Best car under 1000 for a new driver?

InTheTrees · 02-02-2010 09:36PM #1

My neice is looking for her first car. She has around 900-1000 to spend.

It looks like whats available for that price is mostly from the mid to late 90's.

Are there any makes I should avoid? Mostly we're looking for something that will be reliable and wont be a constant drain on her limited finances. Certainly nothing fancy. But solid. I'm in the US so i'm a lttle out of touch on current quality and specs.

If you were going to put a loved one in a 1000 car what make would you look for?

Thanks in advance!

bazz26 · 02-02-2010 09:53PM

There is no such thing as a reliable brand with a budget of €1000 imo. Judge the cars you look at on current condition rather than brand reputation.

cian1500ww · 02-02-2010 09:54PM

Are you taking into account the cost of insurance and tax as well ?

Atlantic Dawn · 02-02-2010 09:58PM

Avoid Fiat Punto because of head gasket issues. I'd go with something that has atleast 1 year NCT and if possible get one with as close to 2 years as possible, this will give some indication of how good or bad the car is. I'd go with a 1 - 1.2 litre car to start off in, something like a VW Polo, Seat Ibiza, options are fairly limited for €1000, a 1.4 Toyota Corolla would be a better buy but the engine size might cause problems with insurance.

InTheTrees · 02-02-2010 10:01PM

cian1500ww wrote: »

Are you taking into account the cost of insurance and tax as well ?

God. great question. No I'm just assuming she can cover that.

If we keep the engine small the insurance will be the least wont it?

colm_mcm · 02-02-2010 10:07PM

A Micra or Starlet would be the best bet, but buy anything on condition rather than putting all your faith in a brand.

InTheTrees · 02-02-2010 10:08PM

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Avoid Fiat Punto because of head gasket issues. I'd go with something that has atleast 1 year NCT and if possible get one with as close to 2 years as possible, this will give some indication of how good or bad the car is. I'd go with a 1 - 1.2 litre car to start off in, something like a VW Polo, Seat Ibiza, options are fairly limited for €1000, a 1.4 Toyota Corolla would be a better buy but the engine size might cause problems with insurance.

great Advice, thanks.

I've always been wary of anything italian so thats good to know about puntos.

I like VW, they have some quality. Seat's are similar arent they?

The corollas seem to be expensive enough that she could only afford an early 90's with high mileage (from what I've seen).

And I will certainly pay alot more attention to NCT's and the length left.

Mr Benevolent · 02-02-2010 10:09PM

InTheTrees wrote: »

God. great question. No I'm just assuming she can cover that.

If we keep the engine small the insurance will be the least wont it?

Haven't been in Ireland for a while eh? The insurance will be €700-€900 per year and the tax will be €156 or so. Petrol will cost around €1500 per year depending on use and servicing with cost about €150-€200.

Buster_Gonnads · 02-02-2010 10:17PM

Hmm. She would have to take insurance and tax into account as this will probably be at least 1000 - 1200 EUR for any small car(dependant on age etc) on a learner permit.

Best bets Fiesta, Micra, Polo.. All reliable and cheap enough to insure.

cian1500ww · 02-02-2010 10:22PM

InTheTrees wrote: »

God. great question. No I'm just assuming she can cover that.

If we keep the engine small the insurance will be the least wont it?

Lower engine size=lower tax. Insurance depends a lot on the type of car, cheapest would probably be the likes of the fiesta, corsa, micra etc.

InTheTrees · 02-02-2010 10:24PM

Confab wrote: »

Haven't been in Ireland for a while eh? The insurance will be €700-€900 per year and the tax will be €156 or so. Petrol will cost around €1500 per year depending on use and servicing with cost about €150-€200.

(its been 20yrs!)

Plus the fact that a thousand euro car IS going to have some issues sooner or later probably at the next NCT.

But she let me know her budget so I'm assuming she's though out the insurance aspect. Maintenance probably not...

grezz · 02-02-2010 10:25PM

you cant go wrong with a suzuki swift 99 or 00 for about a grand never go wrong the japanese cars

mondeo · 02-02-2010 10:31PM

Get a japanese car, get a 97'ish 1.3 Mitsubishi Colt for a grand.

Mr Benevolent · 02-02-2010 10:34PM

mondeo wrote: »

Get a japanese car, get a 97'ish 1.3 Mitsubishi Colt for a grand.

Where?

squod · 02-02-2010 11:48PM

mondeo wrote: »

Get a japanese car, get a two 97'ish 1.3 Mitsubishi Colts for a grand.

