to ask if your automatic car is any good?

[Wouldloveanother]

Planning to buy an automatic in a few weeks (second hand, I’m not made of money!). It needs to fit a toddler car seat in the back so I’m thinking not a hatch back. But ideally quite small and un-fancy.
If you drive an automatic, I would be really grateful for your car reviews!
sorry there wasn’t a ‘car’ section so AIBU it was..

Bigger than you want but VW tiguan.

Mine is 69 plate but there are older versions they've been around a long while.

First auto and cannot fault it

@Wouldloveanother on your budget you’ll be buying an older car. I think your dad is right on suggesting a Toyota because in my experience they have longevity.

Maybe start another thread asking people who own an older model vehicle what their experience has been on how much it has cost them to maintain their vehicle. How reliable it has been.

Buying an older model car, you really need to know how reliable it is. In terms of quality and reliability I don’t think there will be much difference between the manual and automatic versions of the same make and model car.

PP are right, manual is cheaper to buy than an automatic car.

So, read some reviews online about the specific make and model including it’s date of manufacture that you’ve seen advertised within your price range. You might find reviews that say I’ve had this car for 20 years and it’s still running well and not needed major mechanical repairs. Or you may find reviews saying that this or that major mechanical failing that was this expensive to fix happened after only 5 years.

Some cars have typical things that go wrong with them after they reach a certain amount of kilometres.

You really just need to carefully research each car you are interested in. Make sure there is a service history of the car you want to buy and find out what repairs it’s had. Look at the odometer, how many kilometres has it driven.

Same. Had the GTD first, now have R. Love them.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone wow I didn’t expect so many replies!
ive done some maths and I can afford up to £6,000 (2k deposit, the rest finance). DH wants to get rid of his car so we can pool resources and get something a bit better to share.
ive seen a Nissan note with very low mileage and reasonable price, I’ll keep an eye on that and have a look for some other cars mentioned here.

I've always had a Focus, currently an auto estate but we've just got rid of a 57 plate Focus auto which was fab and a complete workhorse. DH just unilaterally decided we didn't need a second car...

Six grand sounds a lot more manageable than two and a half. Do a spreadsheet comparing road tax, average fuel costs, parking permits, and insurance costs. Brace yourself for insurance costs with a brand new driver and no NCD, but at least you're not a teenager.

Love my automatic. I drive manual Cara at work each day and hate it. I've had automatic for years and much prefer them. Dh has always had manual as he says he prefers them.

Mini Cooper s automatic here, it’s amazing. So easy to drive and very nippy. I love it.

I drive a Kia hybrid thing at work and that is awful to drive, very slow to accelerate and the satnav is shit.

I have an automatic Nissan Duke and I love it. I wouldn’t go back to manual and the Duke is a great size. Roomy enough inside and quite nippy - doesn’t cost a fortune at the pumps either.

We have a Mercedes A class automatic too. Quite new (don't know the year maybe 2020) and AMG so quite sporty, but really comfortable, spacious etc. SO easy to drive, wouldn't go back to a manual. That one is really economical on petrol too if drive it in eco mode.

At £6000k you could definitely have afforded our old car which was a black 2010 Volvo s40 5 wheel drive .Leather seats, lovely interior - 92,000 miles - full service history- went for £3850 at 9 years old in 2019 - even with the second hand uplift it would probably still be about the same - Volvos are well built workhorses with great auto gearboxes

Make sure you get to try before you buy.

Some small-engined automatics have very bad performance, and hesitant gearboxes, which can make pulling out and joining traffic quite unpleasant.

Buy a 5 door hatch then!

Good luck with your test!

I've got a 2019 be Tiguan Rline tech pack and it's swoony. I anxiety LOVE it. Nice high seating aspect, flappy paddles for a more responsive drive, tons of room, electric EVERYTHING. And it looks gorgeous too.

2019 Honda Civic automatic, love it. I had a manual car before this and wasn't fussed whether I had automatic or manual as my next car but it's lovely to drive, so much easier for long drives in particular and really why wouldn't you pick automatic over manual?

Prius, it's great. Also very efficient with fuel

We've got a Citroen c4, great boot size and plenty of room for ERF toddler seat. Pretty good for fuel economy, c3 might be more your size if you're looking for something a bit smaller

I had an auto nissan note for work a couple of times, it was awful, no pick up at all and really tinny/rattly

Same. I think I actually love it

Automatic Mini Countryman. Huge inside considering it’s a ‘Mini’. Absolutely lovely car

I had a Nissan automatic, from new, for a year. It was dangerous and despite only having 7k on the clock needed a full gearbox rebuild. We ended the lease and they had it back. I would not touch another Nissan with a barge pole.

I’ve had an automatic Golf, which was beautiful, an auto BMW which was one of the nicest cars I’ve ever had. DS1 has an auto BMW, now, and loves it. Currently I have a year old VW Tiguan automatic. I love it.

The DSG gearbox in an Audi/VW/Skoda/Seat is smooth and lovely to drive. That’s where I’d be looking.

@Nat6999 got mine at 1.30pm felt confident in it by 5pm and i was a bit anxious as hadnt driven much at all in last 6 months due to surgery. Have done longish and small journeys in last 3 weeks since I got it and so so much easier.

Just bear in mind that automatic gearboxes are expensive to repair. If you are buying secondhand, get it checked by an expert and get a long warranty.

Hi @TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo ,

I have a Toyota Corolla Hybrid Sports (Estate) 1.8. Its brilliant I bought it specifically for ease of driving and to get better mileage.

I'm getting around 63mpg on average on mainly motorway driving 300+ a day, driving around 70 -75.

Where I live is very rural and get even better mileage, just remember driving a hybrid you have to drive slightly different to get the best mileage than a standard car. Break in plenty of time and slowly for regenerative electricity, accelerate steadily and try to keep a steady speed. The adaptive cruse control is fantastic and put your car in sport or normal if its accelerating to slow in cruise control.

Over all we are even considering buying a 2nd and I would not swap it for anything its pure bliss to drive and 10 years warranty - 15 on the hybrid battery its amazing.

Totally agree.

I have a Toyota Yaris, it is a hybrid, incredibly easy to drive, you can park it very easily as it has a turning circle like a London taxi and uses at least 1/3 less petrol. I think they do an all electric version too. If you want something bigger, the Auris/Corolla is a good option.