Older Student In need of some advice...

[stedaley]

hey guys,

Been loving this website for year and am a true lover of cars and everything to do with them but now come the time to buy one....
New to the car game, as i could never afford to run a car when i was 18, my parents could never afford it.

Now i'm turning 22 (Dont know where the last 4 years have gone...) but I have 1500-2500 to spend on a car without insurance.
Now ive been looking at a mix between cheap and powerful and as new as possible. If i had the money id get the Twingo 133 RS, but thats the kind of car im looking for.
Ive seen a few clios and Ibizas but i really need a good middle ground between a eco car and a 2.0 hot hatch which will provide me a brilliant little drive all the time.

Ste

Edited by stedaley on Tuesday 17th December 00:39

[stedaley]

Just realised i never put my Price range up, looking between 1500-2500 on the car, and ive been passed 4 and half years,
Ive been on compared the market here and i can get on a mx5 for 900 which isnt too bad being in liverpool.

Im just wondering on a compromise from a Full hot hatch but not a eco Car...
and i have a years no claims off when i was insured just after i passed my test,

Ive been looking at the 133RS just cant afford the car...
and Mk2 Golfs are collectors car so prices are high here :/
i was thinking something more practical than a mx5,

I dont mind paying up to a grand for insurance really, if its the right car,

anybody had a 1.4 corsa/Clio or something along those lines?

Edited by stedaley on Tuesday 17th December 02:53

[stedaley]

ferrariF50lover said:

So all you're looking for is a car that's economical, powerful, insurance friendly, new and costs a bag of peanuts? Brother, that's the car we ALL want.

Pick, perhaps two of those and be grateful, I'd say. Or lie, lying works too. But an MX-5, supercharge it and forget to tell your insurance company. It won't be economical or new, but it'll be relatively cheap and powerful enough.*

Simon.

• For Christ's sake, don't actually do this.

sort of after some sort of middle ground really, thats what i was getting at....

[stedaley]

YankeePorker said:

I don't know if it's still the case in the UK, but choosing an older, "interesting" car used to allow you to go via owner clubs and find more affordable insurance, so the options mentioned above of a sporty little Pug or an MX5 make a lot of sense. Failing that maybe a tatty old Mk2 Golf Gti?

If you really want newish then you'd be better resigning yourself to a couple of years of something cheap and mundane with a smaller engine while you build up some insurance credibility. Ideas - Fiesta, Saxo, Ibiza, Clio, Polo, Swift? 2nd hand market over there is so cheap I imagine that there are plenty of options.

Not much around in the sporty range for my range really :/

any opinions on the best of the newer cars you stated?

[stedaley]

any comments on a 172 Clio?

[stedaley]

HemiCommander said:

I can't praise my old 182 enough. Faultlessly reliable, economical (40mpg average) and fantastic to drive hard. You have to be very careful buying one though, the cost of a full belt change, waterpump/coolant, exhaust, service and a set of proper Michelin PS3 tyres could easily cost the value of the car so I would avoid cheap ones and only go for a good one which has had all the above done recently with receipts to prove. Also a lot of them have been barried and ruined, I would only consider standard examples (apart from stainless exhausts). A good one will reward like nothing else for the price but a bad one could make you hate it.

anything i should look out for on the 182? certain problems?

[stedaley]

Tickle said:

Panda 100hp or Swift Sport are kind of middle ground to a full on hot hatch. Probably have to stretch your budget a little too.

Both look good, anything i should be wary of with either car?

[stedaley]

BorkFactor said:

If you are 22 then insurance shouldn't be too much of an issue, have you had your licence for a while? Makes a huge difference.

Get yourself a nice mint E36 323i coupe (or a 328i if you can find a good one), you won't regret it and there are plenty about

had it for 4 years... nearly 5

and again anything is should look for with either car?

[stedaley]

Grimezy93 said:

For the best driving experience you'd be better with the mx-5, £900 for insurance considering you don't really have any experience is brilliant. And what do you need practicality for?! This could be your only opportunity to buy a 2 seater car until your 50's once a family comes along; screw practicality.

Failing that, Clio will probably be best bang for buck but I'd check the insurance on it first as they're quite commonly associated with the 'boy racer' crew.

Might not be something you're interested in but maybe look at the 1.8 Toyota Corolla Sports? They can look pretty good and are a bit different.

Are you planning on paying for insurance monthly or is that coming out of your total budget as well?

Edit: That's a good shout from Bork with the E36 Coupe's, could be hard to find one for £1500 that doesn't need something replacing soon enough and the fact it has a BMW badge will not be approved of by insurers (I've found Admiral are pretty good though for young drivers with cars like this).

which model mx5?
and valid point, i was just looking for a car that i could use for everything, I travel from time to time and theres obviously the food shop,
and 2500 is the for the cost of the car,

and just had a quick look for the bmw and insurance flies through the roof round here... :/

[stedaley]

LuS1fer said:

I have a Fiesta ST. It does about 31mpg in varied use and they tend to be cheaper on insurance. Older ones should be in budget. Check for squeaky wheel bearings and snapped front road springs.
Tend to be very negotiable. Downside is they often have cheapo tyres fitted by younger owners.

