Sooo my first car purchase

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Hi guys

After securing a placement as part of my degree its time for me to purchase my first car (time to join the joys of commuting). Me and my mum have shared a 54 plate polo since I passed my test (around 3 years ago) so its not like I have had no experience of driving.

Have got a budget of around £1000 (could stretch to around £1300) and will be doing around 8/9000 miles a year or so. Obviously I realise all the cars in this price bracket are going to be fairly generic and boring but just wondered if there was any key things I should look out for when looking for a car :)

Kinda had a Golf in mind as there a few near me for around £1000 and our current polo has been fairly reliable.. something like this Example ??

Edit: nothing too specific needed from the car, I guess a hatch would be nice as that it was I'm used to driving? Bootspace would be nice to move stuff between uni and new home but isn't a deal breaker... I guess reliability and MPG would be the key things I want

cheers for your help
 
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Do you need anything specific from the car? Does it need to be a hatch? Does it need to have a certain bootspace?

Secondly, the 2.0GTI is rubbish. Either get a 1.8T or don't bother getting a GTI at all.
 
paradigm said:
Do you need anything specific from the car? Does it need to be a hatch? Does it need to have a certain bootspace?

Secondly, the 2.0GTI is rubbish. Either get a 1.8T or don't bother getting a GTI at all.
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OP updated, cheers for that... as you can tell I don't know a whole bunch about cars.

Educate me Motors Forum :D
 
Have you checked insurance prices yet? A GTI will probably be as expensive, if not more than the value of the car. At a guess, you have been on your mums policy so have not been building an no claims. If this is the case, cars like a GTI are going to be expensive.
 
Welcome to motors, where the answer to everything under £2k is a Mondeo with long MOT and decent history. Such as this one.

As said above the insurance on a GTI (if we can even call the 2.0 Golf a GTI, it's a travesty) could potentially be quite expensive.
 
I have been a named driver so have 3 years NCB.. insurance wise I have budgeted for around 700 or so. Just for the record I don't actually want a Golf GTI, was just an example :)
 
A suitable (cheap to insure) list of cars under 2k from the top of my head are:

Ford Focus
Honda Civic
Toyota Yaris
Seat Ibiza/Leon
VW Polo/Golf
Audi A3
BMW 3 Series

Personally i'd steer clear of the "prestige" German brands and get something Ford/Jap as it will hopefully be newer, more reliable and cheaper to run for the money. Then when insurance is less of issue and you have more wonga get something more interesting.

My money would go on a 52 plate Focus or something.
 
olivercamos said:
Have you checked insurance prices yet? A GTI will probably be as expensive, if not more than the value of the car. At a guess, you have been on your mums policy so have not been building an no claims. If this is the case, cars like a GTI are going to be expensive.
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Was no more than £1000 for me when I got my 1.8T within my first year of having a license, unless his postcode is rubbish, I can't imagine he'd have much issue with a 3 year old license, NCB or not.

andrewdodd13 said:
As said above the insurance on a GTI (if we can even call the 2.0 Golf a GTI, it's a travesty) could potentially be quite expensive.
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IIRC, it was only here that it got the GTI badge, everywhere else it was just a Golf 2.0
 
Kenai said:
Was no more than £1000 for me when I got my 1.8T within my first year of having a license, unless his postcode is rubbish, I can't imagine he'd have much issue with a 3 year old license, NCB or not.
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I just ran a quote through for myself on the 1.8T. Same age (21) had a license 3 years with no NCB. Came at £1156 if I paid annually with £500 excess. Monthy cost would be £2200. That is also with my post code being in the safest bracket and parents as named drivers etc...

Anyway, I would personally be looking at a Mk1 Focus.
 
olivercamos said:
I just ran a quote through for myself on the 1.8T. Same age (21) had a license 3 years with no NCB. Came at £1156 if I paid annually with £500 excess. Monthy cost would be £2200. That is also with my post code being in the safest bracket and parents as named drivers etc...

Anyway, I would personally be looking at a Mk1 Focus.
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I take it the monthly vs. annually is with different providers? Otherwise you could get a bank loan at ~15% to pay it, rather than the 100% (!) that the company wants to charge. :P
 
olivercamos said:
I just ran a quote through for myself on the 1.8T. Same age (21) had a license 3 years with no NCB. Came at £1156 if I paid annually with £500 excess. Monthy cost would be £2200. That is also with my post code being in the safest bracket and parents as named drivers etc...
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SUX2BU then I guess :p
 
wingman said:
What about a Polo?
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Have been driving a polo for the past 3 years, I just kinda feel like I want something with a bit more power and more room.

Kinda looks like a Mondeo could be the way to go, certainly seems like a lot of car for the money
 
Unless you hate Mondeos, its a no brainer really. Go for a chain driven 2.0 Duratec engined car for about £1500 for the best chance of avoiding a shed. The £1k ones tend to be sheddier.
 
[TW]Fox;21741536 said:
Unless you hate Mondeos, its a no brainer really. Go for a chain driven 2.0 Duratec engined car for about £1500 for the best chance of avoiding a shed. The £1k ones tend to be sheddier.
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I assume the guy is around 21 years old - does he really want a family saloon?
 
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