Supermini / citycar

[Cwrw666]

Chippy, you haven't got Fiat on your list. I can't imagine it can be worse than Landrover even though I've been told FIAT stands for Fix It Again Tomorrow.
We've got a Fiat Doblo. Best car we've ever had. Total repairs in 7 years have been - 1. broken engine mount. 2. Wiper motor after pine needles blocked the drain below the windscreen. 3. Three sets of shocks. But there again we've done 111,000 miles in it with significant amounts of off-road.

 

[RichardM]

My wife is on her second i10 and thinks they are great cars. We had a Fiat 500 as a hire car for a week a few years ago and enjoyed it. A former colleague had an Up and thought it was good

 

[simon12]

Not driven any of them but was looking at reviews for my nieces 1st car and based on them I would go for the up. It sounds the best to drive and has a quality feel to it. The slowest one is insurance group 1 and £20 tax.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Chippy, you haven't got Fiat on your list.

Fiat get a mention here -

Small cars - Most reliable small cars to buy 2020 | Auto Express

Family cars - Top 10 most reliable family cars 2020 | Auto Express

.

 

[VW911]

MOT was due on the wife's old Astra last week. (Loads of work needed).
It was cheaper to get an old banger for a couple of months whilst I wait for some pension funds to come through, and I can get her a decent estate car.
We picked up a '57 plate VW 1.4 Urban Fox for £400, with 6 months ticket, and sold the Astra for £200.
It's actually a cracking little runner, and she loves it. It will be passed on to our son when he passes his test, as it's mechanically sound, just a bit tatty (a bit like him!).
Really couldn't have worked out much better!

 

[BrewMeHappy]

I had a Citroen C1 on a lease for a couple of years. I'm sure it is the same as 108 I believe. It only had it as it was dirt cheap and needed a second car for a spell but I loved it and was sad to hand it back. Very nippy, I could park it anywhere, it had DAB air con etc...and virtually ran an petrol vapour.

 

[Lunatic Broth]

Hi,I’m a technician myself and either i10 or toyota aygo would be the pick of the bunch.......both give close to no problems.

 

[531Man]

Not heard of the emissions scandal with vw and audi cars?

I think I'm correct in saying the scandal was particularly associated with Diesel engines. And it was associated with a lot more unconnected / Japanese than just VAG car engines.
Just shows the danger of setting "targets", they must and will be met, one way or another .
They were always a bad idea from particulates and NOx's. Politicians had a blinkered outlook, and focused overly on fuel efficiency where they score well on fully warmed up and long distance cruising.
Just don't buy or use diesels in the urban enviroment.
An unlikely engine to find in a city / supermini anyway, except a BMW Mini - but that can hardly be called a supermini as it is way too big now. A diesel - engined Mini!
Sir Alec Issigonis must be turning in his grave!

 

[StJayJay]

We have an X3 but needed a small runaround for local journeys. Went for a 108, ours is 1.2l and pay zero tax, although I don’t know if we bought /registered it before a change in VED. We’ve had it for 3 years now, great little car. Runs really well, fun to drive, mostly used for short journeys but I have taken it from Central Scotland to Sleaford in Lincs and back, pleasant to drive on such a long journey.
It’s a five door but you would struggle to get an adult in the back. Lots of kit on it, full dab/sat nav air con etc. When I got a puncture, I was surprised to find an honest-to-god full size spare wheel, not a space saver or can of foam I was expecting. Certainly recommend giving it a look.

 

[Crappyfish]

I am aware where they're made, not in China yet, but the Up! rolls off a VW production line Bratislava (Slovakia) along with the Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo. It's a VW owned line though so you'd sort of expect their (IMO) reasonably high quality standards to apply even if not actually made in Germany.

Whilst I personally don't work in the motor trade I do have a couple of friends who are experienced mechanics, one of whom has his own garage business, and they both tell me to generally stay away from cars from French or Italian manufacturers, they're not all cr*p but a fair few seem to have more than their fair share of issues.

Of all the cars I've owned the BMWs I've had have been consistently the most reliable and feel the best put together, less rattles, or other niggles than anything else, just a little more premium. The few cars from Japanese manufacturers have also been pretty good / reliable, just not quite on the same level as BMW.

That said my current main car is a Kia (Hyundai own Kia), we wanted a 7 seat car with four wheel drive for the caravan which didn't leave us with many choices, budget wouldn't stretch to anything Landrover badged. It's a nice car but as observed just not quite on the same level as say a BMW or VW. I really wished VW made a 7 seat option on the Touareg, Audi do with the Q7 but again it's at a premium price.

BMW don't have their own breakdown service, they sub it out to Allianz / Mondial, guess that was deemed the most cost effective to them but if the AA or RAC had made a better offer then maybe they'd use them. But I don't really get what that has to do with their reliability or otherwise?

That's weird I have a citroen trained and certified head mechanic mate who services my citroen Picasso he says the opposite. He also runs his own Garage. I had a Berlingo of which I had for 10 years and over 100000 miles with no issues.

 

[Crappyfish]

You said anything from the German manufacturers is going to be way better than the South Korean clutter yet KIA came third and Hyundai 7th in the JD Power survey, BMW were 11th and VW a **** poor 28th.

Both Kia and Hyundai offer excellent transferable warranties the former 7 years with 100,000 miles the latter 5 years with unlimited mileage what do the German brands offer?

Back in the day BMW was a luxury brand and German engineering was the catch phrase today they are just another car manufacturer turning out cars as fast as they can they are no longer an exclusive brand, remember the ultimate driving machine with rear wheel drive and 50/50 weight split for ultimate handling in their adverts then in 2014 they introduced the 2 series a front wheel drive and i believe they now have six front wheel drive models i bet they still use the ultimate driving experience in the adverts, its a load of bollocks.


Here is the full list for those who don't want to use the link - Lexus reclaims reliability crown, J.D. Power survey shows

My Citroen Berlingo outlasted my brothers Audi on age and milage before his engine destroyed itself

 

[Chippy_Tea]

People who can remember French cars from the 70's and 80's will say they were not very reliable and really expensive to fix (especially parts) this may have changed but that reputation will have stuck with the olds and is unlikely to change.

 

[Tim Wilkes]

I had a Citroen C1 on a lease for a couple of years. I'm sure it is the same as 108 I believe. It only had it as it was dirt cheap and needed a second car for a spell but I loved it and was sad to hand it back. Very nippy, I could park it anywhere, it had DAB air con etc...and virtually ran an petrol vapour.

Currently drive a 108 when the weather's too cold for my bike. Previously had a C1. No trouble with either but then I only cover about 5K miles a year due to said bike and they get serviced regularly.
108/C1/Aygo all come from the same factory in the Czech Republic and use a Toyota engine which has a chain cam rather than a belt. Not the fastest but pretty economical - I'm currently getting 61mpg on short drives around town but I have a light foot!

 

[Justin Dean]

Smart car. We have one of these fun to drive. Nice trim. Not rattles or squeeks. High spec. Gearbox not as nice as honda civic i have but that gearbox is great. Click click click. Tight and tidy. Nice car

 

[Loiner-62]

Skoda Citigo gets my vote; same as VW Up and Seat Mii. Had it 4-5 years and totally reliable so far.

Got it to replace a mk II panda which developed a thirst - radiator needed topping up every couple of weeks, no signs of leaks or water in the oil. Panda was nice little car, but Citigo much nicer to drive