Buying a new car for my Daughter HELP!

Bee

Time to change my daughters Matiz SE yr 2000 with 35K on the clock

Don't ask why (major achievement in persons life deserves to be awarded and fortunately I am in a position to be able to do it)

I will trade it in against a Kia Picanto or a Fiat Panda. I won't be looking at anything else as I have narrowed it down to these cars.

What is my likely trade in value against either of these motors and I will pay the difference in cash

Which car woukd you reccommend?:)

Thnx in advance

Help!

mloc123

Having driven a Kia Picanto as a rental car on holidays I would avoid it. Very basic interior and no power what so ever, turning on the a/c kill what little power it had.

Stephen

The Fiat Panda has earned itself a great reputation in the small car market. No idea what trade in value you'll get but good luck.

Bee

mloc123 wrote:

Having driven a Kia Picanto as a rental car on holidays I would avoid it. Very basic interior and no power what so ever, turning on the a/c kill what little power it had.

Agreed, but it is ideal for my daughters use

She will need neither power nor speed as it will be used for simple a to b city motoring

Thnx

Do-more

If you really want to give her a stylish FIAT which will hold it's value much better than a Panda why not wait a few months and give her a New Fiat 500


BTW Trade value of the 2000 Matiz is probably about €1600.

eamon234

Have you asked her what she wants to drive? Judging by your two choices she can't make a worse decision than you have

ninty9er

Looking at the dealer price of a Matiz I'd say you'll probably get €2000 for it...all in all you're better off selling it privately for about €1700 and going for a cash deal.

Let's just say if I had to pick one of those 2 it'd be the Panda. I wouldn't necessarily pick either, as you'll discover when shifting the Matiz, initial price gains are eroded by depreciation and difficulty to shif. Wait until the end of the month as FIAT dealers are really target driven (well all dealers are but FIAT in particular). Going in without the Matiz, which no dealer will want the bother of trying to sell on, will give you much better odds of a great deal on the Panda...though I'm not too sure how "open book pricing" affects this!!

You could probably hope for €1200 off if you're lucky enough to get the salesman that's way off his target. Especially going for a high end model like the 100hp 1.4 special edition which is admittedly €17k (list price). Alternatively go for the Emotion spec at just over €14k look for a freebie of the double sunroof and metallic

Active and Dynamic spec are the big sellers and there'll be a glut of them when it comes time to get rid. So avoid like the plague. Go for the 16v as opposed to the 8v engine

nialler

I'm sorry but would you really stick your daughter in a car that small?


Go for big and cheap take the hit on the tax and be sure in the knowlege that'll be a safe oul bugger.

I'm heading to that territory where she want's her first car, trust me it'll be a barge.

Volvoboy

nialler wrote:

I'm sorry but would you really stick your daughter in a car that small?


Go for big and cheap take the hit on the tax and be sure in the knowlege that'll be a safe oul bugger.

I'm heading to that territory where she want's her first car, trust me it'll be a barge.

X25

WTF would a lady want a big car for as the op posted the car will be used for simple city driving and going from a to be recomending a Barge to the op is pointless.



-VB-

crosstownk

Are you planning to buy new or used. If new then what you have listed will have a poor resale value when it comes time to shift it on.......... The Matiz will have suffered a similar fate from a resale perspective. Take some time out to consider a VW Polo, Opel Corsa, Nissan Micra, Toyota Yaris, etc, etc.

BeardyGit

I'll second what everyone else has said - panda wins hands down, but that's not to say either car should really be considered as a contestant in the race....

Nialler's O/T, but bang on the money as far as I'm concerned. I had to change my car recently, and could have either bought a newish city car, or a big old safe as houses Volvo - I factored in the running costs of each for a 2 year anticipated ownership for both when I made my calculations. For the same money down and spent on maintenance and annual costs, I couldn't ignore the massive safety gain afforded by the older Volvo.

I had the misfortune to crash into two cars in a 25 mph lunchtime traffic accident a few years back. It's a miracle nobody was hurt, despite the low speeds - The Ford KA I actually collided with was pushed into the car in front, a 1992 Golf - That KA fell to pieces, while the 626 I was driving incurred no more that some body damage and a ruptured radiator. I shudder just thinking about what would have happened if I'd side impacted that KA....

I know you're trying to reward her (congrats, whatever it is), but perhaps it's worth reconsidering the choice of cars.... If you want to step her up a bit, at least look at something with a solid safety track record. Neither the Kia nor the Panda spring to mind when I think of cars I'd like to put my own nearest and dearest into, even just in a city driving context.

bigkev49-2

If it comes down to a choice between those two I'd go for the panda, at least it has some modicom of personality!!

