Best beginner car?

donnyb28

Hello there!

Just got my drivers permit and need a car to practice with until I get my full. In college at the moment and budget is tight so, looking for the following:

Under 1.5L
NCT'd and taxed
Budget of €1,500 - anything under a bonus.

Any solid cars in your opinion from personal experience? Also, any stinkers that should be avoided at all costs? Any thoughts/ links for suitable cars for sale would be much appreciated....Thanks!

Starscream25

I had a fiesta for my first 3 years on the road, can't go wrong with them, reliable and one of the cheaper cars to keep on the road, but there is a few others, should have a look at ford ka, yaris, clio. But I'd rate the fiesta highly.

Chippy01

That €1500 should get you 50 lessons in a driving school.
If you're good enough, you'll get your test in under 50 lessons.
Then get your car. Insurance will be much cheaper as well.

stimpson

I'd go with a 1.4 Focus. A buddy of mine planned on a Yaris for his first car and I talked him into a Focus. 3 years on and he's got his licence and is still driving it. It's never given him a moment of trouble. A bigger car will give you more confidence on the road and be far more comfortable.

Micras, Yarises and Kas are horrible little cars.

Scortho

stimpson wrote: »

I'd go with a 1.4 Focus. A buddy of mine planned on a Yaris for his first car and I talked him into a Focus. 3 years on and he's got his licence and is still driving it. It's never given him a moment of trouble. A bigger car will give you more confidence on the road and be far more comfortable.

Micras, Yarises and Kas are horrible little cars.

In fairness a focus with a 1.4l engine is a horrible car as well.
I'd go for a micra, seicento or a fiesta.

Starscream25

Scortho wrote: »

In fairness a focus with a 1.4l engine is a horrible car as well.
I'd go for a micra, seicento or a fiesta.

Ya I agree, should stick with a 1 litre or 1.2 for cheaper tax aswell

stimpson

Scortho wrote: »

In fairness a focus with a 1.4l engine is a horrible car as well.
I'd go for a micra, seicento or a fiesta.

A 1998 1.2 fiesta has ~50 bhp and feels about as sturdy as a match box. A 1.4 focus is 75 bhp and won't win many drag races, but is a decent sized car and far more comfortable than anything else suggested here. Still fairly cheap to insure too.

Scortho

stimpson wrote: »

A 1998 1.2 fiesta has ~50 bhp and feels about as sturdy as a match box. A 1.4 focus is 75 bhp and won't win many drag races, but is a decent sized car and far more comfortable than anything else suggested here. Still fairly cheap to insure too.

Aye but the 1.4 is too weak an engine to pull the weight of the focus. Likewise the golf with a 1.4 engine is too weak to pull the weight of the golf.

stimpson

Scortho wrote: »

Aye but the 1.4 is too weak an engine to pull the weight of the focus. Likewise the golf with a 1.4 engine is too weak to pull the weight of the golf.

The focus is 1049kg, the fiesta is 925kg, yet the focus has 50% more power. If the focus is weak, the fiesta is worse.

Starscream25

Forget about getting a focus, a smaller sized car would be more suitable starting off, simples

stimpson

Starscream25 wrote: »

Forget about getting a focus, a smaller sized car would be more suitable starting off, simples

Because.....?

Starscream25

Because as a beginner, one does not need to worry about driving a slightly larger car. It's fairly self explanatory, nothing against focus's

stimpson

I'm not sure it is. That post doesn't make much sense to me.

A smaller car is easier to park, but that's about it. After the first couple of months parking shouldn't be a problem.

A focus is a nicer place to be, has the advantage of a bit more power, so it's easier to merge and safer to overtake and easier to get yourself out of trouble. It is only €30 more to tax that the fiesta 1.2 and probably not much more to insure.

Starscream25

stimpson wrote: »

I'm not sure it is. That post doesn't make much sense to me.

A smaller car is easier to park, but that's about it. After the first couple of months parking shouldn't be a problem.

A focus is a nicer place to be, has the advantage of a bit more power, so it's easier to merge and safer to overtake and easier to get yourself out of trouble. It is only €30 more to tax that the fiesta 1.2 and probably not much more to insure.

All fair points, I'm just saying generally but not always, smaller cars are a more of a potential car for beginners, a focus might be a small bit more to run but op is saying he's trying to keep cost down, I wouldn't worry about having a bit extra power in first car but op it's your decision.

stimpson

OSI wrote: »

A 1.25 Fiesta has 73bhp and is a good 2 seconds quicker to 60 than a 1.4 Focus.

Thats the newer Zetec-S engine. The older engine was 16sec 0-60.

SEPT 23 1989

Mitsubishi Lancer

peterb23

have a ford focus the last 8 years, very few problems, very reliable car and reasonable also.

stimpson

OSI wrote: »

The Fiesta Zetec and Focus were around at the same time. And if you ended up with a pre 99 Fiesta for €1500, you need your head examined.

