Advice buying first car

toxicredcat · 13 Mar 2012 at 23:05

Hi all,
I'm looking at buying my first car and I'm struggling to pick one. I've got a few in mind:

VW Golf IV 1.9 GT TDi (130)
VW Golf IV 1.8T GTi (150)
Ford Focus 2.0 Zetec (130) or similar
MG ZR 1.8 120
MG ZR 2.0TD 115

Doubt I'll be doing more than 5k a year as it'll mostly be used a weekends doing short journeys. All I'm after is a nippy hatchback ideally with 5 doors and no higher than insurance group 14. Budget is £2500 tops.

The Golfs are my favourite however they are the most expensive and have very high mileage which makes my weary how long they last.

The MGs are the best looking IMO and they are cheap but is there a reason for low prices that I'm unaware of?

As for the Fords they seems to lack character and I've never got along with any Fords I've driven but they do seem the most practical i.e. getting mountain bikes in the back.

Another thing I'm torn between is whether to go diesel or petrol? Diesels have cheaper toad tax, better MPG and easier to drive. Petrols seem a bit nippier, better suited for short trips and in the case of the Golfs are cheaper to buy.

Two weeks I've been looking at cars and I'm still no closer to making a decision :rolleyes:

Any advice?

Jason.

MikeHiow · 13 Mar 2012 at 23:07

Out of that list, the 1.8T.

They are reasonably well screwed together, parts are cheap and readily available.

Given your mileage, I'd go Petrol - there's very little fuel saving in going Diesel at this mileage and tax won't be any different for the age of cars that are in your budget, either.

Ignore the large number of people who will come and tell you to buy a £50 Fiesta for your first car.

Zefan · 13 Mar 2012 at 23:10

toxicredcat said:
Hi all,

I'm looking at buying my first car

Doubt I'll be doing more than 5k a year as it'll mostly be used a weekends doing short journeys. All I'm after is a nippy hatchback... £2500 tops.

diesel or petrol?

I can tell you straight up, do not get a diesel.

Rybo89 · 13 Mar 2012 at 23:15

Forget diesel at 5k a year.

The rover zr in my opinion is awful to look at and will now start to cost you. Get a tidy Mk1 Focus for £2.5k.

Really though, just forget about the ZR. I have driven one and even though it was the same car as my old civic, I hated it. And don't know 1 person who has had 1 of these with out having major problems with it.

[TW]Fox · 13 Mar 2012 at 23:46

I'd definately go for the Focus. You don't want the hassle of an old turbocharged Golf as your first car, it'll just cost money to fix all the time.

Vonhelmet · 13 Mar 2012 at 23:52

How old are you? What's insurance going to be like? There's an argument to be made for getting something boring... Which spells Focus from that shortlist.

And I doubt the lower road tax of a diesel is going to offset the risk of repair bills on an older diesel.

Malc · 13 Mar 2012 at 23:54

The problem with the 2.0 Zetec is that for it's performance it drinks like a fish (not too much of an issue at 5k per year). The 1.6 is the better all round engine in the Mk1 Focus but by the looks of it, you want better performance than what the 1.6 can give.

Also don't rely on insurance group to determine insurance cost, there's not always a direct link and it varies company to company. If you like the look of a car, just run a quote and see if the insurance is within your budget.

Zefan · 14 Mar 2012 at 00:12

The focus is the one to go for. There are a billion million zillion 1.6 petrols out there that are in good nick and within your budget.

All of those cars lack character tbh, well apart from the MG but their "character" is not good.

foil · 14 Mar 2012 at 06:49

With no NCB they will all cost more than 1200 to insure... At least.

Anythign with turbo, GT, GTI, Sport etc etc or above a 1.4 will be expensive if ur young.

How old are u?

MG are crap imo. Soft, flawed engines and rough build quality based on 20 year old design... If a company is good at something they dont usually go bust...

rodenal · 14 Mar 2012 at 07:56

I would actually go for something with the 1.8T in - They aren't particularly expensive to fix, turbos for example can be had for buttons (used, or £500 for a good reconditioned number) as there are so many around. Clutches are decent enough so long as the car is punting out standard power too, gearboxes can be had for not a lot etc. Everything that goes wrong can be pretty easily identified and they are very easy to work on.

The likes of the 2 litre focus feel asthmatic in comparison, though undoubtedly there is less to go wrong - depends how hands on you're willing to be. As an alternative to the focus the 1.8 20v n/a vag unit isn't a bad engine, will give similar performance to the 2 litre focus whilst being better on fuel.

The only MG's worth having are the zr 160 which has the head gasket issues (revised gasket may well sort that) as well as the ZR generally being a crock of crap interior wise or the zs 180 which imo is a cracking motor. The belt changes are expensive and there is another common issue that escapes me right now (that's cheap to fix), but you'll never be able to insure it anyway.

I suppose it will all hinge on insurance as mentioned above, as soon as you mention gti, sport, cupra etc etc with zero no claims prepare to bend over.

SPARC · 14 Mar 2012 at 11:01

There are many, many focus for 2.5k all you have to do is pick the best one. I can only repeat what others have said about diesels and MG ZR ... you're better off without.

