€3000 budget commuter

flying11

Hi all,

I would really appreciate your thoughts and recommendations for my first car purchase.

I have approx €2500-3000 (no more then €3000!) to spend on my first car which will be used for a 50km commute each day and needs to be reliable. I am student and will be doing work placement for the next year and need my own transport.

I am a first time driver so a machine with insurance (and tax) as cheap as possible is a must. Preferably a good NCT and tax too. Hope i'm not being too picky!

For practical reasons i am looking to purchase a car located in Kerry (or cork at a stretch).

Have been looking around online myself but as someone who doesn'nt know much about cars, it is a bit overwhelming.

Are any of the following any use?
1) Here
2) Here
3) Here

Any advice greatly appreciated!

AMKC

Of the 3 cars you picked there Id say the Toyota would be the best as it should be very reliable. The Skoda is nice too do and might be a bit cheaper to maintain. There is no picks of the inside of it do. It should also be reliable if it has been looked after. The Laguna there is lovely but I don,t think it would be a good 1st car as if it has not been looked after it could be very expensive to run.

What about a Renault Clio with the 1.5dci engine. Like this one. Renault are better at diesel engine then petrol ones.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/renault-clio-1-5-dci-disel-new-nct/9906489?offset=13

bazz26

I would rule out small cars like the Fabia straight away. They are not designed as mile munchers, room is tight in them and they just don't have the comfort of a bigger car.

I'd say the insurance will be pricey enough on that Corolla it being 2.0 litre and you being a first time driver, and you won't get a good newer 1.4 d-4d one for €3k. Have a look at the Corolla petrol, they are more insurance friendly, very reliable and decent on fuel.

bazz26

Example:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-corolla-1-4/10079860?offset=1

JohnBoy26

bazz26 wrote: »

I would rule out small cars like the Fabia straight away. They are not designed as mile munchers, room is tight in them and they just don't have the comfort of a bigger car.

I'd say the insurance will be pricey enough on that Corolla it being 2.0 litre and you being a first time driver, and you won't get a good newer 1.4 d-4d one for €3k. Have a look at the Corolla petrol, they are more insurance friendly, very reliable and decent on fuel.

Spot on with this. Not only that but it will be a good bit cheaper to tax too and easier to maintain. E.g no dmf to worry about.

flying11

Thanks for all the replys folks, i will be keeping my eyes open for a decent Corolla over the next few days so.

I mentioned it to a friend yesterday that i am in the market for a car and he had a look on done deal for me and came up with these? Any thoughts?

2004 Focus - Looks decent to me? Spacious, year long NCT, low tax. From a dealer
2005 Focus - Tax high though, costly to insure too?
2005 Clio - He said Clios are a decent first car, low mileage too, low tax
2005 Peugeot 206 - Cheap to tax and insure, a bit under-powered maybe?
2003 Fiesta - Good test, reliable?
2004 Polo - Good test, cheap to run, cheap tax
2005 Citroen C4 - Looks nice, are they reliable though?
2005 Corsa - Cheap and cheerful?
2005 Fiat Punto - Nice long NCT, cheap to tax and insure. Have heard bad things about FIAT though or is that all rubbish? Has had a change of ownership in the last month too.


In particular i would like to hear opinions on the 2004 focus, 2005 Clio, 2004 Polo, 2005 C4 and the 2005 Punto.

It really is a bit overwhelming for a first timer but hopefully it all works out

5ub

On top of actually buying the car you've gotta look at the costs of keeping it on the road. Taxing a 2.0 litre Corolla on a student's budget probably won't be easy but then I don't know what your own financial situation is like.

In my own non-professional opinion a Focus would suit you alright. Get a 1.6 because it will cope better than a 1.4 but is still moderately cheap to tax and insure and fuel etc. Stuff like Corsas, Puntos, Polos etc aren't really built to do many miles on a daily basis.

passatman86

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/06-almera-for-sale-swap/10006667?offset=3
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2007-nissan-almera-sxe/10137232?offset=2

My wife just sold an almera last month to get a saloon
We drove dublin to kerry about 15 times in 2 years and it was faultless
Petrol is very reasonable , up the years - no timing belt problems, just make sure the gearbox is good
We put 15000 on our one in two years and all it needed was a service
Not the most flashy car out there but has on board computer , elec windows, cd player , arm rest , controls on
Steering wheel, alarm immobiliser
Insurance for us was only 600 and tax is cheap as chips
Hope it helps

bazz26

While Almeras don't have timing belts their timing chains do stretch and eventually need replacing.

passatman86

bazz26 wrote: »

While Almeras don't have timing belts their timing chains do stretch and eventually need replacing.

That's possible on some , like most chain driving cars - but checking the tension is good solves that problem before buying

flying11

Just an update on this, i'm going to view the focus on monday but in the meantime this has popped up which has got me thinking.....

Would the 2002 Corolla be better than a 2004 focus?

Apologies for all the questions!

JohnBoy26

flying11 wrote: »

Just an update on this, i'm going to view the focus on monday but in the meantime this has popped up which has got me thinking.....

Would the 2002 Corolla be better than a 2004 focus?

Apologies for all the questions!

A corolla is a better car and will be easier to live with. That example has high miles though. It looks clean enough however.

JohnBoy26

passatman86 wrote: »

That's possible on some , like most chain driving cars - but checking the tension is good solves that problem before buying

The chains give a lot of trouble on those almeras. Far moreso than most other cars of it's time.

PolarRoscoe

Forget about the Renault. Awful cars. The Toyota is the best out of them. Have a look at Nissans too. Japanese cars are fantastic and will go on forever.

That focus you linked to earlier;

https://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2005-ford-focus-1-6-nct-08-16/9919320


Looks like a pretty sweet deal to me!?

I've had 2 Mark 1 Focus' and neither gave any trouble (I currently drive one, and the other one was my first car, which my dad now drives). Neither car really asked for any repair work and neither ever gave any trouble, mechanical or electrical.

I've no idea if the Mark 2 was as bullet proof, but based on my own personal experience, the mk1 Focus is built like the Terminator.

JohnBoy26

https://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-corolla-1-4-petrol/10027764?sv=true