My first car

tenchi-fan · 7 Nov 2006 at 00:13

Just bought my first ever car.

It's a 1.6l 1997 Audi A4, £2145 (which is somewhat of a bargain in Ireland!). Really like it, it's so comfortable to drive especially compared to my mother's 3 year old Citroen C3 which I'm used to driving - it rattles to pieces on the country roads and has a burning smell when going down the motorway at 75mph!

The insurance was a right rip-off though. £1285 fully comp. One insurance company even had the cheek to tell me I'd have to do their "ignition" driving test for inexperienced drivers! I'm 25 in 2 mths, have a full licence and about 2 years driving experience which for one reason or another doesn't count.

My twin sister bought a girly '06 1 litre car for three times the price of mine, has even less driving experience than me (she still has L plates up so other drivers give her a chance!) and her insurance is only £565. Unfair!

Just to think, last week (as discussed in a previous thread) I was actually thinking of buying a Fiat Punto :eek:

Anyway I had to take a sickday from work to drive to a nearby town to buy the car but it was worth it!

Bri · 7 Nov 2006 at 00:14

Sounds good, enjoy it

James_N · 7 Nov 2006 at 06:45

yep, sounds good to me

Naffa · 7 Nov 2006 at 10:15

Oi! I'm a male and I want to buy a 1000cc Fiat Cinquento as my first car. The insurance is gunna be paying me.

Virdi · 7 Nov 2006 at 10:17

That's great for a first car....

My first car was a 1.3 Vauxhall Astra - Which cost £800 - It didn't even have a Rev Counter - lol

Reality Bites · 7 Nov 2006 at 10:18

why have you gone fully comp on a £2k car?

kaiowas · 7 Nov 2006 at 10:19

naffa said:
Oi! I'm a male and I want to buy a 1000cc Fiat Cinquento as my first car. The insurance is gunna be paying me.

good luck finding one

They're all either 899 or 1108cc

tenchi-fan · 7 Nov 2006 at 10:21

naffa said:
Oi! I'm a male and I want to buy a 1000cc Fiat Cinquento as my first car. The insurance is gunna be paying me.

Once u realise your friends will make fun of you even if they only have bicycles. The first car I drove was my mam's Daewoo matix, 900cc (I think!)! Here's one like it:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1999-DAEWOO-M...3770402QQihZ018QQcategoryZ18179QQcmdZViewItem

It was horrible. And every time I hit a pothole (which happened a lot on country roads) it would tear the tyre costing around £30 to get replaced. My friends used to call it the orange bubble.

[TW]Fox · 7 Nov 2006 at 10:27

1.6 A4? I know its only a first car but seriously, good luck with that. Big car running costs with none of the advantages..

chrislusty · 7 Nov 2006 at 10:28

kaiowas said:
good luck finding one

They're all either 899 or 1108cc

Just what I was going to say

Fiat sold the design of the Matiz to Daewoo, the cinquecento could have looked like the Matiz but Fiat didnt use it.

Useless fact for the day

Tesla · 7 Nov 2006 at 10:29

[TW]Fox said:
1.6 A4? I know its only a first car but seriously, good luck with that. Big car running costs with none of the advantages..

Gotta agree. My dad had a 1.8NA A6 once and always moaned how underpowered it was.

I don't thin the A4 is any lighter really

Mr-White · 7 Nov 2006 at 10:53

wouldnt go for the small 1.0l cars, you'll only get frustrated with the lack of power and ride quality and end up changing it. the audi is a nice comfy car although it might be a little big if you're not too experienced.

MW

fonzee · 7 Nov 2006 at 13:18

Reality Bites said:
why have you gone fully comp on a £2k car?

its an A4 maybe? a small basic hatchback and maybe you have a point... but i sure as hell wouldnt want anything less than FC on a car of that calibre.

tenchi-fan · 7 Nov 2006 at 17:46

Reality Bites said:
why have you gone fully comp on a £2k car?

BECAUSE I got a loan to buy the car. If I crash and some one claims off my insurance my premiums would be sky high - so I might as well be able to get the cost of my car back! Not everyone has £2k in their back pocket you know!
Besides fully comp was just a little extra compared to 3rd party fire and theft and it allows me to legally drive other people's cars.

tenchi-fan · 7 Nov 2006 at 17:51

[TW]Fox said:
1.6 A4? I know its only a first car but seriously, good luck with that. Big car running costs with none of the advantages..

Spoken like some one who never drove a rattly, small car! Trust me, there's a huge advantage compared to what I'm used to driving. Plus most of my driving's done on roads with a 100kph (60 mph) so I don't need a really powerful car. Plus I'd prefer to crash in it than in a Daewoo Matiz.

Reality Bites · 7 Nov 2006 at 17:52

tenchi-fan said:
BECAUSE I got a loan to buy the car. If I crash and some one claims off my insurance my premiums would be sky high - so I might as well be able to get the cost of my car back! Not everyone has £2k in their back pocket you know!
Besides fully comp was just a little extra compared to 3rd party fire and theft and it allows me to legally drive other people's cars.

all they will do is write it off if it's that bad and you'll be lucky to get half the value you paid.....

Naffa · 7 Nov 2006 at 18:51

kaiowas said:
good luck finding one

They're all either 899 or 1108cc

tenchi-fan said:
Once u realise your friends will make fun of you even if they only have bicycles. The first car I drove was my mam's Daewoo matix, 900cc (I think!)! Here's one like it:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1999-DAEWOO-M...3770402QQihZ018QQcategoryZ18179QQcmdZViewItem

It was horrible. And every time I hit a pothole (which happened a lot on country roads) it would tear the tyre costing around £30 to get replaced. My friends used to call it the orange bubble.

Cheers for that guys.

tenchi-fan · 7 Nov 2006 at 22:54

naffa said:
Cheers for that guys.

Hey, it beats walking!

[TW]Fox · 7 Nov 2006 at 23:27

fonzee said:
its an A4 maybe? a small basic hatchback and maybe you have a point... but i sure as hell wouldnt want anything less than FC on a car of that calibre.

The car itself makes no odds to the fact that FC sucks for cheap cars becuase any claim you make for damage youve done yourself usually ends up costing you more than just buying a new car. This is the same irrespective of whether its a £2k Corsa or a £2k Mercedes.