Sub 6k, 5 door small car with free or minimal road tax

Well done Moderno, sounds like a good price. My mam is looking to get a Panda at the moment too,a Mylife.

I can enter this debate too, as i drive a 107 50 miles a day now. (its SMWBO's car but she uses the Focus at the moment for the little one's pram, etc)

We've had our 107 for nearly 3 years and put around 23k on it (now on 43k) It's a 2007 57 Urban 5dr.

The leak and clutch problems are real and are well documented. Ours hasn't leaked nor has needed a new clutch, but i CAN see why the clutch could be a problem. The car doesn't have a defined biting point so it is easy to over-rev or stall etc when pulling away. If you were a driver who liked to ride the clutch, it would fail very quickly, it just has that feel about it. Ours 'drones' a bit if ridden at all...so we try not to. We don't do that anyway, but sometimes it happens if we can't help it. I think they are a weak point and you need to have some mechanical sympathy when driving it (more so than some other cars)

I like the car a lot, it does 50+mpg each time, although i can't ever seem to match the 63mpg i got ages ago, no matter how hard i try.

It's quite smooth and refined at 70mph, probably better than the focus in that respect.

The seats looks totally flat but actually have a shape to them, so they are reasonable.

There is decent room inside, front and rear, despite it being small.

The controls are light.

Nothing has really gone wrong with it, which is great.

Now, to give a balanced review, the less good points.

The ride is too firm and crashy. It's not terrible, but there are many small cars that ride better.

The steering is vague, as is the gearbox. Its got a nice 'click' action, but its not actually especially good to use. (i've probably been spoiled by the Focus which i find is a great, positive feeling drive to the steering and gearbox)

The handling isn't especially great - see a Ford Ka MK1 for this.

Ours has had a replacement back box. It fell off (corroded at the bend just before the back box) on boxing day 2009 at 5am in the morning when SWMBO was on her way to the sales! This was at approx 28k miles. When i went to the motor factor for a new one, he said it was a common fault on all 3. I think its the design, a sharp bend in the exhaust before the sideways mounted silencer.

The boot is small, but really, its the access that is the pain, over the very high sill and narrow drop into it.

I'm not having a downer though, i like the car, we've no plans to change it for a while.

I feel i'm just being realistic. It has its good points but also it's less good ones.

Thanks for all the input, picked up a 2011 Panda 1.2 Active for £5300 with 2,000 miles on the clock, lovely little car the owner is very happy. Anyone figure out why they make a 1.1 ECO model which returns more CO2 and less mpg?

My vote would be for the Panda . The 1.2 petrol seems to be the best all rounder and is cheap to run and insure . Dont forget a new one is coming out soon so there will be some cracking deals on old shape ones at car supermarkets brokers etc .

Oh and ususally end of production run cars are invariable less prone to faults as early problems have been ironed out during the producion cycle .

Somehow it is also reasonably chic . Happy hunting .

Get a used i10 regardless of what road tax costs. They pump out 85bhp and I had one for a day whilst my 3.3 litre V6 was being serviced, I was staggered. The i10 is no slouch well built and about 4K less than a new Twingo also on offer in the same dealership. I wouldn't even consider anything else, but I don't like going slowly. Base Aygos, 500s, Kas don't come close.

Oops sorry just noticed you asked for a 5 door car, so the Twingo is out. Still, I'd rather take the Clio than the Twingo anyway.

I'd like to add another car to the list - I have no experience with them and have no idea about their reliability/real-world ownership costs, but what about a previous-gen NIssan Micra?

I second that...personally, I'd value the opinion of someone who deals with the problems of these cars on a day-to-day basis quite highly. My cousin was interested in buying an Aygo, but after she found one she liked [was less than 2 years old and if I'm not mistaken closer to just one year od, and mileage was low] and got it inspected she found that the clutch was near the end of its life and there was some rust cropping up near the exhaust pipe area; not saying they're unreliable (since I've never had any form of experince with them), but they're perhaps not as trouble-free as one might think.

I like the idea of an A2 as some suggested, but the buyer wants something that's not too old and I think servicing costs won't be that small (being an Audi); ditto also the Mercedes A-Class, which is IMO a very fine car but servicing costs might be a problem.

I'd also add to the mix the Renault Twingo and Clio - the Twingo is based on the previous-gen Clio (which was a great car) and the current Clio is quite a good car too - both in terms of reliability and dynamics. Be careful with the engine choice for the Clio though - the smaller engines might be underpowered for the buyer.

The Hyundai i10 is also worthy of consideration if design is not an issue.

Personally I wouldn't consider the Nissan Pixo/Suzuki Alto though...interior feels cheap, rear seats are claustrophobic and the ride is quite a-bit hard for rear passengers too (had a ride in one and by the end of the not-too-long journey I was desperate to get out, something which I doubt has ever happened before).

C1 Vibe (Now VT) in November 2006 £6,895 list price and £5573 on the road after discount. New car and not preregistered with 8 miles recorded. Car now on 28,000 miles and front tryes and discs/pads changed at 26,000 with no other repairs or issues.

Yes new ones now under £7k on the road now but one year from the new model arriving which will be bigger and no doubt a higher list price.

This is an odd remark. Surely his experience of Aygos is just as real as yours? In fact, more so because he's seen more of them whereas you've maybe (maybe) been lucky with one that you're very happy with. Don't think there's a need to be dismissive. I feel his experience should be valued just as much as yours.

Brand new C1s are only £6400 on drive the deal.