Spec me a first car!

Bakedgoods

Bakedgoods

Bakedgoods

Capodecina
Permabanned
Joined
31 Dec 2003
Posts
5,172
Location
Barrow-In-Furness
Budget: £3000ish
Age: 19

Can stretch to more money if there's going to be a considerable benefit or I really like the car but please try to keep to the budget please. Obviously take into consideration what my insurance is going to be like as it is my first car, thanks.

Any advice is welcome :D
 
Well I'll be going for a Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec as my first car (only insurance group 5). Also my dad recently got a Toyota Yaris and I can say that they are great little cars and surprisingly roomy inside.
 
Room isn't really important to me and it's my first car saitrix so I don't really know what is yet.

Obviously i'd like a quick car that doesn't look like a piece of excrement, but i'm aware of the fact i'm on a low budget and it's my first car, so i'm not expecting the world.

I'll check it out neoboy, I don't mind the Focus.
 
Depends what you're after. Small or large?

My YFiesta was a great first car, but I'd probably go with something bigger if I had the choice again.
 
How much is the insurance budget Wardie or is that rolled in with the £3k?

If the £3k is just for the car I'd consider halving it at least for your first motor. You've got so much chance of pranging it, and I'm not talking about flipping it 10 times and ending up in a ditch. About 6 months after getting my first car I was backing onto a mates drive and clipped his house putting a nice scrape in my bumper. In a £3k car I'd have been gutted, in my £500 banger it was just "one of those things". Also worth bearing in mind that you will only be able to insure it third party... unless you want to pay stupid money for insurance.

As for a recommendation... I would say that a small petrol (1.4 or 1.6) engined 306 is a great first car. Just an example though, there are plenty of nice cars around that are good for first timers. As an idea of cost mine was in decent nick 98 R plate 1.4 with 117k on the clock recently sold for £800.
 
£3000 is just for the car.

I don't have that much of a preference for small/large, but at this sort of price range i'd probably say smaller.

I've been thinking about this lordrobs and I know what you're saying. I just don't fancy driving round in a shed when I can afford something better. Although I suppose I could do it, then sell it after getting some driving experience under my belt and buy a new car then. It does mean i'd have more money to spend on other things :p

You are right in what you are saying though... hmmmmmmm
 
Well a 1.6 Focus Zetec is quite a good first car with room aswell. I found insurance good on it, you should pay about £1000 on it for insurance, which isn't too bad.
 
saitrix said:
Well a 1.6 Focus Zetec is quite a good first car with room aswell. I found insurance good on it, you should pay about £1000 on it for insurance, which isn't too bad.
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I can tell you now I wont get a quote for £1000!

I'll be back in a couple of minutes with some confirmation :D
 
Wardie said:
£3000 is just for the car.

I don't have that much of a preference for small/large, but at this sort of price range i'd probably say smaller.

I've been thinking about this lordrobs and I know what you're saying. I just don't fancy driving round in a shed when I can afford something better. Although I suppose I could do it, then sell it after getting some driving experience under my belt and buy a new car then. It does mean i'd have more money to spend on other things :p

You are right in what you are saying though... hmmmmmmm
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Its just my opinion on the matter, there are some nice cars around at up to £1500 though. As you say use it to get some miles under your belt then when you've got some experience and more importantly that 1 years NCB sell it and buy something a bit nicer :)
 
Wardie said:
I can tell you now I wont get a quote for £1000!

I'll be back in a couple of minutes with some confirmation :D
Click to expand...

When I was 17 on a 1.6 Focus Zetec I paid £1500 fully comp. Then when I was 18 it went down to £800 fully comp. So I would say £1000 is possible, especially thinking I have a uni mate looking at a 1.8 Focus and is 19 with 0NCB and got a quote for £1050 fully comp.
 
lordrobs said:
Its just my opinion on the matter, there are some nice cars around at up to £1500 though. As you say use it to get some miles under your belt then when you've got some experience and more importantly that 1 years NCB sell it and buy something a bit nicer :)
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It's sound advice and I did expect it, more than welcome help :)

Feel free to suggest cars at the budget. I'm not too bothered about settling for a slow car aslong as it doesn't look an absolute mess. I want something presentable even if it is not the fastest thing in the world, I can save for a faster car while i'm getting more driving experience ;)

I'll get a quote for it soon saitrix, i'm at work so it'll be at dinner time.
 
Wish I'd of gotten a Focus, a 1.6 Zetec wouldn't of made masses of diffence on running cost to my 106 D, plus I would have had lots more comfort, power and even Air Con. :(
 
I managed to get my first policy back when Norwich Union still offered a 50% discount for having Pass Plus. They actually scrapped that policy (hardly surprising) 3 weeks before I got the car. I remember searching all over my room for a postal quote that was valid for 8 weeks so I just managed to get it at half price! At 18 with 0NCB I was under a grand on a group 8 car fully comp. Couldn't do that today!
 
I do like the MG ZRs quite a lot, I think they look really nice.

For example:
http://pistonheads.com/sales/211456.htm

Would it be a sensible trying to get one of these for under 3K though? I have a feeling the insurance will be pretty high.

Part of me is tempted to think about spending say 1.5K of my first car and just getting more driving experience first.
 
[TW]Fox;10022649 said:
It would be very tatty, very poor specification, very slow and likely to give you expensive trouble for this sort of money.
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Tatty? Probably not since they were built well. Poor spec - depends, some people spent a lot on extras. Slow - perhaps. Expensive trouble... definitely. But still when it DOES work it is a lovely place to be. It has a superb interior and is a very nice place to spend long periods of time.
 
laissez-faire said:
Tatty? Probably not since they were built well. Poor spec - depends, some people spent a lot on extras. Slow - perhaps. Expensive trouble... definitely. But still when it DOES work it is a lovely place to be. It has a superb interior and is a very nice place to spend long periods of time.
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What I mean is that £3k isn't enough for a nice one, and a nice one will be worth more than £3k. This leaves the sub £3k ones as the tatty ones that have been abused and thus wont sell for over £3k.

Even the best built cars in the world can look tatty if somebody who simply doesn't give a stuff owns it.
 
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