will enjoy it.If you want to save little bit of parking space then buy a Hyundai i20 or Skoda Fabia. Both these cars are far better than Ford Fiesta and are best in their segments.I hope this well help you in judging your next car. ?

[anwiii 17]

toyota or nissan are your best choices. best repair records at an affordable price. good gas mileage too. a good resell value as well. gl in your search.

[gisellebebegirl 0]

You should probably get a NEON, they are really great and cheap, my mom had one and it lasted her for 4 years without breaking down, plus my dad is an expert in cars, and he agrees its a good cargood luck!

[rayzoredge 2]

Everyone's going to suggest everything under the sun... but I'll provide some helpful tips that ultimately brought me to buying a 2003 Honda Civic EX.

* Know what you want. Is your mum a no-frills sort of gal or does she enjoy some extras? Does she want to "upgrade" or stay at her current class of car? Is it just a commuter? (I'm assuming yes.) There are a ton of cars that are classified as a hatchback, some bigger than others, but possibly with more bang for the buck.

* Check out professional review sites for good or bad first impressions. One I like to use is NewCarTestDrive.com, but from the looks of it, it doesn't include some European makes like Opel or Citroen.

* Try out CarBuyingTips.com. Wealth of info... not sure how much can apply to you, but it's worth checking out.

* Shop around and see what's available. Sometimes it might be easier to do it that way so that you can refine your search to something that's actually within reach. That way you don't waste time in research the crap out of a vehicle only to find out that the nearest one for sale is over 100 km away.

As far as experience with cars you might have available, I've only had experience with a '94 Dodge Shadow ES (which I've seen some in Germany), an 80's Volkswagen Golf, and my '03 Honda Civic EX. I drove the Dodge into the ground until the transmission literally died somewhere above 150K miles (I think), then I left for the Army and couldn't afford to restore it, so that was crushed. The VW Golf was a headache of problems, but it was probably due to age and bad luck (replaced the existing burnt clutch, replaced some $7 transmission part that prevented it from starting in place, the driver's side door lock was messed up and you couldn't open that door, and the driver's side window randomly shattered when my buddy closed the passenger side window... funny incident). Of course, after we sold it to someone else, that car ran peachy-keen. I have to say that the Civic has treated me very, very well. No-brains upkeep with regular scheduled maintenance and you're good to go. I'm not sure if my Civic is Japanese or American-made, though... there's a way you can tell from the VIN, and I can't remember if this is a minor/critical difference or not.

It seems to me that diesel may be the way to go with your high petro prices over there, but that severely limits your choices. I remember reading up on a VW Jetta TDI, but apparently maintenance and parts are expensive and... well, frequently needed. Then again, it's hard to tell whether a car is good or not based on customer reviews, considering that I would think more people would complain about the car than praise it.

[k_nitin_r 8]

@Nameless_:When you mentioned the picnic car, do you mean a Toyota Corolla station wagon? There's an electrical (?) engineering firm named Esab that gets one of those for all of its employees. It's very spacious and can hold a lot of luggage, while at the same time delivering pretty good fuel efficiency.@rvalkass:Toyotas are quite popular for their resale value and low maintenance cost. Nissans are quite popular too, for the same reasons though I'm not quite sure about their resale value. If you must buy a compact car, then there's Toyota's Yaris and Nissan's Tiida. I would suggest you get something with more space like a Toyota Corolla. If you are buying a second-hand car, you would get a pretty good deal on a Nissan Altima or a Toyota Camry as their value drops sharply when they are sold as second-hand vehicles.It might be too early to invest in a hybrid car as the cost is quite high compared to a fuel-efficient car. Perhaps if a government subsidy helps lower the price difference or if Honda lives up to its promise of delivering a hybrid with a minimal price difference compared to the gasoline version, the hybrid cars would be worth it.You might want to check out the Top Gear reviews of various cars. I believe you can find the Top Gear videos on YouTube. Check out the video of the Subaru Impreza drift! :-)

[webishqiptar 0]

Oh I would recommend A class Mercedez Benz, as they are tiny and familiar and they seem to get perfect to your mama. Well, why don't you consult to a local mechanic, that would the adapt person to talk with in relation to cars.

