best/most reliable small car ?
 

My mum is looking to buy a new small car. She does very few miles , 50 a week maybe. She's not interested in features like blutooth and alloys etc , nor is she worried about performance or handling , she justs want an A to B car. She is more interested in reliability than anything.

My problem is she sees these cars with 7 years warranty , but that could just mean its so rubbish and its always getting fixed !

What's the best , reliable , small car out there at the minute ?

Any help appreciated :thumb:

I'd stick with Jap - Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris.

Suzuki are well worth a look. We've had 6 over the last 20 years, all a bit dull, but utterly reliable. Wife currently has a 2008 Sx4 4grip. Just hit 50k, needed nothing but brakes and tyres, and a broken spring because of potholes.

Toyota aygo ?

Nissan micra imo

Yep, aygo, yaris and micra are best contenders

Sounds like a plan.

Aygo seems the new fashion accessory of today. I'd go with that if it's not too small for shopping bags etc

New ford fiesta has to be worth a look ?

Aygo/Gayo is a piece of shiht.
Buy one for someone you hate.
Wife had one as a courtesy car for six weeks a few years ago while her Golf was in having some serious 'T-Cut' done, she despised every mile she did in it.

Aygo is plagued with damp problems from poor seals.......avoid.

Suzuki swift all the way

as confirmed by Evo magazine!

I had a 1988 GTi as a commuting workday hack, and it made me grin every day.

Bear in mind its for my mum , she wont be wanting any sporty versions. Just something simple and reliable.

Toyota Yaris or Nissan Micra, mum had a Micra for 5yrs all I did was change the oil twice a year and the front tyres once in about 30k of motoring, quite spacious for a small car too, can get a fridge in the back of one.;)

Edit to add; 7yr warranty is a scam to make sure you keep going for services at main stealer, 7yrs of that is worth a good few quid to them.

Mazda2. Super reliable, great handling, decent space.

Do you have to use the main dealer for servicing to keep the warranty ? I thought that was a common (wrong) assumption people make. Can anyone confirm that ?

my wife has just traded her citroen c2 gt in as we need a bigger car, 60k in 7 years, never wanted anything but tyres and some brakes, was a little cracker

Yaris is a very good car,
Girlfriend has had hers since 2004, its now just reached 71k, Never failed its MOT yet, All its needed on services is front discs & pads & tyres, Always serviced at Toyota dealers aswell.

If you mean Kia/ Hyundai - nowt wrong with them. The PIcanto is a solid, basic little car, and leagues above anything French in quality/durability- That includes the half-French, Japanese-branded, British-built Nissan Micra (which is part Renault Clio) :thumb:

The problem with the 7 year warranty that I can gather is the dealerships, which are more "how can I not help you" or fob you off becuase "xx part is not covered". I think Kia/Hyundai are very strict with payouts to dealerships for claims, which in turn makes the dealerships less accomodating to customers. Their labour rates are pretty high too - we get quite a few Kias in for their first or second service, that must say something about the dealers.

Also the warranty is not voided buy using non-dealers for service work. This is under EU law - it is illegal to do that. So long as it can be proven that work was done correctly, competantly using the correct parts, and teh failure wasn't a result of the work being done by a non-dealer or by abuse. Therefore you must use a garage that is a member of a repairer's association (like the IMI) and who has proper record keeping and audit trails of parts and materials from supply to fitment/invoicing as well as details of tasks performed. So a cash-in-hand garage with hand scribbled reciepts will not do.

This appies to any manufacturer's warranty of a car. Anyone who says a manufacturer's factory warranty is voided by not using main dealers is either lying or misinformed (please don't confuse a manufacturer's warranty with a dealership or insurance orientated warranty).

Anyhoo. I like the Picanto - no thrills, basic solid motoring. Easy to work on too. Their only flaw is the cambelt needs to be done quite regularly (4years regardless of miles IIRC), so that pushes up servicing costs a little, but its a simple job to do as its just a single cam engine and the belt is easy to access unlike many French cars which can take twice as long due to engine brackets etc being in the way.

