Car for a (clueless!) new driver?

eclectichoney

Hi guys
I am hoping to learn to drive soon (female, old enough to be able to drive by now! ) and really I don't have a clue as to what kind of car would be good to start off on, what size engine etc. I don't really know anyone I can ask either as most of my friends don't drive. I have never even had a lesson yet so don't have the first idea I am sorry to say, but have been looking at autotrader.ie and there are so many options that I am totally confused! I would be mainly using it for a shortish daily commute (say 10km each way) and the odd inter-city trip (once a month or so). I searched around for previous threads and people seem to recommend a Yaris, Fiesta or maybe a Golf? Also is autotrader the best place to source a car from typically?

Thanks a million

Muckie

If your starting off learning to drive Yaris or Fiesta are very good choices.

I'd recommend a Toyota Starlet. Very dependable, can be got for a €1000

or less, and if you give it a few scratches or bumps(done this myself

starting to drive ) its not the end of the world. If you decide on a car

bring a mechanic to give the car a once over, you don't want any nasty

surprises. Good luck.

vectra

Buy a Honda Civic..
Cheap
Nice to drive
Bulletproof

Absurdum

How much are you looking to spend?

irelandspurs

clio

Tomebagel

vectra wrote: »

Buy a Honda Civic..
Cheap
Nice to drive
Bulletproof

Fuck your honda civic,get yourself a horse woman.

gondorff

If you're that clueless I won't confuse you with specs, but you can pick up one of these for a reasonable price, economical too.

Thoie

Don't feel that because you're a learner driver you're limited to a "small" car. While that is often the norm, when you're starting off any car seems big, so pick one you're happy with. Get something that you won't mind if it gets the odd scratch, but again, many people learn to drive without ever scratching or scraping anything.

The main thing that will limit you initially is the cost of insurance. Insurance is often tied to engine size and the value of the car, so a smaller engine might be cheaper to insure.

I'd start by going to carzone.ie and looking at cars in your area, in your budget, with manual transmission, and less than 40,000 miles, just to see what's out there. Move the "minimum" slider up one notch in each case to clear out the "POA" results etc. Then think about what you want the car for. You'll mainly be commuting by yourself, but at weekends/evenings, do you want to fit 3 or 4 friends in the car with you? In that case, maybe a 4/5 door would be more convenient.

Once you have a few car makes/models, try out a few online quotes to get an idea of the impact a bigger engine/different models have on the cost. Look up the motor tax rates for that car as well.

Of course, the other question, if you're only learning to drive, and none of your friends drive, do you need to buy a car now? You won't be able to drive unaccompanied until you've passed your test, so if the car's just going to be sitting in the driveway until then you might want to consider holding off on purchasing something until you've passed.

vectra

Tomebagel wrote: »

Fuck your honda civic,get yourself a horse woman.

Disgusting language on a public forum and totally irrelevant to the topic :rolleyes:

Mint Sauce

Hatchback. 1 to 1.2 maybe. Yaris/golf/fiesta/corsa.

-Chris-

Tomebagel wrote: »

Fuck your honda civic,get yourself a horse woman.

gondorff wrote: »

If you're that clueless I won't confuse you with specs, but you can pick up one of these for a reasonable price, economical too.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5019/36804561529ed8e0613b.jpg

This isn't After Hours lads, post constructively or don't post at all.

vectra wrote: »

Disgusting language on a public forum and totally irrelevant to the topic :rolleyes:

This is what the Reported Post function is for. Please don't back-seat mod.

squod

eclectichoney wrote: »

Hi guys
I am hoping to learn to drive soon (female, old enough to be able to drive by now! ) and really I don't have a clue as to what kind of car would be good to start off on, what size engine etc. I don't really know anyone I can ask either as most of my friends don't drive. I have never even had a lesson yet so don't have the first idea I am sorry to say, but have been looking at autotrader.ie and there are so many options that I am totally confused! I would be mainly using it for a shortish daily commute (say 10km each way) and the odd inter-city trip (once a month or so). I searched around for previous threads and people seem to recommend a Yaris, Fiesta or maybe a Golf? Also is autotrader the best place to source a car from typically?

Thanks a million

Fiesta. Better car out of the three, there's a website called donedeal.ie, magazine called local trader or your own local news paper. Look out for a service history with any car you purchase.

eclectichoney

Guys

Thanks so much for the help - at least I feel I have a starting point now!

Will definitely check out all the recommendations / options suggested.

I know it will be difficult trying to co-erce somebody into driving with me when I practice, but I imagine I will need a *lot* of practice between lessons (as well as a lot of lessons no doubt!), hence wanting to buy something before I (hopefully and eventually!) pass my test. Just something cheap enough, I'll hold off on buying the convertable mini for a while yet :P

Thanks again for all the help - it's really appreciated

Nozebleed

nissan almera 1.4 around 2000. should cost about 1500. great car. easy to self service. insurance and tax are reasonable.

UpTheSlashers

eclectichoney wrote: »

Guys

Thanks so much for the help - at least I feel I have a starting point now!

Will definitely check out all the recommendations / options suggested.

I know it will be difficult trying to co-erce somebody into driving with me when I practice, but I imagine I will need a *lot* of practice between lessons (as well as a lot of lessons no doubt!), hence wanting to buy something before I (hopefully and eventually!) pass my test. Just something cheap enough, I'll hold off on buying the convertable mini for a while yet :P

Thanks again for all the help - it's really appreciated

You mightnt like this , but its a cheaper alternative. Why not get yourself insured on a relatives car? You need somebody accompanying when you are driving anyway.* And are you aware that in buying a car that the cost of the car itself is only about a quarter or third of what youll actually spend a year in running it.

