Used car for elderly father

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Thu 30 Jun 2016 11:36
Used car for elderly father - EDW2000

My father's volvo s40 is getting tired so I am looking for a shopping car for him.

Petrol, Auto, 3 door, occasional motorway drive of 50 miles. I was thinking about a mk 4 VW Polo 2005 with 50k miles for about £2000 or a Fiesta.

I am worried about auto box, never had one before but due to age its time to change from a manual box. Any models with known rubbish auto boxes to avoid?

ta


Edited by Avant on 30/06/2016 at 19:10

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Thu 30 Jun 2016 11:59
Used for for elderly father - madf

Do not buy:

VW /Audi DSG boxes

Toyota MMT boxes.

Any other automated manual gearbox.

A 1999-2005 Toyota Yaris has a nice torque convertor box. They are very reliable. Ideal for an OAP (like me) to get in/out easily

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Thu 30 Jun 2016 14:32
Used for for elderly father - Happy Blue!

Buy a Daihatsu Sirion. A nice short car with lots of internal space and very easy to park. Nippy yet good on the motorway. Toyota mechanicals so it's very reliable. Cheap to service also.

Not expensive either.

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Thu 30 Jun 2016 15:11
Used for for elderly father - RT

If your father has any mobility issues at all, consider one of the 5-seat MPVs - the higher seating position makes getting in/out much easier

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Thu 30 Jun 2016 15:13
Used for for elderly father - focussed

If he hasn't driven a car with an auto box before, or recently, it might be an idea to find a local driving instructor who teaches auto and get him a couple of refresher lessons to bed him in.

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Thu 30 Jun 2016 18:33
Used for for elderly father - gordonbennet

To combine Madf's and HB's posts, Sirion is basically a Yaris in a different frock, good cars both.

Also consider Kia Picanto, most Korean autos in this budget will be torque converter box, which is the best/only type to get IMHO.

Could not agree more with Madf's opinion of automated manual (and to a lesser degree twin clutch) gearboxes, avoid them like the plague.

Edited by gordonbennet on 30/06/2016 at 18:33

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Thu 30 Jun 2016 19:10
Used for for elderly father - Metropolis.

I think korean is best, you'll get a newer model for the money too.

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Thu 30 Jun 2016 19:29
Used car for elderly father - Dogfuzz

Sniff around Autotrader for a 3/4/ yr old Kia Rio/Picanto or even Ceed...it'll still have a guarantee...

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Fri 1 Jul 2016 14:33
Used car for elderly father - Gibbo_Wirral

Does the guarantee carry over to the new owner though?

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Fri 1 Jul 2016 15:01
Used car for elderly father - RT

Most original car warranties carry over to subsequent owners - although the now defunct Vauxhall lifetime warranty didn't - certainly Hyundai warranties carry over.

All warranties are subject to servicing being carried out on schedule.

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Fri 1 Jul 2016 17:01
Used car for elderly father - Cyd

Never ever assume any 5 or 7 year warranty will carry over to you as a second or third owner. Unless you can scrutinise the previous owners documentation and be absolutely certain that warranty conditions (servicing, rust inspections etc) have been met IN FULL.

An elderly neighbour (I think she's 84) has decided not to replace her car. She can get the occasional lift, but she calculated that she could get taxis for the bulk of her needs (even occasional trips away) and it'll be slightly cheaper than owning and running a car. She now uses a local chap with a Skoda Superb and she's loving it. Worth considering?

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Fri 1 Jul 2016 17:45
Used car for elderly father - RT

Many cars, still under warranty, are sold without any servicing documentation - contacting the UK importer is the safe way to be sure the warranty is still intact.

Stamps in service books are worthless - they can be fraudulently obtained at very low cost - as can fictitious invoices - such is the power of PC printers - manufacturers/importers electronic records are the best way.

Edited by RT on 01/07/2016 at 17:49

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Sat 2 Jul 2016 23:32
Used car for elderly father - Big John

Previous model Nissan Note 1.6 auto is a great car with a reliable engine and lock up touque converter overdrive auto.

Very refined , and easy to get in and out. Surprising economical in real life.

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Sun 3 Jul 2016 03:45
Used car for elderly father - SteveLee

Suzuki SX4, you can get a 2007 for around £2-2.4K. The 1.6 petrol engine is pretty robust if a little vocal, the car's quite tall so easy to get in and out off. A no nonsense reliable Jap car with a proper auto gearbox. Not the best car in the world but does everything perfectly well and pretty reliably - they handle surrisingly well and are fun to drive on the twisties.

If the old man likes a bit of kit, the jacked up Fiesta (Fusion) is worth a look too, avoid the durashift (smaller engines) and go for the 1.6 with the real auto, many 1.6 autos are in titanium spec and have a lot of standard kit. More refined than the SX4 but (probably) slightly less reliable but cheap to fix (it's a Ford!) similarly priced for the year.

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Sun 3 Jul 2016 08:31
Used car for elderly father - EDW2000

Previous model Nissan Note 1.6 auto is a great car with a reliable engine and lock up touque converter overdrive auto.

Very refined , and easy to get in and out. Surprising economical in real life.

i am looking at these, but autos in nice condition with FSH and autobox are quite expensive £3k for a half decent one
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