help... need advice on first car

check the site! ull find some good ones lauren that match ur budget!

love ladyshort!

Reply 21

frost105

14

Dr_Death

Insured?

No, just drive them around the gliding field, towing cables from the winch, to launch gliders into the air. No tax/insurance... :biggrin:

Oh god!

Memories of air cadets and gliding coming back to haunt me :eek:

Reply 22

frost105

Oh god!

Memories of air cadets and gliding coming back to haunt me :eek:

No cadets - just students and 40-, 50-, and 60- something glider pilots... and old Canadian snowploughs to tow the gliders with... :biggrin:

Reply 23

AT82

Try and avoid the Metro/Rover 100, Cietreon AX, Pre 1996 Peugout 106 (shares the same platform as the AX), Fiat Panda (old style), Fiat Cinequento, Fiat Uni, old style mini, Vauxhall Nova, Pre 89 Fiesta, pre 1992 Nissan Micra, Renult 5 and Pre 1994 VW Polo because they are all death traps.

The cheapest safe car young drivers can afford is the Fiesta MK4, you should be able to get an M/N Reg for about £600 which will have airbags. A Ford Ka is also very nice but may be to expensive. The Fiesta MK5 maybe in just in your reach you will be rewarded with a lovely drivers car in 1.25 guise.

Other than Vuaxhall Corsas are going cheap now you should be able to get 1993 K for around £600, this is if you can live with their crap gearboxes.

Nissan Micras (1993+) are good cars, the engines are as solid as a rock and offer surprisingly good safety.

Fiat Puntos are also nice cars, just make sure the are tidy and that it comes with a red key. The 1.1 FIRE engine is a delight to drive and is much faster than the 0-60 time of 16 seconds due to a close ratio gearboxe. Also the galvanised body means they won't rust unless been in an accdent and shoddily repaired.

These are the small cars I would consider. My dad had a Punto for 4 years it used as a van and gave very little trouble. I would avouid french small cars because they have a reputation for poor safety and reliability. My mate wants a Citreon AX and I am trying to talk him out of it, he dosn't realise £1000 for an old 1980s design is far too much.

Reply 24

I have a Mk3 Fiesta, it's good basic car, the main problem that occurs for me is the 0-30 acceleration is too low with the early 1-litre engine. Which makes pulling into traffic a pain, because you need a big gap or everyone piles into the back of you.

Reply 25

AT82

Dr_Death

I have a Mk3 Fiesta, it's good basic car, the main problem that occurs for me is the 0-30 acceleration is too low with the early 1-litre engine. Which makes pulling into traffic a pain, because you need a big gap or everyone piles into the back of you.

Argh the old Ford Anglia push rod engine, I assume yours is the four speed version as well? They are still better than anything the French were making at that time, at least Ford use solid body panals and understand the concept of crumple zones.

Those Anglia engines are really really easy to fix as well, plus the addition of the electronic ignition in 1989 means they are also quite reliable. The only problem I have with those fiestas is they rust quite badly.

Reply 26

amazingtrade

Argh the old Ford Anglia push rod engine, I assume yours is the four speed version as well? They are still better than anything the French were making at that time, at least Ford use solid body panals and understand the concept of crumple zones.

Those Anglia engines are really really easy to fix as well, plus the addition of the electronic ignition in 1989 means they are also quite reliable. The only problem I have with those fiestas is they rust quite badly.

Yes, I know all about the rust... the car was cheap, but re-welding to pass the MoT cost as much as the car did...

I think I got 45mpg out of it, measured over the period of one tank of petrol while I was still learning to drive and therefore without motorways...

And the 4-speed gearbox - it's OK until you want to drive somewhere involving 60/70mph sections...

Reply 27

But the engine isn't that easy to fix, because all the spark plugs have siezed into the engine...

Reply 28

ladyshort4u

Dr_Death

But the engine isn't that easy to fix, because all the spark plugs have siezed into the engine...

wow and i wish i had enough knowledge about cars to even know what that means :confused:

lol

Reply 29

ladyshort4u

wow and i wish i had enough knowledge about cars to even know what that means :confused:

lol

The spark plugs, which ignite the petrol and make the engine go, normally screw into the top of the engine. But in my car, the metal of the spark plugs has fused with the metal of the engine, so I can't take them out. This is annoying, because occasionally a spark plug will get blocked and stop sparking...

Reply 30

puppy

1) Find out which cars are in the cheapest insurance band then try to stick to one of those

2) Buy private, not from a garage (I guess that's obvious)

3) Insure it 3rd party only, or, if you're not too worried about not building up a no claims bonus, see if one of your parents will insure it under their name with you as a named driver (should take the price to around the £500 mark i'd guess- obviously you can verify this by getting insurance quotes online)

4) When you go to look at cars off Autotrader or whatever, make sure you take someone who knows what they're looking for so they can check the car over for you. Then make sure you haggle over the price- remember if the tax is running out on it thats another £120 you'll have to spend straight away or if it fails it's MOT that's more money. Just be aware of all these things- it could help you knock some money off whatever they're asking if you point out the inadequacies of the car you're buying from them!

Reply 31

Butterfly

john williams

Im currently looking to get a second hand (maybe 4/5 yr old) Ford KA (yes i know its a girls car. lol) and the cheapest quote i have so far got is £1400 with Tesco car insurance and thats only 3rd party..so it looks like i wont be getting a car.

btw the car is only worth £1200.

What? How old are you? I'm 18 and just got a Y reg (2001) Ford Ka, got insurance with Tesco last week ... insurance was 994pounds (sign doesn't work :frown:

) fullt comprehensive and I only have a provisional license!

Reply 32

Juno

20

Dr_Death

I wonder (against all hope) if insurance companies will tell you which car is the cheapest to insure? They have the statistics of how many crashes and claims people of type xyz have had in each type of car, which is what they base the premiums on - if they were nice they might tell you...

Hmm, or maybe they wouldn't...

The Parker's Car Guide will tell you! It tells you which insurance group each car is in; 1 is lowest and thus cheapest to insure.

Get a copy of it now if you're buying a car. It also tells you how much you should be paying for your car by year too.

Reply 33

kikzen

14

whatever car you get, make sure you dont drive it into the sea!

Reply 34

Sophdoph

a VW Polo - well made, safe, comes up well in all safety tests, easy to drive and handle, small enough but good boot space and generally enough room for a small car. Insurance is good, I have a 51 reg Polo, 1 litre engine and my fully comp on my own insurance and everything is £700 (Elephant).

Reply 35

topdude