Spec me: car for GF

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 2 Nov 2023 at 23:10

Having had a mechanical failure of her first car, a Corsa rustbucket, girlfriend is in urgent need of a new car.

Budget 10k
Requirements: small hatchback; reliability; Apple CarPlay
Age: newer the better obviously, not sure where the sweet spot is for price/reliability, and open to suggestion.

Had all but settled on a 69 plate Fiesta 1.0Ecoboost before reading horror stories about the wet belt degradation and timing belt failure/replacement for £1000.

She is not fussy on brand. It seems these little run around city cars have been subject to green washing and now have overly complex turbo engines with failing parts.

Any recommendations on a nice, reliable city car with mod-cons like Apple CarPlay and functioning air con etc.

Also what is consensus opinion on services like Cazoo or Cinch, they don't have that many cars in this part of the market.

Thanks for any help.

Kill_Phil · 3 Nov 2023 at 06:09

Whilst not having applecarplay I'd maybe looking at a Toyota Yaris or Honda jazz.

Gilbert89 · 3 Nov 2023 at 06:49

Suzuki Swift?

Unusual choice but I think they look great.

Kill_Phil · 3 Nov 2023 at 08:12

Gilbert89 said:
Suzuki Swift?

Unusual choice but I think they look great.

Generally seem well reviewed and score high and reliability

SixTwoSix · 3 Nov 2023 at 08:29

Got my wife a 65 plate Mazda 2 with 8k miles on it for £8k this time last year - fantastic little motor, some good toys included, 1.5 petrol engine, very nippy, £20/year tax, chain driven, not sure on the apple car play.

IMO - one of the better looking cars in this sort of class/size.

Prices were still inflated last year so could probably get much newer for your money.

EDIT: Also no turbo to care about but still is small/light enough to feel suitably adequate with acceleration.

bigmike20vt · 3 Nov 2023 at 08:34

what sort of milage does she do in a single journey? have you considered something like a larger capacity battery owned Zoe or if you a lucky an early gen 2 Nissan leaf?

obviously you do get more for your money for an ICE car initially but if you can charge it at home on a good EV tariff you get seriously cheap running costs once you have the car.

that said that Mazda 2 above looks really tidy!

[TR]SweetSpotOz · 3 Nov 2023 at 17:13

Thanks for the suggestions

Alas no facility to charge an electric car so they are out of equation

Mazda 2 looks very nice but I think she’d rather something newer. Will have a look at Swift thanks. Honda Jazz fails looks test and Aygo a definite contender.

Any thoughts re the Ford 1.0 EcoBoost engine failures? I did see another thread on here with mixed opinions on reliability but hard to suggest she get one with a known risk of £4k engine failure!

radderfire · 3 Nov 2023 at 17:24

[TR]SweetSpotOz said:
Also what is consensus opinion on services like Cazoo or Cinch, they don't have that many cars in this part of the market.

Overpriced, rely on people who know nothing about cars to buy from them. I would never use them. I would rather by from a respected local garage or main dealer.

Gilbert89 · 3 Nov 2023 at 17:39

radderfire said:
Overpriced, rely on people who know nothing about cars to buy from them. I would never use them. I would rather by from a respected local garage or main dealer.

My Partner sold her VW to them, she owned it from new and it had full VW Service History.

They sold it on, that wouldn’t have been a terrible buy for someone.

Used Approved is always nice to have, plenty of come back for any issues but you generally pay a premium for that.

I imagine it’s a mine field with Cazoo, I often looked and stayed away due to hearing some horror stories and a lot of the cars state 1 key? I’d not touch a one key car regardless whether or not they can supply a second, might be silly but could be all sorts of reasons it has 1 key, as well as saying a lot about the previous owner…

Or of course they could have just simply had a senior moment and have misplaced it

radderfire · 3 Nov 2023 at 17:48

I have only ever had a brief look at Cazoo and the like (as I wouldn't use them), but it seems to me their business model is largely built on being able to sell cars to people on credit. So basically, you buy from them and you are paying way more than you should have to.

Orangeade · 3 Nov 2023 at 17:50

Toyota Aygo or is that too small?

Teknobry · 3 Nov 2023 at 18:29

Fiat 500 seems to be a popular choice, does she watch love island?

Cyber-Mav · 3 Nov 2023 at 20:39

Kill_Phil said:
Whilst not having applecarplay I'd maybe looking at a Toyota Yaris or Honda jazz.

jazz is target for cat theft. yaris is ok if its the small engine that has the cat on the manifold and sits in engine bay.

Cyber-Mav · 3 Nov 2023 at 20:40

Orangeade said:
Toyota Aygo or is that too small?

got 2007 aygo for the wife and been going good for many years now. needed a clutch but thats known issue on these cars. everything else easy and cheap to sort out.

CSMonkeh · 5 Nov 2023 at 20:00

Replaced Aygo recently with a 19-reg corsa
1.4 90bhp so means tax is actually quite high - £180!

However has all the toys including CarPlay and heated steering wheel
Got mine for just under £9k

Demon · 6 Nov 2023 at 06:29

[TR]SweetSpotOz said:
Any thoughts re the Ford 1.0 EcoBoost engine failures? I did see another thread on here with mixed opinions on reliability but hard to suggest she get one with a known risk of £4k engine failure!

I’ve just seen enough of the trade nickname them the 1.0 Ecoboom to know they are a minefield and best avoided..

And for new car choices, you could go left field and as above , get a newer Stellantis era Corsa with Apple car play etc, a 2021 still in warranty car should nearly be doable for £10k…

Otherwise, just go Japanese and non turbo…

tom_e · 6 Nov 2023 at 07:43

I've run my i20 for the last 4 years/+50k miles and it's cost nothing other than servicing and consumables. Should be able to get the slightly newer version with car play etc for around £10k

Building Candy · 6 Nov 2023 at 10:23

[TR]SweetSpotOz said:
Any thoughts re the Ford 1.0 EcoBoost engine failures?

The older 1.0 ecoboost had a wet belt, this ran the timing belt through the oil and as it wears over time the little bits clog the oil ways and cause problems. The newer ecoboost is timing chain and seems to be just fine, this was introduced around 2020. Easy way to tell the difference by looking at the engine is the old version has the turbo at the front, then newer chain version has the the turbo at the back so you cant see it, also has a metal timing cover on the left. Its very obvious if you google it.

[TW]Fox · 6 Nov 2023 at 11:07

radderfire said:
Overpriced, rely on people who know nothing about cars to buy from them. I would never use them. I would rather by from a respected local garage or main dealer.

One of them is one of the largest groups of main dealers in the country and offers the same cars that they also sell through their main dealers?

So someone taking your advice could easily find themselves buying from them anyway

radderfire · 6 Nov 2023 at 12:26

[TW]Fox said:
One of them is one of the largest groups of main dealers in the country and offers the same cars that they also sell through their main dealers?

So someone taking your advice could easily find themselves buying from them anyway

Which one is that? Are you saying they simultaneously offer the same car at the same price through two different avenues? If not, wouldn't you still get better deals via the main dealer?