*I am aware this law is irrelevant to many people.

rusty_racer94

Get a,
Polo 1.0
Yaris.
Starlet
Citroen Saxo
Peugeot 206 or 306
Honda Civic 1.4
Corolla Xli (1.3)
Nissan Micra K11
Daihatsu Charade G203 ( Had one myself, best one so far).

high horse

vectra wrote: »

Buy a Honda Civic..
Cheap
Nice to drive
Bulletproof

They might be bulletproof and nice to drive but they're also a magnet for attention from gardai. I'd recommend something like a Yaris to learn in

vectra

high horse wrote: »

They might be bulletproof and nice to drive but they're also a magnet for attention from gardai. I'd recommend something like a Yaris to learn in

Girls are apparently safer drivers than males so wouldnt be the magnet one would assume it to be. On that topic my son drives a civic with almost 12 months now and Garda do not even bat an eyelid at him.. (Must be something to do with the fact that he behaves himself on the road )

-Chris- wrote: »

This is what the Reported Post function is for. Please don't back-seat mod.

Post was reported.
Was NOT back seat modding but as it is a public forum I was pointing out my views on this language on an open forum.;)

eclectichoney

UpTheSlashers wrote: »

You mightnt like this , but its a cheaper alternative. Why not get yourself insured on a relatives car? You need somebody accompanying when you are driving anyway.* And are you aware that in buying a car that the cost of the car itself is only about a quarter or third of what youll actually spend a year in running it.

*I am aware this law is irrelevant to many people.

Thanks Slashers, I would absolutely go for that option first and foremost, but am actually moving county away from all my relatives / family (hence the whole learning to drive thing!) so that's not really an option. I know I will have to find a helpful person in my new location to help me practice though. Hopefully I'll make friends with some

Thanks again for all the other suggestions / help everyone

gondorff

rusty_racer94 wrote: »

Get a,
Polo 1.0
Yaris.
Starlet
Citroen Saxo
Peugeot 206 or 306
Honda Civic 1.4
Corolla Xli (1.3)
Nissan Micra K11
Daihatsu Charade G203 ( Had one myself, best one so far).

Yeah, one for each day of the week, two at weekends!

vectra wrote: »

Girls are apparently safer drivers

Yawn

djimi

vectra wrote: »

On that topic my son drives a civic with almost 12 months now and Garda do not even bat an eyelid at him.. (Must be something to do with the fact that he behaves himself on the road )

Makes no difference how you drive. I was pulled over very regularly in my Civic (a bog standard saloon 1.4 with literally nothing changed on it). I wasnt speeding or driving erratically; got the usual who am I, where am I from, where am I heading questions and sent on my way. It was very obviously because I was a bloke in my early 20s driving a Civic.

On topic, OP I can recommend a new model 2000ish Polo as a good starter car. Girlfriend got one this year; nice little car to start in. Light steering, decent gearbox, nice to handle, enough power to be useful without being too powerful (hers is the 1.4 model). I think hers cost her €1300.

djimi

Oh and the Yaris is the most horrifically uncomfortable car I have ever driven; next to probably only a Ka. They might tick the boxes in terms of a starter car but there are so many cars out there that are considerably better. If you want my advise do not buy a Yaris; you will lose the will to ever get behind the wheel of a car again...

vectra

djimi wrote: »

Makes no difference how you drive. I was pulled over very regularly in my Civic (a bog standard saloon 1.4 with literally nothing changed on it). I wasnt speeding or driving erratically; got the usual who am I, where am I from, where am I heading questions and sent on my way. It was very obviously because I was a bloke in my early 20s driving a Civic.

On topic, OP I can recommend a new model 2000ish Polo as a good starter car. Girlfriend got one this year; nice little car to start in. Light steering, decent gearbox, nice to handle, enough power to be useful without being too powerful (hers is the 1.4 model). I think hers cost her €1300.

Son is only 18
Loud exhaust
Louder sound system
Lots of stickers
Never pulled over...!!

And above all it is a hatch in "STICK OUT IN THE CROWD RED" ..!!! :pac:

Back on topic
Those '00 Polo you are on about
arent those the models with the dodgy pedal box that costs quite a bit when they go?

vectra

gondorff wrote: »

Yawn

I did say "Apparently"

Ask any insurance company :rolleyes:

Alanstrainor

vectra wrote: »

Post was reported.
Was NOT back seat modding but as it is a public forum I was pointing out my views on this language on an open forum.;)

Discussing mod decisions on thread is against the charter. Use the PM function.

Now let's keep this on topic. It's about recommending a car to a new driver.

OP, in all honesty, I would probably get a few lessons before getting a car. IMO you won't get any where near enough use out of the car in the first couple of months learning to drive to justify the cost. Once you have a few lessons under your belt, then consider a car.
But if i was to recommend anything, it'd be a Ford Fiesta 1.25 Ghia spec. Nice small cars, great engine, cheap to buy, run and insure. And they are reliable little cars. Just make sure to get any car you're considering looked at by a mechanic, or someone who knows their stuff.

djimi

vectra wrote: »

Those '00 Polo you are on about
arent those the models with the dodgy pedal box that costs quite a bit when they go?

I hope not... :eek:

dr.fuzzenstein

Never mind all that, best to just go for it in style:

Ardennes1944

cant recommend a mk2 (99-03) 1.2 punto enough. served me very well