About to buy my first car!

Messiah Khan · 6 May 2013 at 11:39

Update: We bought it! See post 12 for image/details.

In the next week or so, me and my wife are about to buy our first car... eek! I'm 30 so it has taken us a while to get one! But to be honest we haven't had a huge need for one up until now as we both work within walking distance of where we live etc. But the time has now come to buy our first vehicle...

Currently looking at a 2010 VW Polo 1.4 SE 5DR DSG. Has very low milage, nice and small and semi-auto transmission. So spec wise it looks just right for us.

No point to this thread other than to share my excitement...

Matt82 · 6 May 2013 at 11:58

Just wow, to be honest.

If i saved up all the time i had spent driving by the time i got to 30, id have a heck of a lot of time on my hands!

Did you just use public transport a lot or get lifts off people?

Minstadave · 6 May 2013 at 13:08

The freedom of your own car is lovely, enjoy!

Messiah Khan · 6 May 2013 at 18:22

Matt82 said:
Just wow, to be honest.

If i saved up all the time i had spent driving by the time i got to 30, id have a heck of a lot of time on my hands!

Did you just use public transport a lot or get lifts off people?

We've mostly just got by using public transport. As mentioned, we both live within walking distance of work in the city centre. We can walk to the supermarket, and use home delivery for big orders. We do a lot of walking and outdoor activities, and so far have managed to get just about anywhere without too many problems.

We are planning on moving up to the Scottish Highlands in the not too distant future though and feel that to make the most of it, the time has come for us to get a car. Some of the places we would like to live and visit are somewhat remote, so relying on public transport and foot power would become increasingly difficult

Minstadave said:
The freedom of your own car is lovely, enjoy!

Thanks.

Raymond Lin · 6 May 2013 at 19:05

Exciting time! You'll love the freedom it brings

Tom_ed1987 · 6 May 2013 at 19:13

Matt82 said:
Just wow, to be honest.

If i saved up all the time i had spent driving by the time i got to 30, id have a heck of a lot of time on my hands!

Did you just use public transport a lot or get lifts off people?

Couldn't do it myself but plenty of people living/working in London are 30+ and don't even have a license.

Congrats OP.

Matt82 · 6 May 2013 at 23:27

Just think how much money youve saved by not owning a car, for that reason im stupidly jealous.

The ability to go anywhere, absolutley any time you like is something i couldnt do without.

I just popped to the shops as i didnt have bits for lunch tomorrow and then took the long way home to wring the M3s neck a little bit. Cars and driving are easily the first biggest passion of my life, so if you end up liking it half as much as i do, this is going to be a brilliant thing

wez130 · 7 May 2013 at 09:50

Long time no see MK, still do your photography? You'll have a fantastic area to work in in the highlands from a photography point of view, and yea, a car could be useful

King4aDay · 7 May 2013 at 13:04

Nice one. Where are you moving to? Some great roads up here

After spending 12 years driving other people's cast-offs I also bought a car with my own money for the first time last year aged 29. Didn't manage to be quite as sensible as you though

Messiah Khan · 7 May 2013 at 15:40

wez130 said:
Long time no see MK, still do your photography? You'll have a fantastic area to work in in the highlands from a photography point of view, and yea, a car could be useful

Hey Wez. Yeah, I still technically own a camera and have been known to press the shutter occasionally, but haven't used nowhere near as much as I should have! Took 5000 shots last summer when me and my wife walked across USA, but still need to finish sorting thorough them.

You can see the video/photos here if you're interested;

King4aDay said:
Nice one. Where are you moving to? Some great roads up here

After spending 12 years driving other people's cast-offs I also bought a car with my own money for the first time last year aged 29. Didn't manage to be quite as sensible as you though

Not sure yet. We are hoping to be within shooting distance of Inverness, but anywhere near decent mountains and forests would suit us. We are eventually hoping to buy some land and make a lifestyle change.

You still working on your PHD? Are you still up for the Cape Wrath way at some point? What car did you end up with like?

King4aDay · 7 May 2013 at 17:27

Messiah Khan said:
Hey Wez. Yeah, I still technically own a camera and have been known to press the shutter occasionally, but haven't used nowhere near as much as I should have! Took 5000 shots last summer when me and my wife walked across USA, but still need to finish sorting thorough them.

You can see the video/photos here if you're interested;

You still working on your PHD? Are you still up for the Cape Wrath way at some point? What car did you end up with like?

