Best sub £1k 4 door city car?

[vijilants]

Vij, I presume that's a very early car?

Hi John,

I think the change over from Jap build to French build was around 2002.

Jap built Yaris start VIN starts with JT1. The French built VIN starts VNK.

To add, the ride / drive quality of the Yaris is far superior to the Micra of the same era.

Vij

 

[isleaiw]

Yaris for sure.....very easy to drive, nippy, comfortable and if you go for the GLS you get full eletrics etc.

Dead easy to mantain, super light clutch, and very slick gearchange. Avoid the semi autos.

If you test drive one, listen to clonking from the front....weak point is the drag links. Cheap and relatively easy to replace.

Apart from that, fairly bulletproof and it is chain drive so no need to worry about belts.

Jap version is known to be of better build quality than the French build.

For such a small engine, they seem to do an astronomic amount of mileage as long as they are serviced regularly.

My son owns the Jap version and its fun to drive. Far better than anything like a Peugeot 206 any day of the week.

Toyota Yaris 1999 - Car Review | Honest John

My brother bought a Yaris for my nephew - he is a mechanic and knows what he is looking for. Failed earlier than it should due to something I cant remember now (may have been exhaust manifold) - apparently very common.

I have a 12 year old (make that nearly 13 year old!) 206 for same purpose as OP was looking and its fine for that. Costs peanuts to keep on road (my parking permit at the station is more than the car costs per annum!). Its only a 1.1 and apart from PAS and leccy windows doesnt have many gadgets. Ideal!!

 

[vijilants]

I have a 12 year old (make that nearly 13 year old!) 206 for same purpose as OP was looking and its fine for that. Costs peanuts to keep on road (my parking permit at the station is more than the car costs per annum!). Its only a 1.1 and apart from PAS and leccy windows doesnt have many gadgets. Ideal!!

We also have a Peugeot 1.1 206 in the family, bought from new, 54 plate.

It has a cable operated clutch which makes it super heavy and generally the drive from it is appauling and noisy in comparison to the Yaris, and you have to continually have to work with the car to keep it going, in other words, tiring to drive.

It only has 36000 on the clock, and since we have had it, it has needed a new clutch, new clutch cable, the heater matrix has failed and leaked in to the car, a new timing belt and waterpump at the same time, new coil pack, the steering wheel has worn down to the point where it doesn't look like a 36000 mile car and looks more like a 236000 mile car, and generally I'm not impressed.

You are correct, the car has no creature comforts....not even electric mirrors......absolute nightmare to lean over and adjust the passenger door mirror.

On the other hand the Yaris, nothing spent on it in the last 7 years of ownership apart from servicing / wear and tear parts, a new battery and a couple of headlights as they went yellow, and a clutch this year after 100,000 miles.

It has electric windows, sunroof, electric mirrors, an onboard computer that shows you outside temperature, shows you fuel economy etc.

Never regretted buying the Yaris but certainly regret the Peugeot, but the Peugeot was not my decision

 

[bolide]

By a city car I mean not wide, not long, low insurance, high mpg, low tax so no to SAAB 95

Isn't that normally called a bus?

The downside with the Yaris & other Japanese hatchbacks is that everyone wants them which makes them expensive

Focus Mk I is my default banger. Simple, ubiquitous, cheap, well-engineered and they drive brilliantly

Nick Froome

 

[isleaiw]

We also have a Peugeot 1.1 206 in the family, bought from new, 54 plate.

It has a cable operated clutch which makes it super heavy and generally the drive from it is appauling and noisy in comparison to the Yaris, and you have to continually have to work with the car to keep it going, in other words, tiring to drive.

It only has 36000 on the clock, and since we have had it, it has needed a new clutch, new clutch cable, the heater matrix has failed and leaked in to the car, a new timing belt and waterpump at the same time, new coil pack, the steering wheel has worn down to the point where it doesn't look like a 36000 mile car and looks more like a 236000 mile car, and generally I'm not impressed.

You are correct, the car has no creature comforts....not even electric mirrors......absolute nightmare to lean over and adjust the passenger door mirror.

On the other hand the Yaris, nothing spent on it in the last 7 years of ownership apart from servicing / wear and tear parts, a new battery and a couple of headlights as they went yellow, and a clutch this year after 100,000 miles.

It has electric windows, sunroof, electric mirrors, an onboard computer that shows you outside temperature, shows you fuel economy etc.

Never regretted buying the Yaris but certainly regret the Peugeot, but the Peugeot was not my decision

I think you have been unlucky, cant say the 206 is heavy to drive, far from it. Looks like new inside and has had nothing go wrong. I dont have to adjust the mirror as i never move it - set perfectly for parking in a space at the station so I can see the white line as I reverse in! as for the other gadgets, it is a frigging station car, I need none of those. My other cars have things like that when I need them!

There is good and bad in all makes - in our case the Yaris was bad and the 206 brilliant. Indeed so were the 106 that preceded it and the 306 that I did 70k miles in back in 1994...

 

[Stratman]

Another vote for the Fiat Panda. We've had one in the family from new (1.1 Eco) and it's been totally and completely reliable. Dirt cheap to run, a hoot to drive, elevated driving position and utterly dependable.