1st Car Advice

leandygandy

mealone wrote: »

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

hth.

I had a mini and there is very little chance you could fit a pram in one. It was enough of a struggle fitting two of those canvas bags full of shopping in the boot! In addition a 3 door car is probably not the best idea if you have two children to fit in car seats in the back. Lovely cars though!

Apricot wrote: »

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.

I would echo this. If you've not owned a car before you may be surprised at how much fuel costs etc. add up to each month. Not having to worry about the insurance would be good, and also getting quotes in advance will give you an idea of what cars to avoid for financial reasons.

What size engine did you learn in? I learnt in a 1.4 and found that a 1.3 didn't feel powerful enough because of this. Also, remember as a new driver you will most likely pay a fairly high premium so getting a large engine will affect you significantly.

Good luck with the car hunt, hope you find something fab!

sock-knitter

i would recommend a fiesta, i have a diesel one and only pay 20 quid a year road tax, and it is very economical to run too.
plus loads of boot space for a pushchair

Feebie

If its mainly to be used for short hops (rather than motorway), I'd recommend a Honda Jazz. Very reliable and loads of space for a small car (can even put things under the back seats).

izzybusy23

Ford Focus C-max! Should be in your price range; had one as a hire car and lived it. Stay away from Rovers, they have head gasket problems as do Fiats!

HRV

I have a nissan micra- now 7 years old ish- just been serviced and nothing wrong with it at all. I had it when it was 9 months old and paid about 5K- it's been very reliable- it's 1.2 and only group 2 insurance- Id echo what others say wbout checking indsurance- I pay 29 quid a month but I have 9 yrs no claims. When I looked into a new beetle which I really wanted I was looking at nearly 90 quid a month insurance!

Mine is 3 door (not great as Im expecting twins) but can get 5 door ones- boot is big enough to get double pushchair in and can slide back seat forward to make a bigger boot if you need less leg room in back (eg. if only 2 year old in back)

Just to say- the mini boot is tiny (my mum has one) you might get a stroller in (but not sure its wide enough) but not much else

mountainofdebt

I love my C3.

Junior learnt to drive in it and with a 1.4 engine I feel its enough for a driver of his experience to handle atm.

I don't know if it's becuase he's a he and under 25 with less than a year's experience but the insurance with him, as well as OH, on it as a named driver is over £1K. Without him, and just the OH as a named driver its £300 pa.

SkintGypsy

I have a mark 3 golf and it's awesome. Cheap to run, cheap to fix and very reliable. Fits my 5 yr old and one yr old perfectly well, and our all terrain three wheeler is fine in the boot with the weekly shop. Wouldn't swap it.

pinkshoes

Citroen Berlingo!

They're actually quite small (so easy to park), cheap to run, but we managed to get 3 adults, 2 big dogs, a baby and a pushchair on one!

Or perhaps a Skoda Fabia (same engine as a Golf) or a Ford Fiesta.

Have a look at whatcar.co.uk for reviews of each car.