Cheapest first time car

basmic

I'm learning to drive just now, so haven't even passed my test yet. I'm looking at cars, and which would be ideal for a first time car to own in terms of costs - both running, and purchase.

I could spend say £300 on a banger which might cost say £1000 to insure, but it will probably guzzle the fuel. In all honesty, I have about £500-1000 to spend - ideally staying towards the low end, when buying.

Or cars like a small Fiat, Vauxhall Corsa, Nissan Micra, Ford Fiesta reliable? What would be a reliable car, but not expensive to fix when it goes wrong? I will be trying to fix it myself, with a Hayes (?) book, hopefully reducing further costs.

Doing quotes just now, a car such as a Nissan Micra costs about £900 for me to insure with Admiral.

whatmichaelsays

Any car at that end of the market will need something doing to it somewhere along the line. Whilst some people will have preferences on which car to go for, they key thing is to check for the service history. A car that has been looked after should cause you fewer problems.

As for repairs, there are plenty of old Fords around so getting hold of spares is pretty easy.

johnnyroper

as abo.ve make sure whatever you buy has decent service history,if it was me i would be looking at getting a vauxhall corsa one of the 8 valve 1.2 models.they are reliable but easy to work on and cheap parts are easy to come by if it does go wrong also economical to run

pookiewn

Have you tried putting someone else on the insurance? Parent or friend who's had a licence for at least five years, a female will usually bring it down more. That will bring the cost of the insurance down quite a bit leaving you more money to spend on the car its self.
My first car was a Vauxhall Astra, it was a great run around, and with there being loads of them around I could buy spares from the scrappy. A headlight cost a fiver! That was a while ago though, so probably not so cheap anymore,

basmic

I keep on liking the Nissan Micras for some reason - are these costly to run and maintain? Are they reliable?

I might be able to add my father on the insurance, but I'll be the primary insurance holder.

angeltreats

basmic wrote: »

Or cars like a small Fiat, Vauxhall Corsa, Nissan Micra, Ford Fiesta reliable? What would be a reliable car, but not expensive to fix when it goes wrong? I will be trying to fix it myself, with a Hayes (?) book, hopefully reducing further costs.

I can tell you that we've had two Puntos (a mark 1 and a mark 2) and they've both caused no end of hassle. The one we have now (my husband's car) is a Y reg and basically everything that could go wrong has. My husband has done most of the work himself but when the head gasket failed (which Fiats are notorious for) he let the garage do it and it was somewhere around the £400 mark. My dad has always had Fiats too of various types, and despite looking after them, servicing them on schedule and not driving like a !!!!!! he's still had some very expensive repairs.

I on the other hand drive a T reg 1.3L Micra which cost me the grand sum of £650. It had done 100,000 miles when I bought it in November and I've done about 9,000 in it since then. It had obviously been well looked after and had an almost complete service history. It's since needed a new wiper motor (bought from the scrappy for £15) and the usual service parts (oil & filter, spark plugs, air, PCB & fuel filters) and that's about it. Oh and a new wheel when my husband mangled one of mine going over a pothole :mad: (but again I found one at the scrappy for about £20). It's easy to work on and parts are readily available and inexpensive. Certainly it's not everyone's cup of tea, it's definitely seen as an old people car, but the 1.3L is very nippy compared to lots of other small cars I've driven and I absolutely love it to bits.

Apart from telling you to avoid Fiats like the plague, I'd say don't rule out high mileage cars. If you get one that's been looked after and especially if it's done a lot of motorway miles, it's unlikely to cause problems and you could find a nice little bargain. Also make friends with the people at the local scrappy and you can save yourself a small fortune.

basmic

Thanks angeltreats, you've reassured me a lot. I can see people associating Nissan Micras with old fogies cars - but I'm not fusseed, as long as it moves me from A to B. Hopefully it won't attract enough of anybody's attention for them to steal it.

Hammyman

basmic wrote: »

Thanks angeltreats, you've reassured me a lot. I can see people associating Nissan Micras with old fogies cars - but I'm not fusseed, as long as it moves me from A to B. Hopefully it won't attract enough of anybody's attention for them to steal it.

You'll find Nissan Micras hold their value well due to low insurance and good reliability so any that are sub £1000 need to be viewed with caution.

z3phyr04

Let me just add that I also have a 1.3L Micra (S Reg) as my first car and it's lovely. It had 58000 on the clock when I got it at the end of last year and had unfortunately been garaged and SORN'd for some years (last keeper had died and it had not been sold on).

Obviously with it sitting I had to replace the tyres and battery, but after that it flew through the MOT and had a full service at the same time and it's been perfect ever since. Starts up first time, lovely all round car.

If you find a good example for the right price these are diamond motors, ignore the stigma of it being a 'grandma car' because it's pointless - they're just as nippy as the Corsas and better on the fuel I've found. The 1.3L would be a much better engine if you'll be using motorways regularly, but the 1.0L is more suited to town and B road driving.

If you're going to check one out, check the sills and front crossmember to assure they aren't rusting. This was more prevalent on the older design K11 micra though I think (they facelifted it in '98 and then again in 2000).

angeltreats

z3phyr04 wrote: »

If you're going to check one out, check the sills and front crossmember to assure they aren't rusting. This was more prevalent on the older design K11 micra though I think (they facelifted it in '98 and then again in 2000).

Good advice, although I think it applies to all the K11 Micras and not just the pre-facelift ones. Mine has had both the sills and crossmember welded but I think I'm going to look out for another crossmember at the scrapyard before the MOT is due in August. There's very very little rust elsewhere though.

z3phyr04

Really?
I know they rust inside out but certainly my sills which I checked yesterday before washing it have been perfectly fine. Will have to have a nosy at my crossmember to make sure but it went through the MOT with no advisories. I'd have thought they would have fixed that problem in later revisions but I guess those parts can always be replaced later on if needs be.