first car

LegacyUser

whats a good car to start off with for a 28 year old bloke.

budget of around 10,000

Interceptor

1986 TVR Tamsin or 1992 Lotus Elan. (Elan - Yummy )At 28 you only have a couple of years before someone forces you to buy a Hyundai Trajet 1.4 to carry sticky rugrats around in so I'd get something cheap and fast as quickly as possible. A Honda Prelude 2.2 would do either.

'c

Merrion

Depends on what your insurance is like. You may be forced into the wonderful world of Micra/Polo etc. unless you have a full license and maybe som NCB.

ToxicPaddy

paperclip wrote:

whats a good car to start off with for a 28 year old bloke.
budget of around 10,000

Methinks if its your first car you might be better off going for something thats
not gonna break the bank with insurance and maintenance and relatively
cheap to run, so something with a 1.4 ltr engine or under would be best..

There are lots to choose from and its all down to taste. You should be easily
able to get a car 3 - 4 years old, with reasonable mileage, in very good nick
and of course dont forget the NCT if going over 4 years.

List of cars open to you is endless:

VW Golf, Polo
Toyota Corolla, Yaris
Ford Focus, Fiesta
Renault Megane, Clio
Opel Corsa, Astra
Peugeot 106, 206. 306, 307
Citreon Xara
Nissan Micra, Almera

The market is flooded with second hand cars at the moment and if you
can wait until after xmas then there are gonna be even more as all those new
00 reg cars bought 4 years ago will be traded in for the new model..

Tox

Interceptor

What do you like? What are you going to use the car for? What mileage do you think you will cover? Is there something you definitely don't want? (Hyundai Trajet). Do you know how to change a set of spark plugs? I have a lovely '88 BMW 520i for sale, I'll NCT it and put €10 petrol in it and you can have it for €1100. It will go forever, it is very safe and if it breaks in three years time you can leave it on the side of the road and you will have saved €8,900. Unless you spent the money on beer.

Alternatively you can buy a 01 1.4 Focus, worry about people scratching it while you sleep and lose €8,500 in depreciation in the next three years. Have I been any help at all?

'c

dcGT

interceptor wrote:

What do you like? What are you going to use the car for? What mileage do you think you will cover? Is there something you definitely don't want? (Hyundai Trajet). Do you know how to change a set of spark plugs? I have a lovely '88 BMW 520i for sale, I'll NCT it and put €10 petrol in it and you can have it for €1100. It will go forever, it is very safe and if it breaks in three years time you can leave it on the side of the road and you will have saved €8,900. Unless you spent the money on beer.

Alternatively you can buy a 01 1.4 Focus, worry about people scratching it while you sleep and lose €8,500 in depreciation in the next three years. Have I been any help at all?

'c

Interceptor, you're a living legend!

DC.

Blitzkrieger

A 1.4 Focus isn't a bad idea. For a first car I'd always recommend a hatchback with big windows. Good all-round visibility is a must when it comes to learning to drive.

Seth Brundle

@ 'ceptor - leather? air con? alloys? etc.?
give me more info as Im lookign for another!

Canis Lupus

quit with the focus bashing. I've got a 1.6 ford focus saloon and love it to bits. Looks good and handles superbly and so on and so forth personally I can see my next car just being a newer model....

FX Meister

I was with you there Canis till you said Saloon, ya bleeding grandad

LegacyUser

sounds like one of these would do. do you know is there much difference in insurance between a 1.2 and a 1.4?

ToxicPaddy wrote:

Methinks if its your first car you might be better off going for something thats
not gonna break the bank with insurance and maintenance and relatively
cheap to run, so something with a 1.4 ltr engine or under would be best..

There are lots to choose from and its all down to taste. You should be easily
able to get a car 3 - 4 years old, with reasonable mileage, in very good nick
and of course dont forget the NCT if going over 4 years.

List of cars open to you is endless:

VW Golf, Polo
Toyota Corolla, Yaris
Ford Focus, Fiesta
Renault Megane, Clio
Opel Corsa, Astra
Peugeot 106, 206. 306, 307
Citreon Xara
Nissan Micra, Almera

The market is flooded with second hand cars at the moment and if you
can wait until after xmas then there are gonna be even more as all those new
00 reg cars bought 4 years ago will be traded in for the new model..

Tox

Interceptor

paperclip wrote:

sounds like one of these would do. do you know is there much difference in insurance between a 1.2 and a 1.4?

