Looking for advice on first car

U_Fig

Hi I'm looking for advice on buying my first car.
Ildeally I'd like to spend under 5k for Car insurance and tax.

I am 25 and I currently hold a provisional licence for the past the 2 months. I've never needed to drive before and rules say I cannot book my test before September. I do not have a car at home and my parents don't drive. I wouldn't be able to get named on a policy so I'll need my own.
My instructor did say about getting 1 years no claims on completion of my required lessons tho. Not too sure on the details of this.

I am looking for a car now to get more experience driving and for the odd run to work when Irish weather does what it does best.

I am on the brink of a new job which would have me commuting 50 miles a day in both directions so 100 miles give or take 5 days a week on top of and pleasure driving I'd do at the weekend.

Ideally I'd like to drive this as soon as I'm legally allowed as public transport is a bit rough for times.

So I'm looking for advice on what I should look out for under both conditions

1. As a run around town, small petrol
2. For commuting 100 miles daily

I'm unsure whether I should get something small now then when I pass my test upgrade which I would imagine decrease the insurance costs or just go for the bigger diesal engine initally which I'd imagine would be best for long commutes and save the hassle of selling and buying a new one in 4 to 5 months time.

I'd have a bit of knowledge on cars but not a lot so could do with a push in the right direction.

I know a lot comes down to the individual cars but in general what makes over the specific years should I look for. I'd be looking realistically for between 00 and 05 budget wise

Thanks

perhelis

Hi. Firstly, do not believe those whom say go for a small car because it is your first one. It makes any sense only from insurance point of view. You need however use the car every day for a good amount if time and miles.


Ad 1)
If you are in need of a small town car go for an Opel Corsa or Ford Fiesta. Those have some characters and are not as bland as Yaris or Micra. VW Polo wouldn't be a bad choice either but they are poorly equipped. I personally would go for Peugeot 206 or Renault Clio - mostly because they are very keenly priced, with a better level of equipment than theirs Germans or Japanese rivals and they have very strong safety records for such small cars.

Ad 2)
I have clocked over 1000000 km in my 25 years of driving cars and personally I would recommend you something lets call it middle class for your commuting. Ford Mondeo (especially with chain instead of timing belt), Peugeot 407 (very comfortable car yet very unappreciated thus quite cheap) or Toyota Avensis (solid but boring). All those cars come in reasonably cheap price tag, are very solid, well equipped and come with reasonable engine sizes. If you would like to be a bit more "posh" you can aim into a bit more expensive BMW 3 or Audi A4. I would avoid VW Passat (which seems to be an obvious choice) mostly due to its over-priced position and relativelyt poor specs. You could also consider Skoda Octavia or Seat Toledo which are basically VW but with more character and life in them. Because you are going to do some kms a diesel would be way to go. Bit more expensive to service but you should be able to save money on diesel/petrol. Parts (new and second hand) are widely available and any garage should have no problems to fix any above model.


If you have never bought a car before, then I would say take someone with you who knows what to look at and can give you a second view (it is very easy to fall in love with a wrong car only because it looks good!!).

Don't believe a word a salesman says and check out everything yourself. Use motorcheck or cartell for checking out the history (especially write off and the clock-changes).

In contrary to the very common opinion, don't be afraid of UK imports as long as you can check them as per above. UK imports usually have much higher spec and sometimes more interesting engines.

And finally, if you have cash ask for healthy discount on you purchase - you should be able to get easily about 5-7% off of any asking price. If you haggle hard you can get even more, however, if you get too big discount to quickly just walk away from the car - most likely the seller wants to get rid of the car quickly and there must be a reason why (usually a hidden one which will come back and bite you in the arse)... no one gives anything free these days.


Have fun!

U_Fig

Thanks for the reply I've been busy looking and found a Clio that I might be intrested in its a 05 1.2 dynamic .any opinions on that particular model.. I've been looking at skoda fabia or Octavia too and seat ibizas as well what's the opinion on these being part of the VK group I'd imagine they wouldn't be a bad choice. I've pretty much decided on option A as I think I'd move closer to the job rather than commuting..