FYP

mumblin deaf ro · 03-02-2010 12:14AM

Stretch to €1500?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1134483

Alanstrainor · 03-02-2010 12:16AM

mumblin deaf ro wrote: »

Stretch to €1500?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1134483

What the...?

Did you even read the thread?

InTheTrees · 03-02-2010 12:31AM

mumblin deaf ro wrote: »

Stretch to €1500?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1134483

LOL! I'd worry about the turbo lag...

But seriously I saw an early 90's big volvo that would be perfect. Built like a rollcage and uses enough petrol that she'll be riding the bus mostly.

Safety first..

mumblin deaf ro · 03-02-2010 12:31AM

Alanstrainor wrote: »

What the...?

Did you even read the thread?

Was my smiley wink too subtle?

enviro · 03-02-2010 12:35AM

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200951196255867

jaffa20 · 03-02-2010 12:42AM

enviro wrote: »

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200951196255867

They are charging 500yoyos for the nct :eek:

Dish · 03-02-2010 01:07AM

Ull lift an old VW Golf MK3, Jetta for around that money. THey may have high milage but they'll run on the smell of diesal. The jettas come in 1.6 diesal and are a great motor i personally find.

enviro · 03-02-2010 01:13AM

jaffa20 wrote: »

They are charging 500yoyos for the nct :eek:

Bit pricey for the NCT alright, 3 months warranty for that too though

For under 1k there is not many decent motors available.

This maybe
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1138924

challengemaster · 03-02-2010 01:22AM

Confab wrote: »

Haven't been in Ireland for a while eh? The insurance will be €700-€900 per year and the tax will be €156 or so. Petrol will cost around €1500 per year depending on use and servicing with cost about €150-€200.

I'd say that's a bit optimistic... €1300-1600 for insurance would be more realistic, tax will be from €172-286 per year for a 1.0 - 1.2, obviously petrol will vary...

bazz26 · 03-02-2010 01:23AM

jaffa20 wrote: »

They are charging 500yoyos for the nct :eek:

In other words it will cost at least €500 to get it through the NCT.

€1500 for a 13 year old Polo is pure madness.

squod · 03-02-2010 01:25AM

There's still loads of '00 & '01 ford fietas around for that kind of money.
http://cars.buyandsell.ie/search/image_preview?pid=1277893

garyt43 · 03-02-2010 01:50AM

My gf has a 1.4 00 nissan almera (hatch 4 door) up for sale ...she bought a vw passat the other week, she is a secondary school teacher and needed something bigger on the road for the long journey.....now the car has about 120k miles on it could be more....has about 1yr nct left on it and was always serviced,,,she has it since 90k miles and has it about 2yrs....mechanic lives a few hundred yards from her and she also bought car off him.....cant say what she wants for it but i couldnt imagine more than 1k...

2 new front tyres
stereo with bluetooth
elec sunroof
elec windows (front anyway not sure about rear)
serviced just before she bought the car...
not sure if there is road tax still on it...
car is in galway....20 mins from rosscommon if that helps...

if your interested or want any more info let me know.

InTheTrees · 03-02-2010 01:52AM

I relaly like the sound of a golf diesel.

What about peugeots? I havent seen one person on this thread mention a french car...

I realise though at this price its really going to come down to the individual vehicle and the condition its in.

InTheTrees · 03-02-2010 01:55AM

garyt43 wrote: »

My gf has a 1.4 01 nissan almera (hatch 4 door) up for sale ...she bought a vw passat the other week, she is a secondary school teacher and needed something bigger on the road for the long journey.....now the car has about 120k miles on it could be more....has about 1yr nct left on it and was always serviced,,,she has it since 90k miles and has it about 2yrs....mechanic lives a few hundred yards from her and she also bought car off him.....cant say what she wants for it but i couldnt imagine more than 1k...

2 new front tyres
stereo with bluetooth
sunroof
elec windows (front anyway not sure about rear)

car is in galway....20 mins from rosscommon if that helps...

My neice is in Galway too...

I'm guessing she'll want more than a grand for it though.

If its less than a grand send me a PM?

the_syco · 03-02-2010 02:05AM

Check the milage, and when the timing belt was changed?

garyt43 · 03-02-2010 02:10AM

ill see what price she is looking for it.....and ill send you a pm tomorrow or a reply through this...

Newbridge,
Galway.

Gfs home address.....

Best car under 1000 for a new driver?

Comments