UKC

My daughter has around £1200 for her first car and we looked at a Corsa yesterday but she couldn't reach the clutch pedal sufficiently to drive it!!
She is 5ft 1and not especially long legged......anyone know which small cars may be worth looking at? I was thinking ford Ka or maybe a pun to?

In reply to abr1966:

I have often found larger cars are more adjustable! Currently driving a 307, and that is fine. If the seat tilts, that can help

In reply to abr1966:

My mother is about 5 foot if she tries really hard. She has had a Punto (old model, not current...), a Yaris on a 53 plate I think and more recently a Honda Jazz. All were fine for her.

Yaris may well be a good starter car......

In reply to abr1966:

A Midget?

My wife & Daughter are both short.

Cars that they have driven ok include:-

4 door rover 25 2002
astra estate ecoflex life 2009
4 door micra SE 2004
Renault Megan Scenic RX4 2003
4 door Metro (cant remember age)
Land rover Discovery M reg

In reply to Dave Garnett:

That's a bit rude Dave.

I doubt that Kylie is even 5 foot tall

In reply to abr1966:

A Vauxhall nova...and spend the remaining £1190 on a roof rack, petrol money to France and 20 boxes of merlot?

In reply to abr1966:

Cosy coupe?

In reply to abr1966:

Whatever car you buy, don't let her sit too close to the steering wheel. The airbag can break your neck if it deploys under your chin, a woman was killed by one in a minor shunt.

In reply to andymac:

Actually my other half is 5'2 and she had an MG midget when we first met out. Great fun to drive, challenging for, err, recreational purposes.

Probably expensive to insure as first car these days but otherwise quite good - certainly dead easy to park!

In reply to Dave Garnett:


Gold!!!

Will the "MG Midget" be renamed the "MG vertically challenged" soon?

In reply to abr1966:

same issue in our house, as my missus is sub 5' after much looking around the best solution by far has been to buy an automatic, then the reach to the clutch (which is normally the issue) stops being a problem.

Don't think our choices will help much for a new driver, but we've found cmax, 3-series, merriva and older fiesta's and new astra were all good. new Octavias just about ok.

The other problem, almost more important is that if you get her to a position where she can reach the pedals she may be so close that the airbag is now very close to the face. Having seen our airbag deployed recently in a serious crash I'd be very concerned about that on some cars (especially the smaller ones) we've owned before. This seems less of an issue on more upright mpv style cars.

In reply to abr1966:

I'm barely 5' but have found the only thing I've ever struggled driving (have used a lot of hire cars for work) us an LDV minibus. Still managed to drive it to Scotland, mind.

In reply to abr1966:
My 5-foot-nothing auntie drives an Audi A6 estate.

Not terribly helpful on that budget, but more making the point that a larger car might have more adjustability than a small one - they've always had Audi estates.

Without wishing to ask the obvious, you have checked the steering wheel adjustability, or is the problem that the seat won't go far enough forward?

In reply to abr1966:

My neighbour is shorter than 5ft, she is very happy with her new style, Nissan Micra.

In reply to abr1966:

Pug 106 . Low mileage 1.1 petrol would be perfect for her (and well in budget) and it just so happens .........

In reply to abr1966:

We have a VW and my wife is about that size. You can pump up the seats as well. It is rather comic when we swop due to me being 6'3.

Cheers

Toby

In reply to Toby_W:

Your wife is about the size of a VW? I think I might have seen the two of you in Asda last week.

To the OP:
Have you considered pedal extensions? (Available from the kind of places that do disability adaptations, motability etc..) Even if/when you find a car that fits, it's probably not ideal for your daughter to be driving around with her chest pressed right up against the airbag.