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Child Item

Best car on student budget?

RayRay123

Good al' mammy and daddy want to get me a car for the commute to college (saves them on accommodation and ridiculous bus fares).
But Ive been looking around and I really dont know what car to be looking for. I looked at some 98-00 Micras but MPG isnt great. Id be motorway into the city and then on to college from there. So a little bit of city driving is involved. Help please?!!

P.S. Im on a strict student budget for petrol/diesel and im limited to what I can spend in the first place. Like if I was to spend 1000euro, it needs to have NCT and Tax for the year.

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RayRay123

Not a spec of dirt, ever!
If it as so much as whines they are under it trying to figure it out!
Theyll send it out for repair if its worth it.
They never sell a car that doesnt have four new tires, passed recent NCT and theyll make sure it has a decent radio!
They are very...consumed...with their cars. And they can never break up a car. It would hurt to much.

dgt

RayRay123 wrote: »

Not a spec of dirt, ever!
If it as so much as whines they are under it trying to figure it out!
Theyll send it out for repair if its worth it.
They never sell a car that doesnt have four new tires, passed recent NCT and theyll make sure it has a decent radio!
They are very...consumed...with their cars. And they can never break up a car. It would hurt to much.

So essentially basic servicing. No pre-emptive maintenance. No checking of fluids condition, condition of bushes, sensors on a random basis.

Thought so. What use is a shiny car if it sh*ts a bag of bolts on the hard shoulder :rolleyes:

n1ck

It was the main dealer.. Shows the standard of fiat mechanics.

dgt

n1ck wrote: »

It was the main dealer.. Shows the standard of fiat mechanics.

It shows there's gobsh*tes in every industry

JohnBoy26

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

You could do a lot worse than this provided that the misfire isn't due to bad compression.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/punto/5631140

Just be aware, that while it could be something simple wrong with that car, it could also be something more serious. I've come across two of these in the past that had a misfire and it turned out to be a failed ecu in both cases.

As has been said there are so many examples to choose from so you would be better off getting one that's in proper working order.

visual

In the 1k budget cars offen arent serviced and maintain as expected. So you be looking for something that doesn't give a heap of problems and cheap to repair.

Diesels at this price are usually on their last legs.

Micra is heavy on fuel on motorway

Renault .magane 1.4 petrol 99 to 02 with ABS and few other goodies like AC can be good value for money and picked up cheap with timing belt recently changed.

They look smart and comfortable place to sit.
Should get 40 plus mpg on motorway.

Ded_Zebra

visual wrote: »

In the 1k budget cars offen arent serviced and maintain as expected. So you be looking for something that doesn't give a heap of problems and cheap to repair.

Diesels at this price are usually on their last legs.

Micra is heavy on fuel on motorway

Renault .magane 1.4 petrol 99 to 02 with ABS and few other goodies like AC can be good value for money and picked up cheap with timing belt recently changed.

They look smart and comfortable place to sit.
Should get 40 plus mpg on motorway.

op needs a 1.2 or smaller unfortunately.

PrettyBoy

RayRay123 wrote: »

if I was to spend 1000euro, it needs to have NCT and Tax for the year.

Good luck with that.

sean1141

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/renault-clio-tax-and-test/5633550
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/1999-toyota-yaris-1litre-6-months-tax/5632474
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/motor/5631819
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/00-ford-fiesta/5627819

sean1141

PrettyBoy wrote: »

Good luck with that.

anyone that has a car with 12 months tax and test will be selling for a higher price. Most likely the only way you will get one for the 1000 mark with both for a year is to buy something really cheap and hope it takes very little money to get it past the nct.

Some people wont bother testing an older car because they think it will cost a fortune because 'its over 12 years old now' or 'ah there is 120k on the clock'

Some wont bother because they are balls of crap that will never pass a test:D You just need to take your time to pick out a gem!

JohnBoy26

visual wrote: »

In the 1k budget cars offen arent serviced and maintain as expected. So you be looking for something that doesn't give a heap of problems and cheap to repair.

Diesels at this price are usually on their last legs.

Micra is heavy on fuel on motorway

Renault .magane 1.4 petrol 99 to 02 with ABS and few other goodies like AC can be good value for money and picked up cheap with timing belt recently changed.

