What's a good first car??

[MX5guy]

Yazza54 said:

Just buy a normal first car and go places and enjoy it. The novelty of folding roof or speed etc soon wear off, at the end of the day it's all about freedom and being able to do what you want when you want. Out of the cars I've had I think my fiat punto was possibly one of the most fun. Slow but nippy, cheap and wasn't worried about anyone messing with it. Went everywhere and had a lot of laughs, in the process built up some NCB. That's the best advice I can give

Speed you get used to, but I still enjoy having a soft top for those days when they're great. Just feels so much better with the fresh air, smells (good or bad!) and having much better visability. And it's so simple to get it when you want. But I agree, build NCB and then get something more fun.

[STW2010]

I suggest one of these. You should be able to get insurance for around £1k too.

[Yazza54]

Driving in the cold is fine long as you have a proper windscreen!

If you don't you end up like this! Shades were glued to my face.

[Yazza54]

MX5guy said:

Yazza54 said:

Just buy a normal first car and go places and enjoy it. The novelty of folding roof or speed etc soon wear off, at the end of the day it's all about freedom and being able to do what you want when you want. Out of the cars I've had I think my fiat punto was possibly one of the most fun. Slow but nippy, cheap and wasn't worried about anyone messing with it. Went everywhere and had a lot of laughs, in the process built up some NCB. That's the best advice I can give

Speed you get used to, but I still enjoy having a soft top for those days when they're great. Just feels so much better with the fresh air, smells (good or bad!) and having much better visability. And it's so simple to get it when you want. But I agree, build NCB and then get something more fun.

Yup I agree, it's funny how your idea of fun can change though. At least with an mx5 you have the option of roof or no roof. My 350hp/ton fisher fury was fun for a bit, but I ended up craving something mundane and normal! Really odd. It was fun but not useable or practical. Mx5 isn't really fast compared to something like that, but I guess it's a good all rounder and why so many people go for them.


I'd go for the fabia if I were you!

Hey or you could get a motorbike!! (if you do I can give an address for your mum to send hate mail to for me suggesting it)

Edited by Yazza54 on Sunday 19th June 20:40

[vrsmxtb]

If you do look at Fabia's I would highly recommend posting over at briskoda.net for advice as they're a really knowledgeable bunch. In my own experience I would think twice about the 1.2 petrol, as it is just too small and weak for the size of car and needs to be driven hard, which really knocks the fuel economy. As I said before 1.4TDI I would highly recommend, and if you want a sportier Fabia get the VRS if funds allow. No other small hatchbacks come close with a perfect performance/economy combination.

[deadmau5]

Yazza54 said:

The novelty of folding roof or speed etc soon wear off

I strongly disagree.

[C2james]

deadmau5 said:

Yazza54 said:

The novelty of folding roof or speed etc soon wear off

I strongly disagree.

yeah, i wouldnt mind an mx5 but i cant afford the insurance.

[MX5guy]

Yazza54 said:

MX5guy said:

Yazza54 said:

Just buy a normal first car and go places and enjoy it. The novelty of folding roof or speed etc soon wear off, at the end of the day it's all about freedom and being able to do what you want when you want. Out of the cars I've had I think my fiat punto was possibly one of the most fun. Slow but nippy, cheap and wasn't worried about anyone messing with it. Went everywhere and had a lot of laughs, in the process built up some NCB. That's the best advice I can give

Speed you get used to, but I still enjoy having a soft top for those days when they're great. Just feels so much better with the fresh air, smells (good or bad!) and having much better visability. And it's so simple to get it when you want. But I agree, build NCB and then get something more fun.

Yup I agree, it's funny how your idea of fun can change though. At least with an mx5 you have the option of roof or no roof. My 350hp/ton fisher fury was fun for a bit, but I ended up craving something mundane and normal! Really odd. It was fun but not useable or practical. Mx5 isn't really fast compared to something like that, but I guess it's a good all rounder and why so many people go for them.

I agree about that. The most annoying thing about my car is even though it's not particularly bad in regards to the suspension being hard, it can be irritating continously going over holes/ speed bumps when there is no option of avoiding them. This is because so many of the roads over here (particularly in town) are in very bad condition. I think anything more "extreme" than an MX-5 and most people would want a 2 car garage. I also have a hard top which I can use for the car.

Sadly no pictures driving during the winter, but my girlfriend came out with me and loved it too. However here's one beside a frozen lake (in the second world war the Germans used it as an airstrip during winter, since it was the longest flat area nearby. A few years ago they recovered a bomber that had fallen in when the ice melted a bit quicker than they expected).

Edited by MX5guy on Sunday 19th June 20:50

[deadmau5]

This looks quite good although the mileage is quite high: linky

[deadmau5]

Yazza54 said:

Driving in the cold is fine long as you have a proper windscreen!

If you don't you end up like this! Shades were glued to my face.

If your mate rolled that he'd scalp himself!

[Yazza54]

C2james said:

deadmau5 said:

Yazza54 said:

The novelty of folding roof or speed etc soon wear off

I strongly disagree.

yeah, i wouldnt mind an mx5 but i cant afford the insurance.

Well I'm not speaking from experience roof wise as my fisher fury was permanently open. However my mate just got an mx5 and is already looking to sell.

Speed wise I am talking from experience and the mx5 is not fast. It's fast enough for normal roads, that's why it's fun. I found it painful driving the fury on the public roads, unless I wanted to loose my license I couldn't drive it anywhere near full throttle.

That's why mx5s do so well, they're fast enough and practical enough as a good allrounder.

Edited by Yazza54 on Sunday 19th June 20:53

[Yazza54]

deadmau5 said:

Yazza54 said:

Driving in the cold is fine long as you have a proper windscreen!

If you don't you end up like this! Shades were glued to my face.

