Good first car?

The problem is that companies like churchill seem to be rubbish for new drivers (judging by what they've been quoting me) even with the moped ncb churchill will probably work out more expensive.
 
hmm my endura took abit of punishment... anyway, besides the point!
For your first car, if the insurance is crippling you then you are better off with something a bit smaller, even if it is shameful. Remember it will only be for a year or so, and that way you can keep saving money and get yourself something worthwhile when its time to trade in.

My 2 cents ;)
 
When stressed it is a very noisy and harsh engine and it seemed to have a bit of a thirst for petrol. But yeah, my 1.3 escort gave me no problems in the 14 months i had it.
 
Check out www.confused.com and other comparison sites.

Admiral and Bell seem to give me good quotes, although I started off with NUD when I first started driving 6+yrs ag, and they were nicely cheap.
 
phi1 said:
Also I was chatting to my mum, she was saying that if I was to buy a car and then she used her car as only lessons rather than for everything. She said she would insure it and put me as a named driver? Is this illegal? Does she have to own the car?
Click to expand...

It depends who uses the car most, but if you used it for any sort of commuting (and many insurers ask where a car is kept during the day) I would say you should be the main driver. Even if you don't insurers share information and your insurer will probably know your mum has another car and will ask questions in the event of a claim. You also won't be building any NCB.

For £1000 I'd be looking at Citroen Xsaras, you should be able to find a very nice one for £1000.
 
You should pick yourself up a Peugeot 306. Me and my brother have both had 306's and they're a sweet little package.

Split rear seats are practical for large loads. There boxy wide design allows for 2 bikes stored in the rear with the rear seats down (easy job) Electric windows, aircondition and a nice interior are all well within your budget now for a 8yr old model. The 16v options would probably be very just within your budget, but the 1.4 8v is pokey enough to keep you abreast of the 1.2 punto's (even the 16v 1.2) and clio's.

The chassis is great, especially on a dry road. You can really get it in a 4 wheel drift on a nice dry road and scrub the crap outta the tires, but it has a really predictable chassis that is very easy to exploit. However due to the stiffness of the chassis that gives it such great dry handling capabilities, it understeers like a boat in the wet!

The ford focus will set you back a premium for its desireability and its ford badge, and at the price your paying, reliables names like VW, Audi don't mean squat at the age of car you will pick up.

I'd even recommend picking up a 147 Alfa if you want a really nice driving small car if its within your budget. You'll fall in love with it, as they have all the magic Mini's have, but the prices would be dirt cheap with valuable comfy extra's like aircon, electric windows, central locking (a must have) I can tell you all the places you need to look out for in buying a second hand Alfa, and they're really nowhere near as unreliable as people say. They're engines, gear boxes, clutches and cooling systems are all very strong and reliable.
 
frankcatkill said:
You should pick yourself up a Peugeot 306. Me and my brother have both had 306's and they're a sweet little package.

Split rear seats are practical for large loads. There boxy wide design allows for 2 bikes stored in the rear with the rear seats down (easy job) Electric windows, aircondition and a nice interior are all well within your budget now for a 8yr old model. The 16v options would probably be very just within your budget, but the 1.4 8v is pokey enough to keep you abreast of the 1.2 punto's (even the 16v 1.2) and clio's.

The chassis is great, especially on a dry road. You can really get it in a 4 wheel drift on a nice dry road and scrub the crap outta the tires, but it has a really predictable chassis that is very easy to exploit. However due to the stiffness of the chassis that gives it such great dry handling capabilities, it understeers like a boat in the wet!

The ford focus will set you back a premium for its desireability and its ford badge, and at the price your paying, reliables names like VW, Audi don't mean squat at the age of car you will pick up.

I'd even recommend picking up a 147 Alfa if you want a really nice driving small car if its within your budget. You'll fall in love with it, as they have all the magic Mini's have, but the prices would be dirt cheap with valuable comfy extra's like aircon, electric windows, central locking (a must have) I can tell you all the places you need to look out for in buying a second hand Alfa, and they're really nowhere near as unreliable as people say. They're engines, gear boxes, clutches and cooling systems are all very strong and reliable.
Click to expand...

Its not a good chassis if it has to be so stiff that it makes it handle like a boat in the wet, something a new driver will not want. The alfa will be a pain, both in insurance and on servicing, i think the cambelts on them only last 30,000 miles.
 
On the 16v TS models, its 12k servicing, cambelts every 36k. A 147 isn't really doable at this budget, though a 145/146 is. While I can't knock the idea of cheap Alfas seeing as I've just bought a 155, I would question whether the insurance and running costs would be in any way justifiable given the fact that its a first car. The likes of Fiestas, 306es and Rover 25s are capable enough for a first car, and much cheaper to insure.
 
Nah, well 306's aren't as bad as a boat in the wet, but can understeer bad if you run the line of provocation and if you have cheap tires on them. Still, a very practical spacious car and fantastic in the dry. Some of the 95 - 98 models also have a unique feature of a having a key code immobiliser, which is a nice reassurance as it really works.

Most cars are around 30k servicing cam belts. 36k isn't small, and most people will want to sell there run about before a major service anyways. That's a good point to look out for in the service record, as that will set u back £200 at a garage easy. Manufacturers like Volkswagen claim higher cambelt servicing intervals to enforce the reliable image, but then recall them later on. Parts aren't expensive either, and theres excellent support forums about them, and I mean REALLY good.

I don't think you'd really pay a premium on the Alfa brand on insurance really? I think you'd probably be paying a lot more on something that keeps it value better i.e. ford, VW, audi, anything! My insurance is dirt cheap. Maybe if you were in a town?

You can't drive a Rover though? Seriously?

I mean even the metro, in a head on accident with a mini, you'd still wouldn't survive.

Fiesta's aren't a bad option. The 1.3 is right in your line of economy and cheap on insurance, most of those models would be very basically spec'd however.
 
36k is small, ford say 100k and most people change at 60k to stay safe. The alfa will be expensive, the insurance groupings don't lie. Also i would not recommend the 1.3 Fiesta as that engine is awful, i'd rather pay for £100 or so on the insurance and get a 1.25. I can also be sure that a 1k alfa will be nothing but a pain in the bum.
 
Got a 1.2 punto. Only reason I got that is because we got it really cheap. And it's got full service history. We also are very good friends with the person that owned it! so know its history. It's a 2001, 55k miles red. Shall get some pics up in 2 weeks time when we get it!
 
i am also looking for my first car at the moment and i was looking at a 1.4 s Golf 1999 but i also like the ford focus,I have noticed allot of people on here saying buy a focus,why are they so highly recommended?
 
Because the MK4 golf is boring and running costs are higher than other cars in its class. Forget about that 1.4 golf now, it'll be slow and totally gutless. The focus will be a better drive, insurance will be cheaper, it'll be cheaper to run and there's loads of good examples around so it's easy to get a bargain or at least a good deal.
 
Last edited:
Stick with the focus and work on the insurance.

Give admiral a try and add your parents as named drivers. This got my focus ST quote from 1700 to 1100.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom