Bluefoxtim Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 After successfully landing a job in Coalville, I've finally got an excuse to buy a car. Had my license for almost 4 years and the most I've done is driven round a car park a few times! From a few random quotes on confused.com, I'm looking at insurance of about £650 full-comp for a 1998 Fiesta and £850 for a 2001. For work, I'll be doing a 30 mile round trip 4 days a week, and I'll be using motorways. Social-wise I suppose this opens up more opportunities for away days! Like most people I guess, I want a cheap car that will get from A to B without breaking down! Certainly won't be going down the route of adding alloy's etc... What do we reckon? Fiesta? Corsa? Price tag of £1300? Ta muchly.
Saxondale Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 My advice would be spend less than your budget to allow for tyres etc that may need changing early on. There's always something, trust me.
steveherbe Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Ford Ka mate, I've had two over the last 6 years, doing 20,000 miles a year, totally reliable, 47mpg - like you care!! - and brilliant round the corners. Son has now 'inherited' our 55 plate Collection, he seems to like it. Got alloys, electric windows, and it's in black. They are good cars, although the image isnt great. But, they are cheap, well spec'd, go ok, handle great and very reliable. Go get one, you wont regret it.
Fox92 Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Got my first ever car (passed my test two years ago though) in March, this year. Got a Corsa which was £650, and the insurance is just over £1,000 which isn't too bad compared to some of my mates'. It's a good car actually. Few marks from the previous owner, but I recently got some touch up paint to cover them up. Get's me from A to B, and I enjoy it. Not really one for adding alloy's and all that either. I hadn't drove for two years and then I got the car. Had to get my confidence back, and get used to it etc. Drive everyday now, really like it. Best of luck.
RobHawk Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 My advice would be to spend as little as possible full stop! It'll probably get nicked in Coalville anayway!
Sol thewall Bamba Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Ford Ka mate, I've had two over the last 6 years, doing 20,000 miles a year, totally reliable, 47mpg - like you care!! - and brilliant round the corners. Son has now 'inherited' our 55 plate Collection, he seems to like it. Got alloys, electric windows, and it's in black. They are good cars, although the image isnt great. But, they are cheap, well spec'd, go ok, handle great and very reliable. Go get one, you wont regret it. Oh god, not trying to get more people in the "male hair dresser" club are you...
steveherbe Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Oh god, not trying to get more people in the "male hair dresser" club are you... Just me and you buddy, just me and you!! Drive carefully this afternoon, the hair brush is in the glove box.
ADK Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Depends what you want it for, how much you want to use it etc...
Soar Fox Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Depends what you want it for, how much you want to use it etc... I think he explains how much he'll be using it in his original post.
sphericalfox Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Buy a Diesel whatever you do. I ran a Clio for some years. VERY cheap to insure, and £30 squids tax, and will do about 55- 65 mpg depending on the year.
acooling08 Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 I got my first car about a month ago: Mazda 121 (Basically a Ford Fiesta) - 1999 - 1242cc - 16v - £650. This isn't mine but looks almost identical:
MooseBreath Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Anyone know why those Mazdas are allowed to look exactly like fiestas? Are mazda and ford the same company or what?
Basingstoke Fox Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 I raised a thread about this years ago. Anyway, I would most certainly recommend a Ford Fiesta. I had one and it was truly brilliant. Never let me down, and was perfectly fine on long journeys up to Leicester, Leeds etc. I probably spent about £600-700 on it for repairs and general maintenance over 2 and a half years (including 3 MOT's) though I spent a fair bit more on tyres. If you're looking for a small engined car that will get you from A to B and is actually quite nice (IMO). Get the Zetec engine though as it's the newer engine which is more fuel efficient and faster. I also destroyed my mates 1.6 Astra off the line when I had it too.
HEGGSY Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Anyone know why those Mazdas are allowed to look exactly like fiestas? Are mazda and ford the same company or what? I present to you...... Opel Vauxhall
Tom17LCFC Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 I present to you...... Opel Vauxhall Pretty sure they're exactly the same company mate!
Bluefoxtim Posted 13 June 2012 Author Posted 13 June 2012 Thanks for some of the suggestions. Certainly leaning towards the Fiesta. Really need to consider what my upper limit is though, don't want to go down the route of saying "a year younger is only £100 more, another £50 for 5000 less miles on the clock..." would quickly add up and I suppose there are no guarantees on reliability, even with brand new cars.
ADK Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 I'd probably get something a little bigger, you tend to get better value for money on larger used cars and they handle motorways easier.
vandamman Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 As a Ford Ka driver myself, you cant go much wrong as your first car. I was in a similiar situation, but had this car for a year now and fairly content with it. I do quite a bit of miles for work travelling across Leicestershire and I find it to be economical. I can now afford a better car but not too fussed about getting a new one, not had to do anything to the KA only changing bulbs, give it another year and i'll upgrade. Also, I've saved a bundle on insurance. Good on motorways too. If you aint too fussed about your street cred and can take a few jokes about your car, go for a KA.
Magictv Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Had a 106 now for nearly two years. P reg and been fantastic and a bargain at £500. Manages to plow it down to Bristol once a fortnight on the motorways no trouble and for the daily drive to hinckley. I'd definitely recommend looking at a few cars around the £500 mark.
acooling08 Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 Anyone know why those Mazdas are allowed to look exactly like fiestas? Are mazda and ford the same company or what? Ford sold the model to Mazda I think. They are almost identical. The engine actually says Ford Zetec on it and I've found Ford logos on things like the windscreen wipers etc. To the OP, Fiesta's are brilliant. I test drove about 4 or 5 different cars and the Fiesta was easily my favourite to drive. KA's are OK but I always kinda thought they are a bit of a girls car.
lavrentis Posted 13 June 2012 Posted 13 June 2012 If you aint too fussed about your street cred and can take a few jokes about your car, go for a KA.
steveherbe Posted 14 June 2012 Posted 14 June 2012 As a Ford Ka driver myself, you cant go much wrong as your first car. I was in a similiar situation, but had this car for a year now and fairly content with it. I do quite a bit of miles for work travelling across Leicestershire and I find it to be economical. I can now afford a better car but not too fussed about getting a new one, not had to do anything to the KA only changing bulbs, give it another year and i'll upgrade. Also, I've saved a bundle on insurance. Good on motorways too. If you aint too fussed about your street cred and can take a few jokes about your car, go for a KA. This must be a common fault, mine blows them at regular intervals. TBF, they do go in rotation though, they all seem to last about a year.
cambridgefox Posted 14 June 2012 Posted 14 June 2012 Ford Ka mate, I've had two over the last 6 years, doing 20,000 miles a year, totally reliable, 47mpg - like you care!! - and brilliant round the corners. Son has now 'inherited' our 55 plate Collection, he seems to like it. Got alloys, electric windows, and it's in black. They are good cars, although the image isnt great. But, they are cheap, well spec'd, go ok, handle great and very reliable. Go get one, you wont regret it. At what age do you have to retake your test Steve?hope you are keeping well fella.
MooseBreath Posted 14 June 2012 Posted 14 June 2012 Ford Ka's look like a two man tent on wheels. If you're going to go for economy at the expense of any credibilty then there are much better options. I don't know their names, bit some of the tiny little cardboard box cars do 70mpg and higher. Or why not just get a moped?
Jon the Hat Posted 14 June 2012 Posted 14 June 2012 Someone on another thread pointed out that all the normal cars kids buy (Corsa, Fiesta, 106 etc) are expensive to insure becuase the stats for youth + those cars are bad. So if you want to save some money, think about looking into a less typical starter car like a focus or a 306. Might work, who knows.
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