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decent first car or old banger?

i passed my test a few weeks ago :smile:

and im in two minds. either get an old banger thats done 90k miles and is worth £800 or save a couple more months and get an okay car such as a toyota aygo for £2700 which has done 40k miles and should hopefully last me longer

thanks :smile:

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Reply 1

DavidYorkshireFTW

Original post by good morning

i passed my test a few weeks ago :smile:

In this situation should you not take insurance into account, like will it not cost more to insure the toyota than it would to insure the old banger? :smile:

Reply 2

good morning

Original post by DavidYorkshireFTW

In this situation should you not take insurance into account, like will it not cost more to insure the toyota than it would to insure the old banger? :smile:

nah ive got some quotes and an older clio will cost me about £700 whilst the toyota would be £630

Reply 3

bestofyou

Well remember that an older car will likely cost more post-purchase. It could be less fuel-efficient, it may need regular repairs and for the MOT your could be looking at higher costs in order to pass.

What do you need a car for though? Are you in school or what are you doing? I know people who have bought cars while at university and it ended up being a huge regret because of the costs during the year.

Reply 4

DavidYorkshireFTW

Original post by good morning

nah ive got some quotes and an older clio will cost me about £700 whilst the toyota would be £630

Toyota then I guess, it will most likely have a longer running time, cost you less in maintenance and also being cheaper to insure, although it costs more to buy, the potential repairs on the old banger could rack up a higher cost. :smile:

But it's not my car so it's up to you really :biggrin:

Reply 5

Hanvyj

Tough choice. The older car is likely to cost more in upkeep, but there is no guarantee the newer one won't. If the older one get's crashed, or the engine falls out then you've only lost £600 + insurance. The newer one looses you three grand. But it has less chance of the engine falling out...

Also, if the older one dies and you need a car, you will have money to spare to replace it.

I'm assuming 2700 is your max budget - so if you have problems you might not be able to afford to fix them.

Tough.

Reply 6

Airfairy

I ended up getting an old banger that had done 40,000 miles because the elderly woman who sold it me never used it. I thought I was getting the best of both worlds... I wasn't! It cost 600, and gun spent about the same on it in repairs.

mot is coming up again soon. I'm worried about it!
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Reply 7

good morning

ill be using the car for general getting about (I'm in my final year of uni) so also travelling to phd/job interviews across the country & also travelling 400 miles home from uni. also to get to and from work at stupid times....

im more persuaded towards a better car than old banger...

Reply 8

JC.

Original post by Airfairy

You bought a car with 40k miles and then moan that you had to spend a poxy 600 quid on it? Jeez, get real!

Reply 9

Airfairy

Original post by JC.

You bought a car with 40k miles and then moan that you had to spend a poxy 600 quid on it? Jeez, get real!

I took it to a mechanic and he said he thought it had already gone round the clock, because where you look at the mileage only has five digits and he couldn't understand why some of the stuff that's broken on it would fail with such little mileage. I moan yes, because £600 isn't poxy to me at all, especially when it's being spent on a crappy car that just feels like it's gonna carry on falling apart anyway.

Reply 10

It's****ingWOODY

Go for a banger I reckon. Since you're most likely to knock it or have a crash in your first year, it makes no sense to go expensive. Repairs tend to be cheaper on older cars because they're simpler. If you can get someone who knows their stuff to come along to examine it before you buy it, you'll minimise the risk of buying a car with loads of things wrong with it; that goes for both new and old. You could also pick up something decent for 500 quid anyway, early 2000s with decent mileage in good condition, then save for something better for next year after you get your first years NCB. If something major went wrong with the car in the meantime, rather than pumping money into it for repairs you could sell it on for about £400 as spares and repairs and you wouldn't lose much money, whereas with something more expensive that obviously wouldn't be the case.

Reply 11

JonnyP19

Original post by good morning

i passed my test a few weeks ago :smile:

Hey, I was faced with that dilemma too but i chose a 04 Toyota yaris Colour collection 1.0 VVTI, And i have to say costing me £1750 with 57K Miles it is one of my best choices yet, The problem with old bangers is because there old they are more likely to break, use more fuel and insurance companies may charge you more for the insurance. Or you can get a newer car that wont break as soon Most likely have better fuel consumption look better and Might even have cheaper insurance..

Id go for the aygo mate... Jon

Reply 12

Camoxide

Old banger. Most likely to have knocks or bumps in your first year.
Even if something does go wrong they're cheap to fix because there's so many parts around and they're generally easy to work on.
If you're worried get something that's known to be reliable.
Basically avoid Fiat Puntos and Saxos.

Also they lose hardly any money in deprecation. They've already lost like %95 of their value already.

Reply 13

Sgt.Incontro

Original post by good morning

In that case, definitely get the better car. Safety and reliability is important. (Though old cars can be both, seems you are looking at really crap ones.)

Buying and selling used cars privately is a bit of a hassle, and if you are confident enough about your driving, I think it is pointless buying a crapbox, and then selling it too soon just to buy another car.

If you can afford it, just go and get yourself a decent car, and let it be that.

Reply 14

Alfissti

Original post by good morning

i passed my test a few weeks ago :smile:

Ideally unless you have loads of money your first car should be something really cheap, runs decently and had a recent MOT. You will bump and scrape it and while most of it would be minor and probably cosmetic damage, it will still cost money to fix.

My first 2 cars were essentially bangers, 1st was an old Volvo 164 that was older than me by a few years, it barely ran but it was still a good one as I wasn't too worried about putting bumps and scrapes on it as it already had plenty. The 2nd was much smaller and younger, it was a 10 year old Austin Metro, it ran fairly well though things did break on it but when something did break usually it was dirt cheap to fix, in the 2 years I had it the only time it went to a mechanic was when it needed the MOT. It didn't get much bumps and scrapes as by that time we were better drivers and it was a fairly easy car to drive but it had loads of scratches from being keyed as it was parked on street.

My suggestion would be to look for a car that is 7-10 years old, don't get the version with the lowest horsepower and get one that is fairly basic. Best ones to get are cars that 7-10 years ago sold in very big numbers, preferably assembled in the country you will be driving in and look out for rust. A big plus is to buy a car that 7-10 years ago it was already at the end of it's lifespan and a completely new model was released after that.

Probably best to avoid Renaults, VWs or any cars with very complex electronics in it.

Reply 15

JC.

Original post by Alfissti

You will bump and scrape it and while most of it would be minor and probably cosmetic damage, it will still cost money to fix.
QUOTE]

:s-smilie:

Speak for yourself...

Reply 16

wibletg

Original post by Camoxide

I'll second this :tongue:

Fix It Again Tomorrow definitely rings true for Fiats :tongue:

Reply 17

Camoxide

Original post by wibletg

I'll second this :tongue:

Fix It Again Tomorrow definitely rings true for Fiats :tongue:

My mate had one. Oil leaked from the rocker cover into the clutch and ruined the clutch.
Other friend had one. Was literally falling to bits. Door handles falling off, handbrake not working ect...

Reply 18

wibletg

Original post by Camoxide

My mate had one. Oil leaked from the rocker cover into the clutch and ruined the clutch.
Other friend had one. Was literally falling to bits. Door handles falling off, handbrake not working ect...

Currently I think my exhaust is ****ed, as is the headgasket. Mind you, it has done 120k miles and I only paid £300 for it so I can't really complain :tongue:

Reply 19

Sgt.Incontro