Decisions on first car...help!

Conscript

Conscript

Conscript

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2004
Posts
10,881
Location
Kent
So today I went out looking around for a new car...my first in fact. To cut a long story short, I have come across 2 favourites, but now I am torn.

Firstly, I have seen a nice looking 1.2 Clio. 1999T reg. with only 38,000 miles on it. Full service history, one previous owner. Electric windows, no air-con. It was on for £2995. Now I'm very tempted by this, as it seems a decent first car, and as its coming from a fairly large dealer, they will provide a years warranty, good finance options if I need it, even service and valet it before selling it to me. I got a quick insurance quote:£545 third party fire/theft. Lovely stuff.

I was pretty dead set on that, but I also went to a place that did Fords. Now, I saw here a 1.8LX Ford Focus, again a T registration. Full service history, one previous owner. It's done 50,000 miles which sounds a lot to me (But hey, I am woefully inexperienced at buying cars). I really like it, and although I didn't give it as thorough inspection as I should have, it seemed in good condition. The interior, however, was a little on the tatty side....nothing serious, just some worn dash components, and some small holes where the previous owner had a phone holder or something mounted. Not quite as well kept as the Clio then, but with 12,000 more miles on it, I wasn't too surprised. What swings it is that the asking price is a mere £2695. I looked up an insurance quote and managed to find fully comp. cover for £991.

Now obviously, I need to look into this as it sounds too good to be true. I'm only 21 and have been driving a mere 3 months.

Anyway, Im now torn. Although thinking rationally, the 1.2 Clio seems like the more sensible first car choice. But for less money I can get a (albeit more used) Focus 1.8 litre. I really like Focuses, and having never been much of a 'hot-hatch' type person, I'm thinking I would be happier with the bigger, more practical and more powerful car. And I doubt it would be too much of a handful - I did all my learning to drive in a Ford Focus after all. Also, it has air-conditioning, a big plus in my book.

My main use of the car is domestic and social - commuting to work, which isn't far, commuting to uni sometimes (Perhaps an hours drive? Mainly because of traffic).

So, I put it to the great bods of the motors forum - go for the Clio and get a nice small first car, or pay a little less and go for a larger, albeit a little more worn Focus? What would you do?
 
Personally, I would take the focus out of the 2.

does the focus have aircon?

You say 50,000 seems like a lot, but the car is a 1999 plate and they say on average a car will do about 10,000 a year - so its about right.

I would prefer a history'd up high mileage car where most of the miles were done cruising with an unstressed engine, lower mileage cars could have been towncars and given lots of cold, short journies.
 
Yes, I took a good friend of mine with me who has been driving a lot longer. He said with a car like a Focus, it would likely be a higher mileage, but 'motorway miles' as it were, so it sounds better like that :)

Yes, the Focus has air-con. The Clio doesn't.
 
Out of those two, the Focus, for sure.

See if you can find a Zetec with the Climate pack, though - they have alloys and sportier suspension, so they look tidier and drive slightly better.

Oh, and 50,000 miles is nothing. My Mondeo had nearly 120,000 on the clock when I bought it, and so far, nothing major (apart from the air conditioning) has broken.
 
I think a Zetec would push the insurance higher than Id like. Not being one for wanting something really high performance, Id be happy with the 1.8LX....hopefully it will give me a decent enough amount of power to use.
 
Conscript said:
I think a Zetec would push the insurance higher than Id like. Not being one for wanting something really high performance, Id be happy with the 1.8LX....hopefully it will give me a decent enough amount of power to use.
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It's just a trim level, I seriously doubt it'll make insurance any/much more expensive.
 
Hmm, I may look into it. I was under the impression Zetec's were much more powerful. Anyway, here's pics of the 2 vehicles. Excuse quality and size, camera phone :/

Focus
focus.jpg


Clio
clio.jpg
 
No.... like I said, it's just a trim level. The engine power output stays the same.

Zetecs lose the Aircon that's standard on the LX in lieu of the alloys/sports suspension, so if you do go for one, make sure you find one with the optional Climate pack (heated front windscreen and air conditioning).
 
According to a price guide a Clio of that age in good condition should sell private for about £1700 but with just under double the mileage. So you've got to ask yourself what would your final offer on the car be and is the difference worth the service, warranty and lower mileage.
 
Conscript said:
Yes, I took a good friend of mine with me who has been driving a lot longer. He said with a car like a Focus, it would likely be a higher mileage, but 'motorway miles' as it were, so it sounds better like that :)

Yes, the Focus has air-con. The Clio doesn't.
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in that case, definately the focus
 
Don't waste your time with the Clio it's a terrible deal for the money.

I'd take the Focus - and 50k on a 99 car is low mileage.
 
Hmm. Pretty certain I'll be going for the Focus then, once I have my money together. I still cant believe I got such a low insurance quote though. Methinks something will go wrong, no way could it be this good a deal :)

Thanks for the help gents. In the meantime I will be keeping an eye out for other deals, but that's the best I've spotted so far.

EDIT: Update....although the bloke who was 'selling' to me quoted it as having 50,000 miles on the clock I've just been browsing their website stock-page and the same car is listed as 67,889 miles :o Now I'm still not entirely sure that's too high, but I didn't particularly like the look of the fella selling it to me (Seemed a bit cocky, and was probably younger than me...was telling me how he was insured on a 1.8 even with 6 points on his license). Im wondering if he's spun me any other yarns about the same car :/
 
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£1k for a Focus at 21 is hardly a 'low quote', it seems a bit expensive really. I'm less than a year older than you and pay the same as that for a 530i.

At 19, I was paying that for a modified Mondeo 2.0..
 
Have you been driving since you were 17 though? I was under the impression most insurance companies based their quotes on how long you have been driving, and like I said, I only passed in July. Which is why I was expecting a much higher quote.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
Focus without a doubt.

I just got a 1.8 Zetec in metallic black with similar miles, superb car for the money.
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67K? Or 50K? Like I said, 67K is what it says on their website, which isn't what the bloke at the garage told me.

Regardless, I shall probs pop back when I can, have a more thorough look around it.
 
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I'd look elsewhere tbh, neither of them are brilliant examples and its not like Clios and Focii are rare. They'll be plenty about in your price range and with the engine and trim level you want.
 
I'd say go for the focus, looks a much better package. And i know i'd prefere the 1.8 to the 1.2!

(and i like my clios!)

:edit, just a shame its silver :(
 
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