Help With First Car?

anewman

I really can't understand why Skoda got a bad reputation myself. They were low priced cars from an, at the time, communist country - so those are probably the factors that started the jokes and badge snobbery. Skoda have a 100+ year history of car manufacture which most other car manufacturers can not claim. They also had a good reputation in rallying. The new one's are mostly VW's with some differences though.

Oh and just thought. Are you sure there are any parking spaces at University if you intend to take it there? At all the universities I've been to or visited you'd be extremely lucky to find a space to park in legally. I walk to University myself.

MoneySavingStudent_2

oooo so maybe not rule out skodas altogether then?
In an average car how far do u think age wise i should go bck?
10 yrs? maybe? I dont have much knowledge on cars you see only what ive heard on here and various other sites.
When i went to see a corsa i downloaded a fault manual which had all the things to look out for, for that model and year etc Which was pretty good, it was just ashame it had no power steering and something was wrong with the exhaust.


(PS My boyfriend works in the town centre and has company parking or something which is about 5 min from the uni, also theres about 4 car parks around the uni too if we get stuck ones about 70p an hr! )

Little_John

You have a 2 options buy the older car and take the risks that it could go wrong. Cars do go wrong, my dad has replaced the alternator and the clutch in the last 12 months on his 10 year old car as cars get older the chances of things going wrong increase. Just look at the skoda story above all the work he has done on the car himself, ther are reasons why the original guy was scrapping the car. he has spent £400ish + his time replaceing worn parts not includeing the other running costs.

Get a newer car and its less likely to go wrong. as parts wont be wearing out yet. If you do intend getting an older car find your local car dealer and see if they have anything they have taken in as part exchange it costs them £250 I think to scrap a car so giveing it away they sae £250. Do not let them give you the car you must pay for it if they give it you then you have no comeback if its a dud if you pay you can always throw if back at them.

tinkerbell84

MoneySavingStudent wrote: »

im very fond of citroen c2's and honda jazz's and ive seen a couple of 03 plates for around £2500. I have to learn to drive in this car too so it has to be a nice little thing that i wont freak out about if i bump our wall wen reversing in to the drive! lol

I take it someone other than your BF will be teaching you?

goldspanners

Little_John wrote: »

he has spent £400ish + his time replaceing worn parts not includeing the other running costs. £400 for a car that was free! this is money saving to me!

Get a newer car and its less likely to go wrong. as parts wont be wearing out yet.maybe so but in this price range is it not better to have low miles than being new? modern cars have expensive stuff like ECU'S which do go wrong and cost more than £400 to diagnose and replace.
If you do intend getting an older car find your local car dealer and see if they have anything they have taken in as part exchange it costs them £250 I think to scrap a car so giveing it away they sae £250. Do not let them give you the car you must pay for it if they give it you then you have no comeback if its a dud if you pay you can always throw if back at them.
im sorry but i think the above is total nonsense,A- when does a car dealer ever give something for nothing.
B-due to the high value of scrap metal these days i very much doubt it cost £250 to dispose of a vehicle,they all go to auction

not trying to be cheeky,just sensible about this.

goldspanners

MoneySavingStudent wrote: »

rather not go for the skoda and probs not go further back then 1998/1999 (mums opinion there)

so what does your mum think you should go for?
what happened that was so bad in 1998/1999?

anewman

goldspanners wrote: »

£400 for a car that was free! this is money saving to me!

In addition, you have to have legal tyres etc. No matter what car you buy it's going to need money spending on it for something at some point. Barely spent anything really. Exhaust is wear and tear part, as is brake pipe, as is wheel bearing. All relatively cheap to sort. Hardly anything has been replaced really. I would say in total in terms of repairs on parts going wrong, spent £150. When something serious happens I'll come back

goldspanners wrote: »

maybe so but in this price range is it not better to have low miles than being new? modern cars have expensive stuff like ECU'S which do go wrong and cost more than £400 to diagnose and replace.

There's also the argument that in an older car, what's going to go wrong has gone wrong and the parts are already replaced. Sort of like an extended test.

