First Time buyer

Rollo Tamasi

Hi guys,
I'm going to be entering into the car market fairly soon and I'm looking for recommendations on a decent second hand motor for a learner driver.

My budget is between 2G and 4G.
I inteend to upgrade after approx 2 years of usage.
I'm looking for a relatively smallish car but not a 3 door.
I don't have a clue about cars tbh.
I got quoted 1,500 fully comp for my insurance on a 1.4litre Seat Ibiza (I'm 25, professional worker, living in Cork).

What car would you recommend? Which would have a decent resell value after two additional years of usage?

Cheers

rowanh

Toyota corrola or starlet would be good reliable car thats cheap to run and relativly nice to drive.

A Seat ibitha would be nice too.

Id avoid nissan micras, fiats and french cars.

You would be better off getting somethign with a good bit of its NCT left. Id say its a good idea to get something with the intention of keeping it a year and then getting a bigger car if you want it.

bazz26

1999/2000 Ford Fiesta 1.25 litre.

Small cars tend to hold their value quite well due to the popularity among learner drivers and the cheap running costs.

colm_mcm

Bazz is going with his favourite, the Fiesta, so I'll say Yaris, minimal depreciation, you should be able to pick up a 00 for around 4k, and you may just be able to sell it for that next year.
Add top notch reliability, 4 statr crash NCAP rating, 151 quid a year tax, KMPH speedo, and silly fuel economy then it makes a lot of sense.

Dilbert75

I think there was a 99/00 Fiesta on www.adverts.ie recently for less than €2k. Good starter car.

Edit: http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=27187&cat=2

unkel

Dilbert75 wrote:

I think there was a 99/00 Fiesta on www.adverts.ie recently for less than €2k. Good starter car.

Edit: http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=27187&cat=2

Good find. That's a bargain!

@OP, if I were you, I'd jump at this. Check the car out and offer the seller the full asking price, provided it passes the NCT. Finalise the deal after the NCT

Dilbert75

But OP check the timing belt status - due at 10 years / 100k miles, costs around €400 for a dealer to do it, I got ours done with a private mechanic for €250 ish.

colm_mcm

Ned78's Starlet is good value at €3,500

Henry Ford III

colm_mcm wrote:

Ned78's Starlet is good value at €3,500

Now now Colm,

It's got less mileage than that Fiesta, but is a year older.

The Fiesta is the without doubt a better car, a more modern safer design, and better still in 1.25 16v guise.

p.s. That Starlet is €3500, and the newer car less than half that at €1700 :rolleyes:

Rollo Tamasi

Dilbert75 wrote:

I think there was a 99/00 Fiesta on www.adverts.ie recently for less than €2k. Good starter car.

Edit: http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=27187&cat=2

Cheers, looks exactly like what I might need.

bazz26

Henry Ford III wrote:

Now now Colm,

It's got less mileage than that Fiesta, but is a year older.

The Fiesta is the without doubt a better car, a more modern safer design, and better still in 1.25 16v guise.

p.s. That Starlet is €3500, and the newer car less than half that at €1700 :rolleyes:

While that particular Fiesta maybe better value for money, the design being safer and newer than the Starlet isn't true. The Fiesta didn't change all that much since the basic car that was launched way back in 1989, all the way up to 2002. While the driving dynamics were much improved over the years one of the draw backs of that model Fiesta I'm afraid was poor cabin space and packaging.

colm_mcm

Starlets are bulletproof, and no rehashed 80's Fiesta with 92k on the clock can compete with a 35k Starlet. Sure it's twice the price, but it's less than half the mileage.

Henry Ford III

Blinkers way too tight Colm.

VRT calculator puts the value on the 98 Starlet @ €2070, and the 99 Fiesta @ €2498, even allowing for the mileage.

Parkers rate both cars as 3 star, and rates the Fiesta as 3 star for safety too. Starlet rates as lowly 1.5 star. Starlet gets kudos for reliability as you suggest, but rates relatively poorly on driving dynamics, which is no great suprise.