which car

tyther

i just got my porvisional and am buying a car in the summer,i have about 1500 to 2000 to spend.what would be a good car to go for for a young driver??

Guy:Incognito

how young? full / Provisional? any ncb?

tyther

i will be 18 in june so i will be geting it after that.i have a Provisional so no ncb

Guy:Incognito

Probably be lookign at somethign in the 1.0 range so. Micra is always a popular choice. course it also depends on what your willing to pay for insurance but I'll guess you dont want to get into multiples of the value of the car so Micra or similar is probably the best bet.

Maybe even an auto?

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=659956

tyther

well theres no need for an auto as i can drive grand,its just i need a cheap car with cheap insurance.what are polos like to run

Guy:Incognito

tyther wrote:

well theres no need for an auto as i can drive grand,its just i need a cheap car with cheap insurance.what are polos like to run

Wasnt a comment on your ability, theres a big thread on autos here recently and they get a big thumbs up. I drive one and wont be going back to manual.

tom_k

Polos are a good idea for a first car imo. I had a '97 one for about 3 years with the 1.0 engine. Didn't give a minutes trouble, very economical and low tax/ insurance. Possible downer for you may be that a lot of them in the 95-99 years didnt have power steering. Keep one serviced and it'll run forever... plus you'll always sell one on to another first timer driver in the future.

ZiabR

Yeah Polo, 106, 206, Fiesta, Micra etc.

C_Breeze

Stekelly wrote:

Wasnt a comment on your ability, theres a big thread on autos here recently and they get a big thumbs up. I drive one and wont be going back to manual.

That is such a stupid suggestion.

Why would u recommend an auto as a 1st car , fair enough they may be good (in your opinion) but why as a 1st car to a 1st time driver? - come on now.

best get a bit of road experience and a few thousand miles under your belt in a manual before even considering an auto.


I would recommend a 1.0 L Nissan March .. (Jap import micra) - They have power steering , all electrics windows, etc, central locking A/C , etc pokey 16valve twin cam engines and tick tock reliability.

Polos, Corsas ..jut dont touch off them . Way over priced and too much bother. the 1L versions dont even have power steering or electric windoes

ninty9er

The Corsa in 1.2 shouldn't prove much more expensive to insure...but if you're going to go down the real route of learning to drive, get lessons, get insured as a named driver and buy your car when you've passed your test.

Legally a provisional isn't actually a licence, and with the test being privatised it won't be long until we actually see this being enforced(i.e you get done for driving without a licence unless you have a fully licenced driver with you at all times)

also thums up on the Auto option which you can really look at properly after passing your test in a manual

Guy:Incognito

C_Breeze wrote:

That is such a stupid suggestion.

Why would u recommend an auto as a 1st car , fair enough they may be good (in your opinion) but why as a 1st car to a 1st time driver? - come on now.

Sorry oh god of all things drivng. Pull your neck in for a start.

Tbh I think it would be best for all 1st timers to be put in autos. Get them used to driving , observation, confidence etc. Then once they are competant and confident drivers, introduce manuals.Maybe if driving was easier for peope starting out we wouldnt have the problems we have and people getting whinged at or about.

I lost count the amount of L drivers I see kangarooing cars up the road taking off at lights , or stalling altogether, autos would erradicate this. and get people used to driving in amongst traffic a lot easier.

C_Breeze

Stekelly wrote:

Sorry oh god of all things drivng. Pull your neck in for a start.

Tbh I think it would be best for all 1st timers to be put in autos. Get them used to driving , observation, confidence etc. Then once they are competant and confident drivers, introduce manuals.Maybe if driving was easier for peope starting out we wouldnt have the problems we have and people getting whinged at or about.

I lost count the amount of L drivers I see kangarooing cars up the road taking off at lights , or stalling altogether, autos would erradicate this. and get people used to driving in amongst traffic a lot easier.

