Economical Auto upto 5K at least 4 doors.

Hitman_Leon

Hitman_Leon

Hitman_Leon

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I'm just waiting on the DVLA sending me back my license so I can take my test, submitted for update on medical grounds. Instructor says I'm ready for the test, chose to go auto route as I'm paralysed below the knee both legs. This makes me drive as though I have false legs below the knee, lower leg braced in carbon fibre AFO's. Still have some feeling in my feet but no muscle below knew so all the control comes from the thigh.

Need an economical auto, the less tax and more mpg the better. Looked at civic and prius hybrids and also diesels like the C4. Don't know a great deal about cars, always had bikes before and also commuted on the train. Living in a small village now with my children and garbage public transport I needed to get a car.

As in the title, can spend upto 5K.
 
You could get a mid to high mileage 2009 Honda Insight mk2, which should fit the bill. ES model and up has cruise control so should be good for longer journeys.

If you do consider one, make sure it's had the 3 software updates done by Honda. A FHSH car will have had it done. It's not a safety recall thing though and the only way to really tell is plugging the car into Honda's service computer. The updates make a massive improvement to the way the car drives, with a slight fuel efficiency upgrade too. Most Honda's dealers will put the updates on a car FOC if you take it to them for a service. Also it's absolutely essential to get one that's had CVT fluid changes done on time - that's 2 years or 25k mile intervals. The CVT gearbox is reliable if serviced but very expensive if it does fail.

Fuel economy wise, they do well on motorways and in the suburbs. If you do plenty of short journeys you may be disappointed.
 
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Is the insight the same power train and general design as the Civic Hybrid, I have been looking at a couple of 08 Civics. I have been looking t the 2nd gen Prius too, did not like them on first impression with but then got in a taxi that was a 2nd gen and that changed my mind.

The thing that worries me with the Honda hybrids is the battery. In the Prius I have read that if you get the battery checked each year at a Toyota dealer the warranty is extended by a year, each year. The Honda battery warranty runs out at 100K or 8 years, I can't find much on the reliability of the Honda battery, the Toyota batteries seem very reliable.
 
Not sure I'd even consider a hybrid at 5k. Why the drive for low tax, high mpg? If you're not so massive miles reliability would be more important.
 
Probably not going to be a popular suggestion, what about an auto Skoda Citigo/VW UP/ Seat Mii?

Those are £30 tax and high mpg. Not sure on reliability, not even sure if they do an auto :p

e; they do autos but the premium for an auto bumps the price up past budget.
 
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The Insight has a conceptually similar drivetrain to a Civic Hybrid but has a slightly different engine and IMA battery. The IMA battery is a simpler design, with less cells and would be cheaper to replace than a Civic's. You're looking at perhaps a £1500 replacement cost with Honda if it did come up out of warranty.

It has to be said that the change in design was probably due to a relatively high failure rate in Civic hybrid batteries. To keep the battery healthy Honda advise that the car is driven at least once a month. Hence I'd be cautious if they have very low mileage.

That said, you'll probably pay at least £1500 more for a Prius of equivalent age and mileage to an Insight. Used Insights don't really have 'Hybrid tax' as such. They don't really cost much more than a similarly equipped manual petrol car.
 
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Minstadave said:
Not sure I'd even consider a hybrid at 5k. Why the drive for low tax, high mpg? If you're not so massive miles reliability would be more important.
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Just trying to get the best for the money I can really, not sure how much I will be driving but might be working at different sites regularly for a while so trying to get economy and reliability.
 
Actually, Prius and Insight both very reliable cars.

However - if you look at overall economy (not just fuel and tax) you might consider the purchase price and depreciation. I just tried a search on autotrader automatic cars with 4 or 5 doors up to 6 years old. There are quite a few smaller cars about but I noticed quite a few 2010 and 2011 Chrevrolet Lacettis with FSH, low mileage at under 5 grand (Edit: actually 6 grand but there's room for negotiation). Badge snobbery aside, you can get quite a well equipped car and Chevrolet have done quite well in reliability surveys like the Warranty Direct Reliability Index. They're mechanically simple cars with not much to go wrong. They might be a bit thirsty - but hey: you've saved a few grand on the purchase price.

I was surprised to see there are actually very few Insights and hardly any Priuses that came up in the search. The only Insights that came up are higher mileage examples that are near to, or have exceeded their IMA battery mileage warranty. Priuses tend to be old, moon mileage or Cat C / Cat D.
 
