What I really want
A new Fiat Panda Diesel with a conventional automatic transmission, very low VED group, good MPG, able to do a few hundred motorways miles with no bother, able to convey tall passengers in comfort
What I don't want
A manual or CVT, Dualogic, MMT or similar unreliable transmissions
What's pretty close to what I want?
Perodua MYVI Automatic
What I need is...
A list of conventional autos in reverse VED/price order
Any ideas?
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Mitsuibishi i is conventional auto, 50 odd combined and £35 a year VED so the cheapest conventional auto by some margin as very few small autos have small engines aswell, so have relatively high CO2. Kia Picanto likely too slow for your needs.
Otherwise I believe you wont be getting something with the VERY LOW VED you mention.
I looked at alot of small autos and had I been able to have the Mitsu I would have but the Picanto was the next best on running costs.
I wouldnt bother with the Myvi - go for the Sirion its based on instead as warranty is far superior. In either case though, the CO2 is higher than 150 so not bargin cheap.
Most of the larger superminis are not very efficient in auto form as they stick large engines in them. Some have the CO2 output of a large family car.
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dont think the "Mitsuibishi i" passes the "to do a few hundred motorways miles with no bother" test, too small etc
a manual diesel panda would
now what conventional auto box would fit a diesel panda? how much are they? who would fit one for how much? and how much VED would it end up costing? just fantasy i know as it would probably be a nightmare to insure as a non standard car
nothing better than the myvi or sirion then?
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Well the Sirion is one of the best small superminis so not sure what your expecting. Anything bigger and you may aswell chuck hopes of cheap VED and economy out the window.
Well my two small cars both do a long journey in comfort and without undue noise.
You had better define what you call no bother on motorway.
I get the feeling the things you want pull in opposite directions and thus you will have to choose which is most important. You have limited yourself to the point that you wont have any choices at all.
Conventional auto boxes in small cars are not that popular anyway and those that do have them are not fitted with economy in mind - take a look at figures for say a VW Polo auto - hilarious but also rubbish. You would be hard pressed to find a conventional auto supermini that does more than 40 mpg unless you go small, nor will you find that they are very good on CO2 - I believe some are up round the 180 mark, some a bit less.
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As far as I can tell, the only cars that come remotely close are the Clio auto and the 207 auto, the later of which seems to be availabel on the diesel. What type of autos these are im not sure, check the CBC.
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i guess if social manipulation by taxation a la VED bands etc continues the market forces will produce good autos with low VED levels
biggest issue is that the light/cheap to produce/good for initial mpg/co2 stats will tend to favour cvt/mmt etc versus the much more reliable conventional autos, personally i dont think unreliable gearboxes that fall to bits after a few years are green at all, but the govt doesnt measure reliability in its simple little co2 measure
i think a panda diesel with a proper auto box in it would fit the bill quite nicely, be nice to see it produced
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It may well do, but Fiat arent big on small autos, never been their thing, atleast not since they dabbled with CVT's, which was a disaster. I doubt there is much of a market for a diesel Panda at this stage, especially since the Panda isnt that economical in real world anyway, for a diesel.
Small cheap to run autos are more often than not the preserve of little old ladies who dont do the miles to justify a diesel, hence they are all petrol.
The japanese only bother with small autos because they are popular in the home market, which is why cars like the 'i' exist. Not a bad small car and when I tried one, it didnt seem any less capable than any other small city car ive driven. Certainly distinctive.
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dont agree
many countries like malaysia where autos are more common have a wide selection of small autos, well autos of all kinds really
its just the uk and its company car dominance which distrorts the market here
panda diesel (obviously im talking manual here) is v economical in real world, as we have one, which is why im daydreaming about a nice proper autobox in one
many car makers have been stung by the CVT unreliability thing, i think the MMT etc fashion will go the same way once people know how problematic they can be, although they do tend to last the warranty period not much longer
at the moment i dont think a 1.5 sirion would be that much cheaper than an auto from the class above, however i think there is a big market for a much more economical small auto that can hold its own on the motorway
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Ive heard of people only getting 58 mpg from a Panda diesel, which is terrible for a modern small diesel - should be closer to 70 mpg. Maybe you have been luckier.
The Sirion auto is a 1.3 with a combined of 44.1, CO2 at 151.
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I would say a Myvi - but they're a bit of lolly..
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