first time car advice

[millwalll]

im looking to buy my very first car can anyone give me advice on good ones to buy that cheap to insure and run. also does having power stearing and abs matter so much any advice would be very nice :)

also what you think a good price is for a first car ?

[mercisa]

Bought my first car last October a 10yr old fiat punto. Bought it from a car auction and cos you have to pay £108 auction fees I think paid over the odds total £958. It worked well for couple of months but had 2 trips to garage total £300. No power steering/ABS etc... but as first car was good enough. After 6 months felt confident enough to buy brand new car (toyota Aygo) and really notice the difference. Would not go back to such an old model, but think I made the right decision at the time. Good luck!

[Midmac]

I would recocomend a corsa. They are cheap to buy, cheap to insure, and very reliable and easy to fix ;)

[millwalll]

hi i was thinking of a corsa but finding it really ahrd to find one that gto 3 doors and is a diesel they all seem to be petrol ones

also if i did buy a car without abs or airbags could i get them fitted

[moonrakerz]

Ford Ka - cheap to buy, cheap insurance, cheap bits, great fun to drive, roomy (not in the back !),power steering, airbag(s), a lot have a/c, all in all - a great first car.

[ericthekidstoner]

renault clio was a very good first car for me

have u got a rough budget? are you after a new or 2nd hand or banger?

fitting abs and airbag isn't worth it imho

[Midmac]

Ford Ka - cheap to buy, cheap insurance, cheap bits, great fun to drive, roomy (not in the back !),power steering, airbag(s), a lot have a/c, all in all - a great first car.

Although extremely prone to rust quickly.

[millwalll]

yeah i dont really want spend alot for first ar so budget about £1000 and second hand one to start off then i can alway sell and get a new one after a while

[moonrakerz]

Although extremely prone to rust quickly.

Wife's got one, daughter's got one - no rust anywhere !

[trigger_mike]

you won't get a ka with power steering for under £1000, you may get a fiesta for that on about a P-reg, make sure you get one with power steering as manual steering in them fiesta are quite heavy.
All try and get the 1.25 16v engine as it's cheap to insure and very fast, the 1.3 fiesta engine arn't great, they are guttless and very unrefinded and rattle a lot.

[bingobango]

I'd recommend a small car like the ones mentioned above to start with.

[ArsenalFC]

A nissan micra or the fiesta 1.25 is a good choice.

You will not get abs with a budget of £1000 for a small car.

[Mookfish]

You are a new driver, so before discounting larger cars due to insurance costs get some quotes, I found the difference to be negligable. After one year of driving I had to get a new car 2 weeks before my insurance renewal, so got quotes for both my old car and the new one. turns out a larger faster car only cost £50 more than the old one, (ie £750 instead of £700) although other insureres were a bit ridiculouse (old car £900, new car £1450) so shop around for insurance prices before you decide what you can afford to insure.

[ericthekidstoner]

checkout the 4car website. for each category (family, supermini etc.) they have a budget recommendation.

http://www.channel4.com/4car/best-in-class/used/index.html

Best Used In Class: Superminis
1. Fiat Panda
2. Toyota Yaris
3. Honda Jazz
Banger Option: Nissan Micra

[millwalll]

i do plan to shop around for my insurance i plan to do everythink i can to get it as cheep as possible by using martins insurance trick and also doing that plus course for motoways also i used to drive a motobike in london for 4 years without a crash dont know if that help but goona try get it down my mates insurance was only 400 full com what i think is really good

[AirportParkingHenry]

Just thought I'd put this idea, out there.
What we've done for years is buy ex-police cars from car auctions.
We've being do this 20 odd years now, and they've been fine.
They do tend to have high milages, but they seem to be well maintained.
The ex patrol cars are a bit rougher, but my current one was used to take people to court, so is completely normal.
I normally go to the auction with a mate who's a mechanic, just to give them the once over.
If your not really fussy about what you drive, you can end up with a good car at a good price.
The best deal we had was quite a few years ago, but we got a cavailer for £2200. I wrote it off 5 years later, (was car number 9 out of 10 in a motorway pile up) and got £2000 back from the insurance company.

Just an idea, although auctions might be a bit to risky for a first timer.

H

[xxMandyxx]

i have an L reg nissan micra, which as my first car has been great, the low insurance is a real bonus. (im 21 - insurance was around £600 in first year but dropped to £304 after building up one years no claims)

I dont have power steering but i dont miss it as the steerings light anyway.
So i would recommend buying an old car to begin with, although the luxury of a new car would be nice i must admit lol!

[ericthekidstoner]

£600 to £304 is pretty good!

the micra is good a first car