Small automatic to replace dying Golf SV

[allthewarninglights]

My 9 year old Golf SV (a short lived version of the old Golf Plus) has cost me £1.5k in repairs the last 12 months and is in the garage again for diagnostics as the electrics are screwed again and as yet dont know the repair costs.

Think its time to bite the bullet and borrow money to buy a new car - i dont need a car as big as the SV but I do need an automatic.

What small urban automatics do folks recommend? It has to be ULEZ compliant (and 100% look nothing like a pretend SUV). Max budget £9/10k, hoping I'll get £5k for the Golf (it also needs bodywork repairs) and can only afford to borrow £4/5k.

Honda Jazz? My entire family have them and love them

You should be able to find a 2021 or 2022 Nissan Leaf with 25k miles for that sort of price if going electric is feasible.

I have an auto mini cooper. I love it

Ah should have added - petrol or diesel only, there are no electric charging points in the residents parking area!

I have a Toyota Aygo. Nice little car.

Not a fan of a "new" minis at all - probs as oh had one at uni a million years ago and that was a proper mini 😀

Mine is a 2007 :)

Am looking at those and a Toyota Yaris. I probably need to go see some in the real instead of just youtube to gauge the size, especially rear seats and boot suze - 2 teen boys come with lots of sports kit, not to mention camping hols and the feasibility of bike carriers.

We looked at the Yaris, found it very dark inside compared to the Jazz and not as much headroom in the back for my tall dc. Our Jazz is the Crosstar version

The seats can be stored in a very versatile way to create space in the back for moving large items or tall plants. They fold up up-wise as well is down

I was looking for a similar car a year ago and settled on a Peugeot 2008. It wasn't on my original short list but as soon as I drove it, it was a no brainer. Others that were high on the list were an immediate no as soon as I tried them. so I'd recommend just getting inside as many different cars as you can, rather than sticking to a short list.

I love my automatic Jazz. The seat configuration in the back is brilliant. I can make the seats lie completely flat or like stadium seating so transporting kit is easy. Plus it must be one of the easiest cars to drive. It is small though! But reasonable enough for 2 teenage girls and a big dog.