First car

alan partridge aha

The Black Oil wrote: »

Are heated windscreens worth it?

Using the 'build your car' online thingy, prices come out roughly as:

Polo €16,035
Fiesta €18,350 (added bluetooth)
Note €17,195 (added air con)
Corsa €17,490

Probably throw in another 700 for delivery, I guess.

Or, this could be a pipe dream.

Seeing as its your first car and not trading in, you should get at least €500 off the price of the new car. Play one against the other even when it comes to the same make.

The Black Oil

grogi wrote: »

Jazz is €17,395, with AirCon and BT.
Fabia 1.2TSI 90PS, Ambition is €16,865...

You have plenty of options in ~17k range. Note is definitely the biggest, with 2600mm wheelbase.

I was struck by that on first glance alright.

But, I think in the past 24 hours I've gotten a little too caught up in the excitement of the brochures, spec and everything else...and am realising. The. Sheer. Amount. Of. Money. Rational brain has kicked in. :pac:

The Black Oil

Insurance quotes ranging from €850-€1650. First person was very helpful, another was like a robot.

Expected the latter alright, I'm surprised anything is coming up for under €1,000, though that's just AA online.

Not completely mental...if it ended up somewhere in the middle of those.

The Black Oil

alan partridge aha wrote: »

Seeing as its your first car and not trading in, you should get at least €500 off the price of the new car. Play one against the other even when it comes to the same make.

How cheeky can I be with this? :pac:

Quite interested in the Hyundai i20 Deluxe, I must admit. It helps somewhat that website is easier (imo) to follow and you're getting pretty decent spec. I had a look at one earlier. I saved a few PDFs on my computer of 2-3 configurations each of Polos, Fiestas, Corsas, Note, etc. Was going to do a spreadsheet comparing the costs and so forth.

I'd probably have to travel to see some Toyotas. Maybe the Aygo is too small, so perhaps a Yaris. Probably would end up similar OTR cost to the i20 ~ 18k.

The Black Oil

Some further research...

Generally found the older sales reps were more approachable and willing to give information, the younger ones were a little rushed even though the floor wasn't busy.

Fiesta - cash price pretty good, offered 3k off. I'm just not that sold on the dashboard, to be honest. The air direction thing is too stiff and I don't like it as a big wheel. The multimedia aspect, too many buttons and the numbers I'd probably never use, overload, imo. Aesthetically, that aspect is not for me. I quite like the rest of the car, it seems to have airbags in the rear clothes hooks, presumably they're curtain yolks. Can't recall if that's in addition to side airbags. The SYNC and driver pack, well, I'm not that bothered about remote folding mirrors, tbh. Would go for the Titanium over the Zetec, even simple things like the interior lights felt better. Rear legroom, decent. They did have an ST in the showroom, one can dream. :P Someone I was on holiday with recently said she almost bought a Fiesta, but didn't like the front grill (I think). Not sure that's the main reason why she lost interest and went with an Audi A1 instead.

Corsa - Legroom was decent, slightly narrow boot. Nice enough car, maybe not for me.

Polo, from the spec sheet I guess either the 1.0 5DR, either Fun or Comfortline, possibly the latter. Good boot, again nice enough.

Don't know why, but I was under the impression that the Kia Cee'd and Hyundai i20 are similar on the price side, they're not. So I guess the Kia Rio and i20 are more comparable. Both the Kia and Hyundai felt very similar inside, the finish, etc. Discount on the i20 was 1,500k, for cash.

Nissan Note, rear legroom seemed good and I generally like the spec. Discount of 1,800 offered, but said we'd do better on the day, if I came in to do a deal. I'm kinda interested in things like lane departure warning and such, to see what they're like. Would like a reversing camera too, damn gadgets. :pac:

Still have to see a Clio and Yaris in the flesh.

bazz26

The Kia Ceed is a bigger car than the i20, the Ceed is basically an i30 and priced similarly. The Rio is similar to the i20.

Corsa is old hat, it's a facelift of the car on sale since 2006 and shares a lot with the Fiat Grand Punto or whatever name they call it now.

Mazda2 is worth a look at too, new model was launched late last year, might not be big discounts on them though. Mazda traditionally don't heavily discount their cars.

PLL

I'm just looking for my first car - I'm going for a Yaris with nice and cheap boxymo insurance

The Black Oil

Cool. Which version of the Yaris? Enjoy.

kerten

If you liked note, I would look at honda jazz for sure. better than note imho.

The Black Oil

Why is the Jazz better than the Note?

