Idea: First car guide Article: Planning thread

WE often get a lot of threads about people needing their first cars and looking to TSR for help. The problem is these people are often completely clueless so have no idea where to start and they end up going nowhere.


Me and FXX were talking about getting a simple guide together as an article which will give a simple overview of the buying process and then if they do make threads it will be a more complete thread that can be answered without a lot of back and forth to extract the information from the OP we need to help.


The current Rough Main things that would need to be covered:

Budget,(including insurance and tax etc, make sur they know about different tax classes)

Requirements (Car type (Estate/Hatch), Car size, journey types)

Actually buying a car (Using a text check to look at history of car, Taking a mechanic with you/simple mechanical things you can look at yourself)-

Potential Scams (How to spot them, avoid them, what they look like etc)

Where to look (Ebay/ Autotrader /Other places)




Anyone have any big things that we're missing that they think could be helpful?

I was thinking the article would be linked to form the OP of the "First car" sticky at the top of the forum and from the Useful Resources down the right hand side.

Maybe under the car section, talk about the varying types of car engines avaliable for that specific type as well as the specific model and what they mean like E, S, SE, Sport and how it means that they have more optionals, etc.

Also maybe consider a separate guide for they have found a car and want to see it, essentially something they can print out and take with them and no exactly how they should check the car and test drive it.

Costs on top of the car, insurance, tax, parking permits, mot, etc and what they are and how to go about getting one.

Awesome additions. Useful to get ideas as one person will always forget things.

Not sure yet if i will write this or see if the new TSR Editorial team wants to take it on.

I'm always up for helping out, give me a shout if there's anything.

I will have a chat with Shooks that runs the Editorial Team as they know how to make the fancy pages. Such as this one. http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/content.php?r=3864-volunteer-on-tsr


I am thinking that they will probably want us to draft something quickly and then they can make it nice and neat with pictures incorporated but i will report back when i find out more.

If you're offering to write it then that saves me a job and i can focus on other things on TSR.

Keep me updated.

I don't think I could write it all as I work full time (5 days a week) and soon it will be Full time and Part time (6-7days a week) plus gym (4days a week). Not an excuse, just don't want you to think I cba doing it, when I do want to help out as best I can.

I wouldn't want to make a promise I would write it all up when I know that the most I'll be able to do is help write up parts as needed.

Ok, Will do.

Don't worry, Any help will be appreciated. Even if a few of us do different parts and then one person ties it together it will work nicely.

Another idea:

Rather than creating yet another wiki that will be rarely updated, and rarely viewed (people will post new threads regardless), why not be like other forums instead and:

Create a new thread starter template, including important questions like:
1) My budget in £££
2) Main use of the car (eg, short trips to the shops OR motorway commuting to place of work)
3) How many people will you be carrying most of the time?
4) How big a boot do you need?

5) Specific tasks you will be doing/specific requirements?
6) Any brands you would prefer? Any brands you hate?

This way new posters can fill in answers to these questions, and help/advice provided by forum members can be far more RELEVANT, and more to the point.

Another idea:

Rather than creating yet another wiki that will be rarely updated, and rarely viewed (people will post new threads regardless), why not be like other forums instead and:

Create a new thread starter template, including important questions like:
1) My budget in £££
2) Main use of the car (eg, short trips to the shops OR motorway commuting to place of work)
3) How many people will you be carrying most of the time?
4) How big a boot do you need?

5) Specific tasks you will be doing/specific requirements?
6) Any brands you would prefer? Any brands you hate?

This way new posters can fill in answers to these questions, and help/advice provided by forum members can be far more RELEVANT, and more to the point.

This is a good idea except where can we put this where people will see it and use it?

What i have thought is that we have Forms on here that we can use that can create threads. So on the Article page, there could be this form where people fill out their car requirements and then that makes them the thread with all the different options completed? This way they can be guided as to which options they want with the guide maybe?

Or we could put the thread starter template in the OP of the first car thread and hope they read that?

Easier for me to link a particular relevant example/implementation that I had in mind.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-notebook-should-i-buy/29271-what-should-i-buy-form-must-read-before-posting.html

If you go to that thread, and then go up one directory, you'll see that it is indeed a STICKY thread, with a large attention grabbing title: "### What Should I Buy FORM (Must Read Before Posting!) ###"

If you read the threads in that forum, you will notice that all the posts adhere to the format in the sticky.

As I said in my previous post, I don't think a Wiki page is ideal/necessary. The example I linked is far from the only forum that utilizes such techniques, its a pretty standard thing.

x

Interesting. Reckon that could be done as well.

There's a form creator on here i can access to make a form like that which will make the thread.

This would be the quicker option so could always start with this. If we organise a full list of questions it should not take a long time to make the Form and put it into the sticky/rename the sticky. (That's if i can find the form creator)

I have stolen yours and added a few more, not a properly written list but getting an idea/brainstorming still.


Thread starter template
1) Budget?

2) Main use of the car (eg, short trips to the shops OR motorway commuting to place of work)

3) How many people will you be carrying most of the time?

4) How big a boot do you need?

5) Specific tasks you will be doing/specific requirements?

6) Any brands you would prefer? Any brands you hate?

7)Fuel consumption important to you?

8) What features in the car important to you? (e.q Heated seats, leather seats, ipod control, bluetooth?)

9) Manual/Auto/Doesn't matter?

10) Are aesthetics of the car important?


EDIT:

Found the Form creator.

Can create drop down boxes autofilled or leave blank boxes or use the buttons. Will whip up a quick Test form soon.

Interesting. Reckon that could be done as well.

There's a form creator on here i can access to make a form like that which will make the thread.

This would be the quicker option so could always start with this. If we organise a full list of questions it should not take a long time to make the Form and put it into the sticky/rename the sticky. (That's if i can find the form creator)

I have stolen yours and added a few more, not a properly written list but getting an idea/brainstorming still.


Thread starter template
1) Budget?

2) Main use of the car (eg, short trips to the shops OR motorway commuting to place of work)

3) How many people will you be carrying most of the time?

4) How big a boot do you need?

5) Specific tasks you will be doing/specific requirements?

6) Any brands you would prefer? Any brands you hate?

7)Fuel consumption important to you?

8) What features in the car important to you? (e.q Heated seats, leather seats, ipod control, bluetooth?)

9) Manual/Auto/Doesn't matter?

10) Are aesthetics of the car important?


EDIT:

Found the Form creator.

Can create drop down boxes autofilled or leave blank boxes or use the buttons. Will whip up a quick Test form soon.

It's too broad.
Every make / model is likely to have been someones first car.

A mate of mine had a '68 Dodge Coronet as his first car a couple of years back, for example!

Honda Civic is great for first car, as are Jazz's and Golfs. VW Passat seems to be held in high esteem also round here

Cool story bro.