Few words of advice (maybe relevant):
- Go for a mechanically reliable car, other bits and bobs are cheap to fix in comparison
- Find an owners forum, sign up and see if they do insurance discount - saved £250 through pug306.net with Chris Knott insurance
- Check out
http://honestjohn.co.uk for any car you are considering - lots of info about common faults, try to avoid cars that regularly throw a headgasket for example(duh
). Also as i mentioned, sign up to some owners forums - they are a wealth of knowlege - you may even find "For Sale" section bargins.
- For your money, i'd say its best to avoid any damaged/accident cars - there will always be another one the same hanging around somewhere for the same money.
- Look at advanced driver training (Pass Plus, IAM) if your insurance seems crazy high. Although this doesnt always work for some people (run some quotes)
- Don't discount larger cars, or cars with larger engines. My first 306 was a 1.6 , and would have cost the same to insure as several other 1.1/1.2 cars i had looked at. It may also be worth looking at "Old man" cars, the legedary Ford Mondeo is an ok example - they dont attract the "young driver + hatchback = £££" premium and can often have better kit/interiors.
- When viewing a car, make sure you take a mechanically minded friend or parent, and someone who can thourougly test drive the car , make sure to check all the items listed on the "Used Car Checklist" on Auto Trader.
-Make sure to always run a check on the car, text its Reg to 83600 (its costs £3.50 on your phone bill) , to make sure its not stolen or has outstanding finance. Also if you are unsure of the value , use
http://www.glass.co.uk/ to check you arent paying too much.
Final word of advice, follow your gut instinct - you may well have to view a few cars before you find the right one - don't get carried away and buy the first car you see (I remember exactly how it felt though
) , if you turn up in a nice neighbourhood and someone is throwing service history at you its a good sign - but equally always remember to check the car properly.
Oh and have fun, feels awesome the first time you stop and realise you actually own a car