If the OP was looking at focuses, he'll be looking at the Fiesta with the newer Zetec engine, so comparing it with the old 50bhp one is wrong.

My old dear used to have the pre Zetec, but I'm sure the car was 98 or 99. It was woefully slow.

visual

stimpson wrote: »

Thats the newer Zetec-S engine. The older engine was 16sec 0-60.

Thats opel corsa 1.0 or micra 1.0 liter times also.

Cabaal

stimpson wrote: »

Because.....?

Would have thought this was obviously
- Higher insurance
- Likely higher tax
- likely more expensive to buy that 1.4 over say a 1.1

bazz26

stimpson wrote: »

A 1998 1.2 fiesta has ~50 bhp and feels about as sturdy as a match box. A 1.4 focus is 75 bhp and won't win many drag races, but is a decent sized car and far more comfortable than anything else suggested here. Still fairly cheap to insure too.

The 1.25 litre engine in that Fiesta had 75bhp also.

Ms.Sunshine

I am in the same position , I have started looking at Ford Fiestas I found a nice one with a 1.25 lt engine.

B00056718

I'm going to gain few enemies for saying it but mk2 Fiat Punto would also be a good candidate. If maintained properly, it's a cheap and fun to drive car.

Also, should anything go wrong it's very easy to fix and parts are cheap.

You should be able to pick up an ELX one for around 1000€ no problem.

pete4130

I had a 1.4 Focus Estate as my first car I'd ever driven/bought/owned/passed my test in and it wasn't too big or underpowered. It's not the fastest thing in the world but its a much nicer place to be than a Fiesta or Yaris thats for sure. My gf at the time passed in the estate after failing twice in her mothers Fiat Ciecento previously.

I used to load it up with 5 guys, 5 bags, 5 bikes in the boot and go all over Ireland with the 1.4 Focus Estate. Try do that in a Yaris or Fiesta and still be reasonably comfortable. You won't.

As a 1st time driver 0-60 doesn't matter to you. Most of your driving as a new driver will be short runs so a 1.4 will be fine for you. The Focus is the best handling car in its class for its age too.

If you haven't driven a 1.4 Focus then you can't really comment on what it is capable of.

GreeBo

You can pick up an 02 206 for around that money.

My advice would be to get a few reg numbers and see what your insurance is going to be for each type of car.
You might get a shock at the difference between 1.1 and 1.4 for a first time driver.
Also tax and petrol costs cant be ignored.

You are essentially learning to drive, I dunno why anyone would recommend that you do this in a 1.4 car.
Its not about a nice place to be, its about being able to get from A to B on your own for the first time in your life.

Grab All Association

Put down Farm Labourer as your occupation and it will get your quote down a bit.


Don't forget your loser plate

wonski

stimpson wrote: »

A 1998 1.2 fiesta has ~50 bhp and feels about as sturdy as a match box. A 1.4 focus is 75 bhp and won't win many drag races, but is a decent sized car and far more comfortable than anything else suggested here. Still fairly cheap to insure too.

Not that it is important but Fiesta 1.25 is 75 bhp, just like Focus, and is actually faster than Focus.

Edit: Beaten (by two posters) - didn't notice there was second page...

JohnBoy26

pete4130 wrote: »

I had a 1.4 Focus Estate as my first car I'd ever driven/bought/owned/passed my test in and it wasn't too big or underpowered. It's not the fastest thing in the world but its a much nicer place to be than a Fiesta or Yaris thats for sure. My gf at the time passed in the estate after failing twice in her mothers Fiat Ciecento previously.

I used to load it up with 5 guys, 5 bags, 5 bikes in the boot and go all over Ireland with the 1.4 Focus Estate. Try do that in a Yaris or Fiesta and still be reasonably comfortable. You won't.

As a 1st time driver 0-60 doesn't matter to you. Most of your driving as a new driver will be short runs so a 1.4 will be fine for you. The Focus is the best handling car in its class for its age too.

If you haven't driven a 1.4 Focus then you can't really comment on what it is capable of.

I have and they are underpowered, not as bad as the mk2 version though but overtaking is still a chore. Drive another 1.4 such as a corolla or civic and you will know just how underpowered the focus is.;)

GreeBo

Sorry but why are we talking about underpowered and 0-60 and bhp for someones *first* car and they havent even passed a test yet?
For the first car you are going to own and learn to drive in you want it to be cheap to buy and run, reliable and thats about it.

Anything else is way out of scope, this isnt a car enthusiast, its someone without a test for gods sake.

JohnBoy26

GreeBo wrote: »

Sorry but why are we talking about underpowered and 0-60 and bhp for someones *first* car and they havent even passed a test yet?

I think the point is why bother with an underpowered focus when you can have a smaller car that will have near the same level of performance as the focus but will be cheaper to run, tax and possibly insure aswel.

GreeBo

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

I think the point is why bother with an underpowered focus when you can have a smaller car that will have near the same level of performance as the focus but will be cheaper to run, tax and possibly insure aswel.

My point is that the focus is "too much car" for someone learning to drive.