The Student Room Group

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Noble.
1.6L petrol Focus would be a good bet.


1.6 is a bit much, maximum for me would be 1.3L :colondollar:

Original post by Hanvyj
How much do you have for insurance? Whack a few random cars from autotrader in and see what you get quoted


Insurance on a 2000 1.2L ford fiesta was just over a grand.
The problem is i am not too keen on a fiesta but not sure which other one to get, I wouldnt mind a punto but apparently they cause too much trouble.
Reply 2662
Original post by pinky_pwincess
1.6 is a bit much, maximum for me would be 1.3L :colondollar:


Why's that? If you think the 1.6L is going to be too fast, it won't be. You'll struggle to get a 5 door car that's a 1.3L and under £500 because I think all engines that small on a normal sized car are relatively new and so, won't be cheap.
Reply 2663
Original post by Noble.
Why's that? If you think the 1.6L is going to be too fast, it won't be. You'll struggle to get a 5 door car that's a 1.3L and under £500 because I think all engines that small on a normal sized car are relatively new and so, won't be cheap.


You'd be surprised. Just have to look at older cars. My very first car was a 1991 Ford Fiesta 1.1lx. 5 doors. 28,000 on the clock when we sold it for £450 (it was my Granny's old car, not clocked at all, she just never went anywhere!)

Wibletg - I had a W reg Punto. RUST. Cambelt. Thermostat getting stuck.. :/
Reply 2664
Original post by her0n
You'd be surprised. Just have to look at older cars. My very first car was a 1991 Ford Fiesta 1.1lx. 5 doors. 28,000 on the clock when we sold it for £450 (it was my Granny's old car, not clocked at all, she just never went anywhere!)

Wibletg - I had a W reg Punto. RUST. Cambelt. Thermostat getting stuck.. :/


Yeah, but the old Fiesta is tiny, it might have 5 doors but it's not really a decent size. The fact she's wanting a 5 doors leads me to think she needs a practical, decent sized car, and the Fiesta is quite tiny, even with 5 doors.
Reply 2665
Original post by Noble.
Yeah, but the old Fiesta is tiny, it might have 5 doors but it's not really a decent size. The fact she's wanting a 5 doors leads me to think she needs a practical, decent sized car, and the Fiesta is quite tiny, even with 5 doors.


With a £500 budget I think they're expecting to get whatever's going, so long as it's fairly sound. I don't imagine they'll be too fussy.

Let's see if this works -

Searched Nationally (distance is from the centre of Winchester, Hampshire just fyi, not that it matters), 5 doors, 1.1-1.3, £500 max.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/postcode/so239gh/radius/1501/sort/priceasc/engine-size-cars/1l_to_1-3l/price-to/500/quantity-of-doors/5

Fiestas, Puntos, Micras.. take your pick.
Original post by Noble.
Yeah, but the old Fiesta is tiny, it might have 5 doors but it's not really a decent size. [B]The fact she's wanting a 5 doors leads me to think she needs a practical, decent sized car and the Fiesta is quite tiny, even with 5 doors.


You have hit the nail on the head there really :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by her0n
With a £500 budget I think they're expecting to get whatever's going, so long as it's fairly sound. I don't imagine they'll be too fussy.

Let's see if this works -

Searched Nationally (distance is from the centre of Winchester, Hampshire just fyi, not that it matters), 5 doors, 1.1-1.3, £500 max.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/postcode/so239gh/radius/1501/sort/priceasc/engine-size-cars/1l_to_1-3l/price-to/500/quantity-of-doors/5

Fiestas, Puntos, Micras.. take your pick.


Very true :smile:


Puntos are fairly cheap, has anyone had one at all?
I hear they are trouble which is why im steering away from them tbh
How about a clio? Haven't heard much about them.
Bleughhh i hate micras (no offence to anyone who has one)

Btw when do autotrader list more cars?
At he moment i have been using gumtree and bargain pages,is there any other sites i could use?
I am from birmingham if that matters at all "/
(edited 12 years ago)
Thanks for your help btw :smile:
I got the new Ford Focus Zetec 1.6:biggrin:, it's a great car.

