Car Choice: Odd looks, but plenty of space

What are the best options for good mileage and an ample boot?

Toyota Yaris

Lucie Thacker drives a diesel Toyota Yaris T Spirit 1.4 D4D, loves it and fancies the new one. However, she is looking for a car for her mother who needs a smaller, more economical vehicle than her W reg Volkswagen Passat Estate 1.9. She wants to spend up to £8,000 on a Yaris or something with similar high mpg, and a boot big enough for bags of goat food. She won't be doing high mileage.

Lucie's Toyota dealer has come up with a deal that gives her mum her relatively new car (April 2005) and Lucie a brand-new Yaris. Lucie needs to know she's being not short-changed or limiting her mother's choice.

his is a very difficult one to answer. It sounds as though Lucie is happy enough with her deal. I would really need to sit down with a pen, paper and calculator and thrash it all out. If she sold her Toyota privately and her mother likewise sold the Passat privately they would have more money in hand and could possibly negotiate a better deal.

Then again, the sheer hassle of doing all that is enough to put you off, and anyway Lucie explained to me that they don't like buying privately and want the security of dealer.

Quite rightly, buying or selling privately means that you need to be very careful and often patient. Essentially I think Lucie has done the right thing and she should possibly ensure that the dealer explains exactly what he is doing for them so that it is clear in her head. There are price guides that Lucie should buy and look at. The amount that they get for their cars would be the trade and not retail price. Of course Lucie is happy with the Yaris, but her mum needs to make sure all that goat food will fit in the back of the fairly small boot, even though those rear seats slide.

A CAR FOR THE HEAD

I am picking a car for Lucie's mum, really. If she liked the Yaris, but found that it was less than practical there is always the Verso model which is no longer part of the current line-up.

The Toyota Yaris Verso is an odd looker, but there is no shortage of space. The front seating position is pleasingly upright, which means good visibility for the driver and passenger. There is plenty of room for oddments in the cabin and at the back is a wide, square boot which is easy to load.

However, the rear door is side-hinged so Lucie's mum will need to be mindful of where she is parking so that it can be opened fully. When she needs more room the rear seats split and fold flat. These seats are light to move, so getting animal food in should not be a problem - especially as the load area is flat and usable. Air conditioning is not available on the basic model, but comes with T Spirit.

The 1.3 petrol engine should be fine because it is usefully economical, return-ing 44 mpg, and is lively enough. Being a Toyota Yaris it will be a very reliable car, and the running costs are reasonable.

A CAR FOR THE HEART

With a Toyota Lucie need not worry about reliability. If she liked the Volkswagen Passat's build, though, perhaps she should downsize to another Volkswagen.

If Lucie's mum is considering the Yaris, the VW equivalent is the Polo. This is an expensive small car, but has always been well-built even if the standard equipment has been mean.

Lucie's mum could take her Passat to a Volkswagen showroom and swap it for a Polo, although she will find there is more to pay. The advantage of going to a dealer isthat often the manufacturer's warranty will still cover the Polo if it is less than three years old.

Lucie's mum might like to know that a Polo is effectively a Skoda Fabia and vice versa, but the Skoda will be cheaper (see our centre-pages story). The boot on the Polo is decent but the loading lip is a bit high; the Skoda's is much lower.

CAR CHOICE Please write to Car Choice, Features, Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS, or e-mail James Ruppert at carchoice@independent.co.uk, giving your age, address and contact number, and details of the type of vehicle in which you are interested and your budget.