First Car

Better than a micra mate....in my book anyway...

 

I'd recommend a Yaris. Very good first car IMO.

 

Ok, maybe a bit harsh and probably not completely true, sorry, but to be brutally honest if I had to choose between a 20+ year old Nova and a relatively contemporary small Jap car there really is no competition. And Jap cars don't need to be easy to work on as they don't break down all the time .

 

In fairness, my Astra never did either........though I frequently deserved it.

I ran it for 6 years from 40,000miles to approx 120,000.

 

Head gasket and the fan resistor are the two issues really with the 400. Other than those, it's a good reliable comfy car. I've had a 1.6 for 8 years, never failed on me other than when a 7 year old battery failed and it's used every day.

Jeff

 

and I agree - hence why I said "I wouldn't"

Jeff - good to hear. There are always exceptions, I am only going on 'averages' .....
It works the other way too, a friend bought a car which always tops reliability and satisfaction surveys, but it was the only car that he has had to have towed due to breakdown.

The 306, I agree, French and old doesn't usually fair too well on the build quality - just worth a mention due to cheap insurance rating. Great chassis and the TD engine is good.

A lot depends on usage though.

I agree on the Yaris and if they can be had for £500, we have a winner..... just I don't think they come in at the budget mentioned.

If chap has no issues with the looks (and 2nd class driving beats 1st class walking.....) the Micras are very robust. My brother (who knows nothing about cars) got one as his first car, he did rediculous mileage in it, never serviced it and it still ran like a dream - poor little thing!

 

One of my friend's workmates put a 2.0L 8 valve cavalier engine in a £50.00 trade-in chocolate brown Nova saloon. It went like shit off a shovel.

It also made lots of boy racers look stupid as it cuised past their expensive hatchbacks, kitted out with a couple of grands worth of plastic tat and exaust pipes like worn out coal scuttles.

However I digress: economy and reliability? It is surely a Micra that you need.

 

OK, mayber but have you ever seen one driven over 45 mph?

'cos I ahven't

(with respect to samantha's brother of course )


When I did my middle year from college....I sue to catch up with this miicra every blinkin time.....doing 45 down a main, winding road. There was nothing i could do about it, I was just stuck there and 45 was all it was.

Of course every car i've been stuck behind since has been a micra too .

 

Yes, I have amemory of guy who put a 2.0litre cavalier engine in a nova......and twin turboed it somehow.

He said you had to crack the thottle really carefully, esp in the lower gears or the tyres just didn't stand a chance.

In the higher ratios it would see off most stuff though.

 

I had to drive one when my own car was in for work once some years back ...... I was late for work (not like me ) and so makng up time on the dual carriageway ..... then I spotted the T5 on the bridge - Ooops .... I was in a Micra though and he never moved and I never heard anything - I guess he must have looked at the speed indicated on his gismo and assumed there was a mistake

As a first car, something that takes a while to wind up is perfect - you learn to drive smoothly and anticipate what is ahead .... that way when you do move up to something quicker, you have learned the skills such that you don't become a 'point and squirt' monkey.

Excuse any typos etc - had a few glasses....

 

mebbe

Good plan.

In fact, an excellent one.

 

He could always go for the 930cc supercharged 'Superturbo' Micra, 108 BHp

 

It depends on your budget but I would pay attention to NCAP safety ratings as first time drivers tend to crash and the difference between a 30mph in a FIAT Cinquencto and a MK4 Fiesta could be the diference between life or death.

I have a Fiesta MK4 Ghia with the old 1.3 push rod engine in it, done 9000 miles in it now, paid £850 for it with 12 months MOT. In that time all I have had to is change the wishbones, front pads, clean out idle control valve, new heater control valve and all that cost less than £200 including labour and a full service they are just so damn cheap to run.

Punto MK1's are best avoided as the 1.1's suffer from HG problems and the body work is usualy so tatty by now. I would also avoid MK3 Fiesta's as these are usualy too rusty to consider buying one, I bought one which had nothing but problems butr that was my fault for buying on a whim.

One bargain which is coming up now is the MK2 (98) Clio you can get them for little over £1k and you get a lot of car for the money. My ex has a 1.2 16V on an 04 plate, done which has 52k on the clock (she has done 5000 miles in the past 3 months) and machanicaly its a perfect little car considering its top spec, full MOT and she only paid £3500 for it.

Don't be scared of hige milleages, modern engines can cope with providing its been looked after and had plenty of oil changes etc.

Edit when I pass my test and get a new job I want to get a nice 306 1.9D and run it on chip fat oil

The problem I have with jap cars is a lot of the cheaper ones always remind me as if I was sitting in a washing machine. Micra's are reliable I will say that much but then again a Class 323 train to Wilmslow is reliable but its still as dull as white paint.

 

Quite agree AT on re high mileages..etc

Engines and oils are so much ebtter than they use to be.....hey are doing astoishing mileages now....so long as the oil and filter get changed.

Re jap cars....nice one

 

Thanks for the replies. I have been paying attention, but not had much of a chance to have a look out.

I'll say budget is Ideally under £1k. Flexible to a point, but would like to keep it cheap so as to also pay the insurance in one go too.

I've been using insurance comparison sites and the lowest ones are quoting me about £600 for the likes of the Fiat I mentioned, and other small engined cars I've seen.

If anyone's bored and fancies having a look on any of the sites ( ), then I'm looking for something in the South Wales (Newport) area.

Auto trader here I come....

Thanks again.

 

1995 N Reg SEAT Ibiza 1.4 CLS

Price:
£595

Features:

* 78,000 miles
* Manual
* Black
* Petrol
* Hatchback
* 1391 cc

Full Description:

Glossary of Terms

3 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 78,000 miles, Metallic Black. ABS, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Locking wheel nuts, Anti theft system, Immobiliser, Power assisted steering, Driver airbag, Passenger airbag, Colour Coded Interior, Colour Coded Bumpers, New MOT. Insurance Group:4, £595




Opinions?

 

Seems cheap enough with a years MOT, can't go too far wrong, has it got service history to back up the mileage? I've just agreed to buy a Ford Ka after all my pro-Japanese ramblings, I'm such a hypocrite , and I paid too much for it . Bet it breaks down within a week!

Dave

 

You'll only know when you go and see it. Look for nice owners, and history. Does the car look looked after, or tarted up? You'll know when you've seen a few.

 

Looks pretty ok from the pic's. But obviously hard to tell from just them. My dad's going to have a look for me today hopefully.

It's from a dealership.

 

Well it looked good in the pic's so asked my dad to have a look at it as he was working in the area....

The garage is currently a closed building site with no sign of any car stock! So I guess that's a no-go!

Having spent a fair bit of time looking at what seems to be available for my price and requirements, I've found my options to be...

At the lower end... Corsa's, saxo's pugeot's, fiesta's, fiat's and micras...

Closer to £1k, and I'm finding Rover 200's, and a few VWs.
Suprised to also have found a few Megane's

This has caught my eye....

Thoughts???