First car for over 25?

colinthejanitor

Hi all, just trying to get some help with choosing the right car for myself.

25 year old guy, never needed to drive until now. Will eventually be used for daily commute (no more than 40 mins each way) but for now social/learning car. I wanted to get a good driving car rather than just any old thing.

Budget of 3k, something that's not going to cost the earth in petrol, tax or insurance. Don't really care what it looks like. Just comfortable and a pleasure to drive.

Thanks!

s_b

why are your words big?
standard works for me
out of the box

colinthejanitor

Not sure why, firefox doesn't like moneysavingexpert.

thegirlintheattic

How many miles is 40 mins in your area? Rural, urban or motorway?

colinthejanitor

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

How many miles is 40 mins in your area? Rural, urban or motorway?

Roughly 20 miles of a/b roads.

Lithian

You'll have your pick of mk1.5 focuses (2001-2004) for your £3k but i'd be tempted to spend a bit less but still try and get a decent spec, a bit of haggling could see you in a mk2 though which looks a bit more modern.

While you aren't 17 insurance will still sting on anything performance oriented, but you might get away with the 2 litre focus rather than the 1.6 and the handling in the focus is actually pretty good for a normal family car.

colinthejanitor

Lithian wrote: »

You'll have your pick of mk1.5 focuses (2001-2004) for your £3k but i'd be tempted to spend a bit less but still try and get a decent spec, a bit of haggling could see you in a mk2 though which looks a bit more modern.

While you aren't 17 insurance will still sting on anything performance oriented, but you might get away with the 2 litre focus rather than the 1.6 and the handling in the focus is actually pretty good for a normal family car.

That's useful information thanks a lot! I'll look into the Focus. Would you say the Focus is a more comfortable drive and cheaper to insure than the Fiesta?

I've also been looking at the new (2007+) Corsa which has a pretty nice shape and looks quite good, I guess it just depends on the ride really.

As I say I don't have some burning desire to get in a Metro and burn around town with a loud exhaust... I'm only interested in driving if I'm going to enjoy it and I see that as easier to achieve in a "drivers car".

RDG

+1 for the mk1.5 focus with a full service history.

Focus will be more comfortable than the Fiesta, not just due to space but also the suspension set up on the focus is better.

Insurance wise you may be suprised and find that the focus is cheaper or similar to a smaller car of similar power because of the boy racers etc. who drive them. Use a comparison site to have a quick look. Despite being over 25 you will still be paying a lot for insurance as a new driver so factor that into the cars price.