What first car for around 1k

BigRazer93

BigRazer93

BigRazer93

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Joined
24 Aug 2009
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Hello, I'm 16 atm and i'm 17 in October. I am still in school. Mum has come up with an idea to get a car in a month or so for around £1k. We will put it on the drive and then farther can help you do it up (service it etc).

I have had a look round and the Renult clio's 1999 (T Reg) come into my mind. I have seen one for £850, excellent condish, all standard with 66k on the clock. 1.2l.

However, my dad thinks that I should get a damaged newer car for £1k and then spend money on it repairing it (body work etc).

I wouldn't mind tho getting the 1999 clio and do a full service, new brakes and a cd radio etc.

Any views, thanks :D
 
Before you get involved with buying and repairing something, have you looked into the cost of insurance? It will greatly outweigh the cost of a cheap car.
 
Dogbreath said:
Before you get involved with buying and repairing something, have you looked into the cost of insurance? It will greatly outweigh the cost of a cheap car.
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Thats a good point tbh. I ain't! Would insurance be a lot higher due it had been damaged before, so could have a bigger risk of failing or somthing?
 
£150 isn't much difference at all. I'd go for the Clio you've seen and put the £150 towards the insurance. (You'll need it!)

And kudos for wanting to have a go yourself at replacing/fixing things. It will be very handy to know these things.

In this price range it doesn't matter what you get. Fiesta, Clio etc.
 
peterattheboro said:
£150 isn't much difference at all. I'd go for the Clio you've seen and put the £150 towards the insurance. (You'll need it!)

And kudos for wanting to have a go yourself at replacing/fixing things. It will be very handy to know these things.

In this price range it doesn't matter what you get. Fiesta, Clio etc.
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Thanks. Its my dads idea, as he is good with cars. He said it would be good experience for you for when you are older. But I need all the money I can get for insurance.

And like I said before mate, I ain't really keen on fiesta's, as they are chavs goodies. Although, most 1.2l engines are :( All the chavs go for them, which casue us sensible drivers to pay for insurance to be so high. :(
 
Just a wee comment on the size of the Clio, a friend of mine has that shape and at 5ft11 my head touches the roof in the back. Nothing wrong with a Clio otherwise but if rear passenger space is a consideration make sure you try the back seats as well as the fronts.

Wouldn't worry about finding stuff to do on it either, there is always something wants done on older cars and it can be quite rewarding doing it yourself.
 
Recently bought a Fiesta 1.25 (1999) for the gf as a car for going to work and back. Also recently drove my friends old Clio.

From my limited experience driving the two, I much preferred the Fiesta, seemed far more spacious inside
 
ANY Hatchback of that sort of era has the poteininal to be a Chav wagon. If you came out and said you were looking at Mondeos/Vectras/etc to avoid the 'chav sigma then I would have agreed with you, but if you think that a 1999 clio somehow sets you apart from chavs in any way then you are deluded! :p

To be honest, having a car sitting on the drive months before you can even take guided lessons doesn't sound like the best idea. A service, new brakes and CD player can be knocked out in a single day, a weekend at the absolute most, so there isn't going to be much 'doing up' involved on a "modern" hatchback, certainly not enough for you to justify having it sitting outside for several months. Buying a crash damaged car doesn't sound like too great an idea either. What crash damaged car selling for around £1,000 is actually going to be worth fixing? I cannot imagine too many exist!

Personally my choice would be a 306 TD. Bombproof mechanics, Looks relatively modern, more practical than a clio sized car and is far quicker too. Insurance generally isn't too bad either.
 
Joshy said:
ANY Hatchback of that sort of era has the poteininal to be a Chav wagon. If you came out and said you were looking at Mondeos/Vectras/etc to avoid the 'chav sigma then I would have agreed with you, but if you think that a 1999 clio somehow sets you apart from chavs in any way then you are deluded! :p

To be honest, having a car sitting on the drive months before you can even take guided lessons doesn't sound like the best idea. A service, new brakes and CD player can be knocked out in a single day, a weekend at the absolute most, so there isn't going to be much 'doing up' involved on a "modern" hatchback, certainly not enough for you to justify having it sitting outside for several months. Buying a crash damaged car doesn't sound like too great an idea either. What crash damaged car selling for around £1,000 is actually going to be worth fixing? I cannot imagine too many exist!

Personally my choice would be a 306 TD. Bombproof mechanics, Looks relatively modern, more practical than a clio sized car and is far quicker too. Insurance generally isn't too bad either.
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I can see where you are coming from. Any hatch back is a chavs car, but what can you do for your first car. Its not like I can go out and get like a 1.6l mondeo lol :p I wouldnt want a 306, not my cup of tea.

I can't see a problem with getting a working car and keeping it on the drive. I am sure either my mum and dad would use it :p
 
If you are buying a car to do up make sure the body work is as perfect as possible, mechanics are easy enough to sort out if you know what you are doing but you dont really want to be getting hands on with any great amount of body work.
 
Jacob (: said:
If you are buying a car to do up make sure the body work is as perfect as possible, mechanics are easy enough to sort out if you know what you are doing but you dont really want to be getting hands on with any great amount of body work.
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Was speaking to dad about that. He said he would do it for me, but try and pick one up that isn't that damaged like :) But I would like to buy a ready working one :D I just have it safe in my mind that it works lol. But like you said, I ain't even guarenteed to get the body work spot on, no matter how well the bloke is :p But I have to think about money aswell. I'm sure a first driver with diabeties isn't going to be cheap lol.
 
Jacob (: said:
If you are buying a car to do up make sure the body work is as perfect as possible, mechanics are easy enough to sort out if you know what you are doing but you dont really want to be getting hands on with any great amount of body work.
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If you were looking an "enthusiasts" car where you are prepared to put work into it regardless then I would agree with you, but for a cheap run about it is ALWAYS Go > Show.

You can still drive a car with dents and scratches with ease, the same cannot be said for most mechanical faults
 
Are you expecting bank of mum and dad to pay for the insurance? Im 18, passed my test 4 months ago and as soon as id passed i was put on dads micra and insurance cost 500 quid just for 6 months. Thats with the car in my dads name. Ive got mates who've got insurance in their name and it has cost them about 1300-1700 for similar sized cars.

You can potentially get a few hundred quid off insurance with pass plus but id wait till your looking to get insured before you do that as not all companies take pass plus into account. You only get a big discount when the car is in your name. You could always have the car in your parents name and you be the main driver but thats highly illegal.

Id wait until you have either passed or have got to the stage where you can drive your own car with mum or dad in it before you buy a car. That way you can maybe save a bit more money and have more time to find a better deal. Keep an open mind on cars, dont let stigma's stop you getting the best value car either.

If your lucky you can get insured for 70 quid like my mate. But his mum has back problems so its some special insurance. His mums got a wicked 2.0 L Golf TDI. Lucky git.
 
Ben-Irvine93 said:
Thats a good point tbh. I ain't! Would insurance be a lot higher due it had been damaged before, so could have a bigger risk of failing or somthing?
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I didn't mean a repaired car would cost any more, just that if you are spending £1000 getting a car fit for the road, then you probably need to be prepared for the insurance costing maybe 1.5-2 times that amount from the numbers that other younger drivers in here seem to be quoted.

That said I have heard of some insurers being less keen on insuring previously written-off cars.
 
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