1st Car Advice

butterflylady

Evening All,

At the grand old age of 29, I have past my driving test :j:j, something which I always said I would never do but there you go!!

So I'm now looking for a first car, if it was only me to worry about I would have an old mini, always for some weird uncomfortable reason they have been my dream car!!

However I have a 4 year old DS and an 14 month old DD, so I need something safe and will for the time being fit a pushchair in the boot.

I have up to £5,000 to spend, would like something reliable and cheap to insurance.

So I would like some advice on which car might be suitable,

Thank you for your help

Butterfly

xx

balletshoes

this might be better posted on the motoring forum .

butterflylady

Thanks for that ballet shoes, I was thinking the families area, as I want the car to stand up to the abuse which the children will give it.

I will post over there as well.

Butterfly

MichaelCR

butterflylady wrote: »

Evening All,

At the grand old age of 29, I have past my driving test :j:j, something which I always said I would never do but there you go!!

So I'm now looking for a first car, if it was only me to worry about I would have an old mini, always for some weird uncomfortable reason they have been my dream car!!

However I have a 4 year old DS and an 14 month old DD, so I need something safe and will for the time being fit a pushchair in the boot.

I have up to £5,000 to spend, would like something reliable and cheap to insurance.

So I would like some advice on which car might be suitable,

Thank you for your help

Butterfly

xx

Ford Mondeo !

Choose the 2001 - 2006 years.

Go for Zetec, Ghia, Ghia X and Titanium Trims.

Go for 2.0 Petrol or 2.0 TDCi Variants.

Mondeo is a cracking second hand car to own, Cheap to buy due to depreciation, Cheap to run, Cheap to insure (Insurance groups are 8-11 dependent on spec and engine size and year). Extremely safe cars, Parts regularly available and not at wallet breaking prices.

2.0 Duratec (Petrol) Units are powerful, Refined, And Frugal. They are bomb proof, And chain driven.

2.0 TDCi (Diesel) Units are extremely torquey, Very powerful, And will pull the car like a train, Although be warned with possible Injector problems, And possible Dual Mass Fly wheel issues which can cost up to £800 to repair.

Check over in the motoring section to.

Apricot

I have a Ford Fiesta. You can easily fit two car seats in the back and someone in the middle seat between them, it has plenty of boot space for a pram and is cheap on insurance and petrol as it is only a 1.2 litre. I had my car when it was 6 months old - that was 3 years ago. The only things that have cost me money on it are new tyres and headlight bulbs (touch wood) but if there was a problem, Ford parts are cheap enough to acquire and get fitted.

Before spending your entire 5k on the car though, do some insurance quotes. Insurance has increased massively recently and you may be shocked at how much your monthly DD would be. It would possibly be better to buy a car for 4k and pay off your insurance for the entire first year so that you don't have a £100 direct debit each month.

mealone

Hi,
the newer shape mini's are now within your price range but I dont know the insurance rates or NCAP rating.

hth.

Counting_Pennies_2

I have a 1.5D Clio and it has been great. It has withstood all the bashing a car could with two children over the last 8 years. The boot has had plenty of space for a Maclaren push chair and a weeks shopping.

kingfisherblue

I love my Nissan Note. The boot has plenty of space and is seprated into two part with boards, so you can put the shopping underneath and the pushchair on top witohut squashing the shopping. My son uses a wheelchair, and if I move one of the boards (onto the other), the wheelchair slots neatly and securely into place against the rear of the back seat. there is still loads of room for shopping.

There is also good storage in the passenger areas of the car, including a space underneath the passenger seat - I keep a spare nappy and wipes there :rotfl:, but the dealer told me that lots of women put their handbags into that compartment, as it would be very difficult for someone to steal them when stopped at traffic lights.

There are cup holders, rear tables for the kids, and pockets on the back of the seats, plus a large pull down 'arm' in the middle of the back seat - useful to keep the kids apart if necessary!

Privacy glass in the back means that I don't have to bother with sunscreens that the kids would mess about with.

I've got a 1.4 engine, but you can get a 1.6 if you prefer. The high rear lights make it very easy to spot on a car park.

It's lovely to drive and an ideal family car IMO. I'm on my second Note and would definitely recommend them. (I didn't want to get rid of my first one, but it is a mobility car and has to be swapped every three years - so I just got another one )

spaghetti_monster

Hi there and congratulations!
funny I was just reading this - I'm 38 and passed my driving test in January and had my first baby in February... and today we're off to test drive a couple of cars for our first car!
I decided to try out the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa after looking at the stats on loads of cars - basically because of all the small hatchbacks it has the biggest boot and best mpg. We want the car to be big enough for the 3 of us plus a bit of stuff, but small enough to be economical.
I was worried that a 1.2 wouldn't be big enough, but a knowledgable friend said that, especially with the newer models (after 2007 I think?) engine size is not the thing and weight of car/horsepower will make this car powerful enough, even when full.
Our buggy is also quite bulky when folded, so I'm interested to see if that will fit.

I'll let you know how it goes!

onlyroz

If you have a family and a small budget I'd go for a Citroen Xsara Picasso. You can get them for dead cheap these days because they've been replaced by the C4 Picasso range. They've got plenty of space for the kids and your shopping/buggy/luggage.

minimoneysaver

Honda Jazz, Citroen C series?