[Nameless_ 1]

@Nameless_:

When you mentioned the picnic car, do you mean a Toyota Corolla station wagon? There's an electrical (?) engineering firm named Esab that gets one of those for all of its employees. It's very spacious and can hold a lot of luggage, while at the same time delivering pretty good fuel efficiency.

 

@rvalkass:

Toyotas are quite popular for their resale value and low maintenance cost. Nissans are quite popular too, for the same reasons though I'm not quite sure about their resale value. If you must buy a compact car, then there's Toyota's Yaris and Nissan's Tiida. I would suggest you get something with more space like a Toyota Corolla. If you are buying a second-hand car, you would get a pretty good deal on a Nissan Altima or a Toyota Camry as their value drops sharply when they are sold as second-hand vehicles.

 

It might be too early to invest in a hybrid car as the cost is quite high compared to a fuel-efficient car. Perhaps if a government subsidy helps lower the price difference or if Honda lives up to its promise of delivering a hybrid with a minimal price difference compared to the gasoline version, the hybrid cars would be worth it.

 

You might want to check out the Top Gear reviews of various cars. I believe you can find the Top Gear videos on YouTube. Check out the video of the Subaru Impreza drift! :-)

Sorry, oops. It's actually Toyota Advances.

And it doesn't even start with C. I have terrible memory. Just asked my dad.

 

This is what it looks like: (It's very popular, I see it everywhere...)

 

 

well, no, not really.

 

I couldn't find a picture of it.

This is toyota Prius, it's completely different.

 

But it looks KINDA similar to what I'm talking about.

[rvalkass 5]

I would say a Toyota Yarus, a Vdub golf, or a vdub polo, or a fiat 500.

 

 

Hope that helped. I would choose one of the Vdubs

I've shown her the Yaris, Golf and Polo and she likes them all, so it's a good start The Fiat 500 she's not so keen on, and there aren't that many being sold second hand at the moment.

 

If you want to save little bit of parking space then buy a Hyundai i20 or Skoda Fabia. Both these cars are far better than Ford Fiesta and are best in their segments.

The Skoda Fabia is one I recommended to her, and again she seems to like it but I am yet to see a second hand i20 for sale anywhere nearby.

 

Check out the video of the Subaru Impreza drift! :-)

Somehow I don't think she's gonna get an Impreza!

 

Oh I would recommend A class Mercedez Benz, as they are tiny and familiar and they seem to get perfect to your mama. Well, why don't you consult to a local mechanic, that would the adapt person to talk with in relation to cars.

I showed her an A Class, and the response was "Did someone reverse it into a wall at high speed?"... Somehow I think that one is out

 

well, no, not really.

 

I couldn't find a picture of it.

This is toyota Prius, it's completely different.

 

But it looks KINDA similar to what I'm talking about.

Well thanks for the useful picture

 

After spending days looking at cars, reviews and all sorts, my mum reached the conclusion that the car should be black. Or silver. Or maybe dark blue. Something tells me it could take a while to actually decide on a car *sigh*. Thanks for your help everyone - keep it coming!

[Nameless_ 1]

I've shown her the Yaris, Golf and Polo and she likes them all, so it's a good start The Fiat 500 she's not so keen on, and there aren't that many being sold second hand at the moment.
The Skoda Fabia is one I recommended to her, and again she seems to like it but I am yet to see a second hand i20 for sale anywhere nearby

Somehow I don't think she's gonna get an Impreza!

I showed her an A Class, and the response was "Did someone reverse it into a wall at high speed?"... Somehow I think that one is out

Well thanks for the useful picture

After spending days looking at cars, reviews and all sorts, my mum reached the conclusion that the car should be black. Or silver. Or maybe dark blue. Something tells me it could take a while to actually decide on a car *sigh*. Thanks for your help everyone - keep it coming!

Yeah? Well, for some reason, most Toyota Advances that I see on the streets are silver... if not all Toyota Advances that I see on the streets are silver for some reason. My family uses a silver one as well... weird...

But yeah, just thought I would let you know. Anyway.... Good luck with choosing your car!!! I'm not surprised if it takes quite a while to actually decide. Buying a car uses a lot of money and requires lots of big investments to cover it up, so if or when you want to buy a car, make you that you are completely happy with your choice!!!

(After all, you can't just throw it away and buy another one... it's nothing near the price of toilet paper)