Car advice - best reliable small used car around £5/6K?

[Fedupwitheveryone]

Please advice on next shitty car purchase. My old car has finally died and i'm stuck as to what to replace it with - I know nothing about cars and can't afford to get it wrong.

Need something small - medium for short distance London school run driving a few times/week. Only needs to fit one adult, one child, but ideally four doors as I child will need to be in back seat for a few years yet. Automatic only. Needs to feel safe enough for occasional motorway driving.

Any suggestions as to reliable cars that are good value in that price range - I don't want to buy something cheap that's going to cost more in repairs.

2007 + Golf? Renault Clio? Ford Focus? Any advice welcome.

How about a Kia Picanto…..
It’s a small car and has 4 doors as standard. they come with a reasonable spec & Kia is the ONLY manufacturer who provides a 7 year warranty as standard so long as the car is serviced by Kia.

Fords are cheap to buy & repair

@Grumpyunleashed are you my friend who just told me this exact info about her Picanto? ;-)

We've only ever had Ford. I have a Fiesta perfect size to run me and dd around. My H has a Focus we use on longer trips with luggage. They have been very reliable for us.

We are looking with a similar brief. We like Smart cars, Fiat 500 and Minis, favouring the latter currently.

Loved my Renault Clio and was gutted when I had to get a bigger car. Lots of boot space, brilliant for city driving, decent ncap scores and fast enough to cope with motorway driving too. Was really cheap to run/insure and never failed an MOT. It was a 54 plate so pretty old.

I loved my i10. Small car but a reasonable boot size and leg room. It had five doors. Cheap on insurance and never had any major issues at the garage.

As you are in London beware the current market in cars being sold cheaply because they are not ULEZ compliant.

Sorry if that’s obvious, but it wasn’t mentioned in your spec.

Someone's going to get a very good car when I sell mine later this year. I have a 2012 Astra Sri with only 19K miles on the clock. Purchased it and then was offered a company car, but at the time couldn't have taken an allowance, and was only then used for short school runs. Car has been serviced every year at a Vauxhall main dealer so I could keep the lifetime warranty activated. Always flies through MOT.

Both my Fiesta and my Corsa were excellent cars - the Corsa was an automatic and drove really nicely

I have a Suzuki Swift and I've had no issues with it.

Love mine. All the benefit of a smaller car but with higher driving position too

I've got a Nissan note, I don't think they make them anymore (replaced by them making the micro bigger I think) but it's a fab car. Anyone who ever comes in it remarks on how roomy it is for a small car. It's 5 doors and the boot is a great size for a small car, it's quite narrow so easy to park and the doors open 90 degrees, which is great for kids or the less able getting in and out.

You can get them second hand, I bought mine new and it's years old now but has never had a single thing go wrong with it.

Before I bought my current car, a C max which was in the budget you’ve stated, I had a VW polo for 6 years that I loved. It was incredibly reliable, cheap to run and more spacious that you’d think. I’ve had golf’s before that and they’re brilliant cars. I’ll definitely go back to VW if I can when the time to trade

I have a polo too, it's been fab

@Fedupwitheveryone

No, you’ve never heard of me. I’ve never discussed this with anyone outside immediate household.

DW is on her second Picanto now, we find it economical and quite nippy round towns / city’s of Lincolnshire. Parts / servicing have proven relatively cheap too, but I refer you to my mention of Lincolnshire not London prices.
I find it surprisingly roomy in the cabin an it’s a comfortable ride at all speeds if a bit slow getting up to 70 on motorways but once there it’s perfectly happy.

I have no sensibly comment to make on London emission charges but assume any hybrid / electric vehicle may very well be well above your mentioned price limit. If this is the case then you’ll simply have to deal with whatever the Mayor of London and colleagues decide to inflict on petrol / diesel car owners.

I used to have a Kia Ceed, it was automatic and I bought it for 6k then, low mileage and all. It served me. The only things I ever fixed were normal wear and tear like tyres, not a single problem. I have another Kia now as well and if I have to repair the car from the dealer, they are one of the dealership that I find are quite affordable.

I second a Picanto. . I have a child's huge car seat in mine and regularly take 2 elderly people to hospital. Boot fits a walker. Plus I do a shop weekly and fit 5 bags of shopping in the boot. Great customer service from Kia and as mentioned the 7 year warranty.

Also laughing at 6k for a shitty car. My last two cars have cost £1000 and £600 respectively a d both lasted over 10 years. The present one is probably near the end and I'm debating whether or not to hit the dizzy heights of 3k for a second hand.
They are Nissan Micras -old style and though I get the mickey ripped out of me constantly, I think I've had the last laugh!!

Hyundai 1.20. We had one years ago and it was a lovely car. My friend has an i10 and it’s lovely too, just slightly smaller so get the 5 door.

I agree on the Nissan Note @mistermagpie Small, narrow, roomy inside with good headroom and legroom in the back and reliable were my main criteria.

But I admit that they are neither stylish nor trendy.

I'd avoid Renault or French cars in that price bracket, things like cam belt changes will cost a lot more than ford's. Also like kia and Toyota/nissan/mazda/Honda.

Skoda Fabia, Kia Rio or Honda Jazz.

I can recommend a Skoda Citigo. Had mine 8 years no problems. For a small car it has a good size boot.

Ford Focus or Fiesta, Honda Jazz, Vauxhall Astra or Corsa.
I'd go for the Fiesta