First Car (mature driver)

H
BinnsY said:
That first one looks to be the best to me, although it's not badged as an EX-GT I cant work out what it's missing compared to the EX-GT I have. It definately has the pano roof, the built in sat nav, and the higher quality stereo.

The only downside I can see is that it's a pre-facelift, but given your budget and the amount of kit you are getting it seems to be a good choice.
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I asked a bunch of bog-standard questions about when the clutch was last replaced and so on... no reply. No contact number either. :(
 
So I totally forgot to post in this thread and say thanks to everyone for the advice. I did get a car in the end!

I'll post some pics another day but I waited and waited, got beaten to a few things, but eventually scored the following via Gumtree from an older lady selling her recently deceased husbands car. It was a bit above my budget but felt like the right car given it had much lower mileage and was a fair bit newer than the similarly priced ones I'd been looking at, and came with a double din touchscreen already installed.

It was:
ES-T 1.8 in... I think it's saphirre blue
2011 with the sporty black grille
41,000 miles on the clock
FSH with nothing to note. Recently had the brake pads changed.
Was ordered from the factory with the EX leather seats, although they're not heated but I don't really care about that, so it might as well be an EX (the EX GT only adds xenon lights and the sat-nav, neither of which I cared about)
Has rear parking sensors and I'm debating getting the reversing camera installed just because it might come in handy.

My thinking was that given the age and mileage, I pay more now but have a better resale value in the future, plus I won't have to pay for a new fascia/labour for the touchscreen. I'd mostly been looking at 2009 EXs with 75-90,000 mileage up till it appeared.

I managed to get insured on Aviva for £843 which was pleasing for first time driver me, given the average cost looking around was £1200-1300. Road tax was a gross £230 though. :eek::o
 
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Sounds a good choice to me.

I wouldn't both paying for the reversing camera to be honest. The civic is easy enough to park as it is and the sensors should give you more than enough.
 
Agreed on the reversing camera thing. I had one fitted in my previous car just because I could. When I changed cars and no longer had it, I realised I actually missed it quite a bit. Did think about fitting one to the new car too but decided it best I just get used to not having it.
 
Reverse camera is a nice to have, but not a fundamental requirement, so don't think I'd be too worried. I'd MUCH rather have had the xenon lights though. I'd struggle to pick a car without xenons, or better, lights nowadays.
 
Yeah I'll leave it.

I will get a dashcam though and have the wiring routed. Going to trawl the big thread here now...

My main splurge is going to be on something a Carplay receiver (the one installed is a stock Honda one with their sat nav) and better speakers - reasonably high end stereo is my thing - but I don't know much about car audio and need to find a good place in South-East London/Kent. Suggestions welcome.
 
Probably won't need to bother changing the speakers to be fair. Quite often just upgrading the head unit alone with stock speakers will sound plenty good enough. Guess it depends how far you want to go.
 
Here she be. There’s a blemish on the front offside at the bottom that’s somewhat noticeable (albeit not in these photos), so I might get that sorted, and there’s a gash in the rubber seal on the drivers door which I’ll definitely be replacing but otherwise it’s about as pristine as you could ask for a 7 year old car.

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Bump - nearly hit the year mark! About to start shopping around for insurance again (no claims, thankfully!). Passed MOT fine other than needing a new battery. Still enjoy the car although something with lower road tax and slightly more fuel efficient would be nice.
 
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