First car

[Melissa_]

Okay first post so sorry if i don't get any of the abbreviations, the boyfriend suggested that i get on here and ask around about what kind of car i can get on a budget of £2000, after much research I've whittled it down to a classic beetle and a mk1 golf, very opposite looking i know but i think they're both very pretty. I was just wondering if anyone can give me advice as to which one would be more suitable for someone looking for a first car. And if it helps i'm very willing to learn about maintaining it and i'll definatly be getting my hands dirty, i really don't intend to buy and classic car and then pay out every time something tiny goes wrong. Advice much appreciated. Mel.

[Dr G]

MK1 Golfs have usable heaters and standard brakes that probably won't kill you - and if you're keen to learn there are a lot of parts that are easily modernised by raiding scrapyards.

Buy the first rust-free car you find.

Beetles I don't know a great deal about but I wouldn't want one as my only car no matter how keen a spanner monkey I was; very old and dated with a questionable heater and serious rot problems for anything cheap.

[ol]

Both would be great. My first car was a Golf mk2, followed closely by a string of Beetles.

I found Beetles more fun to work on, and everybody on the road smiles at you and lets you out of junctions. There are lots of cheap parts around for them, and they are easy to modify.

If it were me, I would go for the Beetle, but then again, £2,000 will get you some far more modern cars that are much less likely to go wrong and leave you stranded!

What about a Polo?

[aka_kerrly]

currently rocking one of these as a daily. Its a 1.0L Polo mk2 'bread van'. bought for £50 needing a head gasket an rear brakes, later all mechanical work done + new interior , new wheels, new MOT & Tax and insured it for under £1000.
Insurance group 2 means im paying £250 TPFT with my bro 20 as a named driver.

Its easy to drive, cheap on fuel, has been very reliable, you can fit a silly amount of kit in the boot eg a entire mk2 golf interior inc seats an doorcards! the only critisms i have at the moment are the 4 speed gearbox which is a bit of a pain on long journeys and the brakes need to be pushed hard as there is currently no servo fitted but that is likely to be rectified by fitting mk3 polo GT front hubs with 239 vented discs and brake servo conversion.

Most of the parts i have bought for it eg interior/ dashboard/ centre consul/parcel shelf/ bbs alloys to name a few things have all been from scrapyards an less than £30quid and plenty of parts from the mk1- mk3 polos can all be interchanged also helping keep costs down

You really cant get much more budget and id recommend it as a much cheaper alternative to a mk2 golf which even in 1.3 form is insurance group 7 which to be honest is a joke.

mine will prob be for sale in the next month or so - 10mths T&T on it an £600+ worth of receipts + service history etc...

dave

[istoo]

golf if you want an car to drive, beetle for the lifestyle.

Both have HUGE communities, mk1/2 golfs really are great.
Beetles just dont do it for me but i can appreciate them, prefer the karman ghias.

[Tino]

AHve you thought about the MK1 Clipper?
My wife had a couple before her Corrado.
They were very reliable, handled well enough, looked great and were cheap to repair if/when things went wrong. They were also reasonable cheap to insure.
We would still have it of it wasn't for the fact that you cant get power steering for them.
Much better that a possibly rusty MK1 tintop, or an even rustier Beetle, and you should be able to get them well within budget.