First Car - Suggestions?

**Tuckerisgreat** · 17th September 2003

as im comin up to my 17th bday and being able to get my provisional liecense soon i was thinking about getting my first car but i have no idea what to get :| i was thinking of somthing compact like a mini cooper or a smart car :thumbs but after havin a look on ebay at pricess of cars there a bit expensive (�15 grand for a mini cooper) i was wondering what else i can get a bit more in my price range and small and compact

**beansontoast** · 17th September 2003

Something old, 'reliable' make, pussy engine. It's a long road of being ripped off left right & center mate, but start off small & by the time you reach 35 it'll be feasible to own something exciting

Heh, not really - but give us a clue as to how much � you've got & how much you can afford per year for insurance.

**Tuckerisgreat** · 17th September 2003

Originally Posted by beansontoast

Something old, 'reliable' make, pussy engine. It's a long road of being ripped off left right & center mate, but start off small & by the time you reach 35 it'll be feasible to own something exciting

Heh, not really - but give us a clue as to how much � you've got & how much you can afford per year for insurance.

thanks for the reply

i can really spend out up to �2 grand prefebally on a car and whatever it cost per year after

**2High** · 17th September 2003

Originally Posted by Tuckerisgreat

thanks for the reply

i can really spend out up to �2 grand prefebally on a car and whatever it cost per year after

If you only have �2g m8 your not going to get much, at 17 id be suprised if you can get insured for less than �2g these days.

**Tuckerisgreat** · 17th September 2003

if i can get my dad to help with the costs i can spend up to 10 grand

**urbsy** · 17th September 2003

My money would be in a Renault Clio 1998 model onwards.The latest shape 1.2 16v ones are excellent. (The old shape ones are shite).

Early Corsa's weren't very good. Saxo/106 are quite a good car. Keep away from Fiats.

If you've got two grand to spend the car in which you will lose the least money and the cheapest to run is a Ford Ka.

urbsy

**beansontoast** · 17th September 2003

I've got to go out but I'm having a quick look on auto-trader.co.uk :

�2000
1998 HYUNDAI ACCENT 1.3 Si, 1998, S reg. 30000 miles, Red, 3 door, FSH, e/w, PAS, radio/cass, s/r, immobilizer, 12 months MOT, Tax March 2004, immaculate condition

Think about it like this: that car above has lost the bulk of it's depreciation, has full service history & 12 months mot/6 months tax.

It depends what you want to do, if you want to enjoy being liberated enough to drive round at 17 & still have spare cash, or if you want to buy something that's going to cost �2k a year to insure but might be your main hobby/interest (personally I much prefer pissing my money up the wall).

�1950
1997 PEUGEOT 106 1.1 XN 5dr Hatchback
P reg, blue, immobiliser, tax and mot April '04, full service history, good condition throughout. 51000 miles. �1950

�1900
1997 FORD ESCORT 1.4i Encore 5dr Hatchback
P Reg. Only 43,700 miles. 6 months Tax. 7 months MOT. Full Main Dealer Service History. Excellent condition throughout. New cam belt at 35k. Anti theft system. Keycode audio system. Driver airbag. Power assisted steering. Central locking. Split rear seats. Rear wash/wipe. 43700 miles. �1900

Can't keep looking at the mo mate (going out) but hopefully I'll have started you thinking. My 1st car was an 8 year old golf mk2 which I bought just before my 18th birthday. It was a 1.3 & if I remember right the insurance was �500ish tpf&t. Then I owned a honda civic coupe, then an mgf & now I've gone back to owning a nail (�1300 vw) because I'd been paying through the nose for car finance for the last 6 years & needed a bit of a breather. Plus a mortgage is more important to me now.

Happy hunting geez

**Tuckerisgreat** · 17th September 2003

thanks for the advice guys ill have a think about it :thumbs

**God is a DJ** · 18th September 2003

no point getting a car untill u pass ur test neway mate. u dont want it sitting there wasting the insurance if u fail ur test. - unless of course ur gonna be doing the bulk of ur learning in it rather than in a driving schools car.

DJ

**Tuckerisgreat** · 19th September 2003

just got back from my first lesson so far so good :thumbs

**canardo** · 19th September 2003

get something thats cheap to insure mate as suggested

I now have 5 years NCB and can insure a 205 gti for 350 quid which is nice however my first car was a shitty fiat uno 1.1 (dont get fiat as urbanmiff suggests) and cost me 650 to insure tpft anything thats smart or goes quick will cost you silly amounts to insure till you get a couple of years ncb under your belt

and you run the risk of bending it in the first 6 months you pass most of my mates wrote their cars off in the first 8 months

**Jules h-t** · 24th September 2003

1.1 106 or Fiesta on a K to M plate, or as Urbsy says and if you can afford one, a Ka.

I'd avoid borrowing money, because odds are stacked against you coming out of your first year with the car still in one piece. I'm sure there are people here who will confirm, there's nothing worse than paying for a car you've already killed. Go cheap as you can without buying a banger, just as a contingency (you're more likely than not going to have to go 3rd party).

Personally I always go for low mileage and good SH over newer cars with higher miles, and I've not ended up with a bag of bolts yet.

**krazed** · 24th September 2003

Get a mini, doesnt need to be a cooper, trust me.. Just get ureself any mini (make sure its in good nick, cant go wrong if uve got 2g to spend) and ull have some great fun... Even the 998cc's are a good laugh too.. Its easy enough to make any mini look like a cooper..
Wont be gettin wrid of mine for a good while, if ever (makes driving so much fun)...

P.S. if u were on about a BMW "Medium" only one thing to say NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! might aswell get a fiesta..

**norad97** · 24th September 2003

Take my advice get anything German!!!

Had fiestas 3 of them exactly and they dont compare to the Golf I had which is a MK2!! Done so much to it and now its up for sale unfortunatly as i had to get a bigger car as i do mibile discos!!!

**God is a DJ** · 24th September 2003

tired of forking out for lessons with the AA, ive gone ahead and ordered my first car. seeing as i know how to drive and all i need it practise its more convenient just to insure it under me ma's name and take all the time i need. being a bastard of the "**** of huge" variety, i had to get something a little bigger than ur average metro. heres the sexy beast:

http://www.ford.co.uk/static/foc_experience/-/foc_ink

25% privilidge discount knocking the price down to 9500. cant wait till it arrives

DJ

**beansontoast** · 25th September 2003

Originally Posted by God is a DJ

25% privilidge discount knocking the price down to 9500. cant wait till it arrives

DJ

Do you work at Land Rover mate..?

**God is a DJ** · 25th September 2003

nah, my cousin does

DJ

**Godscrasher** · 8th October 2003

Since your just starting out on lessons, buy any old crappy car with a small engine. Now insure it, it aint going to go anywhereand you wont be bothered if it gets pinched coz its a crappy little car. Once you have a years NCB on the car on the drive, you should have passed your test and done your pass plus.Theres 2 years NCB for the insurance companys to suck on.

Then go out buy a car that you want, and have cheap insurance.Then sell the scrapper on the drive for �20 and buy yourself a nice new set of footmats for your new M5, with cheap insurance.

Sorted
:thumbs