Aeleys · 14 Mar 2012 at 13:08

Depending on your age,NCB and years you held your license you wont get any of those, unless you're semi-rich. (all none or low assuming that this is your first car)

toxicredcat · 14 Mar 2012 at 22:08

I'm 23, had my license for 2½ years and I've been driving company vans for over 2 years without incident (35,000 miles a year). Due to a change in the company insurance policy I'm no longer allowed to use the vans for personal use hence wanting my own car.

Insurance quotes for all the cars I mentioned are between £850-950 which seems very reasonable to me and is well within my budget.

The 1.8T seems the best bet due to the availability and cost of replacement parts.

[TW]Fox · 14 Mar 2012 at 22:13

toxicredcat said:
The 1.8T seems the best bet due to the availability and cost of replacement parts.

I'm not sure how you've arrived at that conclusion. Surely if you are only going by those two attributes the Focus wins hands down? Not only are parts for a Focus so cheap they are almost free but the 2 litre Zetec engine is comically reliable and will be many times less likely to give you issues than the fussy turbocharged 1.8 litre engine in the Golf.

Fuzz · 14 Mar 2012 at 22:20

toxicredcat said:
Hi all,
I'm looking at buying my first car and I'm struggling to pick one. I've got a few in mind:

VW Golf IV 1.9 GT TDi (130)

VW Golf IV 1.8T GTi (150)

Ford Focus 2.0 Zetec (130) or similar

MG ZR 1.8 120

MG ZR 2.0TD 115

Jason.

By default there is only one car in that list.
Ford Focus 2.0

GTi/TDI.. as your first car. LOL have you got any insurance quotes yet? Suicide...

I'm not even going to mention the

Kenai · 14 Mar 2012 at 22:22

Despite mine not giving me any more trouble than a thermostat in the time i've owned it, i'm not sure i'd be able to hand on heart recommend the 1.8T as a no fuss, reliable engine.

They do have a reputation for little niggly problems, especially so the newer 'drive-by-wire' versions with more sensors than you can poke a stick at all ready and waiting to fail and give you an obscure and completely unhelpful error message.

Fuzz said:
GTi/TDI.. as your first car. LOL have you got any insurance quotes yet? Suicide...

toxicredcat said:
I'm 23, had my license for 2½ years ...

Insurance quotes for all the cars I mentioned are between £850-950 which seems very reasonable to me and is well within my budget.

Excellent thread reading skills

MrMoonX · 14 Mar 2012 at 23:12

rodenal said:
I would actually go for something with the 1.8T in - They aren't particularly expensive to fix, turbos for example can be had for buttons (used, or £500 for a good reconditioned number) as there are so many around. Clutches are decent enough so long as the car is punting out standard power too, gearboxes can be had for not a lot etc. Everything that goes wrong can be pretty easily identified and they are very easy to work on.

The likes of the 2 litre focus feel asthmatic in comparison, though undoubtedly there is less to go wrong - depends how hands on you're willing to be. As an alternative to the focus the 1.8 20v n/a vag unit isn't a bad engine, will give similar performance to the 2 litre focus whilst being better on fuel.

The only MG's worth having are the zr 160 which has the head gasket issues (revised gasket may well sort that) as well as the ZR generally being a crock of crap interior wise or the zs 180 which imo is a cracking motor. The belt changes are expensive and there is another common issue that escapes me right now (that's cheap to fix), but you'll never be able to insure it anyway.

I suppose it will all hinge on insurance as mentioned above, as soon as you mention gti, sport, cupra etc etc with zero no claims prepare to bend over.

LOL you could get quite a lot fixed on a focus for the cost of a turbo for a 1.8T

Lopéz · 14 Mar 2012 at 23:35

rodenal said:
They aren't particularly expensive to fix, turbos for example can be had for buttons (used, or £500 for a good reconditioned number)

Since when was £500 on a used part alone "buttons"?

rodenal · 15 Mar 2012 at 07:36

Lopéz said:
Since when was £500 on a used part alone "buttons"?

Reconditioned, big difference - Any old used turbo can be had much cheaper. You think £500 for what is essentially a new turbo is expensive?

MrMoonX said:
LOL you could get quite a lot fixed on a focus for the cost of a turbo for a 1.8T

Of course you could, given that the focus has no turbo which is one of the most expensive things that can go wrong on the vag unit. You could also spend a lot more than £500 fixing either car if taken to the wrong place. If the OP is a bit more hands on then either can be kept in a good state of repair for not a lot of cash. The 1.8T was listed as a car that he wants and it's not a bad engine by any means - certainly not all that expensive for parts imo. Sensors etc as per a post above can be an issue but again, nothing particularly difficult to sort out - vag com goes a long way to helping too.

Whilst there's nothing particularly wrong with the 2 litre focus, I would say there's little point in bothering with it over the 1.6/1.8 - still just as cheap to repair, a bit better on fuel and hardly any slower really.

Lopéz · 15 Mar 2012 at 08:19

rodenal said:
Reconditioned, big difference - Any old used turbo can be had much cheaper. You think £500 for what is essentially a new turbo is expensive?

Not really, but I think £500 on a single component (plus labour) to repair a fairly run of the mill hatchback is expensive, compared to the potential failures on some of the OP's other choices of vehicle.