My first car finally sits outside the house...

Mr Benevolent

...and not before it's time! Although I swore I'd never do it, I bought my sister in law's 1999 Corsa off her. I'm not going to put up pics because, well, it's purple. 86k miles, manual and 53hp. Oh well, everyone has to start somewhere, and it's only till I pass my test.

So was your first car as, uh, uninteresting as mine is?

burger1979

My first car was a 1973 VW Beetle, rust in the floors, doors, heat exchangers (no heat during winter, girlfriend loved that), 32bhp when built so you can imagine the power it had after a few years, broke down a lot in the first few months that i owned it, broke my wallet, broke my heart on occoasion too...................but it was my first car and I loved it, thought i was the dogs, also got a few compliments on it which was nice.

Alexander Supertramp

Everyone has to start somewhere surely.

I had a 02 307 2.0 HDI. Got it in the north here with a full years MOT but high mileage (90k). Went OK for 11 months before I wrapped it around a wall.

ARGINITE

Rover 200 1.4 105Bhp.
It's made the trip from London to Galway quite a number of time now. Who said Rover K series engines were unreliable

The Bishop Basher

Congratulations Confab...there's nothing quite like your first car

Mine was a Mini Mayfair and despite the fact that it didn't run in the rain, regularly developed a petrol leak and was prone to over heating, I loved it

I can still remember the reg too. 65 MNI which kind of suited it.

Enjoy the car...safe and happy motoring !!

black & white

Mine was a 1979 Ford Escort 1.3GL, red with a black vinyl roof and alloys. Bought it in 1986 and had it for 4 years. It was doing about 18mpg by the time I sold it on. Heating never worked and the drivers window kept falling down when driving. I absolutely loved it though. Reg was 89 KHI.

EPM

Well wear. Everyone's got to start somewhere and that's as good a place to start as anything.

My first car was an '82 E21 320i with a seized engine. I was 16 and never did get it running. Had big ideas but it all went pear shaped. First proper car was a '99 Fiesta 1.25. Still miss it tbh. Was like a go cart and the engine sounded like a wind up motor.

andyseadog

yup

robtri

First car i owned was a 98 Corsa... always had company cars... but bought that beast of a corsa for me and GF at the time.... still have her to this day ( doesnt feel right to get rid of her, the car not he GF lol) and while a bit rough with a 120k miles up on her still still starts first time everytime...

So Confab best of luck

gbee

My first 'car' was given to me, it was a former ambulance and it had the blue lights and siren and collapseable stretcher and all ~ kids loved it but I sold all the accoutrements to the local St Joph's Ambo.

The beast was a sabotaged Transit that had all the good stuff already removed by the time I got it, my V4 was a total nightmare but we travelled Ireland with it and I was constantly fitting new points as I'd burn them out travelling up one medium sized hill.

Max Power1

ARGINITE wrote: »

Rover 200 1.4 105Bhp.
It's made the trip from London to Galway quite a number of time now. Who said Rover K series engines were unreliable

A common misconception

They are only prone to HGF when the owner does not maintain the coolant levels etc.

On topic this (not mine but same color, bumpers etc) was my first car.

After buying one other and selling it on a while later im still driving this

ottostreet

Alexander Supertramp wrote: »

Everyone has to start somewhere surely.

I had a 02 307 2.0 HDI. Got it in the north here with a full years MOT but high mileage (90k). Went OK for 11 months before I wrapped it around a wall.

say whaaaaaaat?

giant_midget

Escort xr3i 1988 model, white with shark fin spoiler..thought i was the man :pac: nice car tho...

inforfun

First car was a dark blue, 2 door, 1984 Ford Taunus 2.0 auto.
Absolutely loved that car.
The one winter i had that car i managed to have a week of burning 25 liter of petrol on 100 km. The autobox with rwd was just too much fun.

As an earlier poster, took me also 11 months to totall it.
Was gutted when i folded it around a lamp post after hitting some big piece of concrete on the road left there after road repairs.

Big Nasty

Drove parents cars for first 3 years of legal driving then bought a Burgundy '85 320 Coupe pretty much like this one:
[Embedded Image Removed]

Happy out Confab, first car is :cool:
I bought a 1990 Rover 414si back in 1999 a month or after I did the leaving. I loved it, 'twas the Rover or a 1990 blue/purple Mk 4 Escort with a whale tail on it.

alanmc

Congrats Confab.