They look smart and comfortable place to sit.
Should get 40 plus mpg on motorway.

not trying to be smart but them megans are dirt. Id happily pay a bit extra for fuel in the micra if it came to a choice between the two.

visual

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

not trying to be smart but them megans are dirt. Id happily pay a bit extra for fuel in the micra if it came to a choice between the two.

Ive driven both and wouldn't agree. Had 2 meganes 1.6 and 1.4 both good on fuel and very reliable, much more so than the newer megane.

The micra does compare its not even in the same class. Its thirsty and slow definitely not a nice place to be on a long commute. Only plus is its cheaper to tax, insure and don't look out of place with pink steering wheel cover and teddy bears in back window.

Red Kev

Here, buy this. Taxed for 12 months, NCT for 12 months, reliable and economical. Asking €650, you should be able to knock €100 off that.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/diahatsu-charade/5591007

handlemaster

a diesel carvan such as fiesta .. 205 . easy on fuel. tax and insurance. plus. you have excuse not to be the fall guy to bring your friends everywhere

sean1141

handlemaster wrote: »

a diesel carvan such as fiesta .. 205 . easy on fuel. tax and insurance. plus. you have excuse not to be the fall guy to bring your friends everywhere

How will a 1.9d 205 van be easy on tax? It will cost the same as a 1.9 car because the op is a student and she cannot tax it at the commercial rate.
Plus a 205 van will be about 20 years old at this stage and most likely knackered.

veetwin

RayRay123 wrote: »

I dont know...she got a deal made up...i think its like a lesser version of me being covered on a third party car. I kinda zoned out if Im honest when my dad tired to explain

This sounds extremely dubious to me at least. What is certain however is that you will definitely need your own policy if you get a car of your own. I dont think you need to be limiting yourself to a 1.2. Engine size will be only one of many variables when it comes to the cost of your insurance.

FWIW I would seek to increase your budget to get something better and more reliable. So many cars within your budget can be money pits.

barura

veetwin wrote: »

This sounds extremely dubious to me at least. What is certain however is that you will definitely need your own policy if you get a car of your own. I dont think you need to be limiting yourself to a 1.2. Engine size will be only one of many variables when it comes to the cost of your insurance.

FWIW I would seek to increase your budget to get something better and more reliable. So many cars within your budget can be money pits.

I agree with you on the money pit part, but budget doesn't really dictate this. Any car will be a money pit if you're uneducated about what to look for! I suggest OP should check out the sticky on how to buy a car at the top of this forum and check out the bangernomics thread.

cala

RayRay123 wrote: »

To many FIAT horror stories! theres a reason the unofficial moto is "Fix It Again Tomorrow"...

its still the same

barura

cala wrote: »

its still the same

It's not on this board at any rate.

Plenty of cars running Fiat gear that you wouldn't think of... I assume you also think French cars all all bad as well?

dgt

cala wrote: »

its still the same

Yep, its still the same brainless idiots that believe this, complete lost causes. Keep it up I'm getting a good laugh at the thickness :pac:

cala

Fix It Again Tommy

Toyotafanboi

cala wrote: »

Fix It Again Tommy

you did not just say that to DGT :pac:

also, a week is a little late for a good come back, never mind a bad one

cala

anecdotes

Ded_Zebra

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

you did not just say that to DGT :pac:

also, a week is a little late for a good come back, never mind a bad one

Lol I hope he's online again soon, should be fun :pac:

cala wrote: »

anecdotes

What car would you suggest for the op so if you hate my contribution so much?

cala

Which Magazine car reliability survey

Toyotafanboi

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

Lol I hope he's online again soon, should be fun :pac:

indeed. its very late for any man, even dgt for that matter to be underneath a 406.

cala

im just after fixing my neighbours FIAT

Ded_Zebra

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

indeed. its very late for any man, even dgt for that matter to be underneath a 406.

He could be out there for hours yet I reckon

cala wrote: »

im just after fixing my neighbours FIAT

Oh What was wrong with it? I hope they payed you!

cala

i didnt charge him he has been out enough on it.

ninty9er

There are a few private sale matches on Carzone

1l Peugeot 106
1.2 Opel Corsa (yes they're mainly 1l, but the 1.2 is more economical)
1.3 Mazda Demio