TBH though I'd have to agree with the people reccomending a bigger, stronger car. Never know when that extra strength would come in handy.

ninty9er

Well lads I wouldn't go suggesting 626s or Mondeos, because insurance cost is probably a factor...maybe a "better" supermini though...even the Grande Punto in the FIAT stable

tvr

wont really bother with the fiat grande punto woefully overpriced in my honest opinion , your will get a much better cash deal on a suzuki swift , new skoda fabia or maybe the old style renault clio campus they still make them are dirt cheap.

by the way you might want to save as much as possible because she probably want another 20 grand for a deposit on a house in the next couple of years aswell.:D

Guy:Incognito

Gotta love some posters "hi, I want to buy my daughter a small city car for city driving" , "Sure thing sir, I know the very thing, a mazda 626"


We looked at the Panda last year, cracking little car, turned out to be too small for what the missus wanted, ended up with a scenic, bit of a leap, but it's what she wanted. Anyway, bar the size the panda would have been the winner, perfect little city car and as posted above, it's pretty widely liked.

tvr

yeah a panda is a good car just looks horrible , just depends if you can live with it. remember captain slow has one.

BrianD3

I'd have no worries about the safety of a modern small car with a good EuroNCAP score. Modern small cars are generally less safe than modern large cars but the difference between small and large is less than it was years ago. Also, a new small car may well be significantly safer than an older large car depending on how old a design the large car is.

In low speed crashes which don't result in serious injury (which seems to be what Gil Dub is describing) small cars can be surprisingly tough. The ability to resist damage in a low speed crash doesn't really correlate with safety in a higher speed one and there are many factors to consider such as angle of impact etc. But just for interest here's what happened when a Renault Twingo Mk1 was sandwiched between a VW Passat estate and an E34 BMW 5 series. Passat looks to have the most serious damage here.
http://www.sicurauto.it/crashtest/speciali/citycar/twingo_passat.php

Biro

Panda, no question.

Guy:Incognito

Visible damage isnt a good indicator either. In a high speed crash between a new and old car , the new car may end up as a cube with bits hanging off it but it is designed to do that and in that cube will be a safe place to be, whereas the old car may be still in the shape of a car but your could very well have th esteering whell, half the dash and the engine embedded in various parts of you.


Spose it all boils down to what you value more, a hefty repair bill for you/your insurance company or a lenghty stay in hospital/your family paying for your funeral.

ninty9er

^^Agreed.

The less damaged the body and frame of the car; the more likey the occupants bones are shattered to pieces inside as the impact will have been absorbed by the occupants.

Bee

Oh Dear!

There are obviously a lot of boys on this thread totally misunderstanding my original questions and going off topic. I am not looking for power, speed or a large car.

Two items,I know how important safety and performance are. I drive for work an Audi a6 2.5 Tdi with enough grunt and safety as required.
My other half drives a Volvo v70 estate and as a contractor has plenty of room and zoom for him

Back to my original questions on either a Kia Picanto, or a Fiat Panda. My daughter has physical disabilities and either of these cars have been assessed and are physically spot on for her usage.

She will be doing simple minimal a to b localised city driving.

So I would really appreciate and do appreciate anyone helpful enough with suggested trade in values on a Matiz yr 2000 against a Kia Picanto or a Fiat Panda.

E.g. reliability, recommended dealerships etc

Why you think one is better than the other, e.g real world urban mpg etc

Any other reason you can think of but confine your comments to these cars

Thnx in advance

BrianD3

What's the warranty situation on the KIA - does it have the same 7 year warranty as the Kia Ceed or a more standard 3 year warranty?

Remember that the Fiat has a 4 year warranty which is better than most and certainly better than the bare minimum 2 year warranty offered by most European manufacturers.

BeardyGit

Stekelly wrote:

Gotta love some posters "hi, I want to buy my daughter a small city car for city driving" , "Sure thing sir, I know the very thing, a mazda 626"

Go back and read the post Stekelly - I wasn't recommending a 626 so spare the sarcasm. Don't you just love when the know-it-all takes issue with someone having concern for the safety of a stranger.... :rolleyes: Don't bother trying to bait me on this. I'm out.

OP, fair enough so - go for the Panda then. There's a larger, better established dealer/support network for FIAT. Residual values (depending on what mods you may have carried out, if required for your daughters disabilities) will also be much higher for the FIAT. Might also be worthwhile popping up to Ambrose Glass (in Stillorgan/Sandyford now) - I've heard very good things about them over the years as a FIAT dealership and an after sales service centre, from customers and the trade. Contact details here:

Ambrose Glass Motors
Unit 29 Spruce Avenue,
Stillorgan Industrial Park,
Co. Dublin.
Tel: 01 295 29 21

eamon234

Bee wrote:

Oh Dear!


