Good first car

LandyAndy

You appear to have a budget of about £2500 for a years motoring without considering repairs or fuel.

Consider spending it on a combination of public transport and taxis.

£500 is too little to spend on a car when the other costs are so high.

amacey92

LandyAndy wrote: »

You appear to have a budget of about £2500 for a years motoring without considering repairs or fuel.

Consider spending it on a combination of public transport and taxis.

£500 is too little to spend on a car when the other costs are so high.

No no I think I have been misunderstood. I will be driving way past the first year I just meant for my first car I have a budget of around 500.

Ofc everyone's first year will cost more than it would by using public transport.

Have been looking at different cars and Seat Ibiza or Seat Arosa seem to be fitting the bill atm.

Blue264

I wouldn't touch a Rover if it was goldplated with a diamond studded dashboard and free to a good home, but I would be tempted by a Clio as long as you don't plan a daily motorway commute.

I've had BMW's and Mazdas, etc, but the 1.2 Clio I had from 2010-2012 was a cheap, fun drive. Got mine for £262 on Ebay, drove it for 2yrs and sold it on Ebay for £135, plus it sailed through 2 MOTs without any repair costs or advisory notices. I believe in buying a car that fits your needs, so when my commute was to and from the train station, the Clio was perfect.

fatbelly

amacey92 wrote: »

Have been looking at different cars and Seat Ibiza or Seat Arosa seem to be fitting the bill atm.

Not bad - if you can find an honest one at the £500 mark, you've done well.

I was thinking a Nissan Micra 1.0 might fit the bill. Just noticed there's a 1995 one for sale near me. one owner, 8 months mot, seller says no issues. £450

Blue264

LandyAndy wrote: »

£500 is too little to spend on a car when the other costs are so high.

I couldn't disagree more, no offence intended.

In the last 10yrs, I've had:
Renault 19 - £400 owned for 3yrs. Worst problem was a couple of snapped clutch cables which is a known design fault on them.

Mazda 626 - £450 owned for over 3yrs and would probably have kept for longer if it hadn't been damaged by kids running down a car park by jumping from one car roof to the next.

Renault Clio - £262 owned for 2yrs. Repair costs - £0.

Mazda 626 - £425 from 2012 to present. Repairs - one ball joint and indicator stem - £210. This car does a 64 mile daily motorway commute and a full tank lasts me approx 10days. Once did Manchester to Bournemouth and back on one tank.

If you know a decent car when you see one (my dad and grandfather owned a garage ) there are still plenty of bargains to be had.

amacey92

fatbelly wrote: »

Not bad - if you can find an honest one at the £500 mark, you've done well.

I was thinking a Nissan Micra 1.0 might fit the bill. Just noticed there's a 1995 one for sale near me. one owner, 8 months mot, seller says no issues. £450

Yeah I'm thinking torwards the Seat tbh because they are supposed to be okay, and nice cost also to insure for my first yeah ive got quotes at 1.2k fully comp telematics, which is fantastic considering im 21.

I've relooked at the car budget and its sitting around £750 atm instead of £500.

amacey92

Blue264 wrote: »

I wouldn't touch a Rover if it was goldplated with a diamond studded dashboard and free to a good home, but I would be tempted by a Clio as long as you don't plan a daily motorway commute.

I've had BMW's and Mazdas, etc, but the 1.2 Clio I had from 2010-2012 was a cheap, fun drive. Got mine for £262 on Ebay, drove it for 2yrs and sold it on Ebay for £135, plus it sailed through 2 MOTs without any repair costs or advisory notices. I believe in buying a car that fits your needs, so when my commute was to and from the train station, the Clio was perfect.

What Clio did you have? I was thinking Clio Grande if I went for a Clio.

LandyAndy

Blue264 wrote: »

I couldn't disagree more, no offence intended.

In the last 10yrs, I've had:
Renault 19 - £400 owned for 3yrs. Worst problem was a couple of snapped clutch cables which is a known design fault on them.

Mazda 626 - £450 owned for over 3yrs and would probably have kept for longer if it hadn't been damaged by kids running down a car park by jumping from one car roof to the next.

Renault Clio - £262 owned for 2yrs. Repair costs - £0.

Mazda 626 - £425 from 2012 to present. Repairs - one ball joint and indicator stem - £210. This car does a 64 mile daily motorway commute and a full tank lasts me approx 10days. Once did Manchester to Bournemouth and back on one tank.

If you know a decent car when you see one (my dad and grandfather owned a garage ) there are still plenty of bargains to be had.

None taken


My point was that when the cost of the car is only 20% of the cost then picking a bad one could be financially very bad if you can't afford to replace it.


And there are plenty of bad £500 cars to catch the inexperienced.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Blue264 wrote: »

I wouldn't touch a Rover if it was goldplated with a diamond studded dashboard and free to a good home, but I would be tempted by a Clio as long as you don't plan a daily motorway commute.

I've had BMW's and Mazdas, etc, but the 1.2 Clio I had from 2010-2012 was a cheap, fun drive. Got mine for £262 on Ebay, drove it for 2yrs and sold it on Ebay for £135, plus it sailed through 2 MOTs without any repair costs or advisory notices. I believe in buying a car that fits your needs, so when my commute was to and from the train station, the Clio was perfect.

oh the rover bashers have come to town.


the petrol rovers in your budget will come with problems.


the ones that don't have issues goes for more than that.


I would suggest looking into a 220 diesel http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-ROVER-25-2-0D-IL-5DR-/251399793902?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3a88986cee


solid engines return good MPG. even look at older 220D turbo's.


local small dealer has owned a 220D turbo on a S plate for last 5-6 years a local run around serviced every year passes MOT every year with excepetion of tires and maybe ball joints.


clio, boy in my street had one it spent more time in a garage than it did outside his house.
BIL had one replaced the engine in it gearbox, stearing rack leaking sunroof, and bonnet pins to hold the bonnet down, then came the electrical problems no dash lights no indicators.
leaked water everywhere.


When a rover is working its reliable the diesel more so and the 1.1 8v (211) doesn't suffer HG issues like other do.


for me rover over a French tat anyday.

LandyAndy

amacey92 wrote: »

No no I think I have been misunderstood. I will be driving way past the first year I just meant for my first car I have a budget of around 500.

Ofc everyone's first year will cost more than it would by using public transport.

Have been looking at different cars and Seat Ibiza or Seat Arosa seem to be fitting the bill atm.

And my point was that you'd be better giving it a year and saving a little more for your car and benefitting from the reduction in insurance from having passed your test over a year ago. that alone made a massive difference to my teenage son's insurance even though he had hardly driven in the 15 months after passing his test.