How to choose a car for a woman in Cyprus?
A car in Cyprus is a great upgrade to the quality of life. And with the onset of the hot season, it is not only a means of transportation and reliable assistant, but also an oasis of coolness that is always at hand.
Recently, electric cars and hybrids are gaining popularity on the island of Aphrodite. Therefore, if you have a sufficient budget, it is a good idea to choose a car from this category. It should be noted that the government of Cyprus actively participates in European environmental programs, reduces annual fees for owners of "green transport" as much as possible, introduces subsidies and promises to install over a thousand new electric filling stations in the foreseeable future. Time is of the essence, and Larnaca is already waiting for the construction of the first hydrogen refueling station. But there are no such options on the car market yet.
Parking is not a problem on the island. Almost every apartment and house has a parking space, or even two. Inside the cities, there are many free public parking lots, and paid ones are also very common.
The roads are good, it is a pleasure to drive on them. The police are polite and will not stop you without a reason. For example, I was stopped only once - I forgot to turn on my headlights. And if you don't fall under tropical winter showers with hail somewhere near the Troodos mountain peaks, the visibility is perfect the rest of the time.
Taking into account the above mentioned, girls in Cyprus choose small, compact cars, which are easy to park, with inexpensive body parts. Any girl here can feel like a queen of the road, even if previously behind the wheel did not dare to sit down.
Of course, the choice of car is a purely individual thing. Sometimes you need to match the status, and sometimes your profession requires skills in driving specific models. We will talk about more general characteristics of transportation.
It should be noted, that if this will be the second car in the family, it would be logical to choose something inexpensive in maintenance. And if there are a lot of friends, it would be strange to buy a spectacular two-seater sports car.
Beautiful car or comfortable?
The car must be beautiful! Otherwise, you will lose the desire to get behind the wheel. Style and external beauty of the car are determined largely by the type of body. The most optimal options for a girl - are compact sedans and hatchbacks. The latter is the most popular with the fair sex, distinguished by dynamic, bright, stylish, and feminine refined design. They are compact, they are many times easier to drive. Conventional sedans are considered safer and more practical and also have a more spacious trunk. Not for nothing they are very fond of cab drivers.
Practicality and convenience
The choice of design is an individual activity, but it is not worth choosing at the expense of practicality. The most important thing when choosing a car is practicality and convenience in daily use. Think about how you will leave the parking lot at home, whether the bumper will not constantly cling to sidewalks, and what you will do if fuel bills exceed the budget for trips to beauty salons! Eventually, you'll even have a mini closet in your car. Well, at least a pair of spare-heeled shoes. Where to place them?
Small size and reliability
Most girls stop their choice of small cars, which are characterized by maneuverability in a limited space, which makes the process of parking many times easier. In addition, such cars look neater and cuter. No one doubts that you will park an eight-seater jeep, but what is the expediency of such efforts?
Popular models Citroen C4 and Peugeot 308 are compact and cute, with good equipment (massage of front seats, control of blind zones, climate control, Panoramic Sunroof, and so on), but they are inferior in reliability. Mechanics say that EP6 motors are characterized by the presence of many shortcomings (grm drive, stretching chain, the pump constantly breaks). After 2011, the manufacturers made changes to the motor. You will have to study the car in detail, be extremely careful when driving and be ready for its inevitable surprises. The AL4 gearbox is also characterized by high sensitivity. So, these cars are bright, and budget, but in the future can become very expensive in maintenance.
As an option, you can buy a car on the secondary market, provided that the previous owner treated it with care and managed to eliminate all production problems. A car that is too old will also cost as much as a brand-new one. Such is the paradox. At the end of the blog, we will list other brands as well.
Safety
This is perhaps the most important thing when choosing a car. Anti-lock braking system ABS and at least a couple of airbags - the minimum set, which, as a rule, include in the basic configuration of almost all, even inexpensive cars.
The bigger the set, the better. In addition to the above, it is good to have the following in the car:
- Head restraints protect the neck in a sudden collision.
- Extra cushions at knee level.
- In a side impact, side curtain airbags will protect you.
- Parking sensors and cameras (ideally with 360-degree cameras) will help when maneuvering in tight spaces.
- The assistant when starting on a hill prevents rolling back on the slide without the help of the brake.
- Adaptive or conventional cruise control and directional stability system will help keep to the lane, and keep the speed of the general flow.
It would be good for moms to have in the car also seats with fasteners for child seat Isofix, as well as the function of self-locking doors with a set of speed.
Comfort
The equipment of the car determines the set of functional electrical equipment for additional comfort. Such convenient options as electric windows and electric mirrors, heated steering wheels and seats, and air conditioning (and even better climate control for several zones) will make daily trips much more pleasant. All sorts of lockers and pockets allow you to separately place a cosmetic bag and other important little things.
Popular cars for girls
Dynamic, inexpensive, but practical and quite reliable for its class car KIA Picanto. Despite the modest dimensions (length 3.5 meters, width of about 1.5 meters) easily accommodates up to 5 passengers. The car consumes up to 7.8 liters of fuel in the city. The trunk capacity is up to 200 liters.
A reliable option for all occasions French hatchback Renault Sanderro has an economical engine, and already in the basic set has three-point seat belts, child seat mounts, power steering and an anti-lock braking system. The trunk holds up to 320 liters.
Korean KIA Rio has won the hearts of many ladies, and especially moms, with a roomy interior, a 500-liter trunk, child seat anchors and a function of locking the rear doors.
Classic Peugeot 308 won the hearts of many with its design, amazing dynamics, and comfort. At the same time, gasoline consumption in the city is only 5.3 liters. Many people face the need for frequent repair of even new cars, as we have mentioned above.
Another city hatchback from the Korean manufacturer - KIA Ceed is characterized by astonishing maneuverability, compactness and at the same time quite spacious interior.
Interestingly, none of these models are among the top 5 popular cars in Cyprus. For example, in 2022, the Mazda brand topped the list with 3,711 cars registered (all of them used). The top 10 also included new and used Toyota (3,639), Nissan (2,109), Mercedes (1,369) and BMW (1,272), Volkswagen (1,098), Honda (1,042), Kia (983), Hyundai (895) and Suzuki (669).
The most popular brand in the luxury segment for the first quarter of 2023 was Porsche.
For a large selection of cars visit the DOMCar website.