Reccomend A Small Cheap Car Please!!

KittyKate

Hi everyone,

I have my driving test on Friday (arrgh!!!) but I'm hoping I'll pass, and would love to buy a car that very weekend. I have £1500 but need to squeeze in the insurance too so was looking at getting the car I've wanted since I was 18 (I'm now 24), Fiat Cinquecento. But my boyfriend HATES them (and he's a 6 foot 3 14 st guy and thinks it won't go with him in!) Plus my colleagues all say Fiats break and are a bad investment.

Can anyone suggest a cheap to insure, fairly reliable first car? I plan to keep it for 2-3 years.

(By the way, my driving test is a suprise to my dad. He has no idea I've even been learning! So I want to drive to his house and take him for a spin in a car he will get into lol!)

rdwarr

Fiat Puntos are good cars. Much more highly rated than the 500 and also big enough for the other half. Otherwise Renault Clios are cheap on insurance if you stick to a 1.2. Cheaper than Peugeot 106s for the same spec.
Fords can be good too as suggested. Kas are cheap to insure but small, if you go for a Fiesta make sure it's a cheap insurance group before you buy; they can vary!

BargainHunterCat

Hmm, cars are basically all money pits. Are you sure you want one?

They all have pros and cons.

As older cars go, Fords are unreliable and tend to break down, BMWs tend to overheat, Fiats & Rovers are well known rust buckets. Anything Japanese is usually a good bet.
Sadly you will now find that everybody has an opinion and will try & tell you to get the car they have or had as a first car!
Bear in mind that electrics on old cars tend to stop working and you don't want to be without a heated rear window come winter time or you can't see! Red cars fade badly, look for a small engine for economy and don't judge a book by it's cover. My car is rather odd-looking being a Daewoo Nexia but the interior is immaculate with a full electrics kit. Since I don't have to look at the outside when I'm driving, I don't care!!

Diesels tend to be more reliable because there's less to go wrong and fewer electrics, also more economical to run and you can also run them on veg oil from Tesco, er I mean bio-diesel which you've paid duty on!
Diesels can be slow and smelly (unless run on chip fat ) but I highly recommend a small turbo diesel car if you can find one you can afford. Also diesel engines last longer. Most can easily do at least 200,000 miles whereas petrols die around the 140,000 mark

I got my car at auction for £200 so it's worth dragging your dad/brother/friend who's a mechanic along if you want a real bargain but it is of course a bit of a lottery. Having said that, if you buy from my local auctions and the car has a reserve of £500 or more you are guaranteed that it has no mechanical defects so it's actually pretty safe. Trade ins that dealerships are getting rid of are the ones to look out for.

Just remember: Comfort, Reliability, Economy! Anything else don't matter!

Good luck and NO IMPULSE BUYS COS IT LOOKS PRETTY!!!!:rotfl:

balsingh

If you want the newest possible small car for your money, get a Punto. They seem lose value quicker than all the rivals. They are however, excellent cars and very trendy for youngsters.

KittyKate

Thanks for all your advice! I went mad and bought the Auto Trader today (how optimistic am I?!) and was pleased to find that my budget suits a Ka, Punto or Micra.

Shame then I was drooling over the Audi TTs, Mini CC's and Peugeot 306 CC's!!

rdwarr

BargainHunterCat wrote:

Sadly you will now find that everybody has an opinion and will try & tell you to get the car they have or had as a first car!

Sorry, in my previous post I neglected to mention that the car you should really buy is a 1968 Triumph 1300. Pay no more that £150 and don't be surprised when it blows up on the M1 and you have to get your Dad to come and rescue you from Barton-le-Clay.

tutchy

Hi Kittykate

If its relabilty you want I would go with the Micra my wife has had hers for 5 years now and never a problem its only a 1.0 litre engine but it does 80mph on the motorway no problem and nippy around town I often use it rather than my own car around town as its so easy to park. Insurance group is group 3 on avarage one above a Ford Ka and parts may be a little more expensive than a ford or fiat but you will have to buy less of them.

Just my opinion
Tutchy

idler_2

The micra is the no-brain choice. Good all-round, especially reliability, and no real drawbacks, so unlike some of the others it will still be worth something and easy to sell in 2-3 years time.l

nearlyrich

My DD has had 2 years of great motoring in an old Citroen AX, she only paid £225 for it and insurance on the day she passed her test at 17 was just over £700 including breakdown cover. It has gone through it's MOT with no work required for 2 years and I would recommend the model as a good starter vehicle especially as it only has a 998 cc engine so it's cheap to run too.

Good luck with the test on Friday....

ArsenalFC

For your budget then another for the micra. Excellent reliability.

pianeet

my sister highly reccomends the daewoo matiz,my brother got her one that was traded in after she wrote off her toyota yaris,and she reckons it is a better car,they had free servicing for the first three years so should be well looked after,definately a good buy if your not worried about badge image