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My elderley, and not too agile parents, are looking for an auto hatchback. They seem keen to go for a Renault Clio. A Renault would not be my first choice, but does anyone have any experience of the auto version? Alternatively, would something like a Yaris be a better bet?
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SWMBO drives a 1.4RT Clio auto, and it's a very nice car to drive as it has power steering and electric most things, so is pretty easy to live with. It's good around town, but a bit wheezy up hills on the motorway.
It's a good size inside, and the boot is adequate for the shopping and odd weekend away.
Overall, its fine. Gotta wonder though, do Skoda do an automatic little car? I'd have thought that might be worth looking at.
Cheers,
Lee.
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Pete,
I looked at a lot of small automatics for my wife(who is not elderly) She has just got the Yaris Verso GLS Automatic. A great virtue is that it is probably the easiest car to get in and out of that I have ever encountered. The loading sill for the boot is also very low. It is easy to drive and she loves it, as does the dog.
There is a test of the car on this site and HJ has bought a Yaris for his mother - not sure what model.
Bob
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My Yaris is auto and it's superb, buy one tomorrow.
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What model HJ's mother is I do not know either.
I would not, of course be seen dead in a Yaris!
However, ever since SHMBO ( and I bet I read Rider Haggard before most of you!) got a Toyota some 30 odd years ago we have not completely stuck to them, but hurried back after occasional treasonable experiments. The only rider is, ours have been Japanese made.
But Nissan proved that you can produce a reasonable vehicle in the UK provided you take on nobody from the old unionised UK car industry. Just where Toyota stand in this I do not know.
Yes, if a car is really, truly, just for non-walking progression you might do worse, or better than. the Yaris.
Better is the Daewoo Matiz, on which I have had very favourable reports, and have myself driven with (surprisingly?) no disasters - never met an elk, mind you - I feel it needs a tacho, but that is probably irrelevant here
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> However, ever since SHMBO ( and I bet I read Rider Haggard
Tomo,
sHmbo ? why the "H" and not a "W" ?
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My mum went for a base model Yaris (to get the grey bumpers) plus the option of power steering. But I was happy for her to stick with manual, since that's all she's driven all her life and I don't want her becoming a victim of "automatic acceleration syndrome".
HJ
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lada are thinking about making a car which looks like a stretched vauxhall corsa, it will be coming to britain in april next year, and has already passed the tests to let in be sold in britain, its going to be starting at about £4495, with a 2 year warranty, i think this might be worth waiting for, as lada are now quite nicely made.
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Tommo,
They don't make a Daewoo Matiz Automatic do they?
Bob
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They do not indeed make a Matiz auto, but it's SOO easy as it is (and see HJ).
As to a stretched Corsa by Lada, would that not be a Victor?
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its not a victor, its the scorpion, the name is aimed at the american market.
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I am struggling to find any details of a new small Lada. They showed something at the Moscow Motor Show a couple of years ago that looked a bit Corsa-ish, but I can't find any details of it going into production (not least because most of the websites I have looked at are in Russian, which I can't read).
I was under the impression that Lada (or VAZ as it is known in Russia) was in some deep trouble and had pretty much given up car making, but it appears not. Their website (www.vaz.ru/vaz) has a remarkable variety of cars, many of which we haven't seen in the UK. Looks like you can still buy an original quad-headlight Lada Riva if that's your sort of thing...
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i know the designer for lada/vaz, i met him when i toured europe in the lada riva, he now phones me telling what is happening. another car coming is a 5 door niva 4X4, and a 4X4 which looks just like a toyota landcruiser, the reason lada are still going is because someone in america has bought half of the lada rights, (dont tell anybody, but its General Motors, hence the corsa looking cars)
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I this u would be best with the Yaris Verso It is a bit taller and easier to get into The driving position is also better that the normal yaris which is very very good anyway !
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I had the pleasure of directing some traffic into the car park at a friends wedding reception this summer. The driveway up to the venue had some potholes in it and a Yaris Verso belonging to one of the guests was unfortunate to ground out its rear bumper. The sides of the bumper then fell off. Now full points to toyota for these fittings popping straight back on again but deduct several points for them falling off in the first place. If we hadn't been there then the owner would have driven off without noticing. btw- The pot hole wasn't that big but the car contained four adults and they seem to ride quite low.
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Small automatics have to be from the far east,they have the expertise through building so many that the work perfectly.Yaris is very good.All those euro CVT autos are dire.
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i used to have a volvo 340 CVT, it ran on a large rubber band(i am not kidding), and if it slipped it was costly, it didnt have gears, just forward and reverse, it was a horrible car to drive, but it was very tough. plus it was only a 1400cc engine so it was very slow.
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I believe the Volvo 340 started out as a DAF, with the same transmission as the DAF 33, 44 etc (anyone remember those). It always amused me that people bought the 340 'because it 's a Volvo, so it must be safer than anything else'. The design was from Holland, not Sweden. And it had Renault engines. A truly bad car in every respect.
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Richard Hall wrote:
>
> I believe the Volvo 340 started out as a DAF, with the same
> transmission as the DAF 33, 44 etc (anyone remember those).
Mum used to have a Daf44 , wonderfull little car in its own way, air cooled 850cc? horizontally opposed twin, dire 6v electrics, heater not as bad as a Beetle.
Once one of the belts stranded and twisted itself round the cone shaped gears. AA came along cut it off and on we went driving on one band. Marvellous.
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