Cheap car advice...

af_thefragile

Hey, I'm looking to get my first car but I don't really have a lot to spend. I'm looking something around the range of 1-1.5k maybe upto 2k if its worth it. There seems to be decent choice on carzone.ie but as I can't really go around looking at all the cars in the lot I was wondering if you guys could help me picking out a couple of good ones so I could go check them out.

Also as its gonna be the first car, i'ld like something that'ld be cheap to insure. Not picky about any particular car model (beggars can't be choosers!). Anything that runs decently will do.

Thanks to anyone who can take the time to help me out!

oxegen85

well youll be looking at 1.0-1.2l then if you want to keep costs down... so anything from corsa,micra,clio,punto etc..

biko

Get something cheap that has at least 1 year NCT left, preferably longer. This way you know it was roadworthy not too long ago.
Bring a knowledgeable friend with you. If you can't then a long NCT is even more important.

The NCT test is more concerned with safety and gas emissions than with road worthiness but still...

dublintuition

Magnus wrote: »

Get something cheap that has at least 1 year NCT left, preferably longer. This way you know it was roadworthy not too long ago.
Bring a knowledgeable friend with you. If you can't then a long NCT is even more important.

The NCT test is more concerned with safety and gas emissions than with road worthiness but still...

Sorry to hijack but is the NCT now yearly for cars over ten years?

af_thefragile

Thanks, so I'll first look for only cars that have NCT till atleast 2011.

I was basically wondering if there's anything specific I should look for before I select a car to go check out/test drive. Like if there's any specific models that are better and more reliable than others or any specific models I should stay away from. Also how much does the mileage effect the car. Like how much mileage is too much mileage and I should avoid.

Just stuff like this that could help me narrowing down my search to a few 3-4 cars I can go check out to buy. As I've never bought or owned a car I just wanna be extra careful to not end up with a nightmare car. Especially when I'm looking at the bottom end of the market. And also I wouldn't wanna waste my time going around looking at many cars that wouldn't be very good...

Like what would you think of these cars:
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Fiesta/1.2-3DR-/200928194588681/advert?channel=CARS
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Nissan/Micra/1.0-5dr-/201003196602635/advert?channel=CARS

Would they be worth checking out or should I not waste my time with them and look for something better maybe more expensive...

snowman707

dublintuition wrote: »

Sorry to hijack but is the NCT now yearly for cars over ten years?

not yet next year(2011) I think

dublintuition

snowman707 wrote: »

not yet next year(2011) I think

Okay so my car is up in July, all going well and it passes, I should get a cert valid until 2012?

oxegen85

that ford fiesta looks way too much for what it is..

oxegen85

my advice if these are the cars you are looking at would be to buy private and bring someone who knows what to look for. The cars you are looking at would be under 1000 in private sale or should be

af_thefragile

oxegen85 wrote: »

my advice if these are the cars you are looking at would be to buy private and bring someone who knows what to look for. The cars you are looking at would be under 1000 in private sale or should be

I was about to ask this.
Generally I see cars for sale on places like adverts.ie or donedeal are much cheaper than on carzone.
So is there really any much advantage in buying it from a dealer or are dealers just ripping you off??...

oxegen85

well you would have the advantage of 3/6 month warranty with a dealer but if you or someone you know can check it out id go private. I hear a lot of people on here saying dealers dont really follow through with their warranties