What should I do (Getting a new car)

Noni Juice · 16 Jan 2007 at 17:18

Hi there,

I recently passed me driving test and you probably noticed me asking about what car to get, now I have a problem.

I live with my Mum and Dad, my grandpearants live next-door with me cousins living there temporarily.

Heres the cars we have-

Dads car- Passat Y-REG TDI 2.0 | I cant get insured on this as they said the car is too powerfull

.

Grandads/runabout car- Civic 16 Vavle Automatic | I think it was £850 till May for me to be insured on this. Also its an automatic which everyone says will make me lazy.

Cousins car- BMW 3.20i (NEW) | Obviously he wont let me drive it

and its an automatic.

What can I do? If I get a car its probably "just" for me and I wont use a car that much. But I really want to drive about

.

Any-ideas??

alexthecheese · 16 Jan 2007 at 17:19

Accept that you're going to have to buy your own car, and tell us what you want and how much you can afford.

Noni Juice · 16 Jan 2007 at 17:21

Hmm ok,

Im thinking as cheap as possible. I was interested in the Micras. Around £500.

Noni Juice · 16 Jan 2007 at 18:01

Oh and what insurers support the Pass Plus scheme?

Rich1988 · 16 Jan 2007 at 18:20

most do but the discount they give depends on loads of factors

The Edge · 16 Jan 2007 at 18:37

Around £500 you can get quite a lot for your money if you shop around.

Mondeos are popular on here, though what you'd get for £500 is debatable.

When we were looking for mine we looked at Pug 306, Renault Laguna, Megane, Rover 200 & 400.

We ruled out the 306 because though cheap to insure they are (round here at least) rapidly becoming sought after as chav mobiles with a price to match. The Rover cars have the associated HGF problems which put us off a bit really.

The we hit on the Citreon ZX which is mechanically identical to the 306, doesn't look as nice aesthetically IMO but is not as sought after and therefore cheaper. Insurance is however slightly more for some reason - that may change when the chavs start crashing them!

There's loads you can get for that money, get an autotrader and take someone with you who knows about cars and drive a hard bargain!

Bes · 16 Jan 2007 at 18:46

212 said:
Grandads/runabout car- Civic 16 Vavle Automatic | I think it was £850 till May for me to be insured on this. Also its an automatic which everyone says will make me lazy.

????

Just drive this car- It'll cost you a bomb for insurance, MOT, servicing, etc etc etc I don't use my car very much now due to my job so my mum has started using it after hers got crushed by a tree last month :eek:

-Mike- · 16 Jan 2007 at 18:49

The Edge said:
get an autotarder and take someone with you who knows about cars and drive a hard bargain!

LOL

The Edge · 16 Jan 2007 at 18:54

-Mike- said:
LOL

Oops

The Edge · 16 Jan 2007 at 19:11

Another one worth looking at is a Skoda Favorit/Felicia if you're not snobby about the badge.

They go for next to nothing. They do, unfortunatley, seem to rot quite badly from some examples i've seen but again if you take someone with you who knows what they are looking for you could be laughing.

A mate of mine got one from an auction for his daughter for £200 it's flown through two MOTs and she's put 30,000 miles on it.

Puzzled · 16 Jan 2007 at 19:14

Bes said:
????

Just drive this car- It'll cost you a bomb for insurance, MOT, servicing, etc etc etc I don't use my car very much now due to my job so my mum has started using it after hers got crushed by a tree last month

I agree if he only plans on using the car on the odd occasion and doesn't need it daily, then why waste money on another car. Plus if your cheeky you'll never have to pay for petrol.

It may be an automatic, but at least you'll be able to spend more time thinking about the situation rather than stalling or getting the wrong gear. When you come to drive a manual again it won't take long for you to adjust, just go somewhere quiet and practice.

If on the other hand you do need a daily runabout, then just buy a cheap banger. I say banger, but you can actually get a lot of decent stuff for under £500 just depends if it meets your taste.

NickXX · 16 Jan 2007 at 20:24

Drive the Civic, nothing wrong with autos. I drove various autos for 3yrs after passing my test since then I have ownly owned and driven manual cars - wasn't a problem getting used to a proper box again.

Lashout_UK · 16 Jan 2007 at 20:27

wasn't a problem getting used to a proper box again

I concur - first car was an auto and it wasn't difficult getting back into a manual at all

. In fact, it was quite nice to be able to drive and have one less thing to think about in the 1st year's driving

Sone · 16 Jan 2007 at 20:38

made me laugh when i first passed and got on the company insurance, i could drive any car including V6 omega's, mazda 6 turbo thingy, but not "high value, high performance cars" like the oldest slowest thing on the fleet, a s-reg 318i. Insurers must be badge snobs!