Buying my first ever car

CocoPopsLover

Okay I am going to do my driving lesson next month as I have decided to go back to work early from my maternity leave as all this benefits thing is new to me and far too confusing to sit down and wait so...

I want to buy a car and I have been told that for a first car I should go for a VW Polo, VW Golf, Toyota or Nissan

I have checked insurance and the Nissan seems to bring back the cheapest insurance for me of £660

Now what I wanted to know is if I did not intend to use the car straight away and I applied for a SORN, do I still have to buy insurance as I will not be using the car? How much does it cost to get a SORN? I have just come from the Directgov site and DVLA site and could not find the price.

Now apart from Gumtree or Autotrader, can anyone else recommend a site where I can buy cheap second hand cars? As its my first car, i dont see the point of splashing out as I will not be the greatest driver

Thanks in advance

rev_henry

Hi,
Do you mean driving test rather than lesson?
All those cars you mention are good; very reliable. Which Nissan was this? I'm guessing as you've just had a baby you're a bit older than 17 (correct me if wrong), so your insurance won't be too expensive, although £660 seems quite a lot.
If you intend to leave the car parked on a public road it must be taxed (so not SORN) and insured. If its just on your driveway then no you don't need to insure it (but if it gets stolen you won't have any insurance obviously) and you can just SORN it.
SORN doesn't cost anything to do; it just means you've told the DVLA that the car is not used and is stored off road so you won't be paying them any tax.

I'd say Autotrader and pistonheads are the best places to buy a car, followed by ebay.

CocoPopsLover

Thanks for your response! Yes I meant practical test, apologies for that mistake, i will correct that!

I am 22. I was thinking of the Nissan Micra but ofcourse I am going to look around and make sure I get the best price and ask opinions from experienced drivers to make sure I am choosing the correct car rather than what looks nice (as women do, lol)

The quote for £660 was with a provisional licence. As I will be buying the car before I pass my test, I thought it would be wise to get a quote with my provisional licence details! So hopefully it will be cheaper once I pass my test and I intend to do the passplus scheme!

CocoPopsLover

Thank you for all that useful information Automised, I really do appreciate that!

angeltreats

CocoPopsLover wrote: »

So hopefully it will be cheaper once I pass my test and I intend to do the passplus scheme!

Not all insurers offer a discount if you've done Pass Plus, and those that do are often more expensive anyway so it works out the same. Get a few quotes, both with and without the Pass Plus, and see if the potential discount is worth your while forking out for the lessons.

Of course if you want to do them anyway just for the experience then that's a different matter

I see you're interested in a Micra - I have one and I love it to bits. I didn't buy it because I thought it looked nice, I wanted something cheap to run, reliable, easy/inexpensive to service and fix when things go wrong, easy to park in an area where parking is a bit tricky, and that would be good at overtaking on our local roads full of slow drivers :rotfl:(I got the 1.3L instead of the 1.0L to take care of that last bit.) I think it would be a fantastic first car for you. You might also want to look at a Clio or Corsa as well as what you've mentioned.

pompeyrich

CocoPopsLover wrote: »

Thanks for your response! Yes I meant practical test, apologies for that mistake, i will correct that!

The quote for £660 was with a provisional licence. As I will be buying the car before I pass my test, I thought it would be wise to get a quote with my provisional licence details! So hopefully it will be cheaper once I pass my test and I intend to do the passplus scheme!

Usually dearer when you pass as you can then drive unaccompanied and unsupervised so potentially more likely to have a mishap. Try entering your details as full licence, held for less than a year, no no claims etc. to see how much it may go up by.

hewhoisnotintheknow

dont buy a vw

you will pay over the odds for a 'reliable' car that is actually crap and costs you a lot more in repairs because its a 'quality' motor that holds its value well

the fact that you have to spend loads on em means they dont hold their value

Lemonade_Pockets

+1 About the VW's

To be fair i think all of the mainstream cars are much for a muchness. E.g. Clio, corse, fiesta, micra. Avoid fiat and citroen tho.

Another word to the wise, whatever your budget for running a car is double it.

I lost count of the times my parents used to witter at me, how much cars cost to run etc. Unfortunately as with most things they were right, it costs a bl00dy fortune.

Mini_Bear

I would say above all else look for a car which has low mileage and full service history, preferably owned by someone who looks after their cars - not a boy racer! (no offense!)
also as you have a baby are you looking at 5 door cars instead of 3 doors (3 doors cost less to insure), also red cars cost more to insure (crazy i know). like others have said dont necessarily go for the lowest engine size because you think its cheapest (ie 1.0L), the engine will wear and tear quicker than a 1.2L-1.4L and you will get bored of how slow it is.
(a friend of mine bought a new corsa the lowest spec 1.0L and she is annoyed at how slow it is!!)
Micras,corsas or fiestas would be my choice. Good luck OP!

atrixblue.-MFR-.

1.3 toyota starlets are pretty good as a first motor wouldnt go for a micra timing chain tensioners seem to go pretty quick and cost the earth to replace.

sstay clear of the peugeots 106's, 206's, 307's, and citreon, fiat, kia, if going for a fiesta check it over properly with someone who knows a bit about cars first for rust under the sills and chassy and that the engine hasnt been booted to bits tappets wrattling excessively etc (fiesta's ka's do tap a bit but if sounds really loud dont buy).

KA's are prone to rot underneath and rust under the door sills and arches.

da1seggy

Take a look at Parkers http://www.parkers.co.uk/insurance/#ig=0 and search by insurance group.

For a young, inexperienced driver, depending on where you live, you could be looking at pretty high premiums, so start with the lower groups and try to avoid anything above group 5.