Our lass has to give her work lease car back in March, so we've been looking at cars.

We've found a very low mileage (15k) Kia Venga that is 4 years old for a decent price.

It has another 3 years warranty on it, is cheap to insure and economical etc.

Anything to be wary of when it comes to Kias?

If you and the lads are in it, will you be the Venga boys?

Prince Phillip

Not much room for a roof rack and I don't know where you'll put your surf board.

Steady away car IMO, nothing really good or bad about them

Practicality and ease-of-use were obviously top priorities for the designers behind the Kia Venga. Despite its small size the Venga is spacious, with sliding rear seats, wide-opening back doors and a high-up driving position like a little SUV. It’s easy to get in and out and easy to drive – but the Honda Jazz does everything (except price) a little bit better.
There are two petrol and two diesel engine options. The 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre petrols are affordable but they’re old-fashioned and naturally-aspirated, meaning they need to be worked hard to give their best, unlike modern turbo petrol engines. Emissions are fairly high – 130g/km for the 1.4-litre means tax isn't as cheap as you'd expect.
The diesel engines are a better bet, unless you’re a low mileage driver. The 90PS 1.4 CRDi is responsive at low engine speeds and has official economy of 119g/km, but surprisingly the more powerful 114PS 1.6-litre diesel is marginally more economical and has lower emissions. It is more expensive, of course – but the expense might be worth it for high-mileage or motorway drivers.
Sensibly designed rear seats make the Venga very family-friendly. They can be slid back and forth and reclined, depending on whether boot space or legroom is a priority, plus they split fold for bulky loads. Furthermore, the rear doors open very wide which makes life easy when strapping in child seats.

The boot is wide and flat, with a reasonably low load deck and a false floor, covering some little storage areas for small odds and ends. Volume with the seats up is 440 litres and sliding the rear seats forward increases this a little. Folding the rear seats down makes a nice flat load area with 1253 litres of capacity.

Honda’s latest Jazz has fairly similar load capacity on paper, but it has a more versatile and user-friendly rear-seat layout and a lower load deck, so is more user-friendly than the Venga. However, the Venga is available for less than the Jazz and it has a broader range of engines – so it’s still a good buy if you value practicality above all else.

Had a Sorento on lease for 2 years recently. Build quality was on a par with other big manufaturers. Very impressed.

I've had a kia ceed estate for the last 5 years and I can quite honestly say it's one of the best cars I've ever had, and I've been driving for nearly 40 years now.

Too much Arsen about with a Venga....

Never heard a bad report.
I may be closing in on one but maybe the drinks cabinet in the Bentley may sway it.

Probably decent, sensible and reliable. I wouldn't have one.

Take a break, tiredness can kill

I have had two Sorentos and loved them both. The ultimate towing machine. I now have a c'eed and it is brilliant. It's diesel. Going to Pools and back I get a minimum of 55mpg. Pottering around here I get 48mpg. They all come with a 7 yr warranty and it's transferrable.
If you buy new they lose value very quickly. Conversely if you buy at around three year old you can pick up a real bargain. Go for it Johnny boy.

You teaming up with Clarkson?

Cheers all, I think we'll go for it now. She is on her 3rd Honda Jazz which she really likes but I can't see much difference apart from the trim isn't quite as good. Doesn't really matter as she's messy and it will look like a skip within a week anyway.

Ha ! Now that would be a combination

I read that in a Finbar Saunders stylee and fnaar fnarr it was a decent read, managed to get Jizz, Trim and messy in a sentence without trying

Think Mr Horden might already be in a relationship with Honest John.

I get 14mpg. Seems reasonable.

Ha ! Now that would be a combination [/quote]

Think Mr Horden might already be in a relationship with Honest John.[/quote]

Yep! thats where I got it from, usually find he is bang on the money

Have you bought a tank? My new chariot gets around 22mpg and it was specially designed to waste fuel.

It's an Abarth 595, drive it like I stole it and only really use it around the doors. Great fun.

Have you bought a tank? My new chariot gets around 22mpg and it was specially designed to waste fuel.[/quote]
my right foot certainly was.

I’m still waiting for our lasses Micra to die. I think it’s a remanufactured Russian T-34 with heated rear windscreen. 08 reg, 128,000 on the clock and it just goes and goes and as cheap as chips on fuel. Actually I prefer driving it round the town instead of the other car and it only failed it’s test last year because the rear number plate bulb was out. Don’t get me going on Volkswagens though.

Woman round the corner has got one of those and she drives it very scarily. Suppose that's what they're for and it does look like fun. She'll hit a slow moving farm vehicle soon though and that'll be that.

They were great right up until the Golf Mk2!

My old Mark 4 Golf is now owned by my sister in law. 53 plate, 180K, a bit rusty but still going strong.

I had a Mark 3 for about 11 years that I sold when it had done about 160K, and it was still driving around 3 years later at the age of 18.

I had a different Mark 4 which was 15 years old and had done 120K when the gasket went.

All of them cost me bugger all to keep on the road. Maybe I've been lucky, but a lot of VW owners I know will say the same thing. I now have a Transporter Kombi which is ace.

Only 08 reg ....you should see some of the P&R reg ones bombing around the only problem is the paint fades a bit.