Best First car?

snorlax

im looking for something thats very reliable/small/not too dear/secound hand(5,000 or less). I cant stand nissan micras or fiat puntos though.

i don't know much about cars, anybody any advice?

also what is the insurance like for a provisonal/19 f?

$lash

If you are looking for something small, solid & reliable a vw polo is always a good bet - the 1.0ltrs are very slow but everyone has to start somewhere! They also hold their value too...

Insurance has come down a lot...

check out

http://www.quinn-direct.com
http://www.123.ie
http://www.insure.ie

for online quotes :cool:

snorlax

i got a quote for 1,400eur which seems quite cheap for 3rd party on peugot 106. i didnt realise it was that cheap, i thought it'd be more like 2,000. its 3000eur for a male friend who's 21. thats an amazing price difference.

iv heard volkswagens are quite expensive, 20,000eur brand new,8,000 afew years old.

mike65

snorlax wrote:

im looking for something thats very reliable/small/not too dear/secound hand(5,000 or less). I cant stand nissan micras or fiat puntos though.

i don't know much about cars, anybody any advice?

also what is the insurance like for a provisonal/19 f?

Pity you dont like Micras, they're ideal.
Check this thread www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=64867 you may get an idea of prices.

Your best bet is to be named on your parents cover, means the car will have to be in thier name too though.

Mike.

ps thats my avatar!

$lash

You pay for what you get ... the polo is a much better car than the 106

Stark

Yeah I second/third the Polo recommendation. Nice car, really easy to drive. The Micra wrecked my head.

snorlax

how much can you get a vw polo afew years old for?

i hear japanese cars are better then german cars, eg, honda, hyundai, toyota

damo

if you want utter reliability try a suzuki swift, my old one was quite nippy for a 1.0 litre and in the year and a half i was driving it i literally never had one single problem with it

bop1977

micra's are the best first car. i've had 2 of them over the last 4 years and they never went wrong and were easy on the petrol you'd be silly to ignore the micra. all hail the micra!!

cormie

I have a micra too, it's grand. Don't know much about cars so can't really compare. Got in it march 2nd hand, its a 96, no trouble yet.

I'm going to get a polo though.

Rew

mike65 wrote:

Your best bet is to be named on your parents cover, means the car will have to be in thier name too though.

Id say get your own policy, you will pay for it in the short term but in the long term you will have a no claims built up. X number of years as a named driver means fcuk all to insurance companies in general (some will take it in to account if you stick with them when you do get your on policy but its not a huge discount)

Iv a 00 punto, the 1.2 is very nippy and you can pick up the higher spec (ELX) ones easily enough. If I were you id buy a car for €2-2.5k and drive it for 2 years. Even if you get nothing for it at thayt stage your doin ok. If you buy one for 5k its only going to be worth €2.5-3k so it all works out pretty even.

The hardest part I found was getting round to see cars when you dont have a car to get around in! Also used car sales people have a bad reputation for a reason, I met so many dodgy people in the week or 2 I was lookin. I bought from a dealer and paid a bit over the odds (compared to what I would have paid private) but got 12 mths warrenty and 12mths road side assistance. If you have sombody who knows what they are at when it comes to cars they are worth their weight in gold.

The policy is in my GF name we are both over 25 but on provisionals, 3rd party, fire and theft with AXA €1400 for both of us. Comes down €500 if we both get full licences. Would have been €1700 fully comp.

samo

wouldnt go near a 106, had one for 2 days as replacement car while car being fixed, going up the m50 sliproad to tallaght at 40mph thought it would start going backwards! Absolutely tiny inside and no oomph whatsoever, def would go with micra nippy little car as 16v and not to cramped and not nearly so sluggish as polo. Other than that if you could stretch to 6k you'd get a nice yaris out of buy and sell

pixie_student

in you price bracket the best cars i can recommend are a seat ibiza or a vw polo.

who told you jap cars were better then german cars? ever hear the expression.. jap scrap?

Volkswagens hold their value really well too.

snorlax

but nissan is japanese!

i just dont know how safe u are in micras, a bit like a sardine in a can, iv seen terrible crashes involving micras on the papers.

how about citreon, ford ka/fiesta, or opel corsa?

John R

pixie_student wrote:

in you price bracket the best cars i can recommend are a seat ibiza or a vw polo.

who told you jap cars were better then german cars? ever hear the expression.. jap scrap?

Ever heard the expression talking through your arse?

John R

snorlax wrote:

but nissan is japanese!

i just dont know how safe u are in micras, a bit like a sardine in a can, iv seen terrible crashes involving micras on the papers.

Have a good read through this website:
Car safety ratings

snorlax

well i cant afford to buy a new micra even if they are 4star, and any thing 2000 and pre 2000 has only a 2 star crash rating and thats what id be buying everyhting vaguely old on that website seems to have crap safety rating(eg pre 2000).

the best pick for me probably be vw polo

pixie_student

John R wrote:

Ever heard the expression talking through your arse?

hee hee! :rolleyes:

Look man.. dont even go there!

Performance wise jap performance cars are very impressive but when it comes to saftey german cars are just that bit safer.

I know what id prefer to be in a crash in anyways

BrianD3

The Micra is more reliable and better to drive than the Polo. VWs are generally overrated for what they are, a lot of their good reputation is down to clever marketing.

I wouldn't worry about the safety aspect. Japanese cars perform well in crash tests (eg Toyota Yaris is best in class in EuroNCAP) OK the Micra is a two star car but it came very close to gaining a third star which would give it the same rating as the pre 2000 Polo. The difference between these two cars in terms of safety is negligible.

BrianD3