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Don’t breaker the bank

We are considering buying a new car and scrapping our 11-year-old Peugeot 406 to take advantage of the Government's Scrappage deal. We are looking to buy a much smaller car, preferably with 5 doors, must have air conditioning, low insurance (our 17 year old son will be put on the insurance later in the year) and good reliability as we intend to keep this car for a few years. We are looking at the Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio, Vauxhall Corsa, SEAT Ibiza and the MINI One. We would be interested to know which of these (if any) you would recommend, and if there any other vehicles you think are worth looking at.

Asked on 20 June 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
Hyundai and KIA were the first with sensible scrappage deals. I'd go for a Hyundai i10 1.2 Classic or Comfort; maybe an i20 if the i10 is too small. Scrappage is the only way you'll get £2,000 off a MINI One, but it will have to be absolutely standard to be insurable for a 17 year old. FIAT has a good deal on the Panda Active ECO, which is Group 1 insurance, but doesn’t come with aircon. KIA offers a basic Picanto for £4,195. Suzuki an Alto for £4,795.

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