Need first car advice

I know there's a sticky but I have some quite specific things I need from a car and it's painful trawling through 10+ pages of a thread to find.

Passed my test last week, need a car.

I commute to work 12 miles (each way) every day.

I also need a big enough engine for 2/3hr motorway journeys (obviously not at first! Building up to that) as I an in am LDR.

I have £1000 at my immediate disposal. I'd prefer a car from a cheap insurance bracket.

I'd prefer new but up to 4 years old would be fine.

Help! I have no clue about cars. My initial thoughts are a corsa or something. I hate clios as I have driven my mum's and it's like driving a tank.

You won't get a car less than 4 years old for £1000... Unless it's been crashed or is knackered. So you might have to look at finance? Bear in mind though that with finance you'll be tied in to a contract.

For a grand outright though you're probably looking at something close to ten years old and with relatively high miles.

Insurance wise look at 1.0-1.2 litre petrol engines, but don't ask which car has the cheapest - it's down to your circumstances so run some details through a comparison site to get an idea of cost for various different cars. Some larger engines cars will be cheap to insure too... It will depend largely on your age, postcode, and the car you want to insure.

How is a Clio like a tank?! A Clio is a small car. A corsa is similar sized. If you think a small hatchback is too big, then try something like a Citroen C1 or Peugeot 107?

As far as motorway driving goes, it's unlikely a new driver will get cheap insurance on a car which is powerful enough for length motorway cruising. So you'll probably have to use a small car for those longer journeys. Unless you manage to find cheap insurance on a larger car?

If you look at financing a car, look at a Fiesta or Ka (1.0 ecoboost is a brilliant engine - but the Fiesta is a far better all round car), the Corsa or Adam (the Adam is lately inferior to the Corsa, but is not have either), and the Fiat 500. This last car is a sort of love it or hate it car, and I personally dislike driving them. My girlfriend has the 1.2 engined pov spec model and its abysmal to drive, especially long distance and on the motorway. Not bad around town, but certainly uninspiring and underpowered. I am told that the 3-cyl twin-air is quite a good little engine though.

Overall if you can afford a Fiesta on finance then go for that.

If you can't, then the Adam or 500 would probably serve you well, other than the motorway driving. A Corsa might be a good midpoint.

If you can't afford (or don't want) finance, then just get something that looks tidy within your budget.

When in doubt buy a Ford Fiesta, you can't go wrong.

When in doubt buy a Ford Fiesta, you can't go wrong.

check road tax, the higher the road tax, the more fuel costs the car takes up