Small car high mileage

[jaymanek]

lol!

on a serious note i think rover 25 may be a little large for a new driver...

 

[Howard]

Nothing wrong with Ka's .....

I must say , with regards to the Polo , i was just walking back and there is one on a transporter in the High Street ....

The drivers side looks like it has been hit by a train !! literally ..... like it has been T boned full on by something ....

Anyway , i climbed up of the wheel of the transporter to have a look , and the cabin cell is completely intact , the drivers seat isn't even bent slightly, steering column is still straight , in fact the interior doesn't look bad at all , except for the glass everywhere ....

I would imagine that the person in it probably walked away unhurt ..... really surprised me , because looking at it side on , you'd think ' how could anyone have got out of that ? '

At most , a broken wrist where the interior of the door might have caught it if they were holding on to the steering wheel ....

Really impressed

 

[jaymanek]

They are solid, reliable, stylish, cheap and german... what more do you need..

 

[glojo]

The Puegot has been sold and I'm waiting a reply from the seller of the Polo

I appreciate Howard taking the time to post his message as that is reassuring.

It's embarassing having to give my daughter opinions that are years out of date and I know she will want me to go with her to look at any prospective purchase. My experiences of Rover\British Leyland, call it whatever we want; are not good and I cannot look beyond that. Convince me that the Rover is better than the Polo!

How big is the 2 series compared to the Polo, Corolla, Civic, Astra or Golf?

It's a pity the Mk IV is beyond the price range but we want to keep things fair and maybe, just maybe the Golf might be too big? Although I would like to think not.

Regards
John

 

[MBManInKen]

How big is the 2 series compared to the Polo, Corolla, Civic, Astra or Golf?

According to Parkers (have chosen the hatchbacks for all the below):

I'm not convinced that length by itself ought to be the key requirement in terms of deciding how easy it will be to drive for a new driver. Visibility is a lot more important IMO, and also I have a feeling that a beginning driver would prefer perhaps a car that is not too wide (see also comment below).

Some other interesting observations that flow from the table above:

• They are ordered by length, so the Polo is the shortest and the Golf the longest. Perhaps a bit surprising that the Rover is second shortest in this line up.
• The Corolla stands out as the lowest car and that might very well have a bearing on how usable it is for a tall person - but then again the design of the seat etc will also play a role, so I guess the advice is to just try it.
• In terms of width, it's, perhaps surprisingly, the Rover and the Corolla that are the smallest. The Polo is only third in that dimension.

 

[scumbag]

When British Shambolic Motors/leyland/Austin Rover MG dumped the Mini Metro/100, they repositioned the 200 in the small car class and renamed it the 25.

And in an accident I would not be to be in one.

They are not put together as well as a VW either.

 

[grober]

Are Polos more reliable than a Corsa?? Not according to this site.
http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/default.html?apc=11913195781996932

HONEST JOHN recommends the Corsa but is not quite so enthusiastic about the Polo. http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=444& Just for the record many Polos are built in Spain not Germany similar to the Corsa which is really an OPEL/German design. http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/6909/8-millionth-vw-polo-rolls-off-pamplona-production-line

The polo is good car but does trade a bit on the brand name IMHO

 

[glojo]

Thanks Guido for that excellent information.

Girls being girl's she has still got a leaning towards a French car. The latest option is pushing my budget to the limits. I am amazed that the insurance is still acceptable.

The other car we are looking at is older and has a weird sun roof.
Has anyone any experience of these and are they prone to leaking, cracking etc?

Regards
John

 

[crockers]

When I bought my granddaughter her car - I had two criteria ...1. airbag for the driver and ABS brakes...make sure you get these - but I do think most cars do have them....good luck

 

[Madeira Jon]

My sister is just over 6 feet tall and has had a series of Polos (The cars that is!) plus she is a car boot sale addict so the POLO can take all the rubbish (treasure!) she purchases. I would agree with "scumbag" look seriously at the SEAT derivatives.

 

[MBManInKen]

I would personally also make safety a key criterion. I got the following data from the Euro NCAP site:

Based on this, I would personally rule out a 2000 Corsa because of the orange score for the head, and the Rover 25 doesn't do too well either.

What the table also suggests is that there is actually quite a bit of benefit in getting a newer model, they score clearly better. So, the rather disappointing score of the 98 Corolla compared to for example a 2001 Civic might actually look a lot different if we were to take a more recent Corolla model.

Perhaps a good reason to prefer more recent models?

