whats better for driving?

8

Manual or automatic? Also, what type of car should I get? Because my budget is £5000 and I'm not sure what kind of card that would be enough for five grand or do I need more money like 20 grand or 30 grand? What happens when you get your test theory and practical because I'm not entirely sure what happens and how many mocks do you need to get your theory test information would be viable.

Reply 1

ebyrne2036

Entertainment Forum Helper

21

Hiya, I would highly recommend Automatic as a lot of cars are turning into Automatic and also it’s a lot less stressful than learning how to do manual. as for car recommendations I have a JR hybrid which I’m still learning on and I got my test but for June it’s been pretty small car and it’s not overly complicated and it’s also pretty up-to-date although it is quite expensive but a lot of cars are these days if they are new unfortunately. Hope this helps a bit if you have any questions just let me know and also good luck with your driving it’s difficult but it’ll be well worth the effort.

Reply 2

Pedr0

13

Original post by Sweaterweather

Manual or automatic? Also, what type of car should I get? Because my budget is £5000 and I'm not sure what kind of card that would be enough for five grand or do I need more money like 20 grand or 30 grand? What happens when you get your test theory and practical because I'm not entirely sure what happens and how many mocks do you need to get your theory test information would be viable.

£5000 is plenty for a car, mine was under £3000 and it runs fine. If you're on a budget and want stuff like CarPlay/Android Auto and Bluetooth you can get an older car and get a replacement head unit for it.

The theory test is pretty easy, just get the DVSA app. Literally all the questions that come up on the test are in there so you can basically just brute force mock tests and memorise all the answers 😂 (Unless they've significantly changed things since i did my theory at least). After you pass your theory, you have 2 years to pass your practical test before the theory pass expires and you have to retake it.

I've heard differing things when it comes to manual vs automatic. Manual obviously is a bit harder to learn as you have to change gears etc, but apparently automatic tests are harder to pass because the examiners are stricter (since you don't have to worry about changing gears they're harsher on any other slip ups you make).

Also good thing is that if you pass manual you can drive either a manual or automatic car. I did manual and for my next car I'm probably going to switch to an automatic.

Reply 3

StriderHort

21

Either/Or really

I personally prefer manual cars for the driving experience, but automatics are just fine for commuting about in, it's nice to never have to worry about hill starts or clutch control in heavy traffic.

For a long time I'd have said that driving auto only would make it hard to drive for a job, as almost all fleet cars and esp vans were manual, but this is def changing, all my works Sprinter vans are autos now. When auto transmissions break they tend to break bad though, and the costs to fix them can be rough,

£5000 is plenty to go shopping for your first car and you'd have decent choice, you'd also need maybe £1.5-2k that first year to cover insurance, tax, breakdown cover, MOT test and service costs etc, def good to keep a bit of money aside for unexpected repairs rather than lose the use of the car till you can save up.

Reply 4

Faultybot

9

I put down 8k for my first car that was 10 months ago. You also need to put in about 2k for insurance. Breakdown cover depends on who you go for and what you want covered, MOT, daily/ monthly running costs.

Reply 5

Tracey_W

17

Original post by Sweaterweather

Manual or automatic? Also, what type of car should I get? Because my budget is £5000 and I'm not sure what kind of card that would be enough for five grand or do I need more money like 20 grand or 30 grand? What happens when you get your test theory and practical because I'm not entirely sure what happens and how many mocks do you need to get your theory test information would be viable.

Manual driving licence allows you to drive both manual and automatic cars etc.

If you took a automatic driving licence test then you can only drive automatic cars etc.

Each person is completely different for how many lessons you need before you pass your driving test.
The person who teaching you will be able to give you a Idea of how long before you can apply for your driving test.

Reply 6

antkolo

1

Original post by Sweaterweather

Manual or automatic? Also, what type of car should I get? Because my budget is £5000 and I'm not sure what kind of card that would be enough for five grand or do I need more money like 20 grand or 30 grand? What happens when you get your test theory and practical because I'm not entirely sure what happens and how many mocks do you need to get your theory test information would be viable.

i'd say learn on a manual as that way you are not limited to just driving an automatic- if you learn on automatic, you can only drive auto. learn on manual, and you can drive both manual and auto. automatic cars also seem to run for a slightly higher price than manuals from what i've seen. go for cars that have a 1L engine as that will help decrease your insurance. low insurance cars tend to be ones like kia picanto, hyundai i10, seat ibiza, citroen c1, fiat panda, ford fiesta, etc. look up low insurance cars for 2024. for a £5k budget def get a secondhand car, maybe on autotrader or smth. try to get a car thats past 2014 make as the mileage will be ok (keep an eye on mileage on ur car and the amount of previous owners, mileage should be about 10-12k miles per year so a 2014 car should have about 100-120k miles on it by now.) theory test you can just download the dvsa app for £4.99, i did that and i learned everything within about a month and passed my theory first time, with 48/50 on the questions and 56/75 on hazard perception. for the practical side, that all depends on your personal progress. look for good instructors in your area, if you don't vibe with your first one then find another one. no use sticking with someone you dont mesh well with, you wont learn as much as you could. after the first couple lessons your instructor should be able to tell you how many hours of lessons you would need, and in terms of mock tests you would do those with your instructor as well so they would tell you if they think you are ready or not, and if you are not ready but already have your test booked, you can always push it back. good luck!

Reply 7

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper, Careers Forum Helper

19

Original post by Sweaterweather

Manual or automatic? Also, what type of car should I get? Because my budget is £5000 and I'm not sure what kind of card that would be enough for five grand or do I need more money like 20 grand or 30 grand? What happens when you get your test theory and practical because I'm not entirely sure what happens and how many mocks do you need to get your theory test information would be viable.

Either really- some people prefer manual and some people prefer automatic. Some people dont mind.
I personally have always driven manuals and am fine with them. I have never thought about driving an automatic.

What type of car you get is up to you. You should be able to get one for a lot less than £5000 that works fine. Remember to factor in the cost of insurance as well.

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