Best first car recommendations

D924

Mercedes A45 as a first car... hah.

They are basically all the same. First just decide what size of car you want. Make a list of the cars that size that are common. Then look for ads until you see one from your list that's priced below market value and go buy it. Make sure there's full service history and so on - you're looking for a desperate seller not a dodgy one.

Ditzy_Mitzy

tacpot12 said:

You might consider an older car. There are some low milage Honda Civic 1.4 Automatics on Autotrader for less than £3,000.

My neighbour has a 53 plate Civic that is in great condition and seems to be totally reliable. (Honda's were once abyword for reliability). One advantage to an older car is that you won't feel precious about the paintwork. It's not unusual for learner and new drivers to have the odd accident at the start of their driving career.

I run a 2006 Ford Mondeo that cost £900 four years ago.

Hondas are pretty reliable, I hear, but they also rust badly.  For some reason the Japanese have never quite cracked rust prevention, their stuff always seems prone to corrosion.  Spending £3,000 on a 20 year old car seems like madness; one might lose a fairly significant financial investment in the event of a catastrophic failure or write-off.  

I run a 2006 Ford Focus that cost a lot of money (comparatively) back in 2009.  It was rusty, but I've sorted that with the best wing and a prayer methods - nowhere structural, of course.  Would I pay £3,000 for it?  Like Hell, but the second hand car market  is a funny thing at present.  

[Deleted User]

Funny, I find Japanese cars are excellent for rust. Certainly far better than British and American cars.

Reddleman79

Hyundai i10. Good fuel consumption. Narrow and good manoeuvrability. Cheap to run.

fatbelly

Reddleman79 said:

Hyundai i10. Good fuel consumption. Narrow and good manoeuvrability. Cheap to run.

Good shout. There's one on autotrader for 10k - a 2019 1.2 SE auto

Still under manufacturer's warranty

If you could manage a manual, you would have more choice and better value

lordmountararat

If you go for a Hyundai i10/Kia Picanto (basically the same car) auto, I would advise going for an older one with a proper torque converter autobox. Sadly the newer ones have a somewhat jerky electro-magnetic semi-autobox. These are fitted for better fuel consumption and emission reasons, but are not nearly as nice to drive, imho.

HillStreetBlues

fatbelly said:

If you could manage a manual, you would have more choice and better value

Agreed more choice and will be cheaper.
Better value is too subjective.
I could manage to drive a manual, but know after a very short while I'd be wishing I have bought an auto, so no value there.