Honda rep said that Jazz (ES version) is hard to get. Not much of a discount offered, so it'd be 20k. Seemingly, after July you'd be looking at next year due to stock availability. Interior seemed nice. Thinking of the insurance as it's a 1.3, but then the Note is 1.2, so they'd probably be similar for coverage. Mazda is a 1.5, iirc, from what I saw on their website the other day.

Yaris, it could well have been the seating position, but I thought the speed dials, etc, were very low. I did adjust the seat a little and that seemed to help it feel less unnatural. Boot - good enough. Rear legroom, decent. Discount better than the Jazz, not as much as a Fiesta. Probably a safe bet, if predictable and dull. :P The Luna vs Sol, I'm thinking of the latter. The rep seemed to contradict what's on the website, so either I'm reading it wrong, or he's wrong because of all the spec he has to remember!

I guess the next thing do to is to make some sort of short list and think about things from there. All car'd out at this stage. :pac:

colm_mcm

The original Jazz was always an expensive and quirky supermini offering interior space that was a close match (at the time) for cars a class above. They were especially popular with older customers who were downsizing from bigger cars. Build quality was properly Japanese, and short supply second hand always kept them popular, especially in the UK.
As with a lot of Honda stuff recently, the new Jazz is still heavily influenced by the older models, they're not as innovative these days in comparison with other cars but still retain the premium pricing.
It's hard to make a string case for buying a new one.

With the Yaris, you'd really want to be getting the 1.33 - The 1.0 3 cylinder engine is out a long time now, and they've done little to address the main flaw in it which is lack of refinement. Peugeot and VW have proven that it's possible to make 3 cylinder engines that don't sound like lawnmowers, but Irish customers seem to still have the "get as small an engine as possible" lark that was understandable when cc based tax was a thing.
Spec up a Yaris in engine and equipment and it becomes a very expensive little thing with minimal extra second-hand value compared to a basic one.
If you do want a Yaris with decent engine and spec with good resale, then the hybrid is the one to get. It is the most expensive one, but in terms of value for money it's much better than a Luna or Sol 1.33

TeaBagMania

IMO the quality of nissan has really gone downhill the last 15 years; the only Japanese cars I would consider are Toyota and Honda. I’d still take a Kia Soul but I believe the smallest engine available is a 1.6 and there goes your insurance

I really like the Toyota IQ too bad they stopped building them

kerten

The Black Oil wrote: »

Why is the Jazz better than the Note?

Honda rep said that Jazz (ES version) is hard to get. Not much of a discount offered, so it'd be 20k. Seemingly, after July you'd be looking at next year due to stock availability. Interior seemed nice. Thinking of the insurance as it's a 1.3, but then the Note is 1.2, so they'd probably be similar for coverage. Mazda is a 1.5, iirc, from what I saw on their website the other day.

Yaris, it could well have been the seating position, but I thought the speed dials, etc, were very low. I did adjust the seat a little and that seemed to help it feel less unnatural. Boot - good enough. Rear legroom, decent. Discount better than the Jazz, not as much as a Fiesta. Probably a safe bet, if predictable and dull. :P The Luna vs Sol, I'm thinking of the latter. The rep seemed to contradict what's on the website, so either I'm reading it wrong, or he's wrong because of all the spec he has to remember!

I guess the next thing do to is to make some sort of short list and think about things from there. All car'd out at this stage. :pac:

Colm explained build quality aspect of Jazz vs Note. I suggested Jazz based on a post above saying jazz can be bought around 17k as well.

Jazz offers decent spec at entry level and it will have better residuals than note in future. But if there is 3-4k difference for the same package I don't think it is that good.

I would test drive Note at N/M roads to see how refined it is as cost cutting started with new micra/note shows up in refinement most of the time.

The Black Oil

Thanks all, appreciate it. Sounds like the 1.33 is a more mature engine, then? I wouldn't rule out a Hybrid, but I know pretty much nothing about them. Main thing I'm unsure about is, and this is partly searching past threads, is whether it's worthwhile re mpg. Quick search on insurance says the Hybrid's about 200 more than a Sol.

My Dad's on his third Nissan. First was second hand, solid. Second car was new, didn't have any issues apart from an ECU fuse, I think. My sister has a 05 Micra, mostly going grand for years.

If it were to be a Jazz, the entry level SE would do the trick. Sounded like the only discount would be the paint, though.

ETA, insuring the Jazz is about 1,700 AIB. 1,300 with the AA and 970 with Aviva.

