The best first car

  • Thread starter Thread starter herrwazza
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herrwazza

herrwazza

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wazza89
Hey, i'm about to start driving (being the driving age in england is 17) and was wandring is anyone can make any recommendations on a good, cheap first car. I would like it to be as quick as possible, but keeping the cost down on insurance. I lloked in Gran Tursmo 4 and found the nissan March G (Micra) was quite good, and the 120bhp 700cc sirion was amazing, but i'd like more opinions. Please keep below 1300cc if possible.
 
Naturally, i'd say get a Ford KA, because i they're the only things i can see over the dashboard of. I believe there are new ones on sale for under £5000.
 
Any car with 1.3 litre engine and 130hp will have a turbo on it which insurance companys go mad about. Plus in the UK we dont get these small engined turboed toys anyway. I can onl say this unless your loaded your first car at 17 will be slow theoretically but as many of my friends have 1.6's I kno for a fact that you will get more than enough speed out of. Its just that we think of like 1.6's slow because there are tons of faster cars out there but really they are swift enough to kill ourselfs.

Oh and how much money do you want to spend and do you care about loks and how old the car is. Naturally the older and crappier the car you get the cheaper it will be so you could get a old cheap one with more performance and the money you save will go on the insurance.

Insurance for a 1.2 corsa 3rd party is about 2.5 grand btw.
 
well, i love 70's and 80's cars. I'd love a triumph spitfire 1.5. Cos its old it might be quite cheap to insure. I'm lookin to spend at most 700 pounds on a second hand car. The old nissan micras interest me alot. Or something like a ford escort/cortina mkII.
 
Well for 700 you could get some of the older generation fiestas or escorts. A classic car for about 700 pounds will only spell trouble as they will be very old and you could have alot of trouble on your hands with repair costs unless you find a gd one to start with.

Really any car you will buy it will cost around 2 grands insurance on third party.
 
herrwazza
well, i love 70's and 80's cars. I'd love a triumph spitfire 1.5. Cos its old it might be quite cheap to insure. I'm lookin to spend at most 700 pounds on a second hand car. The old nissan micras interest me alot. Or something like a ford escort/cortina mkII.
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If you've only got £700 to spend i'd avoid any 'classic' like the plague - they'll cost you at least double that a year to keep it on the road.

For £700 quid i'd try and get the newest car you can find.

- I have a 97' Mondeo that might be available for around £700 soon - its had one careful owner - and one who treats it like the POS that it is ;)
 
i know beggars cant be choosers, but i hate all these new cars.theyre just no fun to drive like the old 70's cars were, like the triumph dolly sprint.no traction control,abs,airbags,rear wheel drive.Real white nukle rides.but being honest I think il end up buyin an old clio or sumat.But i aint guna have a car made after yr 2000. I got abou600-700 pound to spend on a car, and enough for the insurance. I'm also a fairly good mechanic so I can fix alot of problems with cars.
 
you dont want a first car to be brand new anyway cos your just starting its gonna be knocked about a bit, get something small, but acceptable, i got a rover 214 and i spend just under a grand on insurance :indiff: get a ka or something theyl get you around and then later when your better driver get a better car
 
hm...i was thinkin of a rover 214 cos the insurance is cheap on them, but the build quality is poor. I was thinkin something like a small nissan or toyota or honda.At least then I know theyre not goin to break down anytime soon and nissan micras dont really rust. thanks for the help guys
 
Citroen C2 1.1? Lowest insurance group and because it is a Citroen they depreciate more than usual. That means you can probably pick up a cheap-ish second hand one. :)
 
Save a bit of money and buy the new Corsa. If you want something with an asian theme, get a Honda Civic.

But i would say save a bit of money up and find the cheapest, and lowest group car that has 4 stars. In the Euro N Cap tests mate.
 
yea sumat with a high safety rating will lower the insurance and fuel economy is important for me 2.at the same time il be gettin a motorbike tho, so fuel doesnt bother me that much.im sick of my slooow moped, but its the only thing i can ride til feb
 
Citroen C2:

1.1 petrol engine
Insurance group 1.
44mpg average.
0-60mph in 13.9 secs (very good for the insurance)
Top Speed 96mph
I've seen a few examples of C2's at £4000, but they dont come along that often.
4 star NCAP Safety rating


Or, if you want to go diesel:

1.4 HDI diesel
Insurance group 2.
70mpg average
0-60mph 12.2 secs (varies depending on what version you buy).
Top Speed 105mph
I'm not sure about the price, but it will be more expensive than the petrol one because it is diesel.
Again, the 4 star NCAP rating.

The Corsa is similar, and the Punto a bit more to insure, but it all depends on your budget. Can you care to say what it is?

Check for prices here if you want:

http://autotrader.co.uk/
 
well, i have around 700 pounds for the car and 1500 pounds for the insurance, but i think i will get the insurance on pay monthly.so it can be more if it has to. Yea i like the citroen C2.nice car
 
For a first car, I'd pick an old Corolla or Civic. When you've got all the dents and dings you can stomach, THEN you can look for a better car.
 
Hmm; other than TVR&Ferrari_Fan's mention of the Civic, the average american would have to scroll all the way down to Niky's post to find any familiar cars... :lol:

Have you considered an old VW Polo...? :)
 
i'd love to live in america.you can learn to drive when your 16 and as far as i know the insurance is less strict. Yea I have considered an old Polo. I think thats a nice car. Problem is theres so many to choose from and Im only thinkin about the obvious
 
Don't get an old VW. The spares will cripple you.
I'd also avoid old Renualts and Rovers.

Best bet is a Ford Fiesta or Vauxhall astra say. Toyota corolla will run for decades aswell.

If you do get a car for £700 you could consider 3rd party only insurance. It'll save a bomb and you'll probably end up paying more in premiums if you claim than on buying another car.
 
yea ive considered getting 3rd party only. Thats what I done for my motorbike. And yea I forgot VW's are bad for spares. generic cars like fords are goos since spares are readily available. At the moment im keen on the corolla.
 
thats really good.i think i can stratech my wallet. but im at HP13 7EU.a bit far. also, insurance on a 1.6 mite be steep.i was thinkin an old corolla.carina 1.3
 
Herwazza you still have some time to go before you start driving and at mimium the law states you must have been learning for atleast 4 months before you can take your test or something like that. So in that time maybe you could get a part time job and earn some extra money.
 
thats true, but when I say I have 'x' amount to spend, im thinkin thats after I save. At the moment I have no money saved for a car.
 
I could get insured on my dads car through his company if i need to.New 1.6 Astra company car. But i really want my own otherwise I may not be able to use it when I want
 
You can get like a 1.6 and just insure it under your dads name thats what most of my friends do and they all drive BMW's and that and then the insurance is quite cheap.
 

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