READERS’ QUESTIONS

Hi James, I’m looking for something for my daughter to learn to drive in. The budget is £1500, a supermini is preferred, and I want it to be as safe as possible. Bob, Hertfordshire

Bob, the safest supermini you can get for that sort of cash is probably going to be a Renault Clio. Renault was particularly hot on safety in the late 2000s, and this era of Clio is now well within your budget – and cheap to insure, too. Spend your £1500 on a tidy pre-facelift 1.2. We found one in Extreme spec with 72,000 miles and a service history that looked about right. My elderly mother has £6000 to spend on something high-riding and reliable. What would you recommend? Josh Burningside, Surrey

If you shop and haggle hard, you can just about get her into a tidy little new-shape Nissan Note for that sort of cash. It isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but it is dependable and practical. If the Note doesn’t float her boat, there’s always the Honda Jazz.