Opinions on this Suzuki Wagon R

Tosno · 18 Jun 2015 at 21:43

Mrs Tosno has fallen in love with this car

I can write what I know about cars on the back of a stamp, so is it a good one to learn in and is the price good? She wants an automatic, higher seating position and I want to spend less than a grand on her first car.

Janesy B · 18 Jun 2015 at 21:47

It's an absolute piece of rubbish that has clearly been owned by an elderly person that has driven into everything (see bumper).

I can't think of anything worse to spend £800 on.

Is there any medical need for her to drive an auto? If not I would push her towards at least obtaining her licence on a manual car then drive an auto after if she prefers it. Most small cheap autos are rubbish.

Tosno · 18 Jun 2015 at 21:52

She's learning to pass in a manual but feels more relaxed in an automatic.

sigma · 18 Jun 2015 at 22:03

Tosno said:
Mrs Tosno has fallen in love with this car

/thread

Tosno · 18 Jun 2015 at 22:18

sigma said:
/thread

I won't be be getting it no matter how much she loves it, if its a rubbish car. I only want to buy her a good small auto car.

radderfire · 18 Jun 2015 at 22:22

Tosno said:
She's learning to pass in a manual but feels more relaxed in an automatic.

If you're going to be taking the test in a manual, then I think an automatic is not a good car to learn in.

Regarding the Suzuki, my view on them is that they are cheap and cheerful. Reliability is better than average because they are Japanese. Generally Suzuki seems to do well in customer satisfaction surveys. I personally wouldn't drive a car as small as this one if I was doing a lot of long distance and motorway driving. Also, a small car like this does not offer as much crash protection as a bigger one, and that is a consideration for me.

The main issue for that car is whether the auto box is in good condition.

Try HonestJohn.co.uk and Parkers.co.uk for more research.

sigma · 18 Jun 2015 at 22:24

Is it just for learning in for a few months? It does have pretty high mileage but I'm not sure how these cars fare with mileage, especially given most of it will most likely have been around town. But then again, it's £800, so hardly a lot in the grand scheme of things.

radderfire · 18 Jun 2015 at 22:30

Could also consider, price permitting:

Toyota Yaris
VW Polo
Skoda Fabia
Mercedes A Class

Tosno · 18 Jun 2015 at 22:44

I'd guess we would have it a few months to a year to practice and build confidence in. Her biggest problem is road positioning, my logic is if she's practising in an automatic she will be more relaxed and focused on it, once she's mastered it then change to a manual. She is also of petite build and a higher seating position would help her see the road better.

Akagi · 18 Jun 2015 at 22:46

0 - 60 spec for that automatic wagon-r is 0-5s faster than my Polo

I'd still rather have my Polo. Or cancer. But yeah

[TW]Fox · 18 Jun 2015 at 23:19

Tosno said:
I'd guess we would have it a few months to a year to practice and build confidence in. Her biggest problem is road positioning, my logic is if she's practising in an automatic she will be more relaxed and focused on it, once she's mastered it then change to a manual. She is also of petite build and a higher seating position would help her see the road better.

You don't need to master an automatic before moving to a manual. if anything, you want to do it the other way round. Plus automatic cars for 800 quid are almost all a total liability you don't want.

Zefan · 18 Jun 2015 at 23:22

There are some genuine morons on the road - if they can learn to pass the manual transmission test so can Mrs Tosno.

Don't put her in training wheels. It's counterproductive IMO.

Tosno · 18 Jun 2015 at 23:40

Zefan said:
There are some genuine morons on the road - if they can learn to pass the manual transmission test so can Mrs Tosno.

Don't put her in training wheels. It's counterproductive IMO.

Looking at it like that, I agree with you.

asim18 · 19 Jun 2015 at 02:00

Tosno said:
She wants an automatic, higher seating position

Sounds like she needs more confidence behind the wheel if those are the only two things she wants from a car. I'd be worried about letting her drive alone for now. Teach her how to confidently handle a stick-shift, then see if she still wants a Suzuki Wagner and not an Audi TT

adam cool dude · 19 Jun 2015 at 02:16

Clamp down and tell her to learn a manual. She will thank you for it in the end!

almoststew1990 · 19 Jun 2015 at 06:46

When learning to drive you first learn how to physically drive the car and then concentrate on the finesse (I.e. lane positioning etc) afterwards when you have brain capacity free to do so. It sounds like your girlfriend is sort of half way through the process.

Stick with a manual.

neoboy · 19 Jun 2015 at 07:15

I found it extremely odd and somewhat unsafe when I got my driving licence in US that passing in an automatic car entitled me to also drive a manual car. Stick with manual and get her a Yaris, still has a decent image and excellent little cars all round.

BinnsY · 19 Jun 2015 at 07:54

As others have said, stick to a manual and get a yaris instead. Something like this.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201505303906898

Terminal_Boy · 19 Jun 2015 at 08:03

BinnsY said:
As others have said, stick to a manual and get a yaris instead. Something like this.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201505303906898

This.

radderfire · 19 Jun 2015 at 09:09

BinnsY said:
As others have said, stick to a manual and get a yaris instead. Something like this.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201505303906898

I agree that this looks like a good possibility. This is a superior car to the Wagon R. The Yaris always got good reviews. From the ad, this looks like quite a good example too and would be worth further investigation in my opinion.