First car..bit of advice?

[Vimeous]

Loads of ideas, loads of choice and decent wedge of cash. Perfect

First off age.
If it's a 'more reliable' brand such as Toyota a year or two old with low miles will be perfect.
If it's French and you definitely want reliability by ex-demo if possible with a stupendous discount. For the 107/C1 this maybe less critical because Toyota are involved at the build stage. I happen to trust Renault a little more so 1yr old should be fine.
Fact is everyone here's right about value, 3-5yr old cars are amazing value, but if you feel it's a risk you want to avoid fair enough.

Small and sensible:
Well you already drive a Yaris so I guess you want a change? If you're still interested a T-Spirit or SR would meet all your needs without being boring but you'll have to compromise on age so the very last cars of the previous generation might be ideal.
Aygo/107/C1 are great cars but a Yaris will be better over the miles and seat 3 in much more comfort. I'd be looking elsewhere.
Like the Yaris a Jazz would be great but age is again a problem. If a Fiesta is on the list however I'd still be tempted to go a year older and buy Japanese.
If you're thinking VW-a-like the Polo/Ibiza/Fabia are all good cars if a little bland. That said the big diesels are easy to insure, relaxing to drive and have alot of poke for a small (if a little heavy) supermini. As someone else pointed a Fabia vRS would be the default choice but it looses out on age vs budget. A VW Fox may be worth a punt if you're after really new, Top Gear think it's decent football player at least!

Middling
Fact is the Focus/Golf/Auris/Astra/Civic etc are way too expensive at a year old or less even with the most basic models unless a dealer offers a show-stopping deal. And because you'll want proper warranty if it's secondhand you'll be at the mercy of a dealer.
However a car supermarket may help you out here as the best ones have ever-rotating stock and loads of choice. Just remember, when you're tempted by the 1yr old Focus TDCi with 46k miles on the clock, manufacturers warranties are limited by mileage as well as age and most won't care if it's still under 3yrs old if you've just rolled past 80k. Hyundai/Kai may give you 5 or 7 yrs however.
IF you really fancy a 'normal' hatchback then you may find an early used Kia C'eed in your price range. I know, I know you said no Kia but it's big and modern with loads of warranty and comes with good , if not raving, reviews. Depreciation will be the biggest hurdle but it ticks many other boxes!

Left-field?
Suzuki Ignis Sport - They appear to be made of extremely stern stuff (see other thread), look great and are cheap to run. Would make an interesting Yaris comparison.
Fiat Panda 100HP - Buy less than a year old or ex-demo and you should be trouble free. Superb car.
VW Lupo 1.4 TDi Sport - The newest (05) are now nearly 3 BUT a great little car if the third person you mention has no knees.
Ford SportKa - It's nippy and cheap. Not as good as a modern Fiesta but it'll be faster for the cash! I'd still buy a Yaris though.

Cars like the Corsa should be available from a Car Supermarket or somewhere like Broadspeed but I suspect it's too new in reality.

One quick note:
A couple of the cars mentioned here are relatively new to the market. I would always be cautious if you're buying a car from the first 6 months of a production run of a new car. If the car survives 5yrs+ with a clean bill of health then it'll probably be decent all its life. However if none of the cars available is more than 6 months old tread with care.
Facelifts don't really count as the majority of the car is a known quantity.

As often is the case my appologies for rambling. I'm still pondering a decent left-field car as I agree with the peeps about doing something different, the challenge is to get everythingelse as well!

Oh yeah and if it were me the Yaris, Jazz and Panda would be at the top of my test drive list

[Mossy]

TDI's rule!

[herulach]

if you must have new, go drive a panda 100hp

[Vimeous]

After re-reading my previous post I realise the cars I've listed don't allow for insurance costs in your budget although the odd one (Panda 100HP) will still come in on budget.

With regard to the first 6 months of production what I said still stands. However don't be surprised if your new car suddenly gets extra bits changed at services at the cost of the manufacturer. It's an easy was to fix minor problems without issueing an image-damaging full-scale recall.