I was a little scared driving it last week when I got it, it's weird not having the instructor there. However, a week later, I'm really enjoying being on the road on my own.
Original post by Herr
My gf had one until very recently, hers' was very reliable just regular maintenance work only for 180k km, no real issues till then when it needed a new steering rack, balljoints, engine mounts and shocks all round. Other than that everything else worked well with it.

My family had an 04 206 CC 2.0l , it was nothing but pure troublesome french crap. 3 days after the car arrived the passenger side airbag deployed for no reason, the car would just shutoff for no reason, warning lights would go on for no reason especially the ABS lamp, power windows 3 of the 4 motors had to be replaced before the car had it's first tax renewal which it never had because the last straw came when the roof wouldn't close, there we were trying to close the roof with an approaching storm the system blew a fuse and we replaced the fuse and it blew the fuse again, we didn't bother closing the roof drove it straight to a Peugeot garage and told them to sort it out and we wanted the car returned clean and dry. After that we traded it in.

Kinda of a lottery whether you get a good one, but having said that most parts for it are quite cheap in UK since it was once produced in UK.


Hey there
Thanks for the reply :smile:

Just as you replied I returned home after placing a deposit on a used 206 LX 2003 3DR with 60K miles. Its in spotless condition xD Picking it up on wednesday
Im getting the timing belt and water pump changed just to be safe

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with them. Hopefully I've struck a good deal here :colondollar:

Thanks again
Reply 2671
Original post by pinky_pwincess
Very true :smile:


Puntos are fairly cheap, has anyone had one at all?
I hear they are trouble which is why im steering away from them tbh
How about a clio? Haven't heard much about them.
Bleughhh i hate micras (no offence to anyone who has one)

Btw when do autotrader list more cars?
At he moment i have been using gumtree and bargain pages,is there any other sites i could use?
I am from birmingham if that matters at all "/


I had a 2000 (W reg) Punto and it lasted me 3 years. Sold it on for something more exciting, and from what I know, it's still on the road today. It behaved itself for the most part, but required some welding of rusted spots at the last MOT I took it in for. It'll depend entirely on the car you get though. Find a well looked after one, with little rust, and you're good to go. I used to get 400 miles from each full tank of fuel.

You could also try ebay motors? Be careful with gumtree though, it's scam central.
Hi all,

Looking to buy my first car this month having been passed for just shy of a year.

My budget is about £800.

I want a small car with a maximum engine size of 1.2ltr.

It needs to be reliable as I won't have much money left for repairs once I've paid for the car and insurance.

Any suggestions?
I've got a brand new Citroën DS3 1.6 DStyle+; and I'd encourage anyone else to do the exact same thing I did for a first car! (18+)

Get it on a PCP, try different dealerships for different deals; but I put £999 down, then it's £199/Month for 2 years. Cracking car with lots of kit, and my insurance was £1.6k!
Original post by TheBritishBloke
I've got a brand new Citroën DS3 1.6 DStyle+; and I'd encourage anyone else to do the exact same thing I did for a first car! (18+)

Get it on a PCP, try different dealerships for different deals; but I put £999 down, then it's £199/Month for 2 years. Cracking car with lots of kit, and my insurance was £1.6k!


How old are you?
Original post by Original Legend
How old are you?


In Year 13.
Reply 2676
Original post by TheBritishBloke
I've got a brand new Citroën DS3 1.6 DStyle+; and I'd encourage anyone else to do the exact same thing I did for a first car! (18+)

Get it on a PCP, try different dealerships for different deals; but I put £999 down, then it's £199/Month for 2 years. Cracking car with lots of kit, and my insurance was £1.6k!


Is your insurance 3rd party or full?
Original post by Mess.
Is your insurance 3rd party or full?


Fully Comp on my Sister's policy; but I'll be taking out my own policy next year with the same insurance company and they're giving me a years no claims.
Reply 2678
Original post by TheBritishBloke
Fully Comp on my Sister's policy; but I'll be taking out my own policy next year with the same insurance company and they're giving me a years no claims.


Ah good, was wondering why it was so cheap. For some pathetic 1l thing my insurance was looking at being around £3000 :rolleyes:
Original post by Mess.
Ah good, was wondering why it was so cheap. For some pathetic 1l thing my insurance was looking at being around £3000 :rolleyes:


Yeah, I can't wait until the 21st December when the whole men/women equal insurance comes in. I got quoted £6k on my own, or £1.8k on my own if I chopped my penis off.