I think ive tried to price insurance on a st before, just come in at over a 1000 for the insurance, i dont know just seems a bit of a well known boy racer car round here :/ always put me off them

[stedaley]

HemiCommander said:

As above really.

• Belt changes are expensive - I paid £720 for a cam/aux belt, dephaser pulley and water pump change so make sure this has been done. The dephaser is £400ish to do by itself if not done as a precaution with a belt change so watch out for that.
• The original mild steel exhausts are stupidly expensive and come as one piece requiring the rear beam dropping in order to fit them so everyone replaces them with stainless steel systems when they go. Make sure it is a high quality system and not a chav special and if the exhaust is original then budget £400 for a replacement stainless system
• Tyres - it needs good tyres. I fitted Michelin Pilot Sport 3s to mine as they are the recommended replacement for the discontinued Pilot Exalto 2 and would not consider anything else. They are about £100 a corner plus fitting but mine lasted nearly 30k and gave superb performance throughout.
• Gearboxes - I never had any trouble but given the sort of people who often end up owning these they can suffer from abuse. Check it shifts smoothly and there is no whine.
• Petrol - They are mapped to run best on 98 octane or greater. I ran mine on Momentum 99 and it really improved both performance, smoothness and economy.
• Originality - I would avoid like the plague anything which has been modified at all. Lowered suspension, stupid lights, dodgy wheels, cheap tyres, all of these would make me run a mile. Only buy one from a discerning owner who has kept it standard and looked after it properly.

They are very reliable little cars, the engine is a peach and should run forever if looked after correctly. Just bear in mind that whilst you can buy a good one for £2500, the bills could soon nearly double that amount if you do not check the points listed above. Hope that helps.

Fortunately i like the original car, might try and find a set of trophy wheels (Speedline) to get if i decide to go down this route, that would be the only thing id do to it,
so you would recommend on with a Belt change and either a new exhaust or a good aftermarket exhaust? Ive been reading a new manifold/exhaust really opens this car up abit, but havent found any companies that are highly rated? dont suppose youd have any ideas?

[stedaley]

LuS1fer said:

Strange as I paid more on a 16 year old 8v Golf GTI than I pay on my ST (but am over 50). First car I've ever had were the insurance has come in at less than the road tax.

If you have agirlfriend, try adding her as an extra driver, or your Mum, it can reduce the premium even if they never drive it.

I know! I didnt think the ST would be that much and i wish my insurance was that cheap!!
and add them as a second driver?

[stedaley]

Grimezy93 said:

You could either get a really nice MK1 (pop up headlights) or a decent MK2 depending on if you like them or not.

I'm 20 and own a MK3 and also have weekend away quite often, the boot is big enough to fit 1 big holdall and a few smaller bags or you can buy luggage especially for mx-5's that occupys every inch of the boot space rather than trying to squeeze things in. Obviously if 2 seats is going to be an issue for you then it's a no go'er. You'll definitely struggle to find a car that drives as well as one for that money though.

Probably stay away from BMW's until you've built up more no claims. You don't want too much speed straight away otherwise you'll get yourself killed (I used to be a sensible driver until I got my MX-5... It happens to us all). That's the great thing about most MX-5's though, you will have to work through the gears to get decent performance so it's always a lot of fun to drive, rather than looking down at the speedo and seeing 90 without even realising how you got there (which you'd probably have in one of the 6 cylinder beamers).

Ive been thinking about the 2 seat option, I dont really think id need the 4/5 seats, but i know that as soon as i say that, Id need to give a lift to some of my mates... Does the 2 seats affect you at all??

[stedaley]

Alapeno said:

I was in exactly the same situation as you but I had a little more budget. I went for the Suzuki Swift Sport, which is a warm hatch that's better on insurance than all the others and was absolutely brilliant. I know you don't have the budget for one so this brings me to my next point...

I've now sold that and gone to a mk1 mx5 and there's no difference in practicality, if anything I can get more shopping in the mx5 than the Swift's tiny boot. How often do you need 2 back seats anyway? The mx5 is also faster, handles much much better and is peanuts to maintain in comparison. As far as I'm aware the Swift is on par with the twingo in performance and slightly bigger I think, so just using it as an example.

Well aren't I an absolute PH cliche.

Really? Guessing you didn't use the back seat in the swift then? how is the Mx5? and what model do you have?

[stedaley]

supraboy said:

Corolla T SPort Facelift.

Im 22, 4 years NCB, Insurance this year is around £700.

