OT: Suitable small auto car for elderly mother

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I hope you don't soon find out why Renault autos are cheap...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Try comparing it with an '00' plate Honda auto, then. Only Honda auto I've ever driven was in a Rover Stirling. Dreadful device.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

When did you last have any car where the engine wore out? They can and do break - things like cambelts or head gasket failure, etc, but both these are common to petrol and diesel.

[Skipweasel]

The wife's P-reg petrol Corsa. Burns oil rather smellily.

[ARWadsworth]

It's a Vauxhall, It probably left the factory in that condition:-)

[Gio]

Could not agree more re diesels if local short runs. How about a Hyundai i10. Easy to get in / out of, 4 doors if she wants to put stuff in the back, plenty of glass for visibility nippy although not that fuel efficient and is a true conventional auto with smooth gear changes.

Gio

[TMC]

Have just bougt swmbo a Mitsubishi colt 'Automatic'

Brilliant car really easy to drive very comfortable (she has a very bad back)

1.3 petrol and really nips along if required

However it is not an true Automatic

It has a manual 6 speed box and an automatic clutch

The Honda Jazz and many other small cars use the same principle

You can point and shoot in automatic mode and feel it change gear like a manual all by itself

Or you can use it in manual mode by pushing the gear stick to change up and down

But it still changes down automatically when slowing down or braking so is in the correct gear for accelerating again

I am impressed with

regards

[Andy Dingley]

Dreadful indeed, but the Sterling's auto was by Jatco, not Honda.

Honda have a long (although now ended, I think) tradition of going their own way with auto boxes and using a "manual" synchromesh box with servo-controlled shifts, rather than the usual epicyclics and band-brakes. This gave more ratios than was typical and a drivetrain that was mechanically robust, at the cost of a control system that would have been a laughable disaster if BL and their offspring had ever tried to build it. However Honda, as usual, got it right.

Some of the nicest small auto cars I've ever driven have been Hondas, particularly the two-door Civic of the mid-90s (best disabled driver car ever).

[Malcolm]

BMC A series in an early Marina - pretty well knackered at 70k - better expeience of smaller A series in minis

Malcolm

[Jeff Layman]

The original Jazz had a CVT auto box. In the Mark II, for some reason Honda changed the box to a conventional 6-speed auto. I've no idea why as CVT is much smoother.

For the new Jazz hybrid, Honda will use the CVT box. They have returned to it in the petrol-engined Jazz, too.

[Skipweasel]

CVTs are spiffy when new, but when they die, they die horribly.

[Andy Champ]

I don't like autos in general, so I don't hear much about them. But I've heard that that is not the best box in the world. Not cheap either.

See for example

[Andy Champ]

My son's Mondeo has had to have a rebore at ~60,000 miles. Though we suspect mistreatment by previous owner he said there was a line of them outside the workshop.

Andy

[ARWadsworth]

Probably better to ask "When did you last have a car where the engine wore out that had the oil changed at the recommended intervals?"

I had 260k out of my last van (the bodywork dropped to bits) and 300k out of a petrol Cavalier (I hit another car head on) but both their engines were fine.

My servicing means changing the oil. I'll do the other bits when needed.

[Clive George]

That was when cars were still crap though. I had an A+ still doing well at 130K miles :-)

[Adrian]

Jeff Layman gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

It won't be "the CVT box" - it'll be an epicyclic power-splitter, like in the Pious, rather than the old Daf-style rubber-band.

[Chris Bartram]

Indeed. I like diesels, but you won't make the fuel savings, and it limits choice.

How about Suzuki Alto?

[OG]

My 84-yo MIL drives an M reg Punto automatic. She only does about 1500 miles a year and it's been mechanically faultless. A little bit of rust on the front nearside arch, but that's the only trouble she's had with it. She occasionally thinks it would be nice to get a newer replacement, but so long as it keeps on going, she's happy with it as it is.

[The Wanderer]

So here comes a little (true) story.

Used to have a tea shoppe in the village where we live. Looked out over the river, used to be a nice spot to sit over a coffee.

One morning we realised there was a lot of commotion going on at the other end of the village. It turned out that a granny had collected her new-to-her little auto just 15 minutes earlier and had driven down to meet up with a friend to show off the car. Parked facing the river, except she didn't brake, she hit the accelerator instead, went straight across the end of the car park, grass, footpath and into the river. It was only the extreme quick thinking of one holiday maker who used his cruiser to push her against the side of the quay heading and another who broke the back window and pulled her out that stopped a drama turning into a tragedy.......

Make very sure you're happy that she's safe to drive an auto.

[Steve Firth]

It depends on what you can afford to pay for the car.

There are 1.3L Nissan Micra automatics, that can be had with low mileage for about £1000. I suspect they will all have been granny specials so they may not be the best bet since lots of short trips are not good for a car. OTOH the interior should be in good nick.

If she can get the idea of changing gear but is just useless at clutch control then a Toyota Yaris MMT is an option. Probably about £3K. Or there's an auto version of the Yaris for about the same money.

A Mitsubishi Colt is also worth a look - about £4k.

If she wants stylish looks then the Smart for Four is the same car with Smart styling. I drove one of these for a fortnight, hated it, but it might suit someone who wants a pleasant interior in a car with no performance and an auto gearbox.

Or as others have said the Honda Jazz, once one gets over the factor.