First Car Purchase

F1F93

Just want to put this out there: Suzuki SX4. My wife picked one up last month, a 58 plate with low miles in perfect condition and very well equipped for £4300.

The DS3 is seen as a young persons car, so will be quite high risk from an insurers point of view, so you might save there.

An SX4 will be a lot easier for your mum to get into and out of, and will have a bigger boot too.

Id also imagine that it'd be more reliable than a three year old french car, too.

If you save hard for a couple of months you should have over £3000 (assuming £2500 now, and saving £300+ for the next two months as if you had the loan) which would easily allow you to buy an SX4 outright, get your insurance via dd and keep some spare for emergencies.

You are in an amazing financial situation at the moment - no bills whatsoever (except a phone contract which, lets be honest, you dont need - a cheap sim-only deal would suffice), so I would highly recommend taking advantage of this while you can and saving hard now, rather than locking yourself into a loan now for the next few years.

AndyT678

aDylan wrote: »

I've been looking at newer cars (3 years old - nearly-new) mostly for reliability purposes.

aDylan wrote: »

The DS3 would be great, and has been my first choice

You could be the first person ever to prioritise reliability over all else and conclude that the answer is a Citroen!

There is one make that always comes out near the top of reliability lists and that's Toyota. If I were in your shoes I would be looking for a low mileage 12 year old Yaris for <£1,000. But then I don't like spending money that I do have on unnecessarily expensive cars let alone money that I don't have!

silverwhistle

I'd second all of those who say get a cheaper car. I didn't learn to drive until I was 28 (passed first time after 6 hours of lesson - incompetence wasn't the reason!) and my first car was a £100 banger without even a radio. That was with a better paid job too (not sure where the money went, to be honest, it wasn't night life!). The thing is you'll be so pleased to have that mobility that cruise control or a top spec model won't make that much difference to your enjoyment.

I came back from abroad around 2 years ago and spent £4k on a 4 year old Hyundai i20 which has done me fine, and takes me every year back across Europe to see old friends with a full load of wine on the way back!
So as others have said, for a few months more saving you could get something approaching that, although your insurance costs will be a lot more than for an old biddy like me.

Honest, you'll just enjoy having a car, and because I started late I still appreciate having that mobility 30 years later, even if sometimes I don't need to use the car for days.

GwylimT

I would avoid the DS3 like the plague! Have you looked at a honda jazz?

Also, do you really think if you're distracted using cruise control is going to improve your driving?

Herzlos

I saw a nice 59 plate (6 year old) Pugeut 106 yesterday for £3k. That's the sort of thing you should be looking at; cheap insurance, cheap to run, enough space for 2, and you can just about afford to buy it outright.

Pixie5740

GwylimT wrote: »

I would avoid the DS3 like the plague! Have you looked at a honda jazz?

Also, do you really think if you're distracted using cruise control is going to improve your driving?

Another vote for the Honda Jazz. They're great little cars, reliable and usually get very god reviews. If I was looking for a small car it would definitely be on my list.

GwylimT

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Another vote for the Honda Jazz. They're great little cars, reliable and usually get very god reviews. If I was looking for a small car it would definitely be on my list.

Plus people think you're a doddery old granny so they all avoid you as much as possible! I almost bought one recently but went for a civic, I prefer the older box shape jazz, you can get some with fantastic mileage older models.

Piggywiggy

With it being your first car I have to agree about buying something a bit older for around £2/3k that you already have and save up for your insurance between now and your test, this will give you some time to work out what you really want from a car and a chance to possibly make a silly mistake on the road, I couldn't wait to get a better/newer car after my first one but after 6 months or so it was just a car to take me from a to b and I'd now be happy with a £1000 car so long as it runs ok.

Borrowing money for a car which will be worth only around £2000 after you've finished paying for it really isn't worth it when you could have all that money in the bank.

Turtle

I've got a DS3 and it's been a great car so far. People always say Citroens are rubbish but this is the 4th one I've had and I've never had a minutes trouble with any of them. Mine is a couple of years old and I bought it a year ago. I'm 40 and earning more than twice as much as you but I thought it was a lot to be spending on a car for me and really, it was because I've always liked them. In your position I think you'd be mad to get one, despite loving it. It's not really a first car for most people.

Best thing for you to do is save up as much as you possibly can over the next few months and see what you've got. Borrow £2k-£3k absolute maximum then look for something about 3 or 4 years old for maybe £4k-£5k. You'll be able to get something really decent for that money and not have a huge loan, whilst still having some savings. As others have said, £10k will be a millstone round your neck.

You sound quite sensible so I hope you take people's advice!

aDylan

Cheers for all the advice, everyone.

I've booked in my test for next month and all being well I've got my eye on a few cars (eg. a 2009 Ford KA, a 2010 Fiesta, and a 2010 Peugeot 308 among others) between £3,500-£4,700 which I can hopefully haggle on if they're still available in a month, I've passed and all is good after a test drive.

If anyone has some tips on haggling from independent dealers I'd be grateful for it.