Help me choose a car…

[Celia272]

DH and I are thinking of buying a used car, mostly for short trips around (very underserved by public transport) outer London zones and maybe a couple hours out to see family. Looking at nearby reputable dealers, we have shortlisted the following options. They need to be automatic - don’t have a manual licence :/ - which I think raises the price. I don’t want anything flashy (cat converter/car theft issues around our area), just steady and reliable, and definitely not above £10k..

I honestly know so little about cars, but based on the below, which would you choose?! (Or at least prioritise for a test drive) :)

2013 Ford fiesta- 14000 miles - £10k
2015 Toyota aygo - 27000 miles -£9k
2012 Toyota Yaris - 27000 miles - £9k
2016 Hyundai i20 - 90000 miles - £8k
2011 Volkswagen Polo- 61000 miles - £7.25k
2013 Kia Picanto -48000 miles -£7.25k
2010 Hyundai i20 - 56000 miles - £6.5k

Fiesta or 2016 Hyundai. Maybe Picanto.

Aygo is small, Yaris, Polo and the other i20, getting on a bit.

2016 Hyundai i20.
it’s the largest of the lot but not a big car.
The others are quite small.

i should’ve said - we actually want a small car for parking in London! but this is all helpful thank you :)

A lot of those cars are way overpriced. I would do some more research for a shortlist.

I'd go for the Hyundai. With the fiesta it's probably due a cam belt change, and if it's an eco-boost model that would be incredibly expensive.

The 2016 Hyundai that is.

Aygo, really nippy around town, love mine :)

90000 miles is a lot on that hyundai. The Polo will be plenty big enough for 4 adults unlike the aygo

Oops I read 9,000 miles, I wondered why it was so cheap . Still, hopefully my advice about the fiesta is useful!

I'd go for one of the Toyotas based on reliability. Not totally up to date on the latest stats but Korean producers have had more of a classical mass production model that relies on fixing issues ex post and is thus more prone to flaws.

Until last year (needed something bigger) I lived in London with a 2004 Fiesta for 10 years. Never went wrong aside from the odd bit of work at a couple of MOTs.

I love Fiestas to bits, would always recommend them.

Yaris , I've had 4 and they're great!

That said I wouldn’t spend £10k on a London runaround. I’d go older, slightly more mileage and cheaper - this is £6k and even if the cam belt needs doing at some stage you’re still quids in:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302144272998?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&include-delivery-option=on&make=Ford&maximum-mileage=50000&model=Fiesta&postcode=Se25%206jx&price-to=6000&radius=30&transmission=Automatic&fromsra

2013 Fiesta - 14k on the clock is great, and even though its ten years old, low mileage on a reliable type of car is always desirable, plus parts are cheap and readily available. This would be my top choice.

Can't understand why so many are recommending the 2016 Hyundai, as 90k on the clock is a lot, this would probably be my last choice.

I agree with this OP, however, buying from a local reliable dealer brings a lot more peace of mind than an unknown from Autotrader.

Oh absolutely - just using that as an example 😊

I would go for the fiesta but the price seems high, is this because you’re looking at London? It might be worth expanding the search and driving out or getting the train, some dealers will deliver as well. This car is £9k is newer and has lower mileage.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303295734381?sort=mileage&advertising-location=at_cars&include-delivery-option=on&make=Ford&model=Fiesta&postcode=WF44DW&price-to=10000&fromsra

Fiesta owner here, so biased but I'd go with that. It's a bit overpriced but one of the advantages of a Fiesta is that garages are experienced with them and parts are reasonable. Mine is 2004 (and now has done over 140k miles) and apart from a new clutch has required very little since purchased 15 years ago.

Don't go for the Fiesta, it's the most stolen car in the UK - https://www.driving.org/ford-fiesta-thefts-skyrocket-by-53-in-2022-becomes-most-stolen-car-in-the-uk/

I got a Nissan leaf recently 2014, 60k on clock and it was 5k. It does around 75 miles on a full charge. It's going great and I'm totally besotted. I'd look at a newer leaf. They are soooooo smooth to drive and really worth it. You can get a decent range if you're sitting 9k. You can charge on just a normal house plug (eg. you're visiting family) or in a charging station.

Otherwise, I've had a VW and a Toyota and the Toyota was easy nicer to drive but the VW is incredibly reliable, if annoyingly clunky. It depends what you're after.

My top 2 would be:

2013 Ford fiesta as long as it isn't a 1l ecoboom engine

2016 Hyundai i20

Have a look at a Mazda 2 as well

Those prices seem steep. 10k for a 2013 fiesta!! I purchased a 2012 corsa with 50k, years MOT and years warranty from a dealer in greater London a few months ago for 3.5k.

That’s deceptive because there are so many Fiestas around. If you look at how many cars are stolen versus how many are of that model are actually on then road then it’s all the Land Rover and Range Rover models that are the most stolen.

I love my Hyundai!

I wouldn’t buy a car with 90k miles on it, in my experience it’s around then that they start needing more work than just general servicing.