Small automatics

No knowing how small she wants to go, the Hyundai i10 has a fluid torque converter for smooth changes with no loss in acceleration as you get with the Peugeot 107 automated manual gearboxes and their hesitant changes. The Hyundai has a 5 year warranty too.

Gio

Useful confirmation, I suspected the Hyundai has a torque converter. Warranty, build & equipment look ideal but she hasn't knowingly seen one in the flesh yet so I am not sure whether it is a step too far.

She used to have a 206 so has that size in mind (same width but a foot longer than the i10). She originally thought a 207 was a direct replacement - err, no Mum, it's the same size as the 307. Before I noticed the i10, my first idea was to try and swap for one of the last Yaris 1's.

Useful confirmation, I suspected the Hyundai has a torque converter. Warranty, build & equipment look ideal but she hasn't knowingly seen one in the flesh yet so I am not sure whether it is a step too far.

She used to have a 206 so has that size in mind (same width but a foot longer than the i10). She originally thought a 207 was a direct replacement - err, no Mum, it's the same size as the 307. Before I noticed the i10, my first idea was to try and swap for one of the last Yaris 1's.

Hope you get her sorted out, the wife has an i10 auto and other than the mpg achieved, has been happy with it up to now.

Gio

Thanks for the helpful advice.

Before closing the shortlist, I'm still hoping someone can offer something on CVT durability... the main reason I posted here rather than on a more general cars group.

THey seem to last as well as anything else, the early ford ones where apparently a bit less reliable, but I've not heard anyone complain about the Toyotas.

On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:46:32 -0800, dr6092 stammered:

My dad's had a Honda Jazz CVT-7 for the last 6/7 years,and it's been reliable and faultless.

Looks like from the responses, not to worry too much. Thanks

Looks like from the responses, not to worry too much. Thanks

I hope that is the case, the snag is there is not much of a call for automatics of any kind with most owners in many countries opting for manual transmissions --with the exception of say the USA, but then they are large capacity engines.

Gio

Not so - the vast majority of executive cars in the UK are autos. Small autos used to be rare - but not these days.

I agree the large and expensive cars frequently feature auto boxes but the OP was looking at a Fiesta sized car. I have not seen many small automatic cars in the Fiesta class that you could class as 'executive' and something I would buy if I won the lottery. ;-) While the small auto may well be on the increase, the proportion of auto to manual still favours the manual box. The point I was attempting to make was:- Given the low quantity of small autos sold, the quantity of possible reported g/box faults / problems discussed will also be low and may not even show up when searching motoring forums and car clubs. I did not want the OP thinking that just because there are no obvious internet 'reported' faults it automatically means a reliable unit. Another limiting sales factor with small autos is you are often stuck with a particular spec of car which in turn reflects in the price which again limits its appeal for some buyers.

Gio

Sorry - I thought you were making a general comment. Especially since you followed it with the bit about the USA. Although there, many cars that are almost exclusively autos here - like the larger sporty BMWs - are more often manual.

I recently looked for a small auto for a pal and found lots and lots of them at around the 2.5k mark. Although more Focus than Fiesta class. But then we weren't looking for the smallest ones.

The Focus CVT was so bad it was almost impossible to source a secondhand spare anywhere in the UK. I'm told.

No problem, we are both more or less agreeing with one another. :-)

Not necessarily. Cars have got significantly bigger so there are fewer cars with similar dimensions to "small" cars of about 10 years ago. In turn, this reduces the choice of small autos.

All things are relative. But if you're implying the size of a car matters as to whether an auto will fit, the original Mini was available with a conventional auto.

It is indeed a relative matter, not a question of whether an auto will physically fit - I don't see how you could interpret this from my message. The choice of small cars, in absolute, not relative terms (auto or otherwise) has reduced.