Teh only flaw with Kias and Hyundais is genuine part prices are expensive...although no worse than Nissan, which I liek to call "Nissan Tax" where you get a Renault part in a more expensive Nissan branded box.

Honda Jazz would also get my thumbs up - to drive its very similar to a Picanto, the only difference IMO it comes with more creature comforts as standard.

Toyota Aygo - don't. Its a Peugeot 107/ Citroen C1. They aren't well built and they eat clutches; If the driver rides the clutch at junctions/red traffic lights. They will burn out in less than 20,000 miles. Even less ifteh driver has poor clutch control - and if the driver's clutch habits aren't remedied, the new clutch will fail just as quick.

So generally speaking, I think so long as its not French derived, you should be OK. :thumb:

Even current Ford KAs are better (not the old one - avoid those rust buckets at all costs)...the new one is a Fiat panda/500. And as much as I fear Italian build quality the 500/Panda/Ford KA is proving to be ok. But they aren't worth the extra purchase cost over a Kia though.

Isn't the problem with small cars there innate "thrashability"

Much easier to really abuse a small (engined) car either intentionally or by just being an unsympathetic crap driver

So you really have to get a well looked after one

Cheers Ali , thought that about the warranty.

Problem is the Aygo/C1/107 are probably going to be the one she will choose from ! She was out yesterday and I'll hear later what she liked the look of and report back.

She's buying new mate , does very few miles , no thrashing of any kind

Hyundai i20 are a great wee car and reliable

Thashability isn't the sole issue as Engine-wise the ones that are thrashed tend to be better IMO.

The engines that aren't thashed tend to clog up with white gunk from condensation - due to short journeys and low rpm use (Vauxhall Corsa being a king example...every low-mile example I have seen has loads of white/brown gunk in the cam cover and oil filter housing). Not helped when the owners thinks, I only do a few miles, so the oil doesn't need changing.

Cluthces, gearbox and suspension on the other hand its all as you say - these cars are magnets for uncaring drivers; Learners, and poor drivers buy small cars. They bounce up and down curbs wearing out the suspension and steering, they ride the clutch, they crash/force them into gears and they bash them about in car parks. Ex-courtesy and ex-rental cars (usually ex-lease) won't have had a easy early life either.

I've had nothing but bother with wor lasses ****roen c2 1.4hdi its coppers to run, 70mpg, £30 a year road tax etc but it's constantly acting up, the DPF is constantly clogging up due to the miles she does ( about 10 per day) the standard springs on the front are faulty and are prone to breaking, I've had to do injector seals not long ago and apparently most of the issues stem from supermarket diesel.

Mick

Mick: Chuffing (leaking) injector seals are common on the DV4 and DV6 engines. They make the engine smokey (you won't see much smoke as the DPF catches it)...which clogs up the DPF very quickly

Anything that makes the engine run rough, smoke or lose compression will guarantee continual DPF problems....thats ignoring the short journeys, which is a seperate issue.

edit: supermarket diesel shouldn't be a massive issue. So long as it a) Doesn't contain too much biodesel (i.e not Morrisons which is 7% bio, normal diesel is 5% ) and the fuel filter is drained and changed regulaly, as diesel fuels today are more prone to bacterial growth which causes water contamination and filter clogging. The fuel tank should be treated with a dose biocide additive at every service too (usually called diesel system treatment/cleaner)

Check out the JD Power/CarBuyer Surveys, I think the Toyota Yaris and Honda Jazz are the most reliable small cars of last year.

Mazda 2 or VW Polo would get my vote.

If you're buying new, VW Polo should be pretty good.

If not, then I'd personally recommend VW Lupo's, I had a 1.4S 75BHP and a GTI, both were awesome and never missed a beat. I did around 100k miles in them in total.

Cool, I will get back in my box