One additional thing to consider.
You say you're starting a new business. Will this be customer facing and if so will this new car be you work transport? If so the image you present may be critical to your business and might rule out choices you'd otherwise dive into.
In fact you might want to look for a bigger 'image' car and therefore older than you initially intend.

[Spud1]

Well I've just got back from some drives and browsing..heres what I found

The 107 - cramped, noisy..nippy in traffic but when we took it to the country roads nearby it showed its weakness. Definitely not going for this.

Then I went and tried a focus..1.6 Petrol (03 plate), aircon etc..quite liked this actually, 6k on the road taxed, 43k on the clock in a nice metallic blue. I'm tempted by this, but its fuel consumption worries me as I expect to get only 40odd mpg on that..and I can do better with...

Polo 1.4 TDi, 40k on the clock (03 plate), aircon, CD changer, electric windows etc in silver. Now this I loved lol, salesman quoted me 70-80mpg but I think 50-60 is more realistic, but thats pretty good. Fun to drive (I like TDis ), looks good and is about the right size for me. Thats also at 6k

So the Polo is my fav choice there really, going to take my parents to have a look at it later on today, to check it out and make sure its worth the money..but we'll see

As for business image etc - we are customer facing to a certain degree, but its a software development business really and i'm not personally meeting customers that often ( my business partner is the salesman), so its not that critical.

[digit]

Interesting, although I'd be concerned about the space a polo offers, it always came across to me as a bit small. I'd be inclined to have a look at some skoda's next such as the fabia tdi. In my area there are some good deals around on Mark 3 TDCI Mondeo's. Might be the case in yours as well!

[Guy]

You say you had a look at the 1.6 focus, and liked it etc but needed better MPG.
Have you had a look at a late first gen focus TDCi? You should be able to get a nice tidy one for sub £6k And it will be quicker than the 1.6. Also the insurance/tax should be cheaper.

[Vimeous]

If you're seriously considering an 03-plate then there's loads more choice.

How did the Polo compare to your parents Yaris?

Did it feel excessively nose-heavy?

[Spud1]

definitely heavier but not excessive. Much more fun to drive, and quieter too when going a bit faster..unfortunately the one I drove today has now been sold

but there are plenty more out there..so I'll keep looking =)

[Fox]

Why do you need high MPG - how many miles do you travel a year?

[Vimeous]

I'm surprised the Polo was more fun, clearly thumbs up for VW!
Do you think it was primarily the extra power that made it feel that way or are we talking chuckable in the corners?

[Spud1]

Fox - I'm not bringing it that much cash at the moment so need running costs to be as low as low can go.. a fun, high MPG car can come when I have the money to pay for it =)

Vimeous - Just a nicer driving position (lower down than in the yars), with a slightly bigger engine which makes all the difference.

I'm going to try an Ibiza this morning too, and a couple of other Polos I've found, just got to hope these don't vanish within hours if I like them, too!

[arbitor]

How can a 1.4 polo be fun?

As said live a little, to this day i cant belive people buy 107s and aygos and whatever else is out there like that.. they are cheap but so boring and i dont care what anyone says about something being fun, theres no way a 100 hp panda would impress me in the slightest the same way ANY polo wouldnt.

I went and got a civic type r for a simalar amount of money. Its not that cheap to insure, doesnt do amazing mpg but its more fun than any of those, and they are very rare. So when i weigh that up to a brand new aygo or something, theres just no contest..

[J4MES]

the Panda 100HP seems to impress enough motor journo's for me to call it a 'fun car' without having driven one tbh...

[arbitor]

I fail to see how if you have ever driven anything mildley quick its the same speed as a saxo 1.6

[Fox]

the Panda 100HP seems to impress enough motor journo's for me to call it a 'fun car' without having driven one tbh...

Exactly. Fun isn't all about power.

Although a Polo isn't fun even with power.