LOL you dont really think that once you put somebody in an auto as a 1st car to learn to drive, that you will be able to introduce them to manual afterwards.

theyll just keep driving autos and it will end up like the USA where 90% of the population cant drive a "Real" car.

ninty9er

I learned in a manual 2 years ago, passed my test, and once I change the current car I'll drive Autos til I die...hopefully in 80 years at 100

ninty9er

C_Breeze wrote:

LOL you dont really think that once you put somebody in an auto as a 1st car to learn to drive, that you will be able to introduce them to manual afterwards.

theyll just keep driving autos and it will end up like the USA where 90% of the population cant drive a "Real" car.

My friend drove his dad's S-Class for 6 months and is now learning how to drive with an instructor...it's quite easy to do!!

Don't know what sort of imbeciles to you know

Guy:Incognito

C_Breeze wrote:

LOL you dont really think that once you put somebody in an auto as a 1st car to learn to drive, that you will be able to introduce them to manual afterwards.

theyll just keep driving autos and it will end up like the USA where 90% of the population cant drive a "Real" car.

Firstly, with the quality of driving in this country, getting rid of gear sticks would be a marked improvement

Second, whats worng with driving autos?

Third Yes I do think you can introduce autos afterwards. Case in point bein gmy gf's sister. She started in an auto and as a result is far more competant and confident a driver than the majprity of others I knwo who were let loose to "learn by doing" on public roads with a ton of dangerous metal to bounce of anythign and everything.


I fail to see how you think it would be harder to switch to manual having mastered (or at least experienced) all the other aspects of driving. It's a gearstick, not the controls to a fighter jet.

C_Breeze

ninty9er wrote:

I learned in a manual 2 years ago, passed my test, and once I change the current car I'll drive Autos til I die...hopefully in 80 years at 100

Thats great, im happy that you like autos, thats personal prefference but you know that you have the experience of being able to confidently control a manual car.

What if you were plonked in an auto first time around , do u think you would have ever learned or wanted to learn how to PROPERLY drive and get a bit of experience with a manual!? .. i dont think so, you probably would have just kept on with the autos.

My point is it is Sutpid to suggest autos as a 1st car , even with Stekellys idea about auto then manual , but it would be to hard to get them out of that comfort zone.

Guy:Incognito

C_Breeze wrote:

Thats great, im happy that you like autos, thats personal prefference but you know that you have the experience of being able to confidently control a manual car.

What if you were plonked in an auto first time around , do u think you would have ever learned or wanted to learn how to PROPERLY drive and get a bit of experience with a manual!? .. i dont think so, you probably would have just kept on with the autos.

My point is it is Sutpid to suggest autos as a 1st car , even with Stekellys idea about auto then manual , but it would be to hard to get them out of that comfort zone.

What exactly would be the probelm with driving autos forever btw? Not you because you obviously would lower yourself. It may well be alien to you, but theres a lot of people who dont fancy the idea of changing from 1st to 2nd and back again constantly for a couple of hours + a day while commuting in traffic.

Plus , just because you havnt the mental capacity to learn how to use a gearstick after learnign the rest of driving , doesnt mean the other 99.999999etc% of the population which I would bet could just about manage it would'nt be able to.

As for introducing things like digital air con and the likes? pure witchcraft, if it's not on your first car, you'll never be able to learn how to use it anyway.

Mitch Connor

Stekelly wrote:

What exactly would be the probelm with driving autos forever btw? Not you because you obviously would lower yourself. It may well be alien to you, but theres a lot of people who dont fancy the idea of changing from 1st to 2nd and back again constantly for a couple of hours + a day while commuting in traffic.

Plus , just because you havnt the mental capacity to learn how to use a gearstick after learnign the rest of driving , doesnt mean the other 99.999999etc% of the population which I would bet could just about manage it would'nt be able to.

As for introducing things like digital air con and the likes? pure witchcraft, if it's not on your first car, you'll never be able to learn how to use it anyway.

