Small/medium automatic needed

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Fri 16 Jan 2009 14:22
Small/medium automatic needed - Happy Blue!
A work colleague is looking for a small to medium sized automatic. His wife has MS so needs the auto for her occasional use and the car will do at most 5,000 miles pa and probably less, with most journeys being about 3.5 miles each way to the office.

He wants a small to medium sized car costing no more that £4,000 and probably no more than five years old. There are many obvious suggestions, but he does not want to hear about the great value Mondeos/Vectras... :-).

Thanks
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 16 Jan 2009 14:25
Small/medium automatic needed - J500ANT
I would avoid the smart forfour and Mitsubishi Colt as they're both AMT gearboxes and notoriously unreliable.

Something like a Polo maybe? I think Seat did an Ibiza auto too.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 16 Jan 2009 14:38
Small/medium automatic needed - DP
Don't dismiss an Astra.

My brother in law bought an 03 plate 1.6 8v auto from auction for his mum a couple of years ago. She absolutely loves it. It's nippy around town, but has long enough legs for longer runs, is good on fuel, easy to park and has been faultlessly reliable. Being a Vauxhall, it costs pennies to service too. A really nice car to drive, actually. Also available as a 16v which has a bit more go but seems to be valued about the same.

A 2004 example with under 50k on the clock shouldn't set you back more than £3k or so. Really nice little cars IMHO - give one a go.

Cheers
DP

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 16 Jan 2009 17:28
Small/medium automatic needed - injection doc
small cars with auto's are drama especially the smarts etc & when they go wrong its normally a scrapper. Auto astra not a bad choice especially 8 v with a standard autobox.
Make sure you get a proper auto box rather than a varomatic which is often the only choice on a small engined auto. They rev there socks of & are dog slow. Nissan micra is a classic.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 18 Jan 2009 00:04
Small/medium automatic needed - NowWheels
Plenty of 2004-2005 Almera automatics well within budget, otherwise an Astra.

Current shape Micra automatic is easy to get in and out of, but feels rather bouncy.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 18 Jan 2009 00:06
Small/medium automatic needed - Pugugly
Almera will be of more consistent quality I would imagine
Reply | Report as offensive | Link