first car, 306?

i love accords, but the insurance is group 10/11 and the command 2.5k plus, which makes it about a grand out my price range, if it were lower on the insurance i would be tempted.

example....group 6 pug 1.8 xs, value £1800 = £750 3rd party insurance, £850 f&t
 
aproctor said:
....any alternatives similar to what i'm looking for
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Okay gonna pimp it so here it is.

A decent Nissan Primera GT saloon model. Good colour and a bargain for 1k

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/570403.htm

A reliable chain driven engine, which means a oil change is all you really need to worry about, a great handling chassis, a decent selection of electronics (Air Con, heated wing mirrors, Electric Sunroof, Trip computer, ABS etc), 280mm disks all around and driven with care will return 40mpg.

I have actually owned two 306's a 1.6xs and a 2.0Xsi. I can say without doubt the Primera GT was better in every single way.
 
aproctor said:
whats the insurance group though? 1k is all well and good but if i am looking at 2k insurance it hardly seems worth it.

edit - 9 ( http://www.parkers.co.uk/insurance/Groups/by-model.aspx?model=603 ) not bad....defo one to consider..any problems with them?
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well the 306 you posted was £2700 all in. The GT is a group 14 insurance (Parkers is wrong) but before you freak out. Just try quoting some and you will be pleasantly surprised. I think 21 ,0 NCB would come out at around 1.2k TPFT.

The only big problems with the GT is the drivers side wiper spindle, If the wiper hits the bonnet as you close it will need replacing. Only £30 D.I.Y job but a good bargaining excuse. Driveshafts can wear out because they have rubber balancing bits on them that can trap water leading to rust and breakage but 9 times out of 10 it has been treated but make sure you check this.

Appart from modifications the only things i needed to replace on my GT was general upkeep like new pads and oil. Went through M.O.T no problem.
 
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it does sound tempting, but.... they look a bit...word with an s ends in an e. i mean the toledo on paper was amazing but it didn't do it for me, i know its my first car and my budget is whats holding me back, but i would like to go "yeah ive got a crx" not "ive got a primera....its a GT" i mean i have seen some with some mods and they look great but....
 
aproctor said:
it does sound tempting, but.... they look a bit...word with an s ends in an e. i mean the toledo on paper was amazing but it didn't do it for me, i know its my first car and my budget is whats holding me back, but i would like to go "yeah ive got a crx" not "ive got a primera....its a GT" i mean i have seen some with some mods and they look great but....
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You are buying your first car, none of the stuff for this sort of money is going to rival an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. They are all old cars that look a bit crappy - so get the best one not the prettiest :p
 
i see, understand and know your point, which was made in my last post, but it is down to preference and i'm not slating the primera, but like the mondeo its not for me tbh, although driving one may change this opinion very quickly but if everyone was saying the merc is a better bet than the bmw you were about to buy (hypothetically) it boils down to i would like to own something i like the look of if poss....
 
aproctor said:
it does sound tempting, but.... they look a bit...word with an s ends in an e. i mean the toledo on paper was amazing but it didn't do it for me, i know its my first car and my budget is whats holding me back, but i would like to go "yeah ive got a crx" not "ive got a primera....its a GT" i mean i have seen some with some mods and they look great but....
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No but you could go. "Ive got a Primera GT, you know the car that totally dominated the supertouring era of touring cars"

I am starting to see where your view is though. You want a hatch by the sounds of it and you want people to know what you got and it's got to be something that everyone would relate to. Rather then something that is reliable, fitted with decent electronics and is a decent space to be in.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/529587.htm

1k A bag of crap to drive, dull interior and back seats that you have to sit in with your neck at a angle but at least you can say to your boys. "I have a Tigra"

I made the same mistake of buying some crappy french tin of a hatchback for a first car because a) it was black b) it looked cool to da mates and c) it had a XS badge on the back so was super quick ;) If i could go back again and chose my first car it would be a 2.0 Mondeo with as many creature comforts as i could find.
 
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Had a 306 for the last year and a half as my first car and I would recommend it. Great fun to drive, albeit quite slow due to being a 1.4.

Reliability wise its been fine bar a couple of times its had a flat battery when it wouldnt start (my fault), although its had a lot done to it in the time ive had it, list as follows:
-New exhaust backbox
-New Brake disks and pads (normal wear and tear)
-2 new tyres (normal wear and tear)
-New lambda sensor
-New catalytic converter
-New fuel filler hose (dont know what happened, parked the car and next mornign it was leaking)
-New clutch

Its cost me over £1k in the time ive had it, but i dont care as its really nice to drive, and to be fair its been very reliable for a 10 year old car (V reg).
 
Stellios said:
-New fuel filler hose (dont know what happened, parked the car and next mornign it was leaking)
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Another common fault, the bend at the bottom of the filler pipe is a 2 piece moulded jobbie, with time the joint between the pieces starts to perish and piddles out your fuel. The replacement part is a 1 piece bend, think it's silicone based (probably not now i've said that :))
Remove the inner arch liner (3 minutes), undo 3 bolts to drop the fuel tank a couple of inches (5 minutes, 10 if they're corroded), cut off old pipe and refit new one (15 minutes), refit everything (10 minutes), job done. Hose costs £20, local pug dealer wanted to charge a mate just over £60 labour to change it :eek:
 
I never even looked into Insurance group when i was getting quotes for my accord.

Mine isnt new, Mine is an R reg. 2.0i se.

So the engine aint weeny. and its pretty fast for a beast of its size.

for my first car, at 23, i payed £870 tpft. on a 10month bonus .

It was about 1100, then i just put my Girlfriends mother as a named driver, and it dropped over 200 quid.
 
aproctor said:
the xsara is worth a look, but tbh i think they look naf
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find a decent one then! 1k will get you a mint low mileage 1.4 westcoast/1.6 or 1.8VTR (or VTS but thats obvi a no no to you)... choice is up to you.

all in coupe form. PS, EW, CL, AC, sunroof and sometimes leather if you look hard enough included.

look at this example, admitedly hes chucked some angels n aftermarket alloys on but bar that they look very smart.

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IMO it even makes that mk4 golf look dated.

good spec list, comfy ride, cheap insurance, cheap parts/maintainence, VERY chuckable, very fun. all under 1k? easily.

over and out

\xsara fan boi :p
 
My face makes a bog MkIV look old :P

Oh I forgot to mention my 306 didn't like the rain and after 20 odd miles up the A38 in the wet it'd start to miss. I'd stop, call the AA (only once, I just waited the following times), AA would turn up 35 minutes later. Start car, "oh car is fine k" "oh k bye". Then i'd try and make it the next 30 miles to work before it happened again. Turned out to be some dirty sensor. a year or less later it started not liking the rain and missing but felt slightly different with it, and smoked out the exhaust like your best friend's mother on a friday night. Bloke who found dirty sensor last time (Peugeot couldn't fix it) thought headgasket, and there was water in number 4, but pressure test thing said all ok. Anyway I had a job by then so part-ex'd it on a dry day! :)
 
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