You are going to have to actually phone around and do this yourself - it depends on where you live, your age, experience and the insurance company. Generally there is a significant difference if it is your first time getting insurance - pick any three cars you like from ToxicPaddys list and ring the AA for a selection of quotes.

If all you want is something to pick up an odd bale of briquettes then spend €300 on a '96 Citroen AX. If you need reliable transport to get you from Dundalk to Bray every day then back to the list.

Canis - I am not Focus-bashing - I see too many people pranging their first car on the way to get milk and putting themselves on the breadline as a result.

kbannon, the 520i is an original Irish poverty-spec with windey windows, are you sure you want it?

'c

Seth Brundle

possibly - will know in a few days time. Had been thinking of an old 525i which I could strip down for track use. Might just go to the UK and get myself an E30 325i Sport or 320iS!

alastair

I've just bought my first 'real' car.
I'm very long in the tooth for a first time driver (late thirties), but never had call or opportunity to drive for my career (lived in cities, worked in cities).
I bought a car that met these criteria:
1. Easy to drive/learn in
2. Cheap as chips, so it doesn't matter if I prang it (as learner/new drivers tend to do)
3. 1 litre engine - cheap to run, cheap to tax, cheap to insure.
4. Not a Micra ( no offence, they're a great car, but no thanks)
5. Not a joyriders choice (It'll be parked on street in the city)

I narrowed my search down to Suzuki Swifts. Bombproof, practical, bit old fashioned, rather dull, but not complete mortifiers. I bought a nice clean one with low mileage ('93 - 40K) from it's original lady owner. It cost a little over a grand (because it was a good'un - rough looking ones are a good deal cheaper).

I'll put in my year learning to drive in this, get a full licence, and hang on to it beyond then - because it's a perfectly good car, with years of use left in it, and because I'll then qualify for classic car insurance and take this beauty out on the road for pleasure:
http://www.hexhibit.com/blogs/archives/DSC00565.jpg

In all honesty I've no real need for a car still. I just like classic cars and wanted one of these for years. I bought the thing not having a licence, and not having driven a car for nearly 20 years, because I love the car, it was a really good one for the right money, and I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get around to driving. The Swift makes perfect sense as a practical and affordable runabout, the Volvo 1800 ES (that's what that car above is) is for pure pleasure and entertainment - and for when I'm damn sure I know what I'm doing on the road. Oh, and my total outlay for the two cars was within your 10,000 euro budget!

skyhighflyer

^^^ Suzuki Swift? Volvo? No full license? *supresses giggles*

alastair

Oh dear. Am I supposed to care what you think of my choices?

Maybe you have something useful to contribute? No?

Canis Lupus

well.... i'd have to agree with the skyhigh when it comes to the suzuki Swift alastair I'd personally place it next to a lada in term of what car would I buy but thats my opinion and I'm not knocking yur reasoning behind yur purchase. There I typed that without laughing.

and FX I personally wasn't sure myself of the saloon but I've grown to totally love it and reckon now it's nicer than the hatchback variant. of course I would say that :P

dewsbury

Just cos' you have 10K to spend on a car does not mean you need to spend it !

Spend 2K or if you must then 4K but not 10K.

I would never spend 10K and put it on the public road to be stolen/dented/scratched and generally abused. It is a hassle having something so valuable so exposed to harm. Cheap & cheerful I say! (and comfortable and reliable too!).

Just cos' you have 10K to spend on a car does not mean you need to spend it !

dcGT

alastair wrote:

I've just bought my first 'real' car.
I'm very long in the tooth for a first time driver (late thirties), but never had call or opportunity to drive for my career (lived in cities, worked in cities).
I bought a car that met these criteria:
1. Easy to drive/learn in
2. Cheap as chips, so it doesn't matter if I prang it (as learner/new drivers tend to do)
3. 1 litre engine - cheap to run, cheap to tax, cheap to insure.
4. Not a Micra ( no offence, they're a great car, but no thanks)
5. Not a joyriders choice (It'll be parked on street in the city)

I narrowed my search down to Suzuki Swifts. Bombproof, practical, bit old fashioned, rather dull, but not complete mortifiers. I bought a nice clean one with low mileage ('93 - 40K) from it's original lady owner. It cost a little over a grand (because it was a good'un - rough looking ones are a good deal cheaper).

Great list of criteria there. The Swift is grand car when it's looked after. Good post.

