Good automatic car

[yoyo123]

My husband has a 1 year old Auris (mine is 5 yrs old) he gets better mileage than me. He is still playing with it though, to see how far he can go on 99 mpg, I suspect he will get bored with doing that and put his foot down soon.

[quasimodo]

I have found this a very amusing thread as looking at it from a male perspective the idea of a "good" car wouldn't raise a mention of any the cars mentioned.I can't see any sports cars or names like BMW,Mercedes,Audi or Jaguar Land Rover.Like a lot of males I would fall into a petrol head.

However on the theme of this thread since we now need a second car as I venture into work on a more regular basis I have bought a Toyota Rav 4 about 12 years old and it is automatic.Good for 2 people the leg space in the back not great for adults but fine for young children.Bought from the owner who had had it from new and driven mainly by his wife with only 70,000 on the clock for the princely sum of £1,800,Although I am spending £350 on 4 new tours and having the alloys refurbished.Engine is sound.

[Ally]

15yrs ago we lived in the states for just a year and on our return I couldn't see the point of switching back to diving a manual car. OH also loves driving my small automatics.

So I'm now on car third small second-hand automatic.
1.4 Clio - lovely car, safe, reliable, powerful, kept it for 9 yrs.

Mitsubishi Colt 1.3, totally underpowered, cheap to buy and run, very reliable but a tin can, not the car to be t-boned in ( I was).

Mini Clubman One 1.6. Just had the car a year(today). Trying to find an automatic was nearly impossible, but well worth the search. It's the perfect car, fun, reliable and practical. Only down side is leg room, as DS has exceptionally long legs, but that's a problem with any small car.

Good luck in your search

[Loopyloulou]

...recently exchanged an Audi A3 auto (2.0 VW-type diesel engine, someone else's problem now) for a Mini Clubman One 1.6D. The Audi was fine. I liked the "paddles" giving manual override at the flick of a finger if I wanted it (does that mean it was optionally "semi automatic"?). Also, having had many automatics, I really don't like the "continuous transmission"-type gearbox you get nowadays on lots of them (eg Subaru) where there aren't actually any gears as such, I've been told it is more like an elastic band running up and down a cone. I miss the extra breaking power that moving down real gears, even automatically, provides. The Audi had a "proper" gearbox.

...but I must agree, the Mini Clubman is so much more fun !

[Basil]

Thankyou all for the suggestions!

[Basil]

I shortlisted to three now – Mercedes Benz , Toyota auris & Ford focus/fiesta
Finally please give your ideas/experience about the Benz auto gearbox. I have read some bad reviews about benz gear box. But my family keen for this – Benz B series …and I am bit worried about the auto gear box . hope for the Toyota & Ford have good Auto gear box- Advance Thanks

[yoyo123]

We had a Mercedes c class auto, I found it uncomfortably low. My husband didn't like the rear wheel drive but as far as I know the gear box was quite responsive.

[Warks mum]

I've only driven bigger Mercs too (in the course of work, not my own cars!) and know the newest 9-speed auto is amazing, but I guess it won't be in the smaller cars yet!

My feelings on Mercs are that they tend to be very capable and quiet but can be very pricey to keep on the road if you're paying for it yourself. You may like to check, for example, the price of a tyre for each of your three options or the cost of a service.

[guest201]

What about Lexus CT200h, hybrid, automatic zero road tax and incredibly comfortable seats.

[JaneEyre]

I have read some bad reviews about benz gear box. But my family keen for this – Benz B series

We are also into automatic cars in our family, my DH having switch to them some 25 years ago, and then, when we arrived in the UK and I had to learn to drive on the left, he preferred for me to have an automatic so that I could concentrate on staying on the proper side of the road… I have to say that my parking skills were particularly rubbish at the beginning and I was doubtful of my abilities to judge well the distances on the left side of the car!! Also, being right-handed, I hated to use my left hand to use the gear lever.

Due to our limited finance, we only buy second hand cars. Our first one was a 1992 TOYOTA like they do not do them anymore so that people have to buy new cars: it was ‘blessed ‘ with an excellent motor . Of course, the body was showing some sign of ‘oldness’ which made our DD ashamed to be seen at her GS inside this car, but a real powerful and reliable car… Last year, after 22 years of good services, it went to a scrap yard.

I had for a few years a PEUGEOT 104 but began to have problems and when my DS started a GS far from our home, I needed a car I could rely on. We bought a second hand 2003 Mercedes A 170 CDI. It has been extremely comfortable, convenient and a good car for 3 years… but the gear box became out of order last summer. We couldn’t have it mended and knew that a new gear box would cost a fortune. The idea given to us was to buy a second hand car of the same model to take the gear box from it… The logic of this solution was going a bit above my head… Buying a car to take just the gear box? And how could I know that the gear box of the second –hand car would last me for long? And I leave the ‘old car’ bought especially to get the spare parts on my drive???

I continued to drive my old-and-out-of-order Mercedes; sometimes, the gears would change, sometimes not and I was stuck on the first gear, making everybody behind me drive very slowly… I was ashamed of that but I had no choice… It has really been a pain in the neck for months!

Anyway, recently, the car wouldn’t start… I called AA. Verdict: the alternator is now broken and AA repair man suspected that the SAM units may have also failed, as apparently, that often is the case in this situation…
There is no point of repairing such a car; it will soon go to the scrap yard once we find another second hand automatic car to buy… We might buy the same model so that we do not have to pay the insurance again and because we have a battery in there which is just one year old…
Scratching my head as I am not very convinced…

I have been advised to buy a Honda Jazz or a Toyota Yaris as – according to what I have heard- these cars do not get out of order easily… Could anyone comment on that please?
AA man explained that Mercedes are good cars till they start to have problems, and then it costs a fortune to repair them…. Spare parts are expensive…

That has been my experience with this good and comfortable car…

Oh, and to replace our good old Toyota, we’ve bought a second hand Ford Galaxy last autumn and it is as if we have opened a Pandora's box when purchasing it!!:( Something to do with the cooling of the motor (the fan does not manage to get on on its own tough its electricity is OK. These days, I am using a little wire I put on the battery each time I need to drive it and I also check the collant/water). When the problem was not yet diagnosed, because of this car, I have missed an important appointment in London as I found myself on the motorway 30 mn of Birmingham with an over-heated motor . I am going to the garage tomorrow to have the water pump and the motor belt changed… I dream that all problems will be solved… Big sigh… Maybe we have been had when buying this car…