Recommendations for a new car

I need to replace my faithful Toyota Yaris which failed its MOT in a big way and would have been too expensive to repair. RIP! I need a fairly narrow car as I have an end terrace house with an entry to my back yard which won't take many modern cars which have grown wider to accommodate side airbags. So I'm looking for something like my Yaris or smaller, low mileage and automatic would be good.

Not just the airbags annodomini.

Thanks for all replies. Well it's May now and our Punto continues to chug along. I'm still in the mind of looking for a new car but DH has just arranged another year's road tax for it!?! Looking at merits of Honda Jazz and something called a Dacia - I think. Even the AA man recommended a Jazz. DH is weighing up a cash purchase v leasing one, no idea why he didn't just do 6mths road tax. Not sure about leasing. Has anyone else leased their car? Heard some horror stories about people having to pay massive charges on their mileage.

The latest Renault Clio is lovely, and there’s a very well reviewed hybrid version if you want to future-proof your new car.

We were in the market for a new car at the beginning of the year and really really wanted an all electric one, but felt a bit nervous about its ability to top up etc on our long trips.

So we went for a Honda Crosstar Hybrid which is a updated Jazz.

Absolutely adore it.

Mind you our son has just bought a new all electric and it is superb. Does 300 miles to the battery and only takes 5 minutes to top up.

Would not hesitate next time to buy an all electric- if we are still around?

To recap on my post upthread: I acquired a good pre-owned Kia Picanto which the dealer described as a 'shopping car'. It's ideal for me, a bit more sophisticated than my old Yaris - the side mirrors help me negotiate my narrow access and so far so good.

We always lease our main car. We have done for maybe the last 15 years. It's usually on a 36 or 42 month basis and we are always realistic with our annual mileage therefore have had no excess charge.

This year we have done hugely less than the contract but doubt they will repay the difference.

The contract we have includes servicing but not tyres. At the end, we usually buy the car and use it as a deposit for the next one.

It works well for us.

I'm with Greeneyedgirl - go to Which. Have a look at the bit that says which car gives most customer satisfaction.

I stumbled on my Vauxhall Agila quite by accident. Hadn't heard of the model previously. Nice high seats and nippy little machine. Love it. Had great reliability from V brand over the years. Had it six years now - used - and hope not to need replacement soon or at all.

I too will be looking for a newer car, my Chevrolet Kalos, 13 years old,has been a good workhorse, but now beginning to leak and garage said it would cost more to repair than the car is worth, so thanks to the original poster for asking this question.

Further to my post above, I meant to say that our 'lease' is a PCP contract.