Buying a second hand car

bigjl

misswansea wrote: »

In a similar situ to you

I haven't owned a car for years, so have no insurance discount, and OH has only just got his provisional (in our 40s).
We wanted something simple with a small engine to keep the insurance costs down whilst we spend a couple of years building up a driving history and learning to park without kerbing the wheels etc.
We have ended up with a Kia Picanto, was hoping to spend 1800 ish on a 8-10 yr old one but ended up spending a little more on one only 6 yrs old with only 40k in the clock and seems to be well looked after. Its not flashy or luxurious but a nice little metal box on wheels that goes places, and new ones come with 7 yrs warranty so I have high hopes of this one going for quite some time.
Other cars we considered included Toyota Yaris and Suziki swift.
A friend has an Agila which is also quite nice and many people like the Honda Jazz.

hope you find your sweet deal

An old work colleague bought a Picanto brand new in 2004, drive it from Peterborough to East London for years, last I heard she had put 200k on it with nothing more than regular servicing (around 2010). She sold it not long after and got a Focus.

But that little Picanto did the job it was bought for, must have paid for itself many times over, last time I saw it in the flesh was in 2009 and it still looked new. It was her first car when she was in University.

davholla

AdrianC wrote: »

This is very sound advice.

Seriously, you've obviously managed without a car this long, so your lives are clearly not car-dependent without major chances. If you find yourself needing a car a few times a year, it will be MUCH less cost and hassle to just hire as required, especially since I'm guessing you live in a city with decent public transport.

We will be using it at least twice a week.

davholla

angrycrow wrote: »

Given you are a new driver you are best basing your choice of car on insurance costs. Popular small cas are not always the cheapest, corsa for example should be cheap but young drivers buy them and crash them a lot so insurers see them as a high risk. Look on line for cars you like with an engine around 1.2l then run insurance quotes on comparison sites.

If you are not mechanically minded take someone who is and buy the newest you can afford. Japanese cars tend to have the best reliability but hold their value as a result. Generally French cars suffer electrical gremlins.

I hadn't thought about the insurance costs. I will create a spreadsheet for the various ones.

loskie

London: join a car club