Used Car Hunter: Small, easy to drive cars for £15,000
Our Car Hunter has £15,000 to find a small hatchback or SUV that’s a doddle to drive
“Dear Auto Express, I have mobility problems and want to spend £15,000 on an easy-to-drive hatchback or small SUV. Any ideas?” - Derek Barker, E-mail
There are few things worse than finding a parking space that’s just a bit too tight or having to avoid parking down a narrow street. Naturally, the easiest way to avoid these frustrations is to buy a car that’s compact in size. Less bulk doesn’t have to mean less enjoyment, though, as plenty of hatchbacks and small SUVs offer plenty of quality, driving engagement and even practicality.
With £15,000 in your pocket, you’ll have a healthy choice of small hatchbacks and SUVs on the used car market, so our expert Car Hunter is here to help you make the right choice. We’ve fired up our Find a Car service to find three great options; the comfy Citroen C3 Aircross, the practical Honda Jazz and the do-it-all Renault Captur. Which one is the best buy for you? Read on to find out.
These are our Car Hunter’s favourite used, easy to drive small cars for a budget of £15,000. We’ve also included links to buy one via our Find a Car service…
Citroen C3 Aircross - the comfy choice
- For: Comfortable and refined, newest model of this trio
- Against: Some so-so cabin plastics, imprecise manual ’box
The Citroen C3 Aircross doesn’t just look the part, this funky small SUV is competent in nearly all areas. It’s comfortable on poor road surfaces due to its soft suspension, yet it settles down well on a cruise, offering impressive refinement with nicely suppressed road and wind noise.
Light steering makes it easy to manoeuvre, and while the manual gearbox is okay it’s a little imprecise, so the automatic may appeal more. Less than £11,500 buys a 21,000-mile, 21-plate C3 Aircross 1.2-litre in PureTech Flair trim. The Aircross’s interior looks quite stylish and feels well made, yet there are a fair few scratchy plastics.
The infotainment system works well, however, while standard-fit Apple CarPlay and Android Auto make life even easier. There is also a good amount of space in the rear seats for passengers, but it’s worth noting that the C3 Aircross’ optional panoramic sunroof does have an impact on headroom.
The boot offers a decent 410 litres of space normally; if you need more room slide the rear seats forwards and the capacity increases to 510 litres, significantly more than you’ll find in the Jazz or Captur.
Used Citroen C3 Aircross deals
Honda Jazz - the practical choice
- For: Compact size with strong practicality, good quality
- Against: Old-hat infotainment, CVT gearbox is noisy
With a great reputation for reliability, practicality, light controls and good visibility, the previous-generation Honda Jazz makes a great case for itself as an easy-to-drive hatch.
The standard 1.3-litre engine isn’t quick, but it’s perfectly adequate for getting from A to B. The manual transmission is slick, while the CVT gearbox is smooth and requires less effort, but can send the revs rising noisily under acceleration. For less than £11,00, you can have a 69-plate Jazz 1.3 i-VTEC SE that’s covered under 31,000 miles.
The Jazz has a neat and inoffensive dash design, which emphasises ease of use. Build quality is good, but while most of the plastics are reasonable, some of the ones lower down feel cheap to the touch.
Honda’s infotainment system was never a strong suit, and that’s even more true today. One highlight of the Jazz’s interior, however, are its ‘Magic Seats’, which are impressively versatile. These rear seats can be folded up, cinema-syle, allowing you to put tall items like pot plants on the floor, while folding them flat increases the Japanese hatchback’s boot capacity from 354 to 1,314 litres.
Renault Captur - the do-it-all choice
- For: Lots of room for rear passengers, light controls
- Against: Uninspiring to drive and could be comfier
As with its rivals here, the Renault Captur has light steering and is easy to drive around town. It’s perfectly adept on the open road, too, even if it doesn’t feel quite as refined as the C3, which is a more recent car.
The Captur is comfy, but doesn’t deal with potholes as well as the Citroen. The 1.5-litre diesel is economical, yet the petrols are more refined. While the optional automatic gearbox is a little slow to respond, it’s better than the Jazz’s CVT unit. A 21-plate, 30,000-mile Captur 1.0 TCe in S Edition trim was on sale for a little over £13,000.
The Renault Captur’s cabin is certainly smart enough and logically laid out, but the design is starting to show its age a little.
This model makes good use of its relatively small dimensions; there’s a decent amount of rear head and legroom for passengers travelling in the back. As with the C3 Aircross, the rear seats can be slid backwards and forwards, although boot space isn’t as competitive, at 377 to 435 litres.
One useful feature is that the seat covers can be unzipped and removed, making it far easier to wash them, or indeed change them for new ones. As with the Jazz, the infotainment system fitted in the Captur is a little behind the curve today.
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