Buying advice please

[Craig Senior]

My Mum is looking for a new car to replace the S reg Renault Clio 1.2 she has owned from new.

She likes the new Clio and Corsa but I steered her in the direction of the Ibiza and noticed that SEAT are now doing a deal on a 1.2 Reference Sport with sports seats, alloys, air-con, mp3 radio etc for £8.5k.

Her main requirements for a car are that it needs to be easy to drive, good visibility, look "nice" and have a big enough boot for shopping and her hairdressing stuff.

Anyone have any experience of this model and/or the 1.2 3 cylinder engine?

Anything else you would recomend, ex demos etc? Max budget is £8.5k.

 

[norrie]

I just replaced my Renault Clio 1.4 Sport with an Ibiza 1.4 Dab.
It lists at £9000 but managed to get it for £8250.
Imho it is a much better car for the money.
Where do you live?
Here's a pic.



Norrie.

 

[INSIDER]

same 1.2 they have been using for years car itself is well specced for the money there wont be any ex demos for a while but you should expect £450-£500 off list imo

you will also get 5.9%apr

 

[AEM]

Ex demo DAB at my local dears for £8200 in black.

Much more spec for your money that the Sport Reference

 

[jtmac]

I drove a 53 plate 1.2 reference for 3 years and 59000 miles and found it easy to drive around town and fine (if a little noisy) on motorways. Felt lighter than the other halfs 1.25 Ford Ka. Nice to have air-con and central locking so on for less than £8000 (at the time don't know how it compares now). It had better ride than shorter cars like the old yaris and micra. Always liked the fact that with five doors it seemed bigger than those.

i three years only had problems with rear window washer not working after each winters freeze and with the heater getting stuck on hot. Both fixed under warranty.

At the time it was whatcar or whichCar or something car of the year in that class. All this was three years ago so don't know if it looks dated next the new Yaris, new Corsa etc.

 

[Leigh15]

Great little car and the 1.2 engine really pulls its own - makes a nice sound too!

I'd say value per pound its better than the 1.4.

The Ibiza S 1.2 5 door was what car supermini of the year for 3 years and what car car of the year for a year.

Getting on a little now - but has just had a facelift so looks a little more up to date now

Hope that helps

 

[Craig Senior]

Getting on a little now - but has just had a facelift so looks a little more up to date now

I think the new one's not too far away which is why the special offers are about. I told her this and she wasn't bothered about waiting for the new model as she will be keeping it for a good few years so resale value difference between the two shouldn't be too much of an issue.