No idea what to aim to buy?

oliverr

For your budget you could probably pick up a Ford Focus though I'm not too sure about the reliability of the older models.

I reckon you could get a decent Polo for that budget of around £2,000 - £2,500. It's economical, bigger than you would expect inside for it's size and shouldn't cost much to insure. If carrying a trailer is more important, a Focus/Golf size would be more appropriate.

apesxx

Am I right in thinking you have to take an extra test to pull a trailer or is it just a trailer over a certain size?

PsiDOC

Yes you do indeed take a trailer test.

@OP. Vauxhall corsa 1.0 petrol. Cheap to run. reasonable service costs and reliable.

forgotmyname

You can tow a trailer with a gross laden weight thats less than the cars unladen kerbweight.

RichardD1970

PsiDOC wrote: »

Yes you do indeed take a trailer test.

Ordinary car and trailer- No you don't

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/driving-licence-rules-and-what-you-can-tow

bluesnake

njk2125 wrote: »

This year I aim to learn to drive and purchase a car. It is probably a stupid question to ask but I'm not sure what to buy when purchasing and how much to save.

Learn to drive first, also start saving. Many first time drivers buy their first car similar size cars to what they learned in. Some people are brilliant behind a wheel, while others are not, and you can't really tell if you have got to grips with it until you have been doing it a while.

It took my mum close to 20 years to get her license. Although she passed in a manual, my farther (with good reason) bought her automatics. She never had an accident, just other people hit her ???

steve-L has got it correct. You will probably make many costly mistakes in the first car, so buy cheaply. Every one I know has damaged to some extent their first car within a year.

hethmar

What about a skoda fabia or vw polo?

rev_henry

If its a very small trailer then anything will tow it occasionally. Yes 7k a year is definitely petrol mileage unless a diesel happens to come up cheap. I'd agree with all the suggestions thus far!

Robisere

Focus estate, 1.6 or 1.8Diesel. Towing even a small camping trailer adds weight and inertia, which translates into needing more lugging power (low-down torque) and more MPG. Anything below a 1.6 will struggle. Consider where you might be camping: West Country/Wales/Scotland, anywhere with "up & down" motoring? Also, the TOTAL length of the car/trailer combination comes into play. Taking a family camping means carrying more stuff. The estate body, with possibly a top box, will help there.

As for the test, I would advise that you first take the lessons before buying a car. If you have never driven before, it can be a trial at first. Just get the lessons and the test out of the way first. Then buy the car, if you have really taken to driving. Always remember that driving is like every other activity in life: the more you do it, the more you can do it, until most of it comes as second nature.

apesxx

I can definately agree with the commend about damaging your first car. My first was a fiat cinquento 900cc and within a couple of months I scraped down my door trying to pull over next to a wall to let a wagon passed. My dad put me a new door on but It was a slightly different shade than the rest lol. Then I had a 106 and left the handbrake off and it rolled across the road and bent all the boot. That was an insurance job unfortunately