DC.

magpie

OK self-appointed car experts, advise me on a cheap as chips family car that is safe and isn't going to break down / need constant repairs.

Interceptor

Hey Magpie, I'm only a newbie, but isn't that thread-jacking?

Anyway, buy yourself an early '90's Merc diesel station wagon which will never break down, will withstand being hit by a Hummer and they are becoming quite affordable when compared with 97/98/99 family saloons.

A car is only as safe as the spanner driving it - cars don't kill people, drivers kill people. Oh look, I just stumbled on my next sig......

'c

mike65

paperclip wrote:

whats a good car to start off with for a 28 year old bloke.

budget of around 10,000

Just too drag this thread kicking and screaming back to first base, you tell us little of your driving CV. Do you have a full licence any No Claims Bonus are you a short-arse or a lanky git? These things matter! Are you DIY friendly or want nothing to do with the actual workings of a car?

Please tell, I'm interested!

Mike.

alastair

Just to defend the suzuki's honour one final time:

I was looking for a city car. It's obviously not an open road kinda car (though I know of a suzuki alto 3 cylinder 800cc affair that pulled a caravan up from Tipp to Dublin without complaint!).
I'd buy a smart car if they weren't so expensive to buy and insure.
The swift has a well earned rep as being mechanically rock solid.
I wasn't looking for a family car - that it most certainly is not.
It's as safe as any other small car of its vintage (ie: probably less safe than something new, or something big)

Cons:
It is made of pretty tinny metal, but no more so than say a colt
It is popular with grannys, but less so than the micra
It has zero street cred (unless its a gti and you're a max power fan)
Its noisy at any sort of high speed (when it gets there)

Back on topic:
If I was looking for something practical for all round use, and had no family in tow, and wanted to blow ten grand on it, I'd buy a secondhand alfa 147. It's lost a whack in depreciation already, it's got bags of flair, and all those warnings about reliability might have been made up... Nah. it's probably a bad idea.

unkel

Nice Volvo alastair

On topic: answer mike65's questions and we might help you (better)

Inner I

[HTML]

alastair wrote:

I've just bought my first 'real' car.
I'm very long in the tooth for a first time driver (late thirties), but never had call or opportunity to drive for my career (lived in cities, worked in cities).
I bought a car that met these criteria:
1. Easy to drive/learn in
2. Cheap as chips, so it doesn't matter if I prang it (as learner/new drivers tend to do)
3. 1 litre engine - cheap to run, cheap to tax, cheap to insure.
4. Not a Micra ( no offence, they're a great car, but no thanks)
5. Not a joyriders choice (It'll be parked on street in the city)[/HTML]

I couldn't agree more, Im in the same boat 26 years old first time driver. I basicallly didnt want to pay the 4500 euros they wanted for me to drive, { my folks had more than two cars, so i couldnt get cheap on thier insurance } so i waited untili was over 25.

Im not broke, im just not stupid so I knew the most expensive part for me would be the insurance. There is a few other things that no one has mentioned for you to consider.

1) the car tax, depending on the engine this varies greatly, from 150 up to 1300 in some cases so it can add a big bill EVERY year to the car.

2) If the car is over 12 years old even with a NCT the insurance companys add about 1000 euros to the bill (unless you have a full licensice or classic insurance), again this is every year.

3) if you are buying second hand make sure it has the NCT, this is basically so you have the peace of mind that it has been serviced recently and all the major components work i.e brakes, belts lights etc. Its like a stamp of approval for the non-mechanically minded.

4) and you got to remember that financally- buying a car is porbably the worst investment you will ever make, all it does is cost money and Losses money the longer you have it, So 10000 euro for your first which you will scratch or crash ( i dont mean to jinx you but I am a realist ) seems like a bad idea to me.

5) the fact that you have never had to use one so far indicates that you may not even use it that often. Especially in the begining when you are still learning, there will be alot of places you wint be comfortable going so you wont bring the car.

I went for a 1L 1992 opel corsa Built like a tank with 2 more years left on the NCT. It cost me 420 euros and my Insurance is 1600.

Now this car is not the prettiest thing but there is nothiing wrong with it and if I put it in a wall, I can just walk away, { I have keyboards more expensive than it }

As long as you dont hit another car or person your insurance will be fine.

My recemendation is an Opel corsa, or VW polo from 1992 on wards both are cracking cars and best of all dont cost 10,000

magpie

Interceptor: thanks for the advice.

As for threadjacking, what the funk do I care? "Take this thread to Cuba"