First time buyer *All advice welcome*

johnnyc91

I'm looking to buy my first car and would be grateful for any recommendations or general pieces of advice.

The car would be mainly used for long distance driving (Dublin to Limerick/Cork) most weekends with short distance inner city driving hopefully being kept to a minimum. With this in mind I'm guessing diesel would be my best option?

My preferences would be a hatchback, around the 1.6 litre mark (would prefer not to go lower for power and any higher would bump up insurance presumably?).

What I'm looking for in a car is reliability, fuel efficiency, decent tax (post 2008). My budget would be around the €7k mark but I could rise to €8k if the right car were to come along.

Just from browsing donedeal.ie and looking through this forum the Kia Ceed and Hyundai i30 both seem to fit the bill. Has anyone any experience with these? The Mazda 3 seems a decent car also. Any other car suggestions are welcome.

Would people advise buying from a dealer or privately?

Cheers!

Stallingrad

2010 Renault Clio 1.5dci would tick all you boxes, and while small, it is a refined and comfortable cruiser. Cheap to run and reliable.

FSH is essential, and a dealer 6 month warranty would give you some peace of mind.

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/renault/clio/used-2010-renault-clio-ph2-1-5-dc-donegal-fpa-5870224199927763621

Soarer

Don't swim after eating.

biko

Although he asked for all advice, let's keep this on cars

duffman3833

i currently drive a Mazda 3 1.6d and its a really nice hatch to drive, i don't do motorway driving but mainly country with a bit of town runs, im getting 55mpg. Its got decent power and comfy car, doesn't feel cheap either. One thing i would advise on a car, especially on long distance is cruise control. Hard tho to find on Mazda's. Focus seems to be going pretty cheap now for 08 + cars. They are similar to Mazda 3. Just get one with history

colm_mcm

hyundai i30