CharlieCroker

First car was a 1995 blue 3dr mark 3 golf. I was well impressed when I managed to change the stereo myself!! Sold it after 3 months to a buddy for a €300 profit. He then ruined it by putting on white alloys. He managed to sell it for a profit too about a year later.

Then got a mk 4 golf which I turned into a Gti replica (non skangerish type). Had that for a year and loved it. Dog slow though. From there into a 1994 e36 320i coupe which I couldn't get insurance on for the first 2 years of ownership. Had company cars along the way too until I bought my current steed, a 2003 alfa 156 1.6 sportivo which currently has 160k on the clock and an appetite for bulbs.

murphyebass

First off cograts on the new car. Well wear and all that.

My first car was a 1996 Ford Fiesta Zetec, 1.25ltr (I think). The person I got it from was a mechanic who sold cars. This one had been owned by his daughter who had put RS alloys on it which were pretty slick (I thought at the time).

Then on to a 2001 Seat Cordoba 1.6ltr coupe which although I loved it as it was quick constantly broke down unlike the Fiesta which was rock solid (well other than the inside of the door liked to come off)

Then onto a company car was a 06/07 (cant remember which) Ford Focus 1.4ltr oh my god it was slow.

Then on to a 1.9ltr TDI Passat 1999 which like the Cordoba was riddled with problems but lovely to drive when it worked.

Then on to a '04 Mazda 6 2ltr petrol all the bells and whistles nice car but I got bored of it when I saw an Alfa GT for sale...

Current car 04 Alfa GT 1.9ltr JTD, 150bhp. Love it.

Moral of the story get cars checked out before purchase and 2nd of all never deny yourself your dream car. .. well once you can half afford it that is of course.

alanmc

My first car was a JDM Suzuki Cultus (Swift). The most inappropriately named car ever, as it was anything but swift. Also, when driving at night, I could either have lights or radio. The two were mutually exclusive.

KERSPLAT!

Mine was a Mitsubishi Colt 1996 1.3, bought for €2000, insurance cost
€3200, it only lasted 2 months thankfully it wasnt my fault and I went
onto get a Rover 200 which seems to have been my most reliable car to date

Chippy01

Is there no-one here with any mileage in them.......lol
My first car was a 1956 Vauxhall Victor 1600. Logbook read - unladen weight, one ton. I kid you not!!!
We added another 1/2 ton of concrete into the door sills when they rotted away. Stopping was ........... interesting.
That car lasted all of 3 months, then I moved on to a 1965 Austin 1100......... and that's a whole different story.

Drove my mother's Ka and then mk6 Fiesta for a while then bought my own car which was a mk4 fiesta carvan (99) 1.3 petrol. It was a great machine yoke and was so handy having a van especially with a farm at home and working for a builder when I had time off from college.

I only had that a year and regret ever selling it, should have kept it around as a 2nd car for use on the farm or for loading up with stuff etc. It was lethal yoke in the wet though it was so light you would lose the back end if you weren't careful (cheap tyres on it probably didn't help either), the lad that bought it off me buried it in a wall a few months after buying it.

CiniO

That was my first car

Fresh Pots

First car was a 02 renault clio, thought it was the best car ever, turned out to be a crashed car which was nothing but problems.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

First form of transport I bought was a brand new moped in June 2001, had that for 2 years, then moved onto motorbikes and had 3 different bikes in the space of 3 years.
In the last 5th year of being on bikes I bought a 99 1.4 civic (off my mother at family rates, approx 50% of what it was worth ), that lasted for about 1.5 - years. Never had a minutes hassle with it .
I then bought an Integra Type R in about July 2008, which I sold over the weekend, so it's the first time since 2001 that I don't own my own form of transport But I will start car shopping next weekend

Dublinstiofán

AUTOMATIC :eek:

Was gone within 2 months. Don't know what i was thinking

mike65

My first car as a learner was a 1977 Fiat 127 903cc

example shot


Bloody thing had awful electrics even by Italian standards of the day, my dad ended up completely re-wiring the ignition set up. Of course that couldn't cure the damp in the distributor at the first sign of humid conditions.

