buying a first car- help please

duesouthtwin2

Hello everyone, just wondering if anyone has any advice. I am learning to drive at the moment and having to consider buying a first car. I am not very clear on what to do about this.
One of my friends says to buy a new car on finance like she did as its safety first, you know it's history, problems are less likely. Others are advising to just spend £low amount on a basic car to run around and dent while I get my first years no claim bonus on my insurance. I don't have £thousands to spend on a car and I am aware that insurance, petrol, servicing etc are to be factored in.
Does anyone have any advice?
Thank you!

Marktheshark

Unless your friend is paying gap insurance on top of normal insurance, Finance is never a safe bet, if the car gets written off, the payout is likely to be much less than she owes on finance.
Then you have the added problem of you now have no car and huge bill to pay.

duesouthtwin2

Yikes! I did not know about "gap insurance,"

kripel

dont listen to your friend...just get a cheap reliable car like a honda jazz which gets 50mpg , great visibility ,super easy to drive/park and it just never brakes down, can be picked up for less than 1k.
Just dont buy french/vauxhall crap as your first banger and you will be fine.

FreddieFrugal

Safety first? A good properly checked used car will be just as safe as a brand new one.

You'd be much 'safer' not saddling yourself with finance debt.

My first car was a Ford Fiesta. But as above a good quality and reliable bet would be a Honda Jazz or a Toyota Yaris (up to 2005/2006) good cars, lots still on the road.

usefulmale

My first car was a Fiat Strada. Cost £1000. Every car I have had since then has been Nissan except for a stupid dalliance with a brand new Renault Clio. Now that was a problematic piece of scrap metal disguised as a brand new car. Each Nissan bar the second has been bought for between 1 and 2 grand and the only time I lifted the bonnet with Nissans was to refill the washer bottle.

SingleSue

My first car was a Renault 14TL, second hand from a car auction for £150. She looked a bit of a mess as she had been used on a farm and as a consequence, had dings all over the bodywork and a boot full of straw which I don't think I was ever able to completely get rid of. She was also 12 years old at the time of purchase.

Over two years later, we had done approx 40k miles in that car with only very minor outlay. She took us everywhere, we were out most weekends driving all over the country and even now, 24 years later, was one of the best cars I have ever owned.

We made the mistake of deciding a CV joint repair was not worth it and scrapped her.....and then bought the worst car I have ever owned.

duesouthtwin2

Thanks for the advice everyone

forgotmyname

Did your friend tell you how much money they throw away each year in depreciation?

I got over 5 years trouble free motoring in a car that cost just over £2000 to buy and cost another £1000 in MOTs and servicing and tyres/brakes etc.
I sold it for £800.

Most cars will lose that much in depreciation in their first year.

jjones55

I bought my first car cheap a few years ago for around £1000 it was going well for the first year then things started to go wrong, exhaust started blowing then the rear bushes started to fail which cost £400 to replace.

Since I got a job and started travelling more miles, I got a new car on a finance deal. Gives me piece of mind if something goes wrong I wont have to shell out a few hundred and I get a courtesy car whilst it's being fixed so that I can still get too work.

I think it depends on what you want to use the car for and what suits you really

duesouthtwin2

It's a really difficult decision and I like hearing everyone's experience and advice. I am leaning more towards the finance option at the moment