New car for the wife

Gredawarha

Gredawarha

Gredawarha

Associate
Joined
22 Nov 2017
Posts
339
Hello all

My wife has £20k maximum budget to buy a nearly new car.

Musts:

Automatic with the gear selector either centrally located or to the left of the steering wheel
Petrol or electric (we have space on the driveway to charge the car but would have to factor a 7KW charger into the budget), no diesel.
4 seats

Her current car is a Toyota Yaris, 2011 which she has owned since new. It has been a reliable workhorse but we both agree that it is under powered and has an awful gearbox. So whilst we are not absolutely ruling out another Yaris I think we are looking elsewhere. Size wise I think something similar to the Yaris, she doesn't want a city car but doesn't need a large car. She's also not as anti SUV as I am but would prefer a typical hatchback or saloon.

My sensible option presented to her so far has been something like this Skoda Fabia. I own a 2015 Octavia Estate DSG and whilst it is not the fastest thing I have ever driven I have never felt I needed more when out and about which can't be said for the Yaris. I have found the DSG to be smooth and the car has been reliable, if not exciting.

She's been eying up a Minis so something like this. I quite like the Mini but I watched a JayEmm on cars video online where despite being positive about the car the remarks he made about the creaks and rattles really put me off, any Mini owners have any view on this, does your Mini creak and rattle?

Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.
 

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Decent bit of car for the cash.

I've had mine since March last year and done 10k miles in it, it's not skipped a beat. Nice place to be, surprisingly nippy with the DSG box considering it's only 110hp, gets 50mpg on a run and all the gizmos and gadgets you could need.
 
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bloodiedathame said:
What sort of driving does she do? Mileage, motorway, backroads etc

How many miles per day? School run? Shopping? Dog? Takes stuff to the tip?
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Maybe 75 miles per week as she does three days in the office, with a bit of bimbling around the village dropping off our son to clubs and a weekend trip to the nearest town. Mixture of A road and B road. Most of our shopping is delivered and no animals or trips to the tip as that is typically done in the Octavia.
 
tom_e said:

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!
www.autotrader.co.uk www.autotrader.co.uk

Decent bit of car for the cash.

I've had mine since March last year and done 10k miles in it, it's not skipped a beat. Nice place to be, surprisingly nippy with the DSG box considering it's only 110hp, gets 50mpg on a run and all the gizmos and gadgets you could need.
Click to expand...
How's it on A roads/Motorways at 70MPH, does it struggle with hills at all? One of the complaints with the yaris is that on hills it either cannot maintain 70MPH or more commonly it will drop a cog or two and rev like mad.
 
Gredawarha said:
How's it on A roads/Motorways at 70MPH, does it struggle with hills at all? One of the complaints with the yaris is that on hills it either cannot maintain 70MPH or more commonly it will drop a cog or two and rev like mad.
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No issues on A roads/Motorways, still plenty of pull if you want to overtake at 70ish. Majority of my mileage 300-400 a week is my commute which is exclusively M/A roads.
Again no issues maintaining or accelerating up to 70 up hill if needed, it may drop a gear or two but as it's a DSG and not a CVT like the Toyotas there's no big dump of revs and associated noise to go with it.

I had a brand new 2023 Aygo as a loan car while my previous one was in for some insurance work and it was a whole other horrible place to be, entirely down to the CVT gearbox screaming at me if I thought about putting my foot down :o
 
There is/was still a grant when I got my Ohme Home Pro fitted in July but you need to be in rented or social housing with a off street parking space. It brought my install and charger down to £799 from over £1100 and that was the cheapest of the two that could be bothered to quote me.

A EV would be perfect for your wifes usage.
 
pastymuncher said:
There is/was still a grant when I got my Ohme Home Pro fitted in July but you need to be in rented or social housing with a off street parking space. It brought my install and charger down to £799 from over £1100 and that was the cheapest of the two that could be bothered to quote me.

A EV would be perfect for your wifes usage.
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Yes looked earlier and if I’ve understood the .gov website correctly we wouldn’t qualify, but she’s been looking at the Hyundai Kona electric, could pick up a 22/23 model for £19k and keep a grand aside for a charger.
 
Gredawarha said:
Yes looked earlier and if I’ve understood the .gov website correctly we wouldn’t qualify, but she’s been looking at the Hyundai Kona electric, could pick up a 22/23 model for £19k and keep a grand aside for a charger.
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MG4's are great value as well, 72/23 reg cars from £14.5.15.5k - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202501228297964?

The charger isn't going to disappear when you sell that car either, so look at it lore like buying a house hold appliance. You'll also be saving ~£500 a year on fuel, based on 75 miles x 52 weeks, at 40mpg average, and £1.30 a litre (£590), vs. 7ppkWh at 3.5mpkWh (£78).
 
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