Car choice: Peugeot or Vauxhall for a partner?

Anne Humfrey is replacing her Vauxhall Corsa. As well as creature comforts such as air conditioning, she needs plenty of storage space and a frugal engine for her £5,000 budget

James Ruppert
Friday 29 September 2017 09:22 EDT
Comments
(Peugeot)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A car for the head

For an ideal car I find it hard to look beyond those French adapted vans such as the Peugeot Partner Combi. What should please Anne is that once she opens the rear tailgate there is a wide and flat load area that can be made instantly larger by tumbling the rear seats forward. The rear doors slide back which means access is easier, especially in a tight parking space. The smaller petrol engines should be adequate to return just under 40mpg overall. We came across a 2010 1.4 with 43,000 miles for £5,000.

(Vauxhall
(Vauxhall (Vauxhall)

A car for the heart

If Anne is still fond of her old Corsa, then perhaps a more up-to-date Vauxhall will do in the shape of the Meriva. It’s a small car that is supremely practical. The inspired FlexSpace seating system allows you to move all three rear seats independently of each other, and all three fold flat into the floor to provide a maximum capacity of 1410 litres. Both the 1.4 and 1.6 petrol engine will be fine and deliver just over 40mpg economy. A 2011 1.4T Exclusiv with 42,000 miles and full service history can be found at £4,000.

If you would like James Ruppert to help with your car choice, email james@freecarmag.com. For more motoring views visit freecarmag.com

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in