If your mate rolled that he'd scalp himself!

I am the mate lol, I know the roll bar wasn't high enough. But at least it had one! Mx5s don't.

[deadmau5]

Yazza54 said:

C2james said:

deadmau5 said:

Yazza54 said:

The novelty of folding roof or speed etc soon wear off

I strongly disagree.

yeah, i wouldnt mind an mx5 but i cant afford the insurance.

Well I'm not speaking from insurance roof wise as my fisher fury was permanently open. However my mate just got an mx5 and is already looking to sell.

Speed wise I am talking from experience and the mx5 is not fast. It's fast enough for normal roads, that's why it's fun. I found it painful driving the fury on the public roads, unless I wanted to loose my license I couldn't drive it anywhere near full throttle.

That's why mx5s do so well, they're fast enough and practical enough as a good allrounder.

Ahhh sorry you meant the speed of the MX5. I thought you meant speed in general!

[MX5guy]

Yazza54 said:

Speed wise I am talking from experience and the mx5 is not fast. It's fast enough for normal roads, that's why it's fun. I found it painful driving the fury on the public roads, unless I wanted to loose my license I couldn't drive it anywhere near full throttle.

I certainly agree. I have to plan overtaking a lot more on smaller roads, as it just doesn't have the power. Part of the reason people can think them slow due to being used to modern cars with more low down torque, and so are not used to using the revs. However they still are slow compared to a lot of modern cars, even using the revs (needs to be above 4k to start properly pulling).

[Yazza54]

deadmau5 said:

Yazza54 said:

C2james said:

deadmau5 said:

Yazza54 said:

The novelty of folding roof or speed etc soon wear off

I strongly disagree.

yeah, i wouldnt mind an mx5 but i cant afford the insurance.

Well I'm not speaking from insurance roof wise as my fisher fury was permanently open. However my mate just got an mx5 and is already looking to sell.

Speed wise I am talking from experience and the mx5 is not fast. It's fast enough for normal roads, that's why it's fun. I found it painful driving the fury on the public roads, unless I wanted to loose my license I couldn't drive it anywhere near full throttle.

That's why mx5s do so well, they're fast enough and practical enough as a good allrounder.

Ahhh sorry you meant the speed of the MX5. I thought you meant speed in general!

Noo never speed in general! But let's face it, how fast can we go in the uk without ending up without a license

[VeeFour]

Yazza54 said:

That's why mx5s do so well, they're fast enough and practical enough as a good allrounder.

Much as I like my MX5, I'd not want a MkI or MkI, or even MkIII ragtop as a daily driver.

The gearing is too short for motorway cruising (can't recall exactly, but the engine is spinning along at around 4k rpm on motorways), so they're noisy - not helped by the noise from the roof if it's up, although it can be quieter with it down. Then it will leak in heavy rain. If you have a very new roof and seals it might not - but at some point you'll end up with water where you don't want it. Plus the boot is too small - you can barely get a week's shopping in there.

MkIII tin-tops are pretty good as daily drivers, though - if my company car scheme allowed it, I'd have a MkIII tin-top with the tiptronic type box.

[Yazza54]

MX5guy said:

Yazza54 said:

Speed wise I am talking from experience and the mx5 is not fast. It's fast enough for normal roads, that's why it's fun. I found it painful driving the fury on the public roads, unless I wanted to loose my license I couldn't drive it anywhere near full throttle.

I certainly agree. I have to plan overtaking a lot more on smaller roads, as it just doesn't have the power. Part of the reason people can think them slow due to being used to modern cars with more low down torque, and so are not used to using the revs. However they still are slow compared to a lot of modern cars, even using the revs (needs to be above 4k to start properly pulling).

Sometimes it's much more fun driving a slower car fast at 100% than a fast car at 25%

Whatever puts a smile on your face is right.

[Yazza54]

STW2010 said:

I suggest one of these. You should be able to get insurance for around £1k too.

Missed this one, swifts are nice cars. The mate who just bought a mx5 and is thinking of selling it had a swift sport before and I'm sure he preferred the swift. Everyones different though, but good shout, theyre decent cars.

[Baryonyx]

VeeFour said:

Much as I like my MX5, I'd not want a MkI or MkI, or even MkIII ragtop as a daily driver.

The gearing is too short for motorway cruising (can't recall exactly, but the engine is spinning along at around 4k rpm on motorways), so they're noisy - not helped by the noise from the roof if it's up, although it can be quieter with it down. Then it will leak in heavy rain. If you have a very new roof and seals it might not - but at some point you'll end up with water where you don't want it. Plus the boot is too small - you can barely get a week's shopping in there.

I was just discussing this saying how my MX5 needed a 6th gear, because at 70mph it's doing something close to 4000rmp. The short gearing is great for B roads though. Although if you live with an MX5 you're going to have to put up with the noise, wind noise on the motorway was bad, as was road noise. Mine had the original 13 year old roof, which didn't leak in the common sense. The only time I got wet was when I was sitting down in the car after it had been raining and water from the outside of the roof or the door seal ended up dripping on me.

I didn't find the boot to small but I very rarely carry much anyway, it was certainly enough to do a weekly shop for 2.

[LEG13]

Synchromesh said:

Thanks. Not too hard to find although Polos aren't as common as, say, Fiestas - use the search function on Auto trader. These are all within 100 miles of Bangor, and there were more.

You should also decide if you want 5 door or 3 door. One of the main reasons I chose the Polo was wanting 5 door ruled out quite a few possibilites in terms of my choice of car.

With some very nice Polos available for under £4k, I don't see any reason for choosing the Fabia over it (which is the same car underneath), as some of the Polo's key strengths (namely the interior) are negated by choosing the Skoda.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Those are pretty nice, I think the Polo will be better when it comes to selling as well.