£500 car challenge! Woooooo!

Gilbretto

Gilbretto

Gilbretto

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Joined
24 Nov 2007
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888
Location
Leeds
Hello all,

My mate at uni is has £500 to buy a car, this budget can stretch to £700 if it's really worth it. Or put it this way, he has £2000 for a car and insurance.

It will be his first car so he has 0 years driving experience 0 years NCB for the insurance, so the engine has to be tiny sadly.

I've had a quick look at whats available but i have no idea what to look for in this 'budget' range.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hope you can help,

Gil.
 
Pointless recommending a particular brand or model. At this pricepoint buy on condition, not brand.

You'd be better off just trying to find something that's been maintained reasonably and has as much MOT/tax as possible.
 
Gilbretto said:
It will be his first car so he has 0 years driving experience 0 years NCB for the insurance, so the engine has to be tiny sadly.
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Wrong.

Dont let this common misconception taint your view. Something like a diesel 1.9 French family saloon will likey be similar or cheaper to insure than a 1.2 Corsa.

I insured a 1.8 Mondeo cheaper than a 1.3 Fiesta
 
one of the cheapest cars i could find to insure in that budget when i had 0 years license and 0 years no claims was a 1.8si ford escort 1996, was £300 cheaper than my moms 1.3 fiesta to insure so thats why i ended up buying it, cost me £1200 tpft for the year and car was only £120. Insurance is a weird thing and engine size and insurance group sometimes dont seem to play a part. insurance was cheaper for me on a 944 porsche than my ford escort, how do they work that one out?
 
Polo or golf i reckon.
I'd say polo if he wants a cheap car to run, get the 1 litre, the 1.4 is arguably the best engine in terms of economy and power. But the 1 litre will be the cheapest to run.
Else 1.4 golf, cushty cars.

Pretty solid cars.
 
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dont buy a small hatch or a 2dr car, buy a family car with a resonable engine size, as they will be better and cheaper to insure.
 
Yup. These days it's the Saxo/Corsa/106 brigade that are having all the crashes and thus seen as high risk.

A sensible middle-aged-man car like a Mondeo or a Volvo 740/940 will likely be cheaper
 
Locky said:
dont buy a small hatch or a 2dr car, buy a family car with a resonable engine size, as they will be better and cheaper to insure.
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these guys are right, im only 18 but my mondeo 1.8 was cheaper to insure than a fiesta same age.
 
timmothy said:
.....my moms.....
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Whats a mom?

I get around said:
Polo or golf i reckon.
I'd say polo if he wants a cheap car to run, get the 1 litre, the 1.4 is arguably the best engine in terms of economy and power. But the 1 litre will be the cheapest to run.
Else 1.4 golf, cushty cars.

Pretty solid cars.
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True, but not nice for young drivers without ncb or experience.

MarkDavis said:
HGF.....HGF.....HGF.....
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check the coolant.....check the coolant.....check the coolant.....






Fords and Vauxhalls would be the best bet, although as mentioned a larger car may be cheaper to insure and will definitely be cheaper to buy (and more comfy,newer etc)
 
Have a look at 306 dturbo.

After lots of searching I've found for me its the one of the cheapest cars I could physically run when all costs are taken into account.
 
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