 

[scumbag]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[agatward]

I'm not ashamed to say this, but I learned to drive in a Metro and when that broke got a Peugeot 106. The 106 was great... also have had friends who learned in Corsas and a Seat Ibiza.

The Seat Ibiza is definitely one to consider if you can find it in your price range - as has already been said, they're essentially VW / Audi anyway, in fact a lot of the parts used in the one my friend has have the Audi logo on them.

Just my £0.02. Hope you're enjoying the wind down here in Torbay

 

[glojo]

I'm not ashamed to say this, but I learned to drive in a Metro and when that broke got a Peugeot 106. The 106 was great... also have had friends who learned in Corsas and a Seat Ibiza.

The Seat Ibiza is definitely one to consider if you can find it in your price range - as has already been said, they're essentially VW / Audi anyway, in fact a lot of the parts used in the one my friend has have the Audi logo on them.

Just my £0.02. Hope you're enjoying the wind down here in Torbay

The problem is the lack of selection. There are a couple of Ibiza's but the price differential is neglible. My daughter has selected one Polo, and the 306, but neither owner has got back to me.

I have shown her a couple of Corsa's and Ka's but she is opting for those I have listed.

There are not any suitable Japanese offerings which is disappointing. A major consideration which I forgot to mention is the colour! Not a big issue but RED is a non starter because of our location. The instant the sun looks at a red coloured car then I'm sure this glowing fireball dispatches a little man with a pot of pink paint I wouldn't mind if the paint faded\bleached in a uniform manner, it doesn't and after a year or so, any solid red coloured car looks awful and I am NOT letting our daughter use our garage

 

[glojo]

Just my £0.02. Hope you're enjoying the wind down here in Torbay

The wind is a winding, but the sun as usual..... Is a shining (live or current picture) See my signature

 

[Vickster]

How about a Fiat Punto? You should be able to find a Mk2, try for the 16v engine. They have a 'girly' button for super light steering. You'll get a far newer car with less miles than with a Polo

 

[jimti]

I would choose a Polo/Seat if it was down to me, I've never owned on, but had a few Golfs and they are tough cars.
I asked my Daughter what car see wants when she has passed her test and her first answer was "mine" when I explained that would never happen she said " a pink one then" so she wasn't much help

the boxes I would want ticking would be
1, cost.
2, safety. (speaks for itself)
3, reliability, (good paperwork)
4, robustness, (new drivers can be hard on cars)
5, What your daughter wants (she has got to drive it after all)

Good luck with whatever you finally get

 

[grober]

I would personally also make safety a key criterion. I got the following data from the Euro NCAP site:

Based on this, I would personally rule out a 2000 Corsa because of the orange score for the head, and the Rover 25 doesn't do too well either.

What the table also suggests is that there is actually quite a bit of benefit in getting a newer model, they score clearly better. So, the rather disappointing score of the 98 Corolla compared to for example a 2001 Civic might actually look a lot different if we were to take a more recent Corolla model.

Perhaps a good reason to prefer more recent models?

Not trying to split hairs here but if you had looked a little deeper you would have found that the Corsa was re-rated to 4 stars in 2002 http://www.euroncap.com/carsearch.a...ab&class=a18a311b-f3c5-47a8-92a7-15e294350858
However that does re-enforce the very valid point you made that the newest models have the best technology.

 

[MBManInKen]

Not trying to split hairs here but if you had looked a little deeper you would have found that the Corsa was re-rated to 4 stars in 2002

That goes for most models, but as the original ad John posted was for a 2000 carl, I attempted to find the 2000 or 2001 model for all the given models. Different models are introduced at different times, but I wanted a snapshot for a given age bracket, rather than picking the most recent model and thus the best NCAP performance, as in reality it's not going to be that newest model that is in the end bought.

However that does re-enforce the very valid point you made that the newest models have the best technology.

Which is exactly why I made the point.

 

[glojo]

she said " a pink one then" so she wasn't much help

Your making more progress than me.

Thanks to folks that have posted on this thread I am now more aware of the NCAP ratings and that is helping.

Looks wise my daughter has whittled it down to Polo, 306 and possibly the Astra. The annoying thing is a lack of choice, looking on the Internet there is only two or three of each model.

I have contacted three sellers of cars that my daughter has selected, one has got back to me saying the car has been sold. The other two have not replied.

Can't get my head around the Fiat; just checked on NCAP Fiat Brava 2 stars, 206 4 stars, 306 3, Pre 2000 Polo 3, post 2000 4 stars.

Still no replies from the sellers.

Regards
John