First Car..

MoneySavingStudent_2

Hi there!
Ive decided to buy a used car as my first car. Being a student its just something small to get me from A to B. I thought about getting this car pictured below (If i can get it to work!). Its very likely im going to buy it as the seller seems very genuine and the price is very good.

Does anyone know what i should be asking when i go to see it tomorrow? What should i be asking about?
What should i check for?

And can anyone tell me where i can get cheap insurance? Ive tried the usuals but the cheapest is still quite alot.

thank you

Conor_3

I've done the quote thing for my daughter for the same car but the 1.2 auto version. She's 18 and a student and quotes are around the £1200 mark.

MoneySavingStudent_2

Yeh! Mine (including my mum on as an experienced driver and my fiance as a normal driver) is about £1200! Its a ok quote for what you get but on other corsas we got it as low as £700!

Theres no discounts for students is there? like 10% off?

custardy

MoneySavingStudent wrote: »

Yeh! Mine (including my mum on as an experienced driver and my fiance as a normal driver) is about £1200! Its a ok quote for what you get but on other corsas we got it as low as £700!

Theres no discounts for students is there? like 10% off?

being a student is a risk,not a discount
my insurance went up when i became a mature student!! and i had been working on licensed premises before

anewman

A Corsa may cost a slight premium on insurance due to popularity with young inexperienced drivers.

Try https://www.ecarinsurance.co.uk directly and check third party fire and theft (tpft is cheaper than tpo for me), for some people they work out particularly cheap, and for some reason their price on confused.com is £200 more than I paid for renewal - so it's worth a check. Along with all the scraper sites like confused.com etc.

I think endsleigh is one of the insurers that advertise themselves as being good for students so they might be worth a try too.

But to reduce insurance most legally might mean changing the car. Fortunately with car insurance quote websites this is easy to do without buying a car. You may also get a cheaper car and more for your money avoiding the popular brands.

What about something along the lines of...

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/SUZUKI+ALTO/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-4294962893-4294967252/advert.action?R=200806303555882&distance=50&channel=CARS&make=SUZUKI&model=ALTO&min_pr=&max_pr=&max_mileage=

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/SKODA+FELICIA/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-4294966763-4294966834/advert.action?R=200806303465712&distance=15&channel=CARS&make=SKODA&model=FELICIA&min_pr=&max_pr=&max_mileage=

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/SUZUKI+WAGON+R/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-4294966135-4294967252/advert.action?R=200738295241770&distance=81&channel=CARS&make=SUZUKI&model=WAGON+R&min_pr=&max_pr=&max_mileage=

As for brands and how they look, they are all metal boxes that get you from A - B. Once you have no claims, if you can afford the insurance for something a little nicer then you can sell what you have and go for something nicer

You might want to do a search something like http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/advert+search/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-12-29/search.action and work through the small engined sensible smallish cars and input the details on the insurance sites to see what comes up cheap. Don't bother with the Rover Metro's though

toasterman

I'd recommend Admiral and Tesco for quotes. I've had quotes from them both when I was under25 and had zero no claims - they were by far the cheapest two.

I'm only 25 now, and with 2 years no claims (but recorded accidents the year before), Admiral and Tesco are still the cheapest for me - I tried a few comparison sites listed here, and didn't get any cheaper.

Inactive

MoneySavingStudent wrote: »

Does anyone know what i should be asking when i go to see it tomorrow? What should i be asking about?
What should i check for?


thank you

(1) Why it is being sold.
(2) How many owners has it had.
(3) Ask to see the service history and old MOT's.
(4) Get an HPI Check on it.
(5) Take somebody with you that knows about cars.
(6) Check the tyres, oil, ( via dipstick ) to see if it is clean. + Fluid levels.
(7) Check all body panels.
(8) Check MOT length.
(9) Check all glass for chips/cracks.

The list is endless, just a few starters.;)

Oh and ask the owner if he has a special exclusion permit for parking ( illegally ) on the pavement.. :rolleyes:

MoneySavingStudent_2

(1) Why it is being sold.
The owners family has got bigger with a new arrival and the car is too small

(2) How many owners has it had.
2 previous lady owners

(3) Ask to see the service history and old MOT's.
Full history with nothing dodgy

(4) Get an HPI Check on it.
HPI check came up clear

(5) Take somebody with you that knows about cars.
My mum knows things about cars and says it seems good for the age

(6) Check the tyres, oil, ( via dipstick ) to see if it is clean. + Fluid levels.
All levels are good and tyres are brilliant

(7) Check all body panels.
Odd minor scratch and thats it!

(8) Check MOT length.
MOT til Oct 2008

(9) Check all glass for chips/cracks.
no chips or cracks just a small scratch on passenger window



Seems great from that check list! Although when i went to have a look the owner told me the fuel pump was on its way out but she said it can be replaced by the garage down the road for about £100-£150. No cost to us obviously shes going to get it done. Does that sound good? I think its all ok!
How much do u think i should offer her? would about £2000 be reasonable?

Thank you for your replys btw!

Hintza

Sounds like top dollar that price I would be looking to get it a cheaper than that. Don't know the model etc but have a look at Parkers and take it from there.

MoneySavingStudent_2

Parkers says £8000 on the road but thats proberbly new and petrol and insurance etc.

Anyway ive decided to go for it because it looks in new condition when we went to see it. Its a lovely little run about and its been extremely well looked after! Thank you very much everyone!

(And the ebay price was £2,400 but i just got intouch and offered £1800 and we agreed upon £2000 and a tank of petrol Not bad for a first car!)

Many thanx!

anewman

A first car can easily be much cheaper than £2k but if it's what you're looking for :j :beer: <--- (is not intended to promote drink driving)