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I have an 07 Prius which has been slightly neglected on the servicing ( oil/filter changes and tyres only ).

It's got 165k miles on the clock, and is nice and economica, reliable, and easy to drive. The model I have (t-spirit) has cruise ( as does the t4 I think ).

You get the economy, auto, petrol ( no diesel dpf / dmf etc ), reasonable performance. ( I was previously an old-gen diesel driver )

Road tax on this generation is £10 per year. Unfortunately you can't pay that in installments :confused: pmsl.

The only slight issue for you may be that the "handbrake" is a small foot pedal just above the left foot-rest - it's a latch-on/latch-off type scenario, and you have to raise your lower leg up a little.

I've not heard anything about the battery warranty you mention - with the 2nd gen ( pre 2009 ) model, it was 8y 100k hybrid warranty. With the new gen, they change that to a 5y hybrid warranty.

Personally - I wouldn't worry about the hybrid/battery scenario !:D
 
The 'warranty' might be just to do with Toyota's willingness to provide goodwill out of warranty repairs.

I've heard of both Toyota and Honda provining replacement hybrid batteries FOC out of the official warranty period, as long as there's a reasonable amount of main dealer service history.

Other than being pointlessly irritating, I don't think the prius's foot parking brake will be a problem for the OP. It's an on-off stomp really, requiring little sensitivity. Both the Prius and Insight do respond well to a measured right foot in terms of fuel economy though - that might be more of an issue.
 
No, not something I could get, can get a rail card and a bus pass but I think you have to be almost unable to move to get PIP or mobility, then there's the stigma attached, no thanks.
 
I think you might be able to get motability, what stigma? No-one would know, surely...

For a 4 door at £5k, I'd advise a petrol. economy won't be great, but a cheap turbodiesel auto has a much higher potential for expensive borkage. 1.8 mondeo is probably where I'd be looking to put my money, that or a focus.
 
Hitman_Leon said:
No, not something I could get, can get a rail card and a bus pass but I think you have to be almost unable to move to get PIP or mobility, then there's the stigma attached, no thanks.
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There is no stigma, nobody knows and it costs the taxpayers nothing extra as it just replaces the higher rate mobility allowance.
 
I think there is a stigma attached to disability benefits especially in the current climate mainly stirred up by the tabloids. I know how the scheme works, a friend of mine who is unable to walk at all has a car from them on lease. It's a good idea, a registered charity to help people get mobile through use of a qualifying benefit.
 
Not had experience of the auto's, but an old boss of mine had a manual 1.8 and was very happy with it. Good on fuel (40 on a run I believe) and a reliable engine. they look smart too. Couple of issues with water not draining out the rear doors properly I seem to remember, and I think it was a common fault.

Nice low mileage that, probably a pensioner's car or ironically a motability car!!

Probably only ever done short journeys, so check for a mayonnaise like substance under the oil cap. Start it cold, start it hot, give it a nice long test drive.

Check the auto box kicks down under hard acceleration, and changes all gears smoothly. The i-Shift isn't a true automatic, but an automated manual. Some people love them, some hate them. It does have flappy paddles, but you can leave it in auto mode to do the work for you if you prefer. You'll have to do some research to see if they are reliable.

Automated manuals are generally better on fuel than proper auto boxes.
 
When you say 'mayonnaise like substance' do you mean like a white emulsion under the oil cap.

Ah, I get it, can be condensation for only short journey use, also check oil looks good and no steam from exhaust as that can mean coolant seeping into the engine?

My brother will do the test drive for me and give it the works regarding hot/cold starts gear change/rev range.
 
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Hitman_Leon said:
When you say 'mayonnaise like substance' do you mean like a white emulsion under the oil cap.

Ah, I get it, can be condensation for only short journey use, also check oil looks good and no steam from exhaust as that can mean coolant seeping into the engine?

My brother will do the test drive for me and give it the works regarding hot/cold starts gear change/rev range.
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Got it in one :)
And check the condition of the brakes, especially the rears. When I bought my Ibiza the rear pads & discs had very little wear, but where the car had never been driven hard, they hadn't really been used at all, so the discs were a scored mess and the pads disintegrated when I changed them! Also check the age of the tyres. There's a chance they back ones especially will be originals, and you don't really want to be running around on 8 year old tyres.
 
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