What first car for around 1k

Red Porsche said:
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.
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I wouldn't go on my parents insurance. I would like to go on my own and earn some bonus's :) It would work out cheaper in the long run :p
 
Dogbreath said:
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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oh right, I ain't a bright spark so bare with me :p I can see tho where you are coming from :D No matter what car I get for my first car, I can always see a big heafty wedge is needed :p

I don't know what I would do to the car tbh. I would want to change the alloys, as I really hate trims, but I would go for the genuine Renult alloys, non of these "racer " alloys, but then again, my insurance would go up again :( I am going to get a decent cd player as I love my music, and will be pruchusing a Sat Nav. Lol, all the basic stuff a driver would want tbh :D
 
Don't spend any money on your first car, you can't polish a turd..

Just get an old Fiesta, good luck with insurance prices, it seems young people get really really shafted now
 
laiman said:
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.
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Ben-Irvine93 said:
I would mate if I wasn't 6ft 2 :p
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Just to add to this... I'm 6'2 and my head touches the ceiling in the front passenger seat of a clio...
 
Looks like the forum want you to find a mini with a sunroof then!

Tbf I learnt in an 02 diesel Clio, not the best car in the world but there is definately worse. If you are wanting to look at alloys, probably cheaper to get a trim level that included them ;)
 
I have the same Clio you mentioned.

It's an ok car with an 'acceptable' interior but you will notice the odd rattle and sqeak. The engine has enough go but can be quite pushed at motorway speeds and is very noisy. Comfort wise they are very good and among my favourites for comfort of cars in its class (Clio, Corsa, Punto etc), I've completed 200mile round trips in mine and not felt tired/achy at the end. Handling again is pretty good with having plenty of feel (Drive this then a Corsa and you'll know what I mean).

Just my 2c on the car you mentioned :p
 
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A quick note on the Punto, I bought mine with a £1k budget, £300 allocated for a headgasket failure and £700 on the car if the car hadn't recently had a headgasket fix. At 94k miles (just) it has blown the headgasket which isnt bad considering I bought the car 2 years ago and have put some serious mileage on it!

Worth looking into owners forums to see what the common faults are with each car you consider so you can quiz the owners on them/inspect them when looking at a car.
 
I have just had a look around at some other cars than the clio. I don't like the fiesta, but I can get a 52 plate punto for around £1k. They don't look like a bad car tbh :)
 
Escort? My mate had one as a 1st car, had the Gti body kit so looked pretty good. God have some very good memories about that car!

Alternatively another vote for the fiesta.
 
Ben-Irvine93 said:
I have just had a look around at some other cars than the clio. I don't like the fiesta, but I can get a 52 plate punto for around £1k. They don't look like a bad car tbh :)
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Remember to ask abotu service history, when things like Cam belts were last changed etc. If you do get a FIAT I can recommend www.fiatforum.com as an owners forum, tons of information on there that can be read without an account and will give you an insight into what problems they can suffer and what things can easily be changed etc.
 
Cyanide said:
Mines only £700 with 2yr NCB, shop around :D
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Mines less than that with 2 years NCB, he doesnt have any and is in the highest cost age band. Though having said that I could get the metro insured for £900 at 18 just after passing. Though that was a quarter of his budget 4 years ago!
 
For once I may be wrong, lowest I seem to be able to get a quote for is £5,700 if I put my age to 17 with 0NCB

A full £5000 more than I'm currently paying, OUCH!
 
Cyanide said:
For once I may be wrong, lowest I seem to be able to get a quote for is £5,700 if I put my age to 17 with 0NCB

A full £5000 more than I'm currently paying, OUCH!
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I've had a look online for insurance, and tbh, I think its a load of balls :D The best way tbh is going to them directly asking them for a quote :)
 
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