first car

the-furbo

Hi,
Im hoping to get my first car relitively soon but Im not really sure what to get. I prefer hatchbacks,Im a girl and amnt looking for anything to fancy and a small engine is esential because of insurance reasons.Im a girl but only 18 so no doubt my premium will still be huge. Any suggestions or reccomendations would be greatly appriciated. Thanks in advance!

cianclarke

I got insured on a 1.3l Hyundai Accent for half nothing as my first car.
Anything fairly cheap, small, and with an engine under 1.4 will do you fine!

Fey!

My g/f had an accent; not too bad a car.

Don't spend a fortune on your first car; chances are if you're learning to drive in it it'll get a bit scratched and banged.

bazz26

Something like a late 1990s Ford Ka, Fiesta or Nissan Micra, Opel Corsa or VW Polo are great starter cars. They are generally trouble free and probably the cheapest to insure. Just try and find one with power steering in order to make parking that bit easier.

I agree with the other comments that you shouldn't spend too much on a starter car as it is bound to get bumped and scratched occasionally.

thedee

Hey!
My first car was a 00 VW Golf, but if your only learning to drive i'd agree with above and say a VW Polo, Opel Corsa, Ford Fiesta, Nissian Micra etc, they are small, easily driven, easy to get parts for that arent expensive and cheap insurance and tax. All the best with the search.

JohnCleary

Something like a 1.3 Colt or 1.4 Corolla.

Lovely looking starter cars imho and give little trouble. Can be bought for cheap enough too

smash

I'm selling a 05 Punto if you're interested... 1.2ltr

craichoe

JohnCleary wrote:

Something like a 1.3 Colt or 1.4 Corolla.

Lovely looking starter cars imho and give little trouble. Can be bought for cheap enough too

Seconded
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=761982

Something like that, the old Micras/Fiestas etc cost more to run and repair than to buy imo.

the Corolla is a great car that'll last and is safe.

Looks a bit gay though

zilog_jones

What kind of price range are you looking at? You should be able to get something pretty decent from the late '90s for around €2k. I know people who've got out a loan or finance to get something newer for their first car but they regretted it.

I'd recommend a Ford Fiesta - even the crappy 1.3 (which is older and less powerful than the 1.25 Zetec engine). It's grand for driving around town, no timing belt to worry about (usually needs to be done around 60k-70k miles in most cars - something you'd want to know about with cars of this age), and parts/servicing is pretty cheap. Ford Ka is pretty much the same thing, just smaller.

Nissan Micra may be cheaper to run (lower tax if it's the 1.0) but it's a pretty old design and more of a biscuit tin on wheels compared to the competition. Might find a decent March (Jap import version) though - my friend has a '98 one and it's got ABS, passenger airbag, central locking, AC, i.e. everything my Fiesta doesn't have

VW Polo and Toyota Starlet are overpriced IMO - Polo even moreso as they're not even that reliable. Some of them have gearbox problems - don't know how common it is but I've heard people talking here about having to replace them before and another friend of mine (with a low-mileage '98) has to get a new one!

Corolla and Colt may cost significantly more to insure as they're bigger cars. Dunno much about Corsas. Daihatsu Sirions may be found cheap as they're a much unloved brand, but they're a bit fugly.

the Corolla is a great car that'll last and is safe.

Yeah the 5 door Corolla does look a bit "gay" . But it wouldn't be much safer than the Mk. IV Fiesta (3 star EuroNCAP) as it's an older design (came out '95 in Japan but wasn't much different from the '91-'95 E100 series).