Recommendations for a new car

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

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.

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

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.

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 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?

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

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.

Not just the airbags annodomini.

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.

Peasblossom

Love my Kia Picanto. Love the service deal and the 7 year guarantee. Love the fact that in 10 years and over 100,000 nothing has gone wrong?

Yes I love my Kia Picanto also , such a lovely car to drive and has added extras as standard . I used to be taxi driver in my working days and drove many different cars but this is the best car I’ve driven and this one is my own car . Fabulous!

shysal

I love my Honda Jazz. It is not too low to get into comfortably and has a decent sized boot. I also find its 'magic rear seats' very useful. They lock into a tipped up position giving a deep space from foot well to roof, very useful when buying tall plants.
I have an automatic and would never go back to a manual gearbox, it is so easy to drive and you will never stall it or find yourself in the wrong gear at a junction.
Good luck with your search. If past threads are anything to go by you will receive lots of recommendations for the Jazz.

Yes I agree about the useful rear seats in the Honda Jazz. We transported no end of stuff that way, including large IKEA wardrobes.

I’ve just bought my sixth vw. Had old ones and new ones golf and a polo. Bought new polo and plan to keep it a long time and my sister has the same car and we both love it. Can’t say more than that. Very reliable.

We had a Honda Jazz automatic for 12 years and it was one year old when we bought it. It never failed to start first time, even after it was left on the driveway for 11 weeks when we were out of the country. We replaced it with a Citroen C3 automatic because we got a really good deal and have been happy with that since we bought it 18 months ago.

Kia Rio Automatic. Love it and love the 7 year warranty deal. It’s 3 years old now and hasn’t needed any attention. It’s due it’s annual service. Must ring the garage ...

Thank you for useful thread Rosiebee
Have a 15 year old Corsa which has been a great workhorse, ferrying gangs of teenage boys around. Must check out the new model.
Does anyone with bad knees know how easy it is to get out of a Skoda Octavia? Can't do test drive at moment.

I'm watching this with interest. I've got a Nissan X trail and need to. downsize, but am nervous because of the high surface water we get on the roads here during bad weather.

Toyota Corolla hybrid. Had it 18 months. Very pleased with it

Another plus for Honda Jazz. I loved mine - it was like a second skin! Uber reliable.

Check out Which to give an idea of reliability, and which cars to avoid. Naturally we are all going to be subjective with our advice on here.

Toyota every time. Plenty of hybrids. We have a RAV and it’s our third. Very reliable.
I have a 10 year old Volvo which has been very reliable but expensive to maintain.

We have a Corsa lovely car. Ours is 7 years old. Will be changing it this year as like others have said it's costing money.
We never get a new car always get a 12 month one. New ones depreciat quite quickly.

No probs. I'm open to all suggestions.

We have a Ford Kuga and we love it.
We had a Vauxhall Corsa before and that too was a great little car and brilliant in the snow.
Had to replace it as it was starting to cost money.
repairs etc.
You can pick up an x mobility car for a very reasonable price at most car dealerships.