She will be doing simple minimal a to b localised city driving.

Back to the point some other posters made with regard to safety - she's just as likely to have an accident going from A to B as she is going anywhere else do you really want her in a car that only has a 3 star N-Cap rating?

BeardyGit

eamon234 wrote:

Back to the point some other posters made with regard to safety - she's just as likely to have an accident going from A to B as she is going anywhere else do you really want her in a car that only has a 3 star N-Cap rating?

That's the point I was making referring to the oul' lunchtime city driving accident I had - and in particular the reference to what could have been with a side impact. But it appears the decision's been made.....

ninty9er

eamon234 wrote:

Back to the point some other posters made with regard to safety - she's just as likely to have an accident going from A to B as she is going anywhere else do you really want her in a car that only has a 3 star N-Cap rating?

Supermini NCAP results
5 Star cars with a higher body profile such as these 2 would be adaptable I'm sure...New Corsa and the Yaris in particular.

Are these the only cars recommended to you...if it was my other half/parents I'd go out of my way to have the safer cars assessed.

If it must be one of the 2 you mention go with the Panda but go high-spec to increase re-saleability.

colm_mcm

ninty9er wrote:

If it must be one of the 2 you mention go with the Panda but go high-spec to increase re-saleability.

how high spec are you thinking? I'd imagine the only "extra" that would do anything near hold its price is the 1.3 multijet engine.

ninty9er

colm_mcm wrote:

how high spec are you thinking? I'd imagine the only "extra" that would do anything near hold its price is the 1.3 multijet engine.

The 1.3 doesn't register on the Fiat site or on carzone...the CBG generator gives Irish spec names and UK options so there's no way of actually knowing.

I was thinking, there's loads of the base "Active" model out there, a good few mid spec "Dynamic", and it will be a damn sight cheaper than the competition so go for the top spec "Emotion" which will shift faster for a dealer making them more willing to take it as a trade in in 3-4 years time. I know I spent about a month looking for a car to make sure I got the top spec in the Corsa. Likelihood is that it'll have a few toys that people will expect in a few years when they're standard in all new cars.

I know I'm probably just one of those picky customers, but that's how I see it...(e.g. Alloys, rear elec[for the ones with small kids] and fogs will sell an Avensis strata a lot faster meaning it's costing the dealer less to sell it)

Irish people seem averse to coming down a segment to go up a spec...I suppose it's all dependent on the car in question

Bee

BrianD3 wrote:

What's the warranty situation on the KIA - does it have the same 7 year warranty as the Kia Ceed or a more standard 3 year warranty?

Remember that the Fiat has a 4 year warranty which is better than most and certainly better than the bare minimum 2 year warranty offered by most European manufacturers.

Good points

How are Fiats these days. They used to be Fix It Again Tony's LOL

My friendly RAC man advises that the (BTW he should not give any opinions so no names!) Panda and Picanto have very good reliability records. Much better than many more expensive cars otherwise I would not be considering the Panda.

The 1.3l cost would not justify her mileage or vice a versa

Biro

Bee wrote:

Good points

How are Fiats these days. They used to be Fix It Again Tony's LOL

My friendly RAC man advises that the (BTW he should not give any opinions so no names!) Panda and Picanto have very good reliability records. Much better than many more expensive cars otherwise I would not be considering the Panda.

The 1.3l cost would not justify her mileage or vice a versa

Ya, Fords were Fix Or Repair Daily... blah blah, etc.
Fiat are sound, their engines were always good whatever about electrics. Anyway it's not as if its a case of Honda vs Fiat, Kia aren't exactly the benchmark in reliability!
If you can, get the 1.3 multijet. Either way, the Panda is a good car.

Altreab

Bee wrote:

Good points

How are Fiats these days. They used to be Fix It Again Tony's LOL

My friendly RAC man advises that the (BTW he should not give any opinions so no names!) Panda and Picanto have very good reliability records. Much better than many more expensive cars otherwise I would not be considering the Panda.

The 1.3l cost would not justify her mileage or vice a versa

Regardless of the cost of the car be sure to claim back the VRT and VAT if she is a disabled driver ...also the VAT on the cost of converting the car. It would definitely make the 1.3L a much more viable option. PM me if you need more details.

EDIT: You will have to buy off a Garage to avail of the VAT refund.