Any car experts here? It's a subject neither my wife nor I know anything about and whenever it comes time to buy a new one, we panic and wonder what to do.

Family of four. Mostly for local driving to work / shopping etc - but occasional longer trips elsewhere in the country.

We want something smallish, 5-door with the best possible fuel economy, but not tiny small as I sometimes have to transport gear to gigs and it needs to fit an 88-note keyboard case in the back.

Current car is Mazda 2 hatchback which is pretty much perfect size and design, but everything is breaking down in it and it's also a diesel, so needs to be got rid of eventually anyway. Have had some difficulties getting parts for it so would like something of a similar size but very standard and easy to service.

Up to £4,000 second hand.

Any ideas?

A Tesla if you can. A Leaf will do.

My mum had a Hyundai ix30 until recently and she was rather happy with it. I don't think there ever were bigger repairs to be made and she used it for pretty much the same things you seem to need.

If I may be so impolite, I'd like to latch on to your thread, however. Brother and I share a flat and are now looking into sharing a car. We won't need it during the week, as we live in the city. We intend to use it for quick trips to places we can go hiking, or to my parents' place over the weekend, or roadtrips for long weekends. Since it's mostly going to be parked we don't need anything fancy, but we both agree that we wouldn't be happy under 100 horses and wouldn't say no to more either. Budget of 4000-6000€ maybe, for a good used one.

Trabant.

Beatsong, You might look into the Subaru Imprezza hatchback. My wife and I are on our second one, and plan to drive an Imprezza for as long as they make them.

Mazille, check around for a used Toyota Camry with about 150-200K km on it. Can you find something like that where you live? It's about as worry-free as you'll get for the price of a well-used car.

That does meet our specifications, thank you. The newer ones don't even look too bad.

i can fully recommend the 2011+ renault megane which is a bit dull, i suppose, but does a great job for us 3 & the two dogs and is a nippy little bugger as well as being good for the long runs to devon...boots not massive but if you know the length of your keys i could measure up and check - i think it's be more than enough

paid 5k for ours a few years ago but it seems you can get them lower

this is what ours is like (except ours is silver) - has built in tomtom and plenty of bells and whistles - much prefer this shape to the older meganes...

http://www.motors.co.uk/car-43478359/?i=4&m=sp

service has been a doddle through the package from our garage and parts easy to come by...id thoroughly recommend for your needs...

I think I read recently that the Peugeot 208 is one of the most economical cars on the road. Not sure if it's big enough for the OP though.

Do you have access to Consumer Reports? Is there a version of that organization in the UK? That's where I'd go for the best evidence based advice on used cars.

Otherwise, I really like my Subaru Outback. I'd think you'd be able to find such a thing within your budget. But, it is all wheel drive and most of the time, doesn't need to be. It costs fuel to carry around all that extra drivetrain and make it turn when you don't really need it. Along that reasoning, I used to always have a pickup truck. That way, when I moved, I could just put my motorcycle in the bed and drive to my next post with both vehicles. They were usually four wheel drive pickup trucks, too. You know. In case of snow.

The fact is, I never once had to move a motorcycle myself between posts. And, I never really had to be out driving around in blizzards. I put a lot of carbon into the air over the years because of that faulty judgment. Two of those trucks had 5.2 liter V8 engines, another one had a 3.9 liter V6. It's ridiculous to drive those things around as passenger cars.

I'd go with as small and reliable a thing that I could find that would fit your needs (keyboard). I could probably get away with something smaller than my Outback. But, not so easily now with two dogs and two boys.

I like the idea of electric cars very much. But, I don't like the idea of buying a battery bank that begins degrading as soon as I buy it, to need replacement in something like five years. Nor do I like the idea of leasing a battery bank. The leasing option requires payment whether or not you drive the thing much. I don't like to pay for it when I'm not using it.

For a city car, Citroen developed a compressed gas hybrid system they called the lemon, because it stored about the amount of energy in a single lemon when you brake. It stored braking energy in a compressed nitrogen cylinder, which was then used to drive a hydraulic motor to bring the car back up to traffic speed. Still using gasoline, but not very much of it. I don't know if they put that system into commercial production, though.

Why not get a newer version of the car you've already got if it's perfect?

The Hyundai i30 would be good. They're about the same size as the Mazda 2, but Hyundai's are cheaper but are still reliable.

Skoda's are also good value for money. Along with SEAT, they are owned by VW, so you are getting the engine, etc of a VW but with a less fashionable badge for a lot cheaper. You could have a look at Skoda Hatchbacks as you'll find plenty in your price range.

Also the Skoda Yeti is a good family car if you need space. In terms of size it's bigger than a hatchback but smaller than an SUV.

I bought a 2011 Citroen C3 a year and a half ago.

Pros:

1. Can't say enough good things about its fuel economy. It costs me about $16 to get to the other end of Tassie.

2. Surprisingly roomy. Boot holds three wheelbarrows full of firewood. You'd probably need to fold the back seats down to get your keyboard in though.

3. One of the best mechanics in my area actually specialises in French cars.

Cons:

1. Doesn't like hills. Happily, I'm not averse to taking a bit of a runup.

2. Controls are reversed from what I am used to (I'm assuming this would also be the case with you). Kept turning the wipers on instead of indicating for a month or so.

3. It bears a striking resemblance to a motorised blue jellybean, and I've been told that it is somewhat humorous to see a six-foot tall shaven-headed guy unfold himself from within it. I'm not averse to spreading a bit of joy in this bleak world though, so I'll take one for the team on that issue.