First car for a new driver...at 35

Woden

Woden

Woden

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Joined
7 Mar 2011
Posts
6,859
Location
Oldham, Lancashire
So yea, I am 35 but only just getting round to learning, and i knew exactly zero about cars.

Will be used to get into and home from work, and take my son out on a weekend. I just want something cheap to run, cheap (ish, I know I will have my pants down on this one) to insure and most of all reliable.

I don't really know what makes to look at for this, let alone models. Budget would be £3000ish for car and insurance. I've looked at once that pop into my head, I could do an old Focus or Mazda 3 for that price. But again, I dunno what they are like, just what I know.
 
Woden said:
I have seen quite a few Honda Civic's at a price I can afford to buy and insure. It's not an ugly care either.
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Yep and they are super reliable so I would steer toward something like that - older VW Golfs are also possible and offer refined, no fuss motoring too - although they may be marginally less reliable
 
azazl187 said:
I had a Saxo 1.1 for my first car and it was perfect. Easy to drive and cheap to run
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And positively ancient now. They were old even when I was learning to drive in 2007.

Does it need to be automatic or manual? You'll probably be surprised at the insurance cost depending on your location, age is a pretty big factor. My partner is over 30 and recently passed and their insurance isn't much more than mine.

Set autotrader to how far you want to travel and set your budget to £1500-2000. Order the results by age and see what comes up, then get some insurance quotes to give you an idea of whether you can spend more on the car or not.
 
If you can get a Honda Civic 1.8 for the money then it should be safe money. Reliable, simple engines that are relatively easy to drive (naturally aspirated rev-happy) and reasonably comfortable. I picked mine up two years ago for just over £3k with one owner from new and 40k miles, it's now on 120k and hasn't skipped a beat, all I've had to do is service it, change tyres and brakes and a new set of bushes, although that's more down to the state of the roads I drive on!
 
If going cheap then I'd ONLY buy Japanese personally. Honda, Lexus, Toyota, Suzuki are all pretty durable. Subaru too, but you need to be clued up as some can be a problem.
 
First car was a '04 1.6 Focus which never missed a bit. Didn't have any history when I got it but for £900 I couldn't complain! Only trading it in this thursday for something a decade younger.
 
I bought my first car in my early thirties a few years back. It was a 2007 Civic 1.8. I only had it a couple of years, but it was reliable, cheap to run and very practical. I'd happily recommend it as a first car.
 
MichaelAwkward said:
And positively ancient now. They were old even when I was learning to drive in 2007.

Does it need to be automatic or manual? You'll probably be surprised at the insurance cost depending on your location, age is a pretty big factor. My partner is over 30 and recently passed and their insurance isn't much more than mine.

Set autotrader to how far you want to travel and set your budget to £1500-2000. Order the results by age and see what comes up, then get some insurance quotes to give you an idea of whether you can spend more on the car or not.
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So? What's wrong with driving around in an old car if it's the first one you have. Most people have a small knock when they drive thier first car so this way it wouldnt be too much of an issue if it's old and cheap.

If it's runs ok and you only have to pay a couple of hundred quid for it then that's fine right?
 
azazl187 said:
So? What's wrong with driving around in an old car if it's the first one you have. Most people have a small knock when they drive thier first car so this way it wouldnt be too much of an issue if it's old and cheap.

If it's runs ok and you only have to pay a couple of hundred quid for it then that's fine right?
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He wants reliable an ancient French car probably isn't the way to go.
 
my 2009 Focus is still problem free after 5 years of ownership

minimum id get is the 1.8 petrol because this (or the 2L) have the Duratorq Engines, which means no cambelt and thus more reliable

id go for a Zetec spec (unless u can get a Titanium)

The Zetec has better suspension though, more sportier so there is less roll in the corners, test drive one and a titanium you will feel the difference
But you can get a Titanium with the sport pack which adds sport suspension, best of both worlds
 
Screw all the h8ers, you need a 'Lade baby.


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Get a Yaris, Civic, Focus, Fiesta, Jazz, Mazda 2. Pick the model you like the look of, then find the one within budget.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Get a Yaris, Civic, Focus, Fiesta, Jazz, Mazda 2. Pick the model you like the look of, then find the one within budget.
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Every time I look I’m drawn to a civic. Moot point at the moment since my instructor is fully booked ‘til June.
 
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