190bhp, 35mpg+, toyota reliablilty, chain driven, get the Facelift and it has uprated dampers, strut braces and a much nicer interior (all the things the old corolla t sport got its bad repuation for).

and they still look reasonably modern .

Ive had mine on the track and was able to keep up with plenty of cars it shouldnt have been, very very underated cars which can be had for £1800+.

Cheapest insurance i can get is around 1200, sort of ST range really, and abit more than i want to pay, i think alot of hot hatches are considered dangerous round here :/

[stedaley]

Grimezy93 said:

Before my mx-5 I owned a 13 year old Punto for 2 and a half years. Whenever I had more than 2 people in the car it would make an awful noise from the back-end which at first just happened when pulling away from junctions and then started becoming more and more constant. Garages never knew what was doing it so I just left it and tried to avoid giving people lifts as much as possible so it was normally just me and the missus in it.

It all depends on your social life and needs really. My two mates I spend most time with both own MK1 MX-5's so there's basically 3 of us all we 2 seater cars; really I should have gone for a bigger car for weekends away for us all, etc but the MK3 I bought was too good to miss. We just make-do by using 2 cars or whatever. Most the time it's only me and the girlfriend in the car so it's fine.

If you've got mates with normal cars, then you'll manage with an mx-5. If you're one of the only one who drives and can see that you'll probably need to give a lot of lifts then you might be better with something bigger.

Driving alone to work down country lanes is such a blast though, something that I'm not sure you'd get from 'warm hatches'.

Very tempting... I have a mate with a astra and another with a corsa but im planning on living with only one lad next year anyway,
I play alot of badminton and as long as it fit two bigish bags in the back then it should do, which MX5 model do you have? would you recommend a certain model or certain features on the car?

Looks like its between this and the Clio,

[stedaley]

HemiCommander said:

Yes exactly. The trophy Speedline Turini wheels are the only other wheels that I would consider having on one as they are the correct size to preserve the geometry and ride just lighter. A good quality exhaust does open it up a bit but I wouldn't expect huge increases in power. I went for the Scorpion RS192 exhaust myself and was quite pleased with it, the noise level was close to the original but with a deeper tone and no motorway drone. It was also light and good quality for the price (£410).

yer just have to try and find a set!! well it looks like its between this and the MX5, just have to choose between 2 and 5 seats,

[stedaley]

Grimezy93 said:

I have a 2007 MK3 so mine's pretty new (shape-wise). My mates both have the old MK1's with the pop-up headlights which are very similar cars just with less fancy features.

Perhaps try and find a garage local to you with one in stock to see if the boot space is adequate, a Clio would be a much safer bet based on practicality but I'm sure most people would say the mx5 is the better car to drive. An old MX5 will normally have been enthusiast owned and have been well looked after (maybe only used as a summer car) whereas the Clio is more associated to the 'boy racer' community and is likely to have been driven that way.

If it were me, I'd find a nice MK1 example for around £1500, you'll find them with mileage around the 50k-70k mark for this price, make sure it's a rust-free clean example, go for a hardtop if you want a bit more comfort in winter (bear in mind you'll need somewhere to store this during summer), try and find an imported Eunos Roadster as these will be less prone to rust.

Really you'll have to decide for yourself if you could live with one. It's certainly not as easy as having a hatchback but I've taken the stance that if I can't do it now while I have no kids, etc then how am I ever going to do it?

Very good way of looking at it, and ill have more money when i finish uni for a better car,
whats the Wind blocking like? and can the car keep you warm with the hood down?
and are there any options with this car? A/c, Climate control that youd say look for?

[stedaley]

Grimezy93 said:

Mine's a bit of a different animal to a MK1. Mine has leather heated seats, very good blowers and a decent windblocker as well as a folding hard-top; basically I've been driving around with the roof down in december feeling perfectly content.

A MK1 probably won't have heated seats or aircon but the blowers are still very good and it'll be fine with the roof down as long as there's no rain. The only difference will probably be whereas I go out in jeans and a jumper, you may need a coat

Look for one with a folding wind-blocker behind the seats, they really do make a big difference when doing 60 down country lanes or even on the motorway. I popped mine down the other night and the wind was unbearable compared to with it up. If you can't find one with it already on, I'm fairly sure you can get them for cheap on mx-5 parts

http://www.esperformance.co.uk/car_MX5-Convertible-Mazda_383_0_index.php
this look good?
i think a mk2/mk3 will be what i go for, save up maybe abit more for the mk3,
do you prefer the mk3 over the mk2?

Edited by stedaley on Tuesday 17th December 16:20

[stedaley]

mark3man said:

The grumpy old men hereabouts would probably say "finish University ? With punctuation like that ?
Not in my day......"
The MX5 was the mistake of the generation - by the European car makers. THEY didn't make it.
Can't really go wrong with one.

Just to put your mind at ease I dont do english and i am doing this on my phone!!