Seeking some cost worthy advice about a potential new motor!

[jonnyrobertz]

First of all, I will be deeply thankful to anyone that can make sense of my predicament! I'll try my best at explaining this, sorry for any part of it that doesn't make sense or seems irrelevant!

Basically, I'm on a hunt for my ideal car. I've been regularly changing my idea's because I'm quite restricted to money, but I'm completely lost in what seems like a forever changing market. |:

I'm currently a student living at home, travelling 40 miles every day to University. Obviously, I drive.. but with being a student, I have to restrict my expenditure by as much as I can. I currently own a 1.4 Astra LS which is for sale on Pistonheads. However, I am completely bored of this car.. and with my insurance hopefully dropping price in January, I feel that now is the time to get rid.

The Astra suits me down the the ground, it's economical and spacious, but I have to admit.. I've not grown into liking the car, it's just something about the way that it drives and the general feel of the car that just doesn't set right with me. Before I bought the Astra, I use to drive a 1.4 Civic, and in comparison.. it was a much more thrilling ride.

I'm not looking for power in general, but something which is good on petrol, cheap to own, but at the same time a joy to drive! I have been searching high and low for something ideal, I quite like the idea of owning a VTR, but reliability issues and my current insurance policy (20 year old with 0 no claims) are looking very grim. I have around 2k to spend and ideally I'm trying to minimise costs.

Any help would be appreciated!

[dudleybloke]

fiesta's are a nice drive and should be quite cheap to run plus they're a great handling little car.

[Gwagon111]

Don't be under any illusions that 1 years NCB will reduce your premium. Be prepared for a shock in January. Nearly everyone I know has had a premium hike which has far outweighed any reduction due to increased NCB. In one case the premium doubled in price, despite another years NCB being achieved. Even with the help of several price comparison websites and a lot of ringing around and bartering of chickens, it still ended up being 30 percent higher. Ambulance chasing and injury claims are causing everyones premiums to rise / rocket at the moment. If I were you I'd stick to very low IG cars until you don't have to worry about every penny so much.

[Mannginger]

Do you need a car with 4 seats?

[firman]

What about a Ford Puma? For cheaper insurance just find one in a 1.4 there are hundreds of them for sale in your budget.

eta

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1826101.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1826101.htm

Edited by firman on Wednesday 17th November 07:48

Edited by firman on Wednesday 17th November 07:49

[firman]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

There are some dogs around yeah but we had a 97 one last year and it was good. They are no worse than MX5's rusting on the sills though. Plus any you find now will either be at there worst or have been repaired

[firman]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yeah just seems to be a really bad spell for a lot of manufacturers around the mid to late 90's where everything they built turned to rust.

[jonnyrobertz]

Gwagon111 said:

Don't be under any illusions that 1 years NCB will reduce your premium. Be prepared for a shock in January. Nearly everyone I know has had a premium hike which has far outweighed any reduction due to increased NCB. In one case the premium doubled in price, despite another years NCB being achieved. Even with the help of several price comparison websites and a lot of ringing around and bartering of chickens, it still ended up being 30 percent higher. Ambulance chasing and injury claims are causing everyones premiums to rise / rocket at the moment. If I were you I'd stick to very low IG cars until you don't have to worry about every penny so much.

Well, I phoned up my insurers to find out where I will stand when I come to renew my policy in January, and it turns out it's going to be around 600-700 pounds cheaper. I have no idea why, I think it might have something to do with the fact that when I come to renew my policy, I'll be 21. I'm also going to stick my mum and dad on the insurance and I'll have my years NCB.

I'm insured with Provident at the moment, when I went to pick the car up, I needed something there and then so I phoned Swinton and they said that it'd be the cheapest quote. (around £1,350) I thought it was a bit of a piss-take to be honest. I've been shopping round a bit recently, and found that I could be insured on a Civic Type-R for around the same price, nuts or what? But however, I could potentially be insured on something bigger like a 106 GTi or VTS for around the £800 mark, awesome!

[jonnyrobertz]

firman said:

What about a Ford Puma? For cheaper insurance just find one in a 1.4 there are hundreds of them for sale in your budget.

eta

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1826101.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1826101.htm

Edited by firman on Wednesday 17th November 07:48

Edited by firman on Wednesday 17th November 07:49

This is interesting. I've always looked more into cars based on reliability/economy reviews, never considered the more 'b-listed' cars like a Puma. I'm not a fan of Ford since most of my friends have bhed endlessly about them, I was considering a 1.25 Zetec once upon a time.. until I saw how regularly my friend was in the garage.

What are Puma's like performance and economy wise?

A big shout to everyone that's contributed to this so far, some really sick idea's are forming in my head. I have to say though.. I've just seen a 106 GTi on Pistonheads and she seems/sounds bloody lovely. It wouldn't be economical, but if I'd enjoy driving it then I'd have to compensate I guess!

[jonnyrobertz]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Honda, there's pretty much enough said right there. To be honest, I think a Honda would suit me and my budget extremely well.

I loved my ek9 dearly, it was a complete bloody machine. Very quick too if I'm honest! However, I can't seem to find the same one within the same price-range. I picked mine up from a trade back in 2008, it had 96k on the clocks and I bought it for a mere £850. I gave it a good inspection before I bought it and everything was fine minus the front two tyres showing considerable signs of wear and the notorious paint-fade. It did turn pink after a while.. which was embarrassing! Nothing a bit of wax could temporarily sort out though.

Nowadays, I'm finding Civics (especially on here) with 100k+ for over a grand? It just seems a bit weird taking a step back in time and loosing out on more money!

Maybe a newer Civic would be a wise move, however I can't express how much I want a Type-R. I know if I drove a newer one then I'd be permanently gutted every time I put my foot down because I wouldn't hear that roar, wouldn't see that speed and would be constantly reminded of what is yet to come...