The Black Oil

Heh, Carbuyer just posted a review of the Jazz. I was looking at other videos of it the other day and touch screen to control the volume, eh no. That'd drive me nuts. That and, if there's no volume on the steering wheel...perhaps the base model, which features CD/radio rather than touchscreen has volume controls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJKN3538Zmk

Also, I sat in an Auris Hybrid in the showroom just out of curiosity and didn't like the gear stick all that much. Hybrids seem to have 5 year warranties, though.

colm_mcm

the hybrid gear shift is just a little unusual. theye been doing them like that for 12 years now and its not an issue for owners. mre for people that havent driven one yet
the fact that the shifter doesn't stay in the position you put it in is offputting at first but you get used to that after a few spins.

The Black Oil

It was the size of the stick in the Auris Hybrid that made me go wtf. It was tiny, like a kid's play thing. I was wondering if this is standard across the range. I was in a 2012 Prius taxi yesterday and it was similar, but going by Youtube, the Yaris Hybrid stick is of a more typical size.

I was in Spain recently, saw very few Nissans and Toyotas in the countryside, cars were generally older too. Couple of Kias knocking about. Saw quite a few Fiat Multiplas, more than I've seen here, really. Spain was hit hard by the recession, so perhaps people can't afford to upgrade. Cars in the city were generally newer. Was in the back of a Skoda Superb taxi as well, ridiculous amount of rear legroom in it!

Anyway, back on point.

colm_mcm wrote: »

With the Yaris, you'd really want to be getting the 1.33 - The 1.0 3 cylinder engine is out a long time now, and they've done little to address the main flaw in it which is lack of refinement. Peugeot and VW have proven that it's possible to make 3 cylinder engines that don't sound like lawnmowers, but Irish customers seem to still have the "get as small an engine as possible" lark that was understandable when cc based tax was a thing.
Spec up a Yaris in engine and equipment and it becomes a very expensive little thing with minimal extra second-hand value compared to a basic one.
If you do want a Yaris with decent engine and spec with good resale, then the hybrid is the one to get. It is the most expensive one, but in terms of value for money it's much better than a Luna or Sol 1.33

Noticed that alight. Pretty strongly interested in the Yaris Hybrid. I'm considering that as plan A. Plan B the Note or the Jazz (well, plan C), the latter might be harder to source given stock availability. I think I had ruled our the Yaris Hybrid at first owing to misreading the price list and thinking it was north of 20K.

Or this could all be a delusion. Procrastinator and decision-off-putterer.

One other thing, in relation to a new purchase, I only have experience of seeing parents transfer insurance on trade ins and there's usually talk of a logbook that goes to Shannon, iirc. If I purchase new, does this exist through the dealer, or do I register tax online and wait for it to arrive? Once I purchase an insurance policy and have a paper trail whilst awaiting for the discs, I'm OK ish if I'm stopped?

grogi

colm_mcm wrote: »

the hybrid gear shift is just a little unusual. theye been doing them like that for 12 years now and its not an issue for owners. mre for people that havent driven one yet
the fact that the shifter doesn't stay in the position you put it in is offputting at first but you get used to that after a few spins.

There is a reason (kind-off) for that: switching between B and D modes can be done when in motion.

colm_mcm

you'd very rarely use B mode. it's just induces engine braking.
I you were driving down a very long steep road and didn't want to wear the brakes out. I don't think you'd use it in Ireland that much. it doesn't dramatically change the way the car drives so engaging it on normal use wouldn't have much of an effect apart from your fuel consumption.

the system is clever anyway. you wouldn't be able to accidentally go into reverse while on the move or anything.

The Black Oil

3 months on. No ordering or buying done. I'm running the Dublin marathon later this year, might order after that as a reward to myself, but I'm growing impatient. :pac: Nissan bloke phoned me recently asking if I was still looking for a car.

I've been a passenger in a 05 Micra on the motorway, that's not fun and I can't imagine it's much better behind the wheel, when going for more than an hour. I've driven a Punto for about 2.5 hours on the motorway and you do feel it afterwards. Would a Yaris Hybrid be better on the comfort aspect for longer drives?

Also, as named driver only, I can't really go for a test drive, I guess.

bazz26

These are small city cars, they are not designed for motorway commutes so don't expect anything less. They will be ok for the occasional trip on the motorway but they primarily designed for city driving - good on fuel, compact enough to maneuver narrow streets and parking spaces. If your doing motorway driving then you need to look at some from the size/class above these cars at least.

The Black Oil

What are you driving yourself?

Imported a Yaris Hybrid about 5 weeks ago now. Have a 1,000 miles or so on it already. Very happy with it, though looking back I'd nearly have gone for a Leaf. NCT due soon. VRT, etc, was all straightforward.