Another spec me a new car thread

RossG

RossG

RossG

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Joined
5 Dec 2007
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Harrow, London
It seems my 1 litre Corsa is about to be written off by my insurance company after my neighbour reversed into it, so it is time for me to start car shopping again.
My budget at the moment is approx £2000 - £2500. What I'd like from a car is 5 doors, good mpg around town (I'm poor and 95% of my driving is in town) andcheap to insure (20, 2NCB, semi rubbish postcode). Needs to be reliable too. I'm not really in a position to keep having big bills thrown at me, so the less trouble the better. Needs to be fairly roomy and fairly motorway competent also. Most of my driving is in town but I got up north a couple of times a year to go camping, and fitting my equipment in a Corsa was never fun, neither was driving up there.
This is probably screaming Mondeo money, but I think it's going to cost me a bit too much in fuel and insurance to run one really. That and I have silly parents (they'll be funding a big chunk of this) who think more cc = more insurance and are generally not very cleud up.
What I'm thinking at the moment is along the lines of 1.4i Civic, 1.4 Seat Leon, 1.6 Focus, maybe a newer 1.25 Fiesta.
Anyone got any other ideas or suggestions?
 
I think I was leaning towards a Focus. What would I be looking to pay for one in a good to very good condition, possibly with a few toys? Maybe around 2000 - 2002? Alos anything I should look out when purchasing, such as a cambelt change etc?
 
'DEO! 'DEEEOOO! :D

Seriously though, if you're going to be doing long trips a few times a year and need to fit your gear into the car there isn't much else that'll do the job comfortably. Plus if anything does go wrong it's relatively cheap to fix.
 
Spunkey said:
'DEO! 'DEEEOOO! :D

Seriously though, if you're going to be doing long trips a few times a year and need to fit your gear into the car there isn't much else that'll do the job comfortably. Plus if anything does go wrong it's relatively cheap to fix.
Click to expand...

It's mainly the insurance I'm worried about. I was paying <£500 FC for my Corsa. I reckon a mondeo will be a few hundred above the £1000 mark, which is a big jump. I'll try some quotes anyway. That and fuel and stuff like tyres. How much does a standard type tyre cost a corner on a mondy?
 
Read this and then use this :)

Bigger engine doesn't always equal higher insurance costs, run a few examples and you'll be surprised. I drive a 0.7ltr car that the insurance company have decided is group 13...
 
Any thoughts? Sorry I'm being impatient, it's just that I'll be pushed for time getting a new one. Also anyone know how much tax will be per year?
 
It looks a tad overpriced considering it doesn't look immaculate, I'd say you'll be able to knock some off.

Tax will be £185
 
I thought it looked quite tidy :o. What makes it look non-immaculate to you? I just need to learn to be a bit more eagle-eyed.
 
Whilst I fully recommend a Honda Civic, as I have happily owned a 1.4S one for over a year, get one with a bigger engine - 1.6/1.8 maybe. Nothing wrong with the 1.4i, I am just always thinking " I wish it had slightly more guts."

Mine returns 34 mpg in town and 45mpg on motorways.
 
Right, after a bit of shopping around, it seems the Mondeo will still be too much to insure :(. Car was officially written off today, so now I am exclusivley looking at Focuses. 1.6 Zetec, preferabley in a decent colour (dark red, dark blue, silver and black) and with a CD player. However I am strruggling to find any that stand out on autotrader and Pistonheads. Also is there an ideal mileage to aim for with these cars? I get the impression that 70k is potential timing belt time and thats where most of the cars seem to be on the mileage scale. Would prefer to buy it without forthcoming bills for 10 -15k miles really.
Any general buying advice or other sites I can look at? Alternativley, see if any of you can find some decent ones on PH or AT. I'm still not great at the whole car buying thing so your help will be invaluable!

Budget is 3k max, but prefer to spend around £2-2500.
 
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