Small car

[ICBM]

I think one of the reasons for that is that they're quite good. I asked my garage chap a similar question last year, and he said "Ford" - because when you get down to that sort of price, all cars are getting old and reliability (or otherwise) is largely pot luck... but at least Ford parts are cheap and they're fairly easy to work on.

We ended up with a Suzuki though! Just because we decided 4WD was required, and it was the cheapest we could find that was any good in the other ways we needed. And then it didn't snow last winter... still, the Suzuki (Ignis) has also proved reliable and economical, so I might suggest one of those too.

[holnrew]

WhenI was getting my first car, smaller ones were as much to insure as mid range ones.I got an Escort in the end.

[chillidoggy]

I think one of the reasons for that is that they're quite good. I asked my garage chap a similar question last year, and he said "Ford" - because when you get down to that sort of price, all cars are getting old and reliability (or otherwise) is largely pot luck... but at least Ford parts are cheap and they're fairly easy to work on.

We ended up with a Suzuki though! Just because we decided 4WD was required, and it was the cheapest we could find that was any good in the other ways we needed. And then it didn't snow last winter... still, the Suzuki (Ignis) has also proved reliable and economical, so I might suggest one of those too.

As it's highly unlikely it'll be my son fixing it when it goes wrong (he's smart, but has all the skills of Frank Spencer when it comes to mechanical bits), then Ford seems a sensible choice. although I'd not thought about Suzuki, and a friend of mine owns a dealership, so I think I'll ask the question.

[chillidoggy]

WhenI was getting my first car, smaller ones were as much to insure as mid range ones.I got an Escort in the end.

That's interesting, because Ford Focus (for example) seem cheaper to buy than equivalent Fiestas in some cases.