Kids these days don't know they're born, you've never had the frission of saying a little prayer to the God of Eletricity and the Starter Motor as you grip the key.

Mine was my baby micra, lovely shade of green and 26k on the clock
I know they get a lot of stick but it was a good car and I loved it!

no1beemerfan

Confab wrote: »

...and not before it's time! Although I swore I'd never do it, I bought my sister in law's 1999 Corsa off her. I'm not going to put up pics because, well, it's purple. 86k miles, manual and 53hp. Oh well, everyone has to start somewhere, and it's only till I pass my test.

So was your first car as, uh, uninteresting as mine is?

Do you mind me asking what age you are and what the insurance is? I'm interested to see if insurance has gone down.

My first car was an 18 month old micra with 8k on it. That was 11 years ago and still have it. I was 20 at the time and it cost me IR£3,000 just to insure it third party.

CiniO

mike65 wrote: »

My first car as a learner was a 1977 Fiat 127 903cc

example shot


Bloody thing had awful electrics even by Italian standards of the day, my dad ended up completely re-wiring the ignition set up. Of course that couldn't cure the damp in the distributor at the first sign of humid conditions.

Kids these days don't know they're born, you've never had the frission of saying a little prayer to the God of Eletricity and the Starter Motor as you grip the key.

That's a beauty
I would love to have one.

Electrics were probably designed for warm dry Italian weather, that's why they were failing in Ireland

Lord Nikon

K Series engines reliable, with their plastic dowels for the head gasket, yeah right. My 214i went through 3 engines before I got rid of it. God I miss that car

ronaneire

Mine was an 86 Renualt 5 Turbo

Mr Benevolent

no1beemerfan wrote: »

Do you mind me asking what age you are and what the insurance is? I'm interested to see if insurance has gone down.

My first car was an 18 month old micra with 8k on it. That was 11 years ago and still have it. I was 20 at the time and it cost me IR£3,000 just to insure it third party.

I'm 31, provisional licence and it's €1500 pa.

alias no.9

mike65 wrote: »

Bloody thing had awful electrics even by Italian standards of the day, my dad ended up completely re-wiring the ignition set up. Of course that couldn't cure the damp in the distributor at the first sign of humid conditions.

Kids these days don't know they're born, you've never had the frission of saying a little prayer to the God of Eletricity and the Starter Motor as you grip the key.

You said it. It's funny the way people still go on about reliability of different brands as if it was the exception rather than the rule it is today.


My first car was a 1990 Fiesta van, bought it in January 2000. After spending about 90 minutes on a bus on the Condell Road in Limerick one Friday evening, en route from Galway to Cork, I bought this thing for £800 the following thursday, insurance was £2200.
It was a 1.1 pushrod engine that made that unmistakable Fiesta noise. The defining moment of ownership was on another Friday evening making the same trip. This time after negotiating the Limerick traffic myself and becoming so accustomed to moving at the same speed as the traffic as the car in front coming across Limerick, I continued to do so as the road opened up heading towards Cork. The noise started to become unbearable and I looked down at the speedo, it was reading a shade under 90mph, it must have been over reading because the specs for the car when new say top speed was ~82mph, not bad for a car well past it’s prime.
I upgraded to a 1992 Opel Astra 1.4i a few months later which seemed like the pinnacle of refinement in comparison. Since then I’ve had a 1997 Fiat Bravo 1.4, 1998 Nissan Primera 2.0TD, 2000 Alfa 156 1.8t-spark, 1996 Merc C200T and now 2001 BMW 520i, the last two are automatics.

As you can see, I’m a marketeers nightmare, no brand loyalty whatsoever.

Top Dog

First car registered in my name was an '82 Vauxhall Cavalier SR - 82 L 501 if I remember correctly. Bought as a project while in college ... and never saw the road in my hands.

First car registered to me, driven by me, but insured under fathers name was a Miami Blye 1.9 Peugeot 205 GTi. Absolutely loved it, but broke my heart & wallet with running/repair costs. 92 C 12801 - often find myself wondering if she's still on the road somewhere.

