Spec me a smallish car with big boot

[Mr Badger]

Looks as though it's time to investigate a new car. I currently have a 2 litre Toyota Avensis which has mostly been sat stationary since early last year due to lockdown etc. Going forward I think I will still be doing fairly low mileage - not using it every day and nearly all journeys being under 10 miles. Considering the lack of mileage, Vehicle Tax of £280 per year for my current car and the impending launch of a local Clean Air Zone impacting petrol cars made before 2005, I'm thinking a move to something smaller would be a good idea. Although I do still want decent cargo space as I will hopefully be getting back to playing gigs and will need to carry my gear. So something smaller "cleaner" and cheaper to run, but with similar storage space to the Avensis boot.

Searching the net I've found a few potential candidates e.g. Volkswagen Golf/Polo, Seat Ibiza, Honda Jazz, but I've hit analysis paralysis with all the different models, years and options and could do with some external input, not least because I seem to have gone from a largish car to what seem like rather small ones without finding much in between!

Some criteria:

• Good value! I suppose I can stretch the budget to £4K to £5K but would much prefer to come in under that (I've had a good record of picking up used bargains in the past, but I've not had to take into consideration factors such as a Clean Air Zone making some vehicles unviable).
• Reliable with sensible running costs (I don't mind if it's a few years older and has done some mileage as long as it's going to be reliable for me and my more modest demands and not have expensive maintenance bills).
• Manual transmission.
• Petrol engine that's not completely gutless (I'm assuming 1.4L or 1.5L no 1.0 litre nominations please).
• Good storage space as described above.
• Lower insurance group than my current car (21) and not something that is a magnet for thieves.

Any suggestions please?

 

[Mr Badger]

For £4-5K new your not going to get any decent 1.4-1.5L petrol engine! Why not used few years old your budget will go way further?

I'm absolutely not considering buying brand new - used all the way.

 

[Mr Badger]

you need to clarify this point :



what is 'decent' ?

and what/how much 'gear' do you have ?

surely this is a critical bit of infor required to give any advice here ? because anything from a micra to a volvo estate could be what you need

As I think I alluded to in my post, a similar amount of storage space to the Toyota Avensis (family size 5 door hatchback).

 

[Mr Badger]

Why not get a newer avensis?

Because it seems an opportunity to get something a bit smaller that hopefully still does the job, assuming that modern car design and the laws of physics allow my needs to be met.

 

[Mr Badger]

F92 M3/ Skoda Superb [/motors]

Is that much (any) smaller than an Avensis?

 

[Mr Badger]

OK. Get an avensis then.

Kind of misses the point of the exercise, which is to find whether there is something a bit smaller and cheaper to run that has a similar amount of cargo space.

 

[Mr Badger]

Skoda Octavia would be my vote.

This did crop up as an option when I was searching, although again it doesn't seem to be achieving much size reduction from my 5 door Avensis.

 

[Mr Badger]

A bit on the high side of your budget but the Nissan Pulsar is reasonably roomy and the higher trim levels are reasonably equipped - but the engines are a bit meh - 1.2 gets good economy but anything other than running around town it will leave you wanting more and though the 1.6 is more reasonable it measures up poorly to the standards of other 1.6s in small cars. The 1.5 diesel is a bit better but then that is a diesel.

Diesel and old (pre 2006) petrol cars are definitely out due to the impending local Clean Air Zone - will cost me an extra £9 every day I use it as cars apparently have to be be Euro 4 and above to be exempt.

 

[Mr Badger]

What's the actual driver for a smaller car?



Those things aren't really related to the size of the car are they? You can achieve lower tax, ulez etc. in all sorts of sizes.

True. I suppose in part it's thinking that having a (comparatively) big car sat around most of the time and only doing fairly short trips is a bit of a waste and that a smaller engine in a smaller vehicle would make more sense and prove to be cheaper to run, as long as it has enough space inside to do the job. It's not that I particularly love small cars (for the record the smallest car I've ever owned was a Ford Escort) and I am open to ideas if it turns out that there are better options that mean there isn't really anything to be gained by my downsizing after all.

 

[Mr Badger]

I might be missing something here but how is a car going to be smaller without having less space inside?

Designs do innovate and improve and some small cars (e.g. Honda Jazz) seem to have a good reputation for the flexibility and utility of the interior space. I'm not expecting it to be dimensionally transcendental.

The way this thread is heading I'm going to end up with an SUV or some massive Estate...

 

[Mr Badger]

Thank you - I've got a few recommendations on the shortlist now.

The news today is that the Clean Air Zone is not now happening in October and will instead be delayed to next year. Apparently there will be a loans and grants scheme available in the autumn of 2021 to help residents and businesses upgrade their vehicles, so I'm now inclined to hang on for the details to see whether that is of any use to me.