Car suggestions for First Time driver

sarawindhill

Hi Folks,

So my OH is currently in the process of taking lessons and I want to get her a cheap car that she can use to both learn in and drive afterwards.

It is going to be a surprise, however I have a MAX budget of about £500.

Car MUST be diesel as she will be using it for work and will have a 90 mile commute everyday, as a minimum, her job may also require her to do additional miles.

It would also need to be reasonable big, as it will be used to collect people from Airports etc

I don't mind travelling for it so I'm happy for the whole of the UK to be included in this as a good long drive home means I can get to know the car and get anything repaired that needs done before giving it to OH.

Also needs to have a low insurance group, so thinking some of the older VW Golfs?

Suggestions would be very welcome!

Thanks!

Herzlos

Does the £500 budget include the cost of collecting the car (train ticket up across the country and fuel back)? Because that could be significant. If not I'd suggest getting locally and spending a bit more.

With that budget you should be buying on condition rather than anything else, particularly if you need a low insurance group diesel. You're also in new driver territory so there's a lot of competition.

Personally I'd be looking at older (and attracting to older drivers - Volvos, Rovers, Mondeos, etc) saloons/hatchbacks in that price range and not bothering too much if you get a petrol one (if you keep it under say 1.8l). You'll get a much nicer car.

sarawindhill

Thanks

The £500 does not include any travel, it's £500 for the car and if needed I can spend extra for travel collecting it etc.

But this would be spent on a car if I could get it locally (I have an extra £150 for travel + petrol/diesel)

worried_jim

Go to-

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/

Put your postcode in and select 10 miles, don't select any makes or models and this will give you a good idea of what is available locally. £500 will get you a car with a years MOT, unlikely to be diesel though as these are more sought after. Good luck.

Herzlos

sarawindhill wrote: »

Thanks

The £500 does not include any travel, it's £500 for the car and if needed I can spend extra for travel collecting it etc.

But this would be spent on a car if I could get it locally (I have an extra £150 for travel + petrol/diesel)

I wouldn't bother travelling more than 20 miles for one, as if you get it from a dealer (unlikely at this price) you'll want it to be easy to take back for issues. You also don't want to have to spend hours travelling to find that the car isn't as described.

So as Jim said, go to autotrader, 10/20 miles and your £650 budget then pick whatever you like best or seems best on insurance. Pay close attention to the remaining MOT and tax as they could push it right out of budget if not supplied. Ignore spec features; at this price you're looking for something that runs reliably and safely, not about CD players and climate control.

harrys_dad

I would have thought a bigger problem than buying cost was insurance and running costs. Is she really going to be doing 20000 a miles a year as a new driver, plus extra trips to airports etc? This is an awful lot for a new driver, and insurance will be really costly. Reliability should also be a consideration, especially on a car doing those miles. An awful lot to ask for £500. Good luck.

DMG33

citron saxo 1.1 mini golf lupo ,little ford fiesta 1.1,

Tigerprint

Peugeot 306 1.9 or 2.0 Diesel..... Not sure how much the insurance will be though. You may find an 05ish 206 1.4 Diesel which will be cheap to tax & possibly cheap to insure...