First car registered and insured in my name was a Nissan Sunny GTI-R - cost £2750 fully comp for insurance almost 10 years ago now. Best car I've ever owned.

rachaelf750

My first car was a 95 Toyota corolla sprinter 1.3 and I still have it,just waiting on the funds to do her up again:o.She has over 270,000 on the clock and still starts on the first turn.:D

no1beemerfan

no1beemerfan wrote: »

Do you mind me asking what age you are and what the insurance is? I'm interested to see if insurance has gone down.

My first car was an 18 month old micra with 8k on it. That was 11 years ago and still have it. I was 20 at the time and it cost me IR£3,000 just to insure it third party.

My first insurance was nearly 12 years ago now, I was 18 and insurance was IR£1588 3rd party f&t, 9 year old 414si Hibernian were the only crowd who'd quote me. I paid more the following two years even after passing the test.

colm_mcm

00 punto sporting. Only new car I ever bought. Great car but lots of silly problems. Hard to believe its 11 years ago.

Changed the alloys for abarth ones. Insurance was only £957 at the time with no previous experience!

MetzgerMeister

Congrats Confab! At least it's a set of wheels

I started off as a learner in a '98 Peugeot XN 1.6 diesel. Bought my first car after passing my test which was a british racing green 1998 Rover 400. Got it for €2500 and my insurance was €2000

It was great for a year, no problems at all until a loud knocking noise started coming from the engine bay and I got rid of it. Never did find out what it was!

jenizzle

I think everyone holds a special place in their heart for their first car no matter how crappy it was.

My first car was a 1.4 '96 Seat Ibiza. Bought it with a chunk missing out of the back right-hand side door as I had never driven on a road before buying it and didn't trust myself in a decent one :rolleyes: Insurance was half-price cos of the company I worked for. After I put the lidl radio in it, it was the business. Traded it in against an MX5 2 years later :cool:

Dolph Starbeam

Bought my first car off my mother, a 1992 Toyota Starlet 1.3, super super little car, finally gave up on me 2 years later just after it hit 200,000 miles, so many memories in that car.

YouTookMyName

Congrats Confab.

My First Car was a 2002 1.6 Focus. Had it 15 months and done 24000 miles in it. Brought it home Valentines day 2007 but Broke my heart and my wallet, always some little niggle in with it. Sold it for about a quarter of what it cost me and i spent on it. Still one of the best cars i've driven though.

_Conrad_

First legal car on the road was a 1988 Ford Sierra 1.6 in a strange shade of orangey-red which was in appaling condition as i was poor and had to save up for ages to get the old heap and pay for insurance but i really wanted to be on the road in a sierra and had great fun with it and gave it ridiculous abuse until it came apart in spectacular fashion on a forest road.
It was immediately followed by a fiesta van which was swapped after a week for a horrible 94 corsa with a cavalier engine (it was a grey 5 door and had tsw venom wheels on it when i got it first, the shame!!!), then a (sh*te) megane saloon followed then back to fords with a granada, and a stupidly long list of cars after that

Mr Benevolent

For reference, it's the same model and colour as the car in this ad.

Yawlboy

1984 Silver Toyota Corolla DX 1.3 - paid £1800 for it and paid £2066 for insurance in 1992. Reg AZG 662

kept it for 12 months and then downsized to the 1.0 Fiesta ;-(

Ardennes1944

01 8v mk2 punto. bought for 500....sold it for 700 a year later

bijapos

1979 Merc 300TD (estate), it was brown, had well over 400,000km on a car that was 12 years old at the time, a bit rusty, had a lot of scratches down the one side so I resprayed it signal red, looked great with the green tinted windows, a bit like this



I had it when I lived in Germany in the 90's, did all of Europe in it, sleeping with the girlfriend in the back. I sold it to a then neighbour and she still has the car today.

Great memories.

savagecabbages

CharlieCroker wrote: »

First car was a 1995 blue 3dr mark 3 golf.

I too had a 1995 mk3 golf as my first car:D 5 door tho.
The old VWs were absolutely bombproof you could literally drive them into the ground and they just keep on going! Likewise the 88-93 Passat B3's.

Sold it for €250 more than I paid after 2 years there seems to still be a demand for them.

1.4 cl 59bhp as you can imagine the thing was sloooooow....
second car was also a mk3, but a 16v gti some step up from 59bhp to 150bhp with the same weight :cool::cool:

Alanstrainor

Well wear Confab!

mike65

bijapos, I'd be happy with that car now!