Best first car for very nervous/cautious learner driver?

deex

Hi there,

I'm a 26 year old female learner driver, planning on buying my first car in the next few weeks. I'll be upfront - I know next to NOTHING about cars, and unfortunately I don't really have family members in the know or anyone I could really get advice from to stop me getting ripped off, or buying a completely unsuitable car... and I thought maybe some of you could advise?

I'm quite a nervous driver at the moment, so something reliable and safe is my absolute number one priority.. I'm willing to spend up to €5,000 on the car itself. I couldn't give a sh*t what it looks like or what size it is, whatever's best for learners is fine with me. At the moment I'm learning in my dad's old Fiat Punto, which I do quite like.

I don't think I have a preference for engine size/petrol/diesel/number of doors etc. What should I be looking for re: milage? Just anywhere to start would be great - I've looked on carzone.ie but honestly, I have no idea what to fill into any of the fields, because I really don't know what I'm looking for, and there's so many options!

Any advice at all as to how to narrow down (/begin) my search would be great.

Budget up to 5k - no idea what quality of car to expect for that! Will mostly be used for driving to and from work (10 mins, through a town), and visiting home the odd weekend (1.5 hour drive, some motorway). Can't see myself doing anything more than those durations frequently.

Cheers!

Special Circumstances

Yaris.

punisher5112

Micra, small Hyundai, fiesta, skoda fabia,

Carpenter

Special Circumstances wrote:

Yaris.

Yaris

NIMAN

Sorry couldn't resist.

I'd echo the suggestions above.

Speedwell

Yaris.

My situation is like yours. I also drive a variety of short (10-15 minutes) drives, with the very occasional 2-hour trip to see my husband's family. I'm a 49-year-old learner driver from the US, who has been driving faultlessly for more than 30 years, but never learned to drive a manual transmission. (Me at 17: Dad, will you teach me how to drive a "stick shift"? Dad: "Naah, you'll never need to know that.") I was determined to learn anyway but didn't have anyone to teach me except the driving instructor himself (my husband does not drive due to an eye injury). I was so petrified in my first driving test that I literally had a panic attack on the road. I was petrified of damaging the clutch or the car. I was basically terrified of the whole deal. I did OK once I pulled up my big girl pants, and I'm fine now.

A local mechanic sold me the Yaris I now drive; he'd known the original owner (who also lived locally) and been the maintenance mechanic of the car. He was the one who recommended I start with this car because it is reliable (it's a Toyota), cheap and straightforward to fix (they are everywhere so parts are simple to get), uncomplicated to drive, cheap to insure, and easy on the petrol. It doesn't have the greatest get-up-and-go, but that's probably better than it is worse, at this stage.

I'd been driving Corollas in the US since I learned to drive. If you see a Corolla that you like better, go ahead and get it; there's not a huge amount of difference between it and a Yaris other than its price tag when new and some of the included features.

Elemonator

You would want something small, such as a Yaris or Citreon C1 (I'd go with the Yaris personally). Even an Astra or older Audi A1 seem to be popular. I'm currently learning on my uncle's 2.2 (I think) Merc. Not a good decision. Other family members learnt in Mini Cooper's.

NIMAN

What about a Smart car?
http://www.carsireland.ie/search-results.php?make_id=81&model_id=&reg_year=&search-used-submit=Search+Used+Cars

tiny little thing, would be easy to drive I'd guess, although I am not sure what their reputation is for reliability.

Might not be the best for longer runs though.

allthedoyles

Why not a polo ?

FirefighterT7

I'd recommend a golf mk5 reliable cars, good value for spec and comfort also really strong chassis in an accident, that's coming from experience of chopping them up in accidents, I'm also a mechanic and see the reliability side!

Duke O Smiley

Once again, a Yaris. Though don't spend five grand on your first car because you will inevitably scratch, dent and scuff it. Spend about half of that and I would personally recommend you buy a Yaris that looks like this



and not one that looks like this



The older model (the one in the first picture) is a better built car and is more reliable. They are very easy to drive, and are very frugal and require very little maintenance. They really are a perfect all rounder for learner drivers

Roselm

Well your budget will constrain you so I would adjust the filters to give you cars of €3000-5500 let's say. You really want the newest car you can get but with not horrendous mileage. Expect 16,000km/10,000 miles per year as an average

Water John

Yaris, daughter had it as her first car. Was 10 years and she got 5 more. still perfect, only traded for a new car.
As someone wrote on another thread, bombproof.
Mechanics say the best 1 litre engine ever.

colm_mcm

another yaris vote here. they're easy to drive and cheap to run.

punisher5112

Yaris is a tin can and are not suitable for long distance, can be done but not most comfortable for such.

Have one 02 selling it they are cheap to run.

Arkady

Has to be a Yaris.

/thread

AMKC

Opel Corsa or a Fiesta. Ain,t nothing wrong with a Fiat Punto either.

