First Car Dilemma

[Longshot]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 10 October 2011 at 13:43

[wackojacko]

I'm all for young people with "quick" cars but given the choice from the above including my love for all things BMW I would opt for the 1.4 Corsa C, Cheap to run , Safe , not going to do anything un expected when pushing on etc.

E46 will be an OK example but about 2 or 3 times the cost to run compared with the Corsa.

.... personally I'd go for a 2.0 Omega for £500, source an LSD and teach yourself some car control

Edited by wackojacko on Thursday 18th August 22:06

[The_Burg]

Something very cheap and lowest insurance group.
Wait a few years before spending £4k.

[MartyPubes]

Hard to say without knowing your financial situation.

Insurance wise are all those similar? If it had to be from that list the Corsa, because I imagine the insurance is much cheaper and you'd get a better one for £4k than anything else. The Clio could be a good shout if the insurance isn't as mental as I think it would be. Personally I'd forget the BMW/VAG, you wont get a particularly tidy example and you'll pay a fortune to insure a badge.

If it was actually me though I'd be getting a Fiesta 1.25 or something, keeping my insurance as low as possible and saving for a year. Not because I'd be worried about crashing anything more powerful, but because I couldn't stomach throwing away thousands on insurance.

[The Moose]

I would have a look at a MINI one (the first BMW version).

They are good generally reliable cars that are reasonably safe and isn't a stter nor does it shout I'm a rich (in the same way being a uni student and driving a bimmer may appear)

[MartyPubes]

The Moose said:

I would have a look at a MINI one (the first BMW version).

They are good generally reliable cars that are reasonably safe and isn't a stter nor does it shout I'm a rich (in the same way being a uni student and driving a bimmer may appear)

Not sure about that, when I was at uni Mini Ones/Coopers were THE 'daddy bought me this' car.

[aka_kerrly]

Did I read your post right, you are on a gap year and are proposing to spend circa £4k on a car and in excess of £2k on insurance for a few months of driving.

As a student Id have thought it would be far more beneficial to have a sub £1k car and have cash in the bank for socialising and not having to live on Tesco value noodles, or have things changed a lot since I was at uni?

Dave

[aka_kerrly]

Longshot said:

Hi Dave.
Basically, my options for my final year are:

a) Spend around £6k on food, and accomodation near university.
b) Live at home and commute. Get a car, and spend above money on running costs, money for my upkeep etc.

I much prefer the latter.

I see, this year forms your year in industry so you won't be commuting to uni on a daily basis but to your place of work, hence having a stereotypical uni snotter is not such a good plan.

I assume then that once you have completed your year in industry you would return to uni and that you live near to your chosen campus. In which case so long as you are still in a position to make the most of the uni lifestyle and not be one of the people who get left out due to having to commute all the time then option 2 does make more sense than id previously thought.

With your 3k budget id probably opt to not feel the need to spend all an possibly opt for something like:

- Ford Puma
- Seat Ibiza/cordoba GTI - late 90s S,T plate are a sly insurance bargains
- Honda Civic Type S
- wild card - Alfa 147 as they look a lot more expensive than they are an have great interiors

dave

[DanDan1980]

i bought my missus a 1.2 punto for her first car, which she didnt get on with, now i have her a mk4 Golf Tdi, which incredibly was £800 cheaper to insure than the punto for a 24 year old lady, great car with great Economy, and if ur looking at petrol cars like those u listed its prob got better performance than them too... regards to ur daily trip i work in Battersea London and have a 75 mile round trip each day, and 30-35mpg from my e46 325Ci is not good lol... just a thought

[frankthetank2]

I am in a similar situation to you, I am 21 and a final year student, as I have a 3 years NCB I insure my 206 GTi for under a grand (just).
I wouldnt recomend the Clio RS (group 16 bit of a killer), or E46 BMW until you can afford to run it when something goes wrong, wait until you graduated for that.

I would go for a puma 1.7, possibly a saxo vtr or vts, or a Pug 106 Gti, (all group 14 or under).

[RizzoTheRat]

The_Burg said:

Something very cheap and lowest insurance group.
Wait a few years before spending £4k.

This, even just one year will to get some no claims will make a big difference.

Also get a quote with one of your parents on the unsurance as a named driver, that will often bring the insurance down a fair bit.

[Chicane-UK]

The_Burg said:

Something very cheap and lowest insurance group.
Wait a few years before spending £4k.

+1