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Which family car would you recommend?

My nephew has asked me for advice on buying a family car. He is going to test drive a 2001 Honda Civic 1.6SE auto which has had one owner and has 100,000 miles on the clock. They will also look at a Fiesta and a Mercedes A140. The A140 is much cheaper than the rest. There is a complication that my nephew's wife is small and has trouble reaching the clutch on the Fiesta. Apparently, she has no trouble reaching the pedals in a Toyota and a Mazda, which she sat in.

I've recommended a Vauxhall Meriva as a family car (my sister and brother-in-law have one which has been trouble free) as well as Japanese cars, especially the old model Mazda 2 as well as the Toyota Yaris. What do you think?

Asked on 14 April 2012 by IB, via email

Answered by Honest John
Some bad ideas here. A 100,000 mile 2001 Honda Civic 1.6SE auto is 11 years old and maybe worth £2000 from a dealer, but certainly not £3000. An A140 is a financial moneypit, which is why it is so cheap. A Fiesta makes more sense and the 2002-2009 1.25 has a good reputation for reliability. A Citroen C1, Peugeot 107, Toyota Aygo or Fiat Panda Active 1.1 will be cheapest to insure, but the C1 clones tend to have a few problems after they reach three years old.

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