car advice?

what automatic car would you advice that is little in size but at the same time spacious inside and reliable?
To be used mainly for short journeys.
Thank you in advance.

 

Brand new or second hand?
What's your budget?

 

I'm driving a Suzuki splash, loads of room.

Val

 

Suzuki Swift maybe?

 

More room in the 'splash'

Val

 

What about something like this.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/...c/sort/default/onesearchad/used,nearlynew,new

 

Those Kangoos are quite large in my opinion, not as large as my current MPV, but something I was considering as a compromise smaller replacement until I found brand new 1.6L Vauxhall Zafiras going for under £10K

 

second hand - for the moment I am just investigating the various makes to see which one is more reliable for a cheap price.

The reason why I say a small one (size about 3,495 mm (137.6 in)) mainly because for a novice driver I think it is easy to reverse it and manouvre it.

Thank you for the advice so far...

 

Ah, I see. Unfortunately, in my experience, the size of the vehicle rarely means anything when it comes it ease of driving it. The first time I drove a van, it was a long wheelbase transit high top. Pretty huge compared to the Ford Escort, which was the largest vehicle I'd driven prior to hiring the van. I found the van would easily fit into spaces that I couldn't get my car in. My current car, Gothilda the Volvo 940 estate, is huge, but she would easily out-manoeuvre my previous car, a little 1.6 Renault Laguna, because of the tighter turning circle made possible by the greater steering range, and the extra visibility.

I'm afraid, in my experience at least, it is a total unfounded myth that small cars are easier to drive. It probably originates from the fact that driving schools use small cars, because they are cheaper to buy new than big cars are, or possibly because historically, before servo assisted brakes and steering, the smaller (and therefore lighter) car actually was easier to drive.

 

Toyota Yaris, Mazda 2, Suzuki Swift, Ford Fiesta. All Farley reliable especially the Jap contenders. There's the Germans too, however not sure they do any of their small cars with autos? The Fabia/Polo/Ibiza are good cars.

I'd personally steer clear of anything French, Renault aren't as bad, but the PSA group are horrific!

 

This is true, small cars aren't always easier to manoeuvre. Some big cars have better turning circles.
Old Volvos go forever don't they!

 

I'll go with either a yaris or a Honda civic, both reliable, economical, and bombproof!

 

As if I forgot Honda!
There's always the Jazz too for a smaller option.
Vtec. I'd love an S2000 but can't part with my MX5.