Small automatic car for £2k, e.g. Nissan Micra ?

[Fatboy40]

My wife needs to learn to drive pretty sharpish, and due to the fact that she has problems with her left foot she's limited to a car with an automatic transmission. Where we live only the big national driving schools can provide an automatic to learn in and we'd rather go with a local trusted intructor, so we've decided to buy a car for her as soon as her provisonal has turned up.

We've a budget of £2,000 for the car itself and want something with an auto box, which is small, reliable, and four doors. So far the front runner would be a Nissan Micra from 2000 to 2002, probably a 1.3 or 1.4 lump, but I'm having trouble thinking of any alternatives ?.

A Fiesta is too expensive for what it is, we don't like Corsa's, worried about the reliability of older French or Italian cars, and other cars we like such as the Honda Jazz are to expensive (although I'd rather she had the Jazz over the Micra).

It's never going to do massive mileage, or go on anyting other than A and B roads, so comfort and performance aren't high on the list, long term reliability is.

Any opinions ? (stupid question for a place like this ).

Also I've only ever driven auto's as hire cars, so wouldn't know what to watch out for when buying one ? (you get CVT's and other types of auto boxes ?).

[Rave]

Micras are fine cars. I drove a latest generation auto 1.2 as a courtesy car when my mum's polo was nicked and liked it....apart from the auto gearbox, but then you don't have a choice. The previous gen Micra is widely regarded as one of the most reliable cars ever.

Maybe you could bag an early Toyota Yaris for £2k? A bit newer and funkier, still a very well built car.

[circuitmonkey]

micro autos are o.k.
the girlfriend has one (which I have had to drive on occasions ) which has proved quite reliable over the years. It's a 1 litre auto last generation model with the CVT (continuous variable transmission). not the worlds fastest car, but gets to motorway speeds (in its own sweet time). I've heard horror stories about the micras CVT so make sure if your looking at a model with one you have it checked properly. We've never had a problem (knock on wood), but def something to check up on

[mmh]

my friend picked up a nice mk4 astra auto for about £1400 in decent nick.. took him some shopping around, but its a great car, with enough power to make the auto box not feel too shabby... not quite ur tiny car, but nice enough if she doesnt mind havign a bit more room for shopping

[tiggerai]

I had a micra for 7 years (manual) and loved it as a learner car - they're not too big as to put off learners from parking manouvres etc but reliable enough (only had to change the battery on mine in 7 years...) - as Rave says... one of the most reliable little cars - surprisingly spacious boot too for the weekly shop etc

I would always recommend them as learner / starter cars...

[Fatboy40]

We've not bought anything yet as my wife's provisional still hasn't turned up, don't know if this is down to the DVLA or the Royal Mail, so I've noticed that we could also get a 2000/2001 Volkswagen Polo for the cash we have with around 50 to 60k on the clock.

So now it's Micra vs Polo...

[kalniel]

See if she is comfy with the polo - it's a great car, but women with shorter thighs might have problems with the anti-submarining seats cutting into them.