Chicken bald back

[ubereglu]

I've been learning to drive over the past year and my test is coming up...I'm now contemplating buying a car and working out would be the best option. I'm 23, have a budget of approximately £2500 for the car, and am allowing up to £1000 for insurance. Ideally I'd want to manage to buy the car and insurance for a total of £3000.

 

I don't want anything too small, eg a C1 etc, as I'd ideally want sufficient space to put my bike in the back, even if I have to take the front wheel off, so I can go on weekends to the coast to go cycling. I don't really mind if it's 3 or 5 door (5 would be nice, but I'm not too fussed).

 

I'm weighing up between buying privately or through a trade seller, want it to be petrol, with maximum engine size 1.3L petrol manual. I think I'm keenest on a Toyota Yaris, Fiat Panda, Skoda Fabia or VW Polo. What are your opinions of any of these cars, and what other things should I consider when buying a car/questions I should ask. Obviously I will want to do a full history check, ideally would like a FSH, and no more than 75k miles on the clock, and to check when the cam-belt was last changed.

 

Thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Daphne]

A minor thought - not all cars have cam belts now, some have chains which don't need changing. Good luck with the search

[Geoid]

Since you are a new driver, allow a lot more for the insurance. When I was trying to insure myself on my dad's car (a 2002 Hyundai Accent) after I passed my test, I was getting quotes in the region of £2500. I finally got insurance at £1000, but that is quite cheap.

 

VW Polo (or Golf) are pretty decent. If you are going to buy private, I would get the car checked over by a mechanic first (the AA offer a vehicle check service)

[Blackrocksrock]

Had my old diesel Yaris for 9 years 2nd hand when I got it and now have newer one 59 plate with very low mileage currently only 17300 diesel mine both but great little cars and really not so little when you see what i used to carry in them. Good luck whatever you choose

[Purplemaniacs]

Since you are a new driver, allow a lot more for the insurance. When I was trying to insure myself on my dad's car (a 2002 Hyundai Accent) after I passed my test, I was getting quotes in the region of £2500. I finally got insurance at £1000, but that is quite cheap.

I would agree about insurance, check carefully before you buy. A friend of DDs bought a car and then found she could not insure it.

 

DS's second car was a Polo, he loved it, girlfriend's first car was also a Polo but that was about 5 years ago.

 

I am now a Skoda convert, I have had two both the little on so no good for you. We bought DD a Skoda for travelling to Cambridge not a Fabia the next one up but I forgotten its name, she loves it before that she had my old Clio which was ok but not a favourite. She is a mature student not 18 by the way!

 

Good luck with what ever you choose.

 

Chrissie

[soapdragon]

I adore my Skoda Fabia estate...its not huge at all but like the Tardis!!!! Reccommend trying a broker for your insurance quote...they have access to so many companies and, for me, have always been cheaper than comparison sites.

 

I'd say buy through a garage; you'll prob pay a bit more but you will have recourse should anything go wrong.

 

Good luck!

[Lewis]

My first car was a 5 door Mk3 VW Polo which I loved!

It had everything I needed, was pretty good on fuel for driving to Uni and surprisingly big. Insurance was £1,400 reducing to £700 after two years.

 

After that I got a 3 door Corsa which was a complete disaster, the head gasket blew after 4 days, took months of work to fix and I ended up taking the garage to court and won (then won again when they appealed).

 

Now I have a Peugeot 207 which I love. I said I wouldn't get another 3 door but I never have to go in the back so it's fine. It was a demo car in the Peugeot garage so pretty much as new with less than 5,000 miles on the clock when I had it.

Very comfy to drive and I pay around £300 for the insurance.

[mullethunter]

My second and third cars have been 5 year old 3 seater 1.25l Ford Fiesta's. In your price range (don't know about insurance), and with the back seats flat you can fit a lot more in than you'd think. Good luck.

[Valkyrie]

Just be careful where you go to buy. DD's first car was a Fiesta. Constantly causing problems and breaking down. Then she changed it to a Honda Civic which she loves. It was a bit unreliable initially whereby the battery had to be replaced and then still went flat! It was the air conditioning that didn't turn off when the engine was turned off! It had been re-adapted as the car had previously owned by a handicapped driver and a bit of rewiring was all that was needed to fix the issue. She's had this car for 5 years now - she's 24.

 

I did say to DD that I would rather her not have a 3 seater in case of an accident - harder to get 4 people out of 1 door if you are hit in the side.

 

But whatever you choose I do hope you enjoy your driving - it brings such freedom!!!

[percy049]

Fiesta 8) 8)

 

My family has had 30+ years experience of owning Fiestas and they've never gone wrong. My Fiesta is a 1.4L 09 reg, and for my first year of driving insurance was £880, which is very good as a lot of my friends paid around £1300 for their first year

[mullethunter]

My first fiesta had no problems at all. Ever. My second I inherited from my grandad. It had hardly done any miles in the few years he had it, and that didn't seem to have done it any good. I had to replace the battery, replace some steering components, and have just had to replace the oil filter which had rusted out. To be honest I think with all cars, there is such a thing as a 'Friday afternoon special', so whatever you buy, make sure you take someone knowledgable with you to have a good look around it.

[Valkyrie]

Oh yes, the Friday Night Special. My mum had one of those. She was forever in the garage for different things - it was a brand new car (OK it was a Fiat 600 horrible thing) and when she said there was a problem with winding the window down, they "fixed" it and then while she was sorting out the paperwork there was a huge bang - aforementioned window exploded!!! The Peugot that I had (briefly - some twit hit my Volvo head on and I had to get a replacement PDQ and that was the only thing we could find at the time and then as I hated it so much I had my hubby's car instead) constantly had issues - last seen broken down with a new owner in the middle of a roundabout. That was about 4 months after we sold it to a garage. Nope, didn't miss that one at all.

 

My first car was 2nd hand - minty green Fiesta. 950cc. It was brilliant. I had it 10 years and was able to do a lot of jobs myself. In the old days of proper engine and not computer says it's OK when it isn't! I decided to call it Dixie (Dukes of Hazzard was the favourite programme then). Later when I had it serviced I noticed the previous owner had written Dixie Dean on the handbook! Then it turned out that the previous owner worked with my brother! Weird coincidences there! Oh I did love that car. It went up mountains with ease on trips to Wales, toured Yorkshire and Derbyshire, Cumbria - not once did it complain. Economical yet it seemed to have the oomph when it was needed.