Yeah, still plodding through endless thesis writing. Might actually be finished sometime next month though, in which case the world is my oyster (for anything free/cheap - stipend ran out 2 months ago). Bought a Prelude 2.2 VTI, not terribly eco friendly but I do bugger all miles anyway.

Messiah Khan · 11 May 2013 at 21:19

And we bought it...

Isn't she pretty!

Volkswagen Polo 1.4 SE 5DR DSG 2009 with only 6000 miles on the clock! It's an ex mobility car so is in MINT condition. Getting it delivered on Wednesday next week. Can't wait to take it out!

HangTime · 11 May 2013 at 21:30

Matt82 said:
Just wow, to be honest.

If i saved up all the time i had spent driving by the time i got to 30, id have a heck of a lot of time on my hands!

Did you just use public transport a lot or get lifts off people?

I'm 33 and can't drive, my wife got her first car at 27. Before that it was mostly a mix of public transport and lifts. If you live within walking distance of a train station and shops that sell food, it is workable, albeit not ideal. Biggest issue tends to be other people assuming you have a car.
edit: Actually the biggest problem tends to be when job hunting, most are advertised through agencies these days so you can't be sure on exact location from the ads, which is fine if you drive, you just need rough area and it makes maybe 30mins diff on the commute depending on exact location, whereas I've had to turn down interviews before for places that are too difficult to get to by public transport. E.g. a job 10 miles away is probably fine for the vast majority of people who can drive if the job is good enough, but if there is no train or bus service to get there in under say 90mins it pretty much rules it out for me

yosamuel · 11 May 2013 at 22:29

I was 26 before I bought my first car. My wife and I live in the city, have a twenty minute walk to work, and a five minute walk to a major train station.

It wasn’t until my grandmother passed away, and we felt incredibly cut-off from our family back home, that I decided that we needed a car.

It has changed our lives; allowing us to get out of the city, to see new places and experience new things. Incredibly liberating.

Enjoy it!

Messiah Khan · 12 May 2013 at 14:36

HangTime said:
Snip

yosamuel said:
Snip

That's what is was like for us. Although occasionally it was a bit annoying not driving and having to arrange lift etc, most of the time we managed just fine with public transport and walking etc. Certainly during the week, this won't change much. We'll still both walk in to work (about 2 miles each way) and anything is needed in town we'll walk there. On the weekends though it will be nice to be able to get to more remote places for hiking, running and photography etc.

Messiah Khan · 17 May 2013 at 10:18

The car got delivered on Wednesday, and yesterday I took it out for my first drive in 7 years! I got on great and remembered a lot more than I thought I would. I think I'm going to grow to like this car.

One thing though; Does anyone know where I could download a VW Polo (2009-present) owner's manual? Or do I have to find one to buy from somewhere? It seems the manual is missing on mine.

Matt82 · 17 May 2013 at 10:41

wow @ first drive in 7 years

you didnt fancy a couple refresher lessons with an instructor? haha

Messiah Khan · 17 May 2013 at 12:19

Matt82 said:
wow @ first drive in 7 years

you didnt fancy a couple refresher lessons with an instructor? haha

Yeah, it was with an instructor as I didn't know how much I would remember or how confident I would be. In the end he said he couldn't tell I hadn't driven for 7 years (And only driven for 3 months after passing) and that my driving was very good. He said that having any more lessons probably wouldn't serve me any good and I just need to keep driving on my own.

My wife is the same situation (Passed 7 years ago, and hasn't driven since) so she is going out with the instructor on Tuesday. She is a lot more nervous than I was though.

wingman · 17 May 2013 at 12:46

Matt82 said:
Just think how much money youve saved by not owning a car, for that reason im stupidly jealous.

The ability to go anywhere, absolutley any time you like is something i couldnt do without.

I just popped to the shops as i didnt have bits for lunch tomorrow and then took the long way home to wring the M3s neck a little bit. Cars and driving are easily the first biggest passion of my life, so if you end up liking it half as much as i do, this is going to be a brilliant thing

I feel like this all the time, so much so that I could have written the above (except the M3 part *shakes fist*). I spend so much money swapping in and changing cars every year, if I'd have just bought a bog standard Focus when passing my test and keeping it until now I would have had a lot more money.

On the other hand that money would have been seldom saved and probably fluttered away, and I've enjoyed owning every car I've had to a great degree.

So that's my justification.

Messiah Khan · 11 Jun 2013 at 12:38

Well I have to say I love my new car! I have racked up about 700 miles so far and am really enjoying it. I never used to like driving, but something must have clicked in the last few years as now I really like it. Have been on a number of longer journeys with it and even some gnarly city driving and it's all going fine! :cool: