Golf 1.4 TSI as first car

[ricedout]

Was wondering if I should go with the standard Corsa as a first or get a 1.4 TSI. I've saved £4,500 for the car and I live in west london. So whats insurance going to be like and I'm 17.

[lel]

Insurance is different for everyone so your best option would be to get a quote on both cars. The golf is a better car than any corsa will be so that would be my first choice if the insurance is reasonable.

[Greggyboy]

Obviously get insurance quotes on the car. Not sure if all VAG 1.4 tsi's suffer from the oil consumption issue, but my seat ibiza cupra did, I would stay well away from that engine personally.

[TheFinners]

You'll probably pay the same again to insure a 1.4 TSI golf! For £4,500 something like an early MK7 Fiesta would be ideal assuming they are in budget, and being mechanically simpler it should be less likely to go wrong!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[va1o]

The 122PS would be cheap to insure but I'm not convinced you'd find one for £4500 since it only came out in 2008. There is a big jump up in insurance costs for the 140PS and 170PS versions which I'd guess you'd be looking at for that budget. Other worry is the reliability, lots of expensive things seem to go wrong. Timing chain is the big worry as they've proved very troublesome.

It would certainly be a nice car but on a budget you might be better of with something else. I'd probably be looking at the 2008 onward Fiesta (the one above looks tidy) or a SEAT Ibiza of the same age e.g. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Edited by va1o on Sunday 16th March 19:19

[ricedout]

I see, so what about a polo 1.4 TDI, I really can't make my mind up. My dad says he'll pay for insurance as long as its under £4,000 and I pay for the car.

[Blakewater]

When I was looking at car insurance in my late teens and early twenties I always found I was quoted far more to insure Golfs than Corsas. Hence why I've always had Golfs.

[va1o]

ricedout said:

I see, so what about a polo 1.4 TDI, I really can't make my mind up. My dad says he'll pay for insurance as long as its under £4,000 and I pay for the car.

Polo would be the old generation 02-09 shape on that budget, so no as if would feel outdated compared to the others.

Worth trying for a insurance quote on the Golf as maybe it will be under £4k

[VolvoT5]

ricedout said:

Was wondering if I should go with the standard Corsa as a first or get a 1.4 TSI. I've saved £4,500 for the car and I live in west london. So whats insurance going to be like and I'm 17.

Do you have another 4.5k for the insurance? Get some quotes first.

I would seriously consider spending less than half of that on a first car as there is a good chance it will get bumped at some point.

[ricedout]

VolvoT5 said:

Do you have another 4.5k for the insurance? Get some quotes first.

I would seriously consider spending less than half of that on a first car as there is a good chance it will get bumped at some point.

I plan to keep the car until I'm out of uni so it has too last.

[AndyT77]

Get a st box for £500 and save the rest towards a decent car once you've learnt how to drive in the real world.

But out of the two suggested i'd go for the Golf if i was going to spend the whole amount.

[b0rk]

ricedout said:

I plan to keep the car until I'm out of uni so it has too last.

Honestly buy something cheap as a first car you'll appreciate your second car much more and insurance as student away from home will be expensive. Oh and most uni's now have policies stating no student cars on are to be kept on campus. This would be a problem if you plan to spend your first year in halls.

[Rovinghawk]

ricedout said:

until I'm out of uni so it has too last.

Words fail me.

As for the whole car-buying thing, if you live in London get a bicycle. Use the money saved to go have a good time.

[rich85uk]

Rovinghawk said:

if you live in London get a bicycle. Use the money saved to go have a good time.

This

my brother lives in London (central now, but lived in various parts of west) and driving to any place he lived at was a headache, at best it just took a long time but worse case was genuinely stressful.

Get an oyster card and move about by train or bus, even if your outside the underground zone he always was minutes from getting a train to waterloo and you just stand at a bus stop and one turns up within a minute

[ricedout]

rich85uk said:

This

my brother lives in London (central now, but lived in various parts of west) and driving to any place he lived at was a headache, at best it just took a long time but worse case was genuinely stressful.

Get an oyster card and move about by train or bus, even if your outside the underground zone he always was minutes from getting a train to waterloo and you just stand at a bus stop and one turns up within a minute

travel is free or extremely cheap, I'm 17. The thing is I've been saving for it since I was 15.Seems like a waste not to buy a car.

[stemll]

ricedout said:

travel is free or extremely cheap, I'm 17. The thing is I've been saving for it since I was 15.Seems like a waste not to buy a car.

It's a much bigger waste to buy one just because you're old enough. If I lived in London (I don't but I worked there for 9 years) I would not own a car to drive around London in.

[rich85uk]

what is a waste is to buy a car for £4000 for example, insure it for £3000 and the next year insure it for £2200 for arguments sake, you have already spent nearly 10k to buy and insure a 4k car in a city where the fastest and cheapest mode of transport is public transport

[SidewaysSi]

I live and work in London and so few of my mates have a car and I am a lot older than 17. Forget a car if you are in London. Outside may be a different thing however.

[VRSAndy]

Seriously, the kid asks for advice on a first car and he gets told to buy a bike? fk that. What if he wants to go away with a few pals outside of london? He has a nice budget and his first years insurance is kindly being paid by his father, I say he's in a great position to buy a car that will last him through Uni. When he's finished Uni he will hopefully have some NCB under his belt to move to something else. All this rubbish about buying a rotbox as the first so he can appreciate the second car is nonsense. Why can't he enjoy every car he owns?
OP, which car do you like the most for your budget? Get a list of cars, research them for known faults, get insurance quotes, Make a decision, enjoy your new freedom.

[johnnyBv8]

I agree with VRSandy - what is it with people on a car forum telling young drivers not to waste their money on cars, anf to get a bike instead?! Don't you remember the excitement of wanting to own a car, irrespective of whether there were more sensible things to do? The OP is 17, not 70. He's also in the lucky position of his dad offering to pay the insurance.

OP - the later 1.4 TSI (122bhp) is a very good engine, but only available in the Mk6 you wont get one for under £6.5k, so do a bit of research on the 1.4 TSI in the Mk5. Personally, I'd spend the money on a Golf (or prehaps a Polo, though they feel much less 'together') rather than a Corsa.

I'm not really an expert in what's currently available in terms of small cars - is there nothing else to add to the list? What about a Suzuki Swift? Not sure what the insurance is like on the different versions of these, but the Sport models look good, and you could get a nice one for under budget. 1.6 might be a bit steep on insurance, but:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-Swift-Sport-1-6-/...