Something up to 1.4 litre and maximum €1200

Kintarō Hattori

I'm really sorry I never noticed this sub forum...why on earth didn't you tell me to feck off out of the main forum and come here?!

Anywhoo as some of you may have realised from my posts over the last few days I'm currently learning to drive (just had lesson 10) and want something to practice in with the missus, that's not our main car. At best I'd keep it for 6-12 months and move onto something a little nicer when time/money permits.

I'm looking at something up to 1.4 litre, hatchback sized and ideally €1200 or under. A Focus or Fabia would be ideal but good ones and good sellers seem thin on the ground. I've spotted the Punto below, spoke to the owners father and he seems decent enough. I had planned on going to see it tomorrow. The advert looks promising enough. Any advice, anything to look out for? Is a Punto a reasonably reliable small car?

http://www.adverts.ie/car/fiat/punto/00-fiat-punto-1-2-10-months-nct/5151622

Kaiser D

My girlfriend had an automatic Daihatsu Sirion for 18 months and it was completely faultless. They're a nice little car imo. If you can find a clean one, it would be worth a look.

Kintarō Hattori

Kaiser D wrote: »

My girlfriend had an automatic Daihatsu Sirion for 18 months and it was completely faultless. They're a nice little car imo. If you can find a clean one, it would be worth a look.

Oh I'm looking for a manual Kaiser, might as well start with that and work my way up to a Luxobarge some day

The Sirion does seem like an interesting little car:

http://www.adverts.ie/car/daihatsu/sirion/daihatsu-sirion-plus-00/5137336


Though that one had a few concerns pointed out in the main forum.

bazz26

Mitsubishi Colt:


http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mitsubishi-colt-1300-glx/6686782

Kintarō Hattori

bazz26 wrote: »

Mitsubishi Colt:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mitsubishi-colt-1300-glx/6686782

A good option Bazz, with what I imagine would be pretty decent reliability. I wonder though going on the missus insurance as a named driver would the insurance be high....... these are somewhat a favourite of boy racers aren't they? Seeing as I don't have any driving history I wonder would that affect things.

bazz26

They are popular with boy racers but I don't think they have the same loading as say a Honda Civic, especially original Irish models. I'd get an insurance quote on it anyway before ruling it out.

JohnBoy26

if you could pick up a clean 99 corolla 3dr hatchback, it would be a better bet than both a focus and a colt Imo.

Kintarō Hattori

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

if you could pick up a clean 99 corolla 3dr hatchback, it would be a better bet than both a focus and a colt Imo.

I like the Corolla but all the models I've seen on DoneDeal were mega mileage and rough looking.

On another note, drove all the way to Navan with the missus and our neighbour to see that Punto....... it ran out of fuel early into the test drive...... well away from any petrol station :pac:
Everything all day long was telling me maybe this wasn't the car for me. First I didn't think we were going to get back from town early enough. Then we passed a broken down Punto on the way home. Finally the test drive ended early!

Kaiser D

Obviously thats a bad sign, what was it like otherwise? It seems a very nice car imo.

Kintarō Hattori

Kaiser D wrote: »

Obviously thats a bad sign, what was it like otherwise? It seems a very nice car imo.

It looked alright but the missus wasn't happy and found it quite rough to drive. According to herself it's best avoided. We had a K11 Micra prior to our E90 and she was full of praise for the Micra unlike the Punto.