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Buying a small, reliable car

peugeot / citroen are not what they were, and the electrics can be a pain in the tail.

I had a 1993 peugeot 205 (diesel) until about 5 years ago (it wasn't far off 200,000 miles) and had to replace it after some twunt stole it and the insurance wanted to write it off. (i was getting to the point where i was starting to think about did i want to throw some money at it to get it to 'classic' condition against moving it on - london ULEZ was on the horizon then, which kinda made the decision for me.)

i got a 2008 citroen c3 in a bit of a hurry - partly chose it as it's a bit higher off the ground than a standard car, and mum-tat can get in and out of it with less bad language than the previous car. but i've had to have a few bits re-wired. and i still haven't found out what all the buttons and switches do...
It used to be Renault that had a bad reputation for dodgy electrics back in the day. You’d like to think nowadays they’ve all sorted it out wouldn’t you?

I’m sure they’ve improved considerably in that respect. Occasionally you can still spot nowadays a late 90s/ early 00s French car on the road which reversing tail light comes on when the driver brakes, or rear night lights blink on and off if the indicator is on.

I haven’t seen that in newly-built cars. But then, with so many electronics built into modern cars, I guess malfunctioning lights would be the least of anyone’s problems. I own a 2019 Peugeot three-wheel bike, which pretty much is the most expensive and best equipped there-wheeler you can buy AFAIAC. And whereas it indeed has a very impressive array of equipment and safety features, and mechanically is said to be far, far more reliable than the equivalent Piaggio models, the electrics have failed me twice already.

Once it was the engine management unit computer, which failed unexpectedly whilst I was riding and caused the engine to cut off (thank fuck I was in the city rather than at 60 mph on a motorway), and cost a few hundred quid and several weeks in the dry dock to correct; the other was the electronic parking brake, which started activating on its own whenever I was manoeuvring at walking pace speeds, whether reversing to park it, or starting up at a tilted angle.

Both sorted now, but I’d really like to think there’s a safeguard built in to prevent the parking brake to activate at higher speeds, because needless to say, if it ever activated randomly whilst travelling at speed on the open road, I’d be as dead as fucking fried chicken, to paraphrase Jules Winnfield.
 
SKODA fabia.

Had one for years, done 100k, nothing has broken. Well, apart from the seat thing which I broke.
I always like to think that the prevailing car brands chosen by taxi drivers in not-so-wealthy European nations is probably an excellent indicator of reliable brands. Skodas have long been one of the most popular cars of choice for taxi drivers in Europe. Hell, I’ve never actually kept count, but whenever I go back to Spain, the official white taxis seem to consist mostly of Skodas plus the inevitable Japanese makes.
 
having had the puddymobile brought home by the RAC for a second time this year, i'm starting to think about options.

again, looking for small to medium hatchback sort of thing, i don't really do a lot of mileage now, but reliability is high on the list.

something that's not going to be too difficult for 80+ mum-tat to get in and out the passenger seat would be good (that was one selling point for the current citroen c3 which is a bit higher than most cars the same sort of size)

but that's going to cope with motorway journeys (work is 60-70 miles away via M25 and M1 or A1 - i only go there once or twice a month, mum-tat is similar distance round the M25 in SE london and generally only drive there if i'm staying a night or three so again not all that often.)

also needs to be able to cope with occasional days for work where i'm doing a lot of stop-start stuff.
 
having had the puddymobile brought home by the RAC for a second time this year, i'm starting to think about options.

again, looking for small to medium hatchback sort of thing, i don't really do a lot of mileage now, but reliability is high on the list.

something that's not going to be too difficult for 80+ mum-tat to get in and out the passenger seat would be good (that was one selling point for the current citroen c3 which is a bit higher than most cars the same sort of size)

but that's going to cope with motorway journeys (work is 60-70 miles away via M25 and M1 or A1 - i only go there once or twice a month, mum-tat is similar distance round the M25 in SE london and generally only drive there if i'm staying a night or three so again not all that often.)

also needs to be able to cope with occasional days for work where i'm doing a lot of stop-start stuff.
Mercedes A class is a bit higher than most, and often favoured by the elderly. Not sure how it fares on the reliability front.
 
i only ever owned Saturns, but they're not made anymore :(
100% reliable - started every time, in all weather. got 37 on the highway too. remarkable.
 