At the moment i drive a manual - but i wouldn't mind geting an auto as my next car. However, i do not think it is a great idea for a learner to start in an auto. Sure, it would provide a slightly easier learning curve then a manual, but if they sit and pass their test in an auto they are restricted to only drving autos for life, unless they re sit the test in a manual. If the OP is looking for a cheap car, with cheap insurance, i'm gonna guess that they probably don't have the money to be throwing on 2 cars inside a year (6 to 9 months probably) so learning to drive manual after auto simply might not be practicle. Also, i do understand they could drive auto's for the rest of thei life so the licence wouldn't be much of a problem, but i'm sure being legally allowed to drive a manual, and having the ability to do so, would come in handy with regards the cars of family and friends (i'm sure we have all moved or driven the cars belonging to friends and family for various reasons)

As for the OP. Mazda 323f, can be got cheap enough, and insurance isn't that much worse in comparison to other, much smaller cars. i was quoted 1800 third party, 2100 fully comp on one for provisional, don't think my GF payed much less for her first year in her micra.

C_Breeze

Wow, sorry to have offended you stekelly, you'd swear an automatic transmission was a member of your familiy or something the way you're reacting. Just putting my opinion accross .. and i dont think im alone when saying that starting to learn on an Auto would not be a good move.


"just because you havnt the mental capacity to learn how to use a gearstick after learnign the rest of driving"

And less of the insults oh wise one. Im not saying it has anything to do with mental capacity, im saying that once you teach somebody in an auto it will be very hard to get them out of their "comfort zone" and teach them in a manual.


"What exactly would be the probelm with driving autos forever btw?"

A lot if you have never learned to drive a manual.



I would assume 99% of the population has learned on manula and that hasnt done anyone anybad now has it? ... And to address your point about L-drivers stalling at lights and holding up traffic etc ( how about suggesting that a preffesional learner driving system is put in place first rather than suggesting autop boxes, easy way out.

Atomic Pineapple

theres a thread about autos already, stop hijacking this thread which has very little to do with what your discussing, the op is asking opinions on first time cars, i'm sure he's aware he has the choice of manual or auto but he hasn't asked an opinion on that he has an opinion on cars....

back on topic, my first car was a 1.25zetec fiesta and was a great little car, loads of poke in it and it the insurance on it was relatively cheap, was nice to drive too, not sure if its within your price range though,

my cousin drove a 1.0l polo for his first car was solid and reliable was a 96 too, very easy to keep and run

Toon--soldier

Toyota Starlet?

zilog_jones

I'd also recommend a Fiesta - I got one of the crappy 1.3's (they're pushrods so are significantly slower and less refined than the 1.25 DOHC Zetec), but it's grand for anything except regular long journeys and should cost a less to maintain than most OHC engines (like the Zetec and the 1 litre engine in the Micra) as there's less to go wrong with them and no timing belt to change.

You should be able to get a decent enough '97 or '98 Fiesta for that kind of money. Micras may cost a bit more for similar spec (I found it quite hard finding any 5 door 1.0 Micras last year when I was looking), though you may find a cheaper March (the Japanese version).

Personally I would avoid the Polo - they still didn't have driver airbags as standard when pretty much all the competition did by around '94-'96 - this and the fact they still cost more than most the competition doesn't make any sense to me.

Insurance-wise when I was looking last year (I'm 21 though), I got the cheapest quotes for Micras and the most expensive for Starlets (with Quinn they were the same as the 1.3 Corolla, though they do have the same engine) - Fiesta was pretty much inbetween those two. I went with Hibernian over Quinn (even though they cost more) because their basic TPFT cover seemed to be more comprehensive (breakdown assistance and windscreen cover among other things) and there's the possibility to reduce the premium significantly with the Provisional Ignition and Ignition courses.

um7y1h83ge06nx

Micra would be decent. As others have said if you could get the jap version with the extras that would be good. And the 1 litre engine would be good for insurance.

I'm not a major fan of Polos, they're very basic. My girlfriend has a '03 one and it doesn't even have electric windows or a CD player. On a 4 year old car that's shockingly basic, my car is a '99 Nissan Almera and has far more features in comparision.

ipodrocker

for a guy your age your insurance will cost more than your budget and might be better off getting ur parents to buy the car and get on the insurance as 2nd or 3rd named driver.