Looking at getting first car

Ghosteh

Ghosteh

Ghosteh

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Joined
18 Mar 2006
Posts
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Location
Liverpool
Well, basically, I'm looking at getting my first car, as the topic would suggest. I'm turning 25 next month, so I know that it'll drop the insurance some what, but I'm still expecting to pay a fair whack, unless I can find an insurance company that's willing to accept my 2 years NCD that I've earned on my motorbike licence.

Now the main criteria for what I'm looking for is;

Economical;- I shall be doing quite a number of miles, especially over the winter, on Autobahns(Just moved to Germany with the Army), so want something with a good MPG, so looking at a diesel engine I'd imagine.

Boot space;- The miles I will be covering will mostly be to mountain ranges over Germany to get a load snowboarding in over this winter.

Price Range;- Looking to spend between around £8k to £9k~ maximum, don't mind going over this, but not by a lot.


Now so far, I've kind of short listed this to something like a BMW 320d SE Touring, or maybe an Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TDi.

Just wondering if anyone can offer any advice on the above 2 cars, anything to look out for, or anything good about either of them. Also open to more suggestions too.

Cheers for any help in advance :).
 
Have you actually ran some quotes.

Regards of your age, I'd be surprised if you could insure either of those remotely reasonably
 
Looking at around £1.7K to £2.5k insurance at the moment, assuming I get it after I'm 25, it's around £6k minimum while still 24.

I know that it's silly amounts, but I've got the extra income to be willing to pay the extra.
 
Are you planning to buy and insure in Germany of the UK?

As for those two cars I'd take the BM over the Audi, and I suspect the forum at large will agree with me.

However the general view will be that by choosing a 320d you're doing it wrong. The consensus will be if you want a dependable 2 litre diesel estate car then a Mondeo or an Accord will give much better value for money. And if you want a nice premium car then you want a premium engine to go in it (and that means 6 or more cylinders).

EDIT: I know nothing about cars, my reply is wholly based on my knowledge of the OcUK motors forum.
 
Lol fair does.

I'll be buying in the UK, but insuring over here. Got a few facilities on camp that can help with me getting insurance over here. Generally the cost is down to the BHP output of the engine more than anything from what I understand so far. Still waiting to get a few quotes out here, the ones I listed above where quotes from UK insurers.

I know the BM isn't technically the best estate I could get, that I could find one with better MPG, or one with more boot space, but there is just something about BMW I've always wanted. And I'm probably in the best place to be able to afford one at the moment.
 
Ghosteh said:
Something like this this is what I'm ideally after. Is there anything I should be wary of with this model/year?
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It's a 5 year old car with 150k on it and diesel so you have to consider turbos, DMF and other problems likely to come up.

Equally for the same money you could probably pick up a new shape Mondeo 2-3 year old with some sort of diesel engine and 1/4 of the mileage and maybe better spec.

Something like this?
 
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How much would my budget have to be to be looking at a good example then?

And also conversely, what does my budget give me to look at? The Mondeo has already been mentioned, but anything else?
 
Pretty much any of the family car sector. Honda Accord, Vauxhall Vectra, Mazda 6, Toyota Avensis and so on.

They are bigger than the premium stuff as well (3 series, C Class etc) and are all offered in hatchback with folding rear seats (suprisingly large boot and load space) or estate of some sort.

Premium stuff is gonna be older, higher mileage and a fair bit rougher at this budget.

Equally it's quite a bit to spend on a Mondeo when the previous shape for about £5k would probably do the exact same job just as well and help you out with insurance costs.
 
Peerzy said:
Pretty much any of the family car sector. Honda Accord, Vauxhall Vectra, Mazda 6, Toyota Avensis and so on.

They are bigger than the premium stuff as well (3 series, C Class etc) and are all offered in hatchback with folding rear seats (suprisingly large boot and load space) or estate of some sort.

Premium stuff is gonna be older, higher mileage and a fair bit rougher at this budget.

Equally it's quite a bit to spend on a Mondeo when the previous shape for about £5k would probably do the exact same job just as well and help you out with insurance costs.
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I totally agree, avoid the BMW's and Audi's. Because you'r in Germany doesn't mean you need a German car :P

For the money your talking about your miles are going to be sky high and you really wan't to avoid cars with 150K on them, even if there beamers, you are only paying for the badge.

I personally have a mazda 3 and the mod cons, extras etc are brilliant. You can pick up a second hand mazda 3 sport for great money and not a lot of miles on the clock. It will do your german autobahns no problem, and there pretty reasonable on fuel aswell. I have a 1.6 version and it's pretty good petrol wise but it would struggle to sit at a steady 100mph+ without burning loads of juice. I only need it to do 70 though. The 2 litre however will have no problem. Either the mazda 3 or 6 sport models is a good benchmark.

Hope this has helped. You are only buying trouble taking on a car with 150k on the clock.
 
Yeah, I won't be looking at that mileage now. I've upped my budget some what now I've settled in Germany a bit more, worked out how much I need to live on, what I can spare, and what I'm willing to spend, so my budget increased to around £13k. I know this is quite a high budget, but I'm in a position that I'm not likely to be in in years to come. That's probably when I'll be looking at more sensible options, once I've got kids and a mortgage lol.

Insurance wise, I can get fully comp for around €120/month on a 2007 320d(177bhp), which I'm more than happy with. If I was back in the UK, there'd be little chance of being able to afford the car plus insurance.

The ones I'm looking at are ranging between 55k and 70k on the clocks now, so should have less issues.
 
I'm surprised you're not taking advantage of the overseas posting (don't pay VAT if you keep the car over there for 6 months) and your military discount (13% with Land Rover atm), you could stand to make a profit if you sell it when you come back.
 
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