I guess the biggest worry for people is buying a dodgy old car, having it fall to pieces within 6 months, then buying another lemon and spending for example £1500 on 3 cars when they could potentially have spent £1500 on the one and and had no problems. But the way I see it is with 3 cars there's 2 more chances for a good one. And if you have the time to strip a car down before getting it scrapped for parts to keep as a donor for the next car... That will potentially save you money. Starter motor gone? Alternator gone? No problem, spanner and couple of hours... In fact the person who gave me the car (GF's dad) had another of the same but slightly different spec, and let me at it before he got it scrapped so I have some spare headlights, spare 7 year old cylinder head, spare alternator, instrument panel, switches, fusebox and other random bits. Having taken the cylinder head off too I feel a bit more inclined to try replace a headgasket if it ever goes (confirmed with compression testing cylinders of course). A job where you're paying a garage by the hour for labour. The gasket itself is £10.

The only surefire way to make sure you won't have any repair costs is to buy new every 3 years. But then there's a difference between £7,000 and £500. Or to pay loads in warranties, which you probably won't be able to claim on anyway.

Little_John wrote: »

You have a 2 options buy the older car and take the risks that it could go wrong. Cars do go wrong, my dad has replaced the alternator and the clutch in the last 12 months on his 10 year old car as cars get older the chances of things going wrong increase. Just look at the skoda story above all the work he has done on the car himself, ther are reasons why the original guy was scrapping the car. he has spent £400ish + his time replaceing worn parts not includeing the other running costs.

There's risks buying any car without a warranty. In my opinion better to buy a cheaper car at £500 and take the risk of laying out up to £500 on repairs, than to spend £1,500 and end up potentially spending only £250 on repairs.

Obviously don't get a complete lemon with rusting sills, rotting underbody, failed headgasket, slipping clutch and a non-running engine. Condition is always what matters most when buying IMO. A well cared for 10 year old car with 120k miles is a better buy than a very neglected 5 year old car with only 50k miles IMO.

Also running costs of my car are great since I serviced it. 45mpg if I'm careful, not bad for a 14 year old Estate in my opinion. I can go 218 miles and have the petrol gauge on a 47 litre tank read half-full.

goldspanners wrote: »

what happened that was so bad in 1998/1999?

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Sorry I found that highly amusing for some reason.

Of course I'm not saying do not spend as much money as you like on a car. If you have the money, spend it on something you like. But if money's a bit tight and every penny matters, why pass up what could potentially be a good car for only £500 and empty your bank account or get a loan etc spending £1000+. Use the depreciation of cars and people's desire to ignore the cheaper cars to your advantage.

Watch this if you have a bit of time spare - Top Gear - 100 Pound Car Challenge

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=i6BzgTnBE5U

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8u-vpVhcktQ&NR=1

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4B0alDZeoMc&NR=1

MoneySavingStudent_2

ive been watching top gear alot. And they said the best car was the honda jazz. But i cant afford one of them, but you know what top gear are like with there 'down to earth' board its not really that down to earth for a student lol!

1998/1999 not saying anything went wrong in that year, but if we go back and buy something pre 1998 theres a bigger chance its going to go wrong? I mean i dont rule it out altogether i do look at the mileage etc and if its not too bad and its a 1996 car then i would consider it. But im just wanting advise.
What were your first cars? were they any good?

And im taking driving lessons and stuff, but i would like to be insured on our little run about because i could run my mum to the shops etc and practise. My bf cant teach me anyway because hes under 21 and has only had his licence 3 months lol

MoneySavingStudent_2

Hey!
im thinking of going to look at this car

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-Vauxhall-Corsa-sliver_W0QQitemZ140199794454QQihZ004QQcategoryZ9858QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

any advise? What should i ask? What should i offer him?! HELP!

goldspanners

MoneySavingStudent wrote: »

Hey!
im thinking of going to look at this car

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-Vauxhall-Corsa-sliver_W0QQitemZ140199794454QQihZ004QQcategoryZ9858QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

any advise? What should i ask? What should i offer him?! HELP!

looking at the amount of work done on it recently (nothing to sinester all consumable items for a car) i expect they will be looking for around £1000 mark for it.
go and see it take a drive in it and if it drives well and everything is in place i.e. log book etc,make an offer of £750 - £800.
it does also have a full mot and the timing belt has been done recently,the timing belt can be an expensive job to get done.so its good to see this has been done.

my first car was a vauxhall nova 1.2 it looked great 2 tone silver/grey but unfortunatly it was riddled with rust so it got sold on 3 month later.cost me £400 i sold it for £300 so didnt loose that much on it.
but i do think it is always a good idea to get a cheaper car first make all your mistakes in this (you will make them,i dont know anyone who hasnt) and then maybe next year buy something else if you are fed up with it.