Buying Our First Car

Kintarō Hattori

Hello folks,

I'd appreciate if you good people could impart some of your wisdom my way. The missus has started a new job and at the moment she has to get two buses there and two back. The journey to and from work eats up about 3 hours of her day at the moment so we've been thinking of buying a small car.

We're both in our early thirties and while she has a driving licence we've never had a real need for a car until we think now. We live in the city centre and it would be used every day for her to commute to and from work and very possibly at the weekends for the odd break away from the city.

I was thinking a small car such as the Micra or Yaris would be ideal. As it's our first car and we've both had a reduction in our incomes reliability is high up on our list of wants as is low running costs, hence my thinking the two above would be right for the job.

Looking around carzone a 99-00 Micra is around the €1400-1600 mark and a 99-00 Yaris is around the €2500 mark. What confuses me though is that I've seen 01-02 Laguna's for the same price as the Yaris from the likes of BRD Motors. While I appreciate it'd cost more to insure and run the safety aspect really appeals to me.

Should I be looking beyond the Yaris and Micra or are they two good options?

Midnight_EG

Toyota Aygo!!!! :L Nippy motor

Atomic Pineapple

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Toyota Aygo!!!! :L Nippy motor

Not for €1600 though!

01 Lagunas would be the same price as there's not as big a market for them as a yaris or micra and they wouldn't be seen as "good" cars.

If you dont need the extra size of a Laguna then the Yaris would be a better car in my opinion, However you could get a bargain Laguna if you wanted.

Midnight_EG

Oh, sorry, I didnt even see the price limit.

bazz26

Something like a Ford Fiesta 1.25 litre Ghia:

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200927194507120
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200926194410620

geurrp the yard

Get a starlet. Reliable, Economical,Nippy for a 1.3. Great little cars.

Kintarō Hattori

bazz26 wrote: »

Something like a Ford Fiesta 1.25 litre Ghia:

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200927194507120
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200926194410620

Hmnn I had briefly thought of a Fiesta but there looks to be alot of electronics in that model, what would the reliability be like?

jimmycrackcorm

I'll go against the grain and suggest she looks at either a bicycle or moped first before a car. A car is really expensive even if you consider using it for weekend breaks.

Henry Ford III

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Hmnn I had briefly thought of a Fiesta but there looks to be alot of electronics in that model, what would the reliability be like?

Pretty good.

p.s. Starlets will run like a sewing machine generally, but I'd hate to be in one in the event of an accident.

bhotshot007

to be honest id go for a corolla or avensis - very reliable

Kintarō Hattori

bhotshot007 wrote: »

to be honest id go for a corolla or avensis - very reliable

I was looking at older models on Carzone but around our price mark they have absolutely huge mileage and to be honest I think for the moment a small car will probably suit us best.

Low Energy Eng

Get yourself a 1.4 civic or 1.3 hatchback corrola, both good size's and both very reliable.

bazz26

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Hmnn I had briefly thought of a Fiesta but there looks to be alot of electronics in that model, what would the reliability be like?

Every car has electronic components.

On your budget you are looking at 9/10 year old cars so whatever you are interested in buying you need to judge the individual car on current condition rather than brand repution. Make sure to bring somebody who knows their way around a car, preferably a mechanic who can examin the car in detail for problems.

Sids Not

Plenty of small cars on adverts.ie, just do a search for Micra or Yaris...;)

Kintarō Hattori

bazz26 wrote: »

Every car has electronic components.

On your budget you are looking at 9/10 year old cars so whatever you are interested in buying you need to judge the individual car on current condition rather than brand repution. Make sure to bring somebody who knows their way around a car, preferably a mechanic who can examin the car in detail for problems.

Ah yeah I'm aware there are alot of electrics in cars these days but I thought the Fiesta above being a Ghi spec would have had more electronics than the two cars I was thinking about.

Sids Not wrote: »

Plenty of small cars on adverts.ie, just do a search for Micra or Yaris...;)

I think you need to read through the thread Sids.

bazz26

I wouldn't worry about the Fiesta, the Ghia is pretty well kitted out with things like air conditioning, cd player and electric windows, etc. It is hard to beat that spec on a car of that size and year. Just make sure they are all working before buying.