Mercedes A class is a bit higher than most, and often favoured by the elderly. Not sure how it fares on the reliability front.
Probably the older A class, the lower ones seem more like a golf, I have a B class which is also fairly high but which is now discontinued.

I’d look at a Yaris tbh, my Nanna used to manage to get in mine and she basically couldn’t walk
 
I am not looking for another car ATM as my old car (a Mercedes A class) has come back from the dead.

The brakes were only just working and it needed fixing. My usual mechanic was very busy so I took it somewhere else. The examined it and said the the brake pipes needed replacing along with some other stuff and it would cost almost £900. As I only paid about £1000 for it, I thought it's not worth it. Hence me starting this thread.
After a couple of car-less weeks I decided to get a second opinion and took the car to my regular mechanic. He managed to fix the brakes without replacing the pipes and it was only £150. 😊
 
why are so many cars grey now?

just MEH

and thanks for the suggestions above. depends of course what the verdict on current car is (i've had quite a bit done this last year, so reluctant to give up on it, but also aware of sunk cost and so on)

hadn't really thought about skoda - they are pretty much volkswagen remoulds now, aren't they?
 
The Fabias are usually well thought of. A Toyota Yaris or Auris are worth looking at too.

If you can get the current car fixed that is always the less faffy option.
 
thanks for the thoughts.

i've decided to give up on the current car rather than throw a load of money at sorting the latest problem out and wait for the next one.

have found quite a good skoda fabia and have said yes.

is it a fabbier or a faybier, though?
 
Ok so my Mercedes has finally died. I got another 10 months out of it so can't complain.

One of my colleagues is selling a Fiat 500 that belongs to his niece who doesn't need it any more. It's a 2013 model and only £2000. I know I will need to spend some money on new tyres and a timing belt. The only thing putting me off is the high milelage it's about 110,000. He says that cos she lived in Lincolnshire it's mostly driven at higher speeds not stop/start, so much less wear and tear than a London car with the same mileage. I've spoken to a couple of people with Fiat 500s and they are pretty happy with them. Any thoughts?
 
Ok so my Mercedes has finally died. I got another 10 months out of it so can't complain.

One of my colleagues is selling a Fiat 500 that belongs to his niece who doesn't need it any more. It's a 2013 model and only £2000. I know I will need to spend some money on new tyres and a timing belt. The only thing putting me off is the high milelage it's about 110,000. He says that cos she lived in Lincolnshire it's mostly driven at higher speeds not stop/start, so much less wear and tear than a London car with the same mileage. I've spoken to a couple of people with Fiat 500s and they are pretty happy with them. Any thoughts?
No idea about their reliability but there's very little space behind the front seats so if you ever carry more than one passenger, I'd look elsewhere. Similarly, there isn't much boot space either.
 
Ok so my Mercedes has finally died. I got another 10 months out of it so can't complain.

One of my colleagues is selling a Fiat 500 that belongs to his niece who doesn't need it any more. It's a 2013 model and only £2000. I know I will need to spend some money on new tyres and a timing belt. The only thing putting me off is the high milelage it's about 110,000. He says that cos she lived in Lincolnshire it's mostly driven at higher speeds not stop/start, so much less wear and tear than a London car with the same mileage. I've spoken to a couple of people with Fiat 500s and they are pretty happy with them. Any thoughts?
mrs tag has had one for a year or two and no problems but it is a very little used car.
I think its the multi air engines that are supposed to be the best.
£2000 I would suggest is high for a car of that mileage needing £500+ spending on it.
As a big bloke I don't find it comfortable over a longer drive.
 
Seems expensive for an old and high milage Fiat 500. Very much a city car too. I would look at a Toyota or Skoda

Something like this?
 
Does the car need to be ulez compliant? Non compliant cars, especially if bought in London area would probably be good value. Mrs tags very old nissan Micra just kept going and going. Very reliable and very affordable.
 
Does the car need to be ulez compliant? Non compliant cars, especially if bought in London area would probably be good value. Mrs tags very old nissan Micra just kept going and going. Very reliable and very affordable.
I live in London, of course it needs to be compliant.
 
Something small and less trendy like a Honda Jazz or nissan Micra which have a plentiful supply of spares and go on forever.
 
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