Tell me about your terrific small car...

[lljkk]

Looking for something in the lowest road tax band.
Would buy 2nd hand, thinking 2-5 years old.
Petrol probably best (we don't do a huge amount of miles).
4 seater type thing (have ruled out Smart Car).
Much desired are usual nice features like reliability, cheap to run, good fuel economy.
Don't care about style or trendy.

Am already thinking Citroen C1, Micra, Ford Ka.

Any other suggestions?

Fiat Panda... 4 doors, good sized boot. comfy ride and everything tax, insurance, petrol consumption saves ££££'s
Can get it in deisel and 4WD too!

MrsDeVere, someone here has a pink one with a personalised plate, I sooo want it.
I'll probably need a bigger car before long, so will have to get rid of my IQ, and the Fiat will be out of the question too (I need a wheelchair), and am gutted.
My car isn't pink, but has every pink accessory you can possibly have for it.

Fiat 500
Such a good fun car,and even the teenager thinks it is cool!
However read somewhere it is in the top ten of cars that holds it's value so you may need to take that into consideration
Bought mine with 15 delivery miles at a good price but had planned to buy one a couple of years old

I've just changed from a Mini one ( lovely , lovely car ) as it was sadly too small .
My primary age children ( when I bought it ) are now 17 & 15 and we couldn't all fit in .
I wanted a fiat 500 , but it was too small , so I have a Peugeot 208 .
It's such a good car to drive .

When mine gives up the ghost - I will be getting a LPG and petrol car, there is no way I want to keep having to pay 1.34 for petrol when LPG s 70p a litre round here.

I would have a fiat 500.

I can't have one. Have one for me!

We have a Kia picanto - very small and not much room in boot but otherwise fab.

Oh just noticed Kia comment - why do you hate the 7 seated? We have 2 kias - one small and one big and they've been ideal (2 kids and a dog and us)

I have a Toyota Aygo. 4 doors so great with kids. Cheap to run. £30 a year road tax

My daughter owns a toyota IQ - only 2 doors but very roomy in the front and £0 road tax!

Former owner of a nissan micra AND a Ford Ka - Both good cars!

Chrysler Ypsilon...very cheap to run and is half the insurance price of my previous small car.

I have a 55plate 5door Toyota Yaris which I've had from new. In that time despite being thrown around in all situations from motorways to building sites I've never had a problem bar 1 flat tire (cheap to replace) & a cracked windscreen (chip from motorway + freezing temps).
It got me to work everyday in deep snow, has carried all the children's paraphernalia from baby upwards, has seen me through some spectacular flooding. Is cheap to run, insure & maintain and is quite good fun for a small car. Easy to drive & park, bigger inside than you'd expect and generally a bloody good car.
I have a 1.3l, 5door colour collection and will be sad when I finally trade it in(which is not yet)

Another vote for the i10. Great car. Cheap to buy, and the higher end model has lots of extras (ours has got the works - air con, Isofix, sun roof, electric rear windows, ipod jack, you name it). Very eco to run. But for us the real selling points were three things - a) cheap to buy because not trendy like the Fiat 500, b) 5 year manufacturer warranty, and c) consistently good reviews on things like What Car etc. For about 5k we got a three year old top of the range model in pristine condition with about a thousand miles on the clock.

WE've got the Toyota Aygo. Its fab. Agree with what has already been said about it. REally nice to drive

I have a Fiat 500 convertible. I love it! I did have the non convertible originally and then replaced it with my current one. Had this one nearly 2 years now and still no other "properly" small car I want instead. I love the way it looks, it has all the gadegtty stuff I want and it is a doddle to park anywhere - I have to park on narrow busy heavily parked up roads every day for work - converitble has parking sensors too so can park anywhere! I take it on the motorway when travelling further and it performs perfectly well.

If you just want a good value economical small car - we had an Aygo for a while a few years back. £ for £ it was the best little car we have had.

I love, love, love my Fiat 500 and if you're buying second-hand you can often get a lot of extras for your money. The original owner went daft on the spec so I have parking sensors, blue tooth and mp3 port, auto sunroof, red leather seats, decals, sports function (soooo much fun to drive), it's automatic too. It's brilliant. But it is wee.

We looked at lots of 'entry level' cars but the Fiat did spoil it for us. The C1 you mentioned - such a cute car from the outside and goes well, but inside it's all plastic and sliders and clunky and cheap.

That said, I like the little Toyota, we had one as a replacement car for a few weeks.

We've got a VW Polo 1.4tdi that DH uses for work as he does a 49 mile commute. It is really economical and is lovely to drive, it takes me back to my youth! The road tax is £35 a year.

We looked at the Fiat 500 and loved it but were worried about the reliability of them because of the amount of miles DH is doing. If we needed a car to potter about in we'd have bought it no doubt!

I have an Audi A1. Bloody love it. Good on fuel, goes like shit which is good for my motorway commute.

I loved my Toyota Yaris, I had a 53 reg from new and loved it. I now have a skoda roomster, as we just couldn't all fit in - It is a bit more than your 10K, but is very practical.

Nothing like as nice to drive as the Yaris though.

I love my Toyota Yaris, for all the reasons other Yaris owners have already said. Mine's a 59 reg, 1.3, 5 door, cheap to run, £35 road tax, good sized boot and plenty of leg room. We use it as a main family car, we only use DH's bigger car for him to go to work and holidays.

I have a ford ka. Wanted a fiat 500 but think its a but overpriced because its so pretty. BUT I love my ford. Really economical and reliable. Never had any problems and really nippy round town plus easy to park.

I10 owner here too. Traded in my very old Saab and. Got. It as a new car. We got one step up from the basic to have the boot tray under the boot flap and electric rear windows (these can be turned off from the front hence stopping ASD DS opening and closing the windows ). The three rear belts and headrests are fantastic for those occasions you want to get an extra person in.

We're a family of five and on one occasion managed the three DC's, two booster seats, one stage 1 seat, pushchair, weeks shopping, and hen with 10 chicks in the car.

It's been very reliable, has a 5 year Hyundai warranty. The services are annual and have come in around £150. Fuel efficiency is good, a tank lasts as long as it did in my Saab but its £30ish To fill where the Saab was £70ish.

It's got a fantastic tight turning circle and fits into tiny spaces. The fairly flat rear makes it easy to reverse park because you can judge where the car ends.