Water John

Daughter often did Cork - Dublin in Yaris. Not a bother. A bit noisy inside, but sure to get there.

John_Rambo

That budget ensures a cracking city/town small petrol engine car with warranty and peace of mind.

I'd go for the Clio. Exceptional city car, easy to park, comfortable, no major issues and a decent car on the open road too. (I have an old Clio for the school, creche, work run when I'm not cycling, I park it and come back to it and wonder how the hell I fitted it in the space!!)

The Fiat Panda is even easier to handle around a small town and is perfectly suited to your needs.

Best of luck with your first car! Remember to take photos, cause in years to come, it's going to look very very cool and nostalgic.

dogmatix

Nissan Micra? But if considering one then avoid the K12 model from 2003-2006 as they had reliability problems with timing chains (very expensive to replace) and electrics. A result of shoddy Renault parts being shoehorned into the car I believe. But it was a reasonably good car to drive and was very stable and confident on bad roads or when slippery or icy.

Was never a fan of the Yaris - I drove a first generation one for a while and it was a horrible thing. Felt very cheap, tinny and just did not feel right on the road. But with everyone singing the yaris's praises (not sure what a plural of yaris is - anyone?) I must have been lumbered with a rare bad one.

ironclaw

Water John wrote: »

Daughter often did Cork - Dublin in Yaris. Not a bother. A bit noisy inside, but sure to get there.

Have owned 4 Yaris's. Only one I can recommend for long distance is the new body Diesel. The 1.0 is not for long distance, your economy plummets over 100km/h. If one intends to do long distances on a regular basis, you'd be better off with the larger block.

Summer wind

For reliability and safety I would recommend a Honda Jazz. It's Japanese and won't go wrong.

alan partridge aha

Summer wind wrote: »

For reliability and safety I would recommend a Honda Jazz. It's Japanese and won't go wrong.

Looks like a van.

granturismo

deex wrote: »

....Budget up to 5k - no idea what quality of car to expect for that! ...!

Is 5k for your car?

Have you a separate amount set aside for insurance? Find an example of a car on carzone thats within your budget - plenty of suggestions above. Use that model, year, mileage as if it was your car and ring a few insurers for a quote to get an exact idea of your insurance cost.

Summer wind

Beauty's in the eye of the beholder plus the op said she doesn't care about looks just safety and reliability. I'd much prefer a Jazz to a Yaris.

deex

granturismo wrote: »

Is 5k for your car?

Have you a separate amount set aside for insurance? Find an example of a car on carzone thats within your budget - plenty of suggestions above. Use that model, year, mileage as if it was your car and ring a few insurers for a quote to get an exact idea of your insurance cost.

Yeah, 5k is just for the vehicle itself.
I've also budgeted ~ 2 - 3k (assuming the worst, hopefully it'll be less!) for insurance/tax/lessons, etc.
I've been saving all this car-money up for yeeeeears, when I should have just bought something as soon as I had €1,000, and just STARTED. Oh well!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions

Spent yesterday on carzone.ie having a browse... seems a second hand 2006 Toyota Yaris is bang-on my budget (5,000 ish), but I can't make up my mind whether to spend the full 5k on the best/safest/most reliable possible car I can afford, or whether to spend 3k on an older car because I'm inevitably going to scuff it before the year is through! Ahhhh, decisions!

Speedwell

deex wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the suggestions

Spent yesterday on carzone.ie having a browse... seems a second hand 2006 Toyota Yaris is bang-on my budget (5,000 ish), but I can't make up my mind whether to spend the full 5k on the best/safest/most reliable possible car I can afford, or whether to spend 3k on an older car because I'm inevitably going to scuff it before the year is through! Ahhhh, decisions!

You're welcome Bear in mind the fact that insurers are getting pissy about insuring cars that are a certain age. Sucks for those of us who actually have cars of a certain age and were not planning to replace them until absolutely necessary. But, you know, anything to maximise misery car sales.

colm_mcm

i would get an 05 old model yaris over an 06 New model. they're a better built car and are easier to drive.

ironclaw

colm_mcm wrote: »

i would get an 05 old model yaris over an 06 New model. they're a better built car and are easier to drive.

Would echo this. The 2005 and below is a great car. Best engine I think Toyota have ever made. If its cared for and has a decent history then it will go forever if you do the same. Very light on maintenance, super easy to fix if anything goes wrong and a great little car to drive. They are really forgiving if you are a learner. Can't recommend them enough.

Few things to watch for when buying are rust, water in the boot (The rear seals tend to go, very cheap fix) and yellowing of headlights (20 mins job to buff them right again) Engine wise, I'd be checking the water pump is done on higher mileages and there are no coolant leaks. Other than that, best of luck actually trying to wear it out :pac:

colm_mcm

With the OPs budget, she would be looking at the mid 03 onwards facelift model which thankfully doesn't have the yellowing headlights, and has the all important ABS.

JohnBoy26

Yet another vote for the mk1 Yaris. Nothing else comes close really