Wanna buy my first car!

VanyaHargreeves

Hi guys,
So I'm now 17 years old, and I have been learning to drive - and now I'd really like to own my own car!
My maximum budget is £1000, although anything less would be fantastic. I've been looking on Ebay and Cartrader...and my friend has a car he wants to sell me. But being young, I know very little about cars. So I was wondering if you guys could give me a hand?
Thanks!
Jenny

Nile

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alun4

Your most important " first thought" should be insurance. Our son had a £200 car that cost £1000 to insure whilst learning then an extra £800 for the balance of the year after passing the test.

Our daughter has a Polo which I insured with Marmalde whilst learning (7 weeks) then internet search was for £1000 for a year when she passed (most seem to pay £2000 +) !

We don't have them on our cars (we are with SAGA!!!!)

forgotmyname

Double your budget just for insurance. Boy/Girl racer favourites maybe a lot more.

sabretoothtigger

Unfortunately 1000 isnt enough because of your age (its v.low anyway)


Some good advice is to wait at least 1 year from passing till taking insurance in your own name. There is a special premium charge for new drivers and together with being slightly older it should be far more possible

Marvel1

Before buying any car, get a quote on the insurance using a comparison site and expect it to cost more than the car itself.

attila_

OP said 1k is for car not insurance...someone else may be paying this for all we know. Agree its a big consideration.

To answer the specific question: 1k is more than enough for first car. Things which were good as my first/banger cars were:

1. polo - 95-99 range. 1 Lit petrol.
2. Pug 205 if you want retro look
3. fiat panda (the original ones)
4. Nissan Micra

popular young peops cars are corsa, pug 206, fiesta, saxo etc...so sought after frst time buyer cars.....

alun4

Sorry, I did mention Polo but not my "£200" car for son. This is an "L" reg Citreon Salsa (Saxo) 954cc it had done 35000 miles when we bought it in August 2009. They are out there but not on every corner. I strayed onto insurance because that was the more important cost when looking to buy. This was not what the OP asked!

garethgas

attila_ wrote: »

OP said 1k is for car not insurance...someone else may be paying this for all we know. Agree its a big consideration.

To answer the specific question: 1k is more than enough for first car. Things which were good as my first/banger cars were:

1. polo - 95-99 range. 1 Lit petrol.
2. Pug 205 if you want retro look
3. fiat panda (the original ones)
4. Nissan Micra

popular young peops cars are corsa, pug 206, fiesta, saxo etc...so sought after frst time buyer cars.....

All good choices for a 17yr old. I bought my son a 1999 1.0L Polo for £900 and its absolutely immaculate.
One thing to watch though is that any car at this price/age will have things go wrong so keep reliability in mind when choosing.
Good luck

s_b

VanyaHargreeves you need to do a bit more homework before buying your first car
all the cars mentioned are ok but all old and with the best will in the world will probably have issues ,so a contingency fund will also be needed if you arent a hands on person
of course the insurance is the big downer of course

good luck

thegirlintheattic

Do you absolutely need a car? They are a money pit if not needed, and if you save up for a few years you could buy a much better car.

Check insurance first, avoid typical first driver cars such as 206s, corsas etc. these will have higher insurance. Try adding an older driver as a named driver to reduce your premiums.

Can you increase your budget, getting a slightly newer, less mileage car will reduce your repair costs. Buying a £600 car might seem like a good idea but when your replacing things every few months it will get expensive.