2k reliable car for motorway commute

jojothemonkey69

jojothemonkey69

jojothemonkey69

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Hi, my girlfriend has just passed her test and we're looking to buy our first car. We know a mechanic who has an 05 Ford KA at his garage and he's happy to look over it prior to any purchase. What other cars come into the 2k budget please bear in mind she'll be driving 40 miles each day on the motorway and anything above a 1.3 will cost a lot on the insurance.

Many thanks
 
Maybe look at something bigger, a larger boring car like a mondeo with a decent engine can often cost less to insure than a smaller car with a hairdryer engine:)

At least run a quote through. If she is doing motorway miles, a KA is going to be no fun!
 
A ford ka will be horrible to drive on the motorway daily, if you don't want anything 'too big' then perhaps look at a focus. You can pick up a 1.6 2001 - 2003 model for around £2k now. It will have 100k + miles on it but so will most cars at a £2k budget. Also why the 1.3 limit for insurance? Have you actually run any quotes through to prove this will 'cost a lot'? A 1.6 focus is only group 6 insurance so it's got to be worth getting a quote on one...
 
Thanks for your advice I agree that a KA for motorway commute is not great, changing 'her' mind may be difficult. I've ran a few cars through comparison sites - I'm aware that phoning and using other sites will result in lower insurance premiums.

03 Focus 1.4 - £3,027
02 Focus 1.6 - £3,073
00 Focus 1.4 - £2.5k
00 Focus 1.6 - £2,878

Quite pricey!

Edit: extra info: Female, 23, post code L22
 
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I've only ever been in a ford ka once, and it was on a motorway. I can honestly say it was one of the worst motoring experiences of my life. Incredibly noisy, uncomfortable, and just felt generally unsafe. Hell, even a mid-range micra would be a lot better, and probably no more expensive to insure
 
Ford Ka will have a lot of road noise at motor way speed, the engine will be revving high. It'll sit at 70mph ok-ish.. Hit an incline and expect to drop right down to 60mph with your foot down. This was the case with the endure engines. The duratec was brought in around 52 plate plus, which may be slightly better... But not much more
 
How is the insurance for a 23 year old female so expensive? I don't get it. I didn't even pay that to insure a modified 2 litre Mondeo at 19. Infact I paid 3 times less!
 
The KA is an awful car, anything is better. That insurance price is weird though?
 
[TW]Fox;19299364 said:
How is the insurance for a 23 year old female so expensive? I don't get it. I didn't even pay that to insure a modified 2 litre Mondeo at 19. Infact I paid 3 times less!
Click to expand...

How is that relevant these days? It's as bad as your 'my mum managed to live with us kids in an old 80's car so why people need bigger these days I don't know' statements.

Yes it seems high, but you can't compare everything to your OLD experiences.
 
[TW]Fox;19299364 said:
How is the insurance for a 23 year old female so expensive? I don't get it. I didn't even pay that to insure a modified 2 litre Mondeo at 19. Infact I paid 3 times less!
Click to expand...

Inflation, cost to industry and recent adjustment due to financial climate?

Still a touch high though.
 
jojothemonkey69 said:
Thanks for your advice I agree that a KA for motorway commute is not great, changing 'her' mind may be difficult. I've ran a few cars through comparison sites - I'm aware that phoning and using other sites will result in lower insurance premiums.

03 Focus 1.4 - £3,027
02 Focus 1.6 - £3,073
00 Focus 1.4 - £2.5k
00 Focus 1.6 - £2,878

Quite pricey!

Edit: extra info: Female, 23, post code L22
Click to expand...

Thats way high for a 23 years old girl!
 
L22 is a high risk area (according to website I just used), so new driver + high risk area = higher insurance.
 
I was just going to say i managed to insure a Modified Capri 2.8i the day i passed my test at 23 years old for far less than the amounts quoted above, and not that many years ago, but then i noticed the L22 postcode!

That's just outside Liverpool I believe, those prices are probably not that bad then to be honest!

I always wince at work when someone calls to let me know they have changed address and it's a high risk area they've moved to, as when i read it out the conversation always turns straight to :eek: followed by :mad:
 
my girlfriends test is in 1 week and weve been doing some insurance crunches. we found that insted of saying shes had her license less then a month, if you wait say 2 months before u buy or insure the car its knocks a hell of a lot off.

i think on confused with how long have u had your license - less then a month was about £250 more then 3 months.

*edit, shes 24 and insurance for a 99 fiat brava
 
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Thankyou for your replies we've been looking at cars all day and we've come across a 04 Yaris with 40k on the clock. HPI is clean and we'll get 6 months tax and a 3 month warranty with it. The price is £3,300 which matches our new budget. It seems slightly higher than the Market price but is in very good nick. I'm still quite tempted by an 1.25 Fiesta but the girlfriend differs.

I think a Yaris would be a good but but think with our budget we could get an 05 Reg. What do you think? Many thanks.
 
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