Buying Advice For First Car

robobobo

Hey guys,

I recently just passed my driving test and I'm lookin to get myself my first car
I'm a 17 year old lad and I've got a max budget of about 2000 anything cheaper is only a bonus

I want somethin that will be cheap on tax fuel and insurance so no big engines anyway,
What kind of cars do you recommend for me and my budget?

What should I be looking out for, like mileage wise, ill prob only be able to get a car that's around 00/02 , what mileage would be ok for a car, I've seen a couple that are above 100k, is that too much or what?

anything else to look out for?
thanks

Bodhan

Follow some tips here http://smokerspack.com/2010/07/15/buying-a-car-spot-the-lemons-with-these-simple-tips/

Saxo, punto, Fiesta, Micra, Corsa. They are all in your price range, and they all have small engines. Fiesta 1.25 ztec is a great car to drive, hard to find one that hasn't been treated like crap though.
Get your car checked out, no point spending 2000 if it's going to cost you another 1000 to get it right.

Best of luck, you'll have years of happy motoring ahead.

Esel

100k not too much, as long as car has been well maintained (look for service history). Also, find out when the timing belt was replaced (some cars have a timing chain, which normally does not need to be replaced).

robobobo

Thanks guys,

I've been looking at some of the polo's around 02 or so, what would you think about one of them?

VW's are normally fairly reliable as far as I've heard

bazz26

robobobo wrote: »

Thanks guys,

I've been looking at some of the polo's around 02 or so, what would you think about one of them?

VW's are normally fairly reliable as far as I've heard

Bodhan

robobobo wrote: »

Thanks guys,

I've been looking at some of the polo's around 02 or so, what would you think about one of them?

VW's are normally fairly reliable as far as I've heard

The Polo is a good little car, but they did have build issues and, if not serviced properly can be very troublesome, but if you can get a good one and you're happy looking at it that's all that matters

af_thefragile

Here's a nice one for you:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1477254

Drives like a charm. You really won't regret it.
And the 1.4l has enough power for a first timer.

changes

Something like this would be a good car for your budget

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1494012

robobobo

Not really into the ford puma, and the opel astra's not really what i'd like,

I'd prefer a smaller hatchback to be honest

changes

You seem to like the polo, i think its a nice car if got in the right colour, at that size i like the saxo's and the corsa's also

Redisle

The 1L Polo is a horribly slow car to drive. You would be better off in a 1.25 fiesta. Much nicer car to drive than the Polo. You can even get them in Ghia spec with air con and few other extras.
Eg.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1398438
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1469956

robobobo

Ye that would be one of my concerns about the polo, A 1L may be great for insurance and tax, but it could be a right pain, a bigger engine in it then? 1.2?

I like the ford fiesta actually, and I say the 1.25 Vtec engine in them would be perfect

djimi

My girlfriend got a nice little 00 1.4 Polo a few weeks back. Good little starter car. Nice to drive, enough poke without being too quick, comfortable enough. If its in decent nick and you look after it then it should last you well.

Redisle

There shouldn't be much difference insurance wise between a 1L Polo and 1.25 Fiesta tbh. In my experience you should get broadly similar quotes on most cars between 1-1.4L. Above that and things do tend to get expensive.

Your best bet would be to test drive the cars your interested in to get a feel for them. Just remember you can't test drive any cars in private sales if you don't have an existing policy with driving other cars extension, what you could do however is find a car your interested in at a dealer and test drive it there yourself using dealer insurance, then maybe buy elsewhere, you can normally find better deals on the private market, just make sure you get the car checked out.

bazz26

I'd also recommend a Fiesta as a first car. Cheap to buy, cheap to service and nice to drive. Run out models around 2002 are very well equipped with air conditioning, alloy wheels and cd player. 1.25 litre engine is very nippy in that car too.

A nice looking example: http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201028198775467

robobobo

I'm liking these fiestas, and they also seem to be priced cheaper than VW's

Anyone have any past experience with them with insurance and fuel?

Redisle

The 1.25 has a quoted mpg of 40 for mixed driving, which is pretty good for a petrol.
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=21421

As for insurance, you should have no problem getting insured, and it shouldn't cost you much more than a 1L polo. Only way to find out is start ringing a few insurance compaines. Try Britton Insurance, Quinn, Hibernian (You can do the ignition test for 20-30% discount too) etc. Don't bother with the online quote systems, you will almost always get better quotes over the phone.

Piriz

hey i was gona recommend the rover 200, these are a nice little car which can be picked up really cheap.
with these cars you'll get lots of extras like central locking/immobiliser, air bags, alloys, electric windows, CD player as standard..

ok this is not the best example but you could find better http://www.carzone.ie/search/Rover/25/ie/200917192606929/advert?channel=CARS
or
http://www.autotrader.ie/search/Rover/200/211I-1.0/201032199129149/advert?channel=CARS

or for the boy racer:
http://www.autotrader.ie/search/Rover/25/1.4-Impr/201033199197319/advert?channel=CARS

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1438845

anyway...i feel they are good value to consider!

oh try 123.ie for low cost car insurance!

SurferDude41

Maybe you should consider a diesel car, the fuel economy on say a 1.9 tdi golf would be 55 miles per gallon/5 litres. 90bhp model.

The insurance should be fairly low too. VW also make a non turbo-diesel golf, its called the SDI only 68bhp so the insurance should be very low.
It should be easy to pick up one of these, for around €2,000
Also the mechanical parts on a diesel car, have to be stronger.
My diesel has, 130,000 miles and goes very well, for such a high mileage car.:)

Also VW make a 1.4 TDi polo, but I am not sure if you could buy one for € 2,000.

If you must get a petrol car??? Buy Japanese. Toyota or Honda. Beware of boy racer cars, most have been crashed, bashed and abused:eek:
If you are buying privately, try to buy from a mature person and ask to see some proof, that the car had been serviced.

Esel

SurferDude41 wrote: »

If you must get a petrol car??? Buy Japanese. Toyota or Honda.

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