BEST CAR FOR A 19 YEAR OLD? 2 YEARS NO CLAIMS.

[alexlane989]

I'm 19, and have just passed my two years of no claims. I currently drive a 2005 Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI, not the best, but ideal for a first car, need to get something newer now as it's starting to cost me a lot more than it's worth, having had to spend twice as much as its worth in the last year or so and can't keep throwing money at it.

I'm now actively looking for a new car, something that when you press the pedal on the right, it has a bit of get up and go (preferably 0-60 in under 9 seconds).

My total budget is £4500 MAX including insurance.

Here is what I have been looking at so far:

- Audi A3 2.0T
- Alfa Romeo MiTo 1.4
- Citroen DS3
- Mini Cooper S
- Renault Megane 2.0 TCe

What do you think of the above choices?

What would you suggest?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Edited by alexlane989 on Thursday 28th December 09:24

[Rawwr]

Personally, I'd probably just stick with the Fiesta. It's not like any of the cars you've listed are particularly rapid and although they'd initially feel quicker compared to the Fiesta, that sensation will dissipate pretty damn quickly after a couple of days and you realise you've spent £4,500 on something and gained very little.

I'm not saying you shouldn't change your car but you should tread carefully in pursuit of increased performance, whilst keeping an eye on the real cost.

[alexlane989]

Rawwr said:

Personally, I'd probably just stick with the Fiesta. It's not like any of the cars you've listed are particularly rapid and although they'd initially feel quicker compared to the Fiesta, that sensation will dissipate pretty damn quickly after a couple of days and you realise you've spent £4,500 on something and gained very little.

I'm not saying you shouldn't change your car but you should tread carefully in pursuit of increased performance, whilst keeping an eye on the real cost.

need to get something newer now as it's starting to cost me a lot more than it's worth, having had to spend twice as much as its worth in the last year or so and can't keep throwing money at it.

[Willy Nilly]

alexlane989 said:

Rawwr said:

Personally, I'd probably just stick with the Fiesta. It's not like any of the cars you've listed are particularly rapid and although they'd initially feel quicker compared to the Fiesta, that sensation will dissipate pretty damn quickly after a couple of days and you realise you've spent £4,500 on something and gained very little.

I'm not saying you shouldn't change your car but you should tread carefully in pursuit of increased performance, whilst keeping an eye on the real cost.

need to get something newer now as it's starting to cost me a lot more than it's worth, having had to spend twice as much as its worth in the last year or so and can't keep throwing money at it.

What is actually going wrong with your Fiesta?

I doubt your budget is enough to buy you anything significantly better (more reliable) you could easily be buying someone elses issues at that budget. What ever you buy it will still need servicing, brakes and tyres.

£4500 will buy a lot or repairs.

[Marc p]

You don't need to go newer for reliability, something like this would offer you reliability, fun, something a bit different on the road, unlikely to suffer too bad from depreciation as well:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-TOYOTA-MR2-GT-T-BA...

ETA: My fault, missed the inc insurance part, still you could get an MR2 for £3k with £1500 for insurance.

Edited by Marc p on Thursday 28th December 09:48

[DuraAce]

alexlane989 said:

need to get something newer now as it's starting to cost me a lot more than it's worth, having had to spend twice as much as its worth in the last year or so and can't keep throwing money at it.

You say that but if your budget is 4.5k Inc insurance then how much do you have for the car, 3k max?

Any of those cars you list (at the 3k price point) will all have a good chance of throwing you a large bill or three.

If you want a new car then sure, get involved. Just dont be thinking that you'll get no more big bills. You WILL get them on cars that are approaching the end of their lives.

Getting handy with some DIY repairs could save you a few quid?

[bungz]

Invest in a set of Halfords finest pro spanners and bosh the fez next time it throws a strop.

Will stand you in good stead when you have a quicker car in the future.

As said all those cars, in the price range you have are far more likely to produce ££ bills than the fez.

[Marc p]

Marc p said:

You don't need to go newer for reliability, something like this would offer you reliability, fun, something a bit different on the road, unlikely to suffer too bad from depreciation as well:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-TOYOTA-MR2-GT-T-BA...

ETA: My fault, missed the inc insurance part, still you could get an MR2 for £3k with £1500 for insurance.

Edited by Marc p on Thursday 28th December 09:48

This looks like a really nice example:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-Rev-5-Sunburst-Red...

[justanother5tar]

Seems more like you WANT a newer/better car rather than NEED one. A 1.4tdci Fiesta will go on forever if you wanted it to.

I got rid of my first car after I got my 1 year NCB for something better so I won’t preach about spending money.

alexlane989 said:

- Audi A3 2.0T
- Alfa Romeo MiTo 1.4
- Citroen DS3
- Mini Cooper S
- Renault Megane 2.0 TCe

A3’s are incredibly dull. I test drove a ‘10 plate 2.0tfsi Quattro and hated it. Felt quick enough though with 200bhp.

We’ve got a DS3 diesel atm. Loads of spec and toys. Very comfortable but a bit soft. Would imagine a 1.6 THP sport would be a great car.

I like MCS’s, but the build quality put me off when I was looking.

No experience of MiTo, never took to the looks. And I’d rather not spend £4.5k on a Megane, unless it was an F1.

[freakybacon]

Marc p said:

This looks like a really nice example:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-Rev-5-Sunburst-Red...

Off topic, but kicking myself for not buying one of these when they were sub £1k!

What about the pistonheads favourite, an MX5?

Edited by freakybacon on Thursday 28th December 10:20

[Drace]

2.0 litre Astra Sri.

[Ron99]

justanother5tar said:

.....We’ve got a DS3 diesel atm. Loads of spec and toys. Very comfortable but a bit soft. Would imagine a 1.6 THP sport would be a great car.....

The PSA 1.6T variants seem especially susceptible to coking of the valves.

[Saleen836]

Even at 19 with 2 years NCB insurance will be fairly high, so you might want to get a shortlist of vehicles then run insurance quotes on them, if you are looking to buy and insure for £4.5k you might be as already mentioned be buying someone elses costly repairs

[Alias218]

Why not join the shedding fraternity (which you arguably already have)? £1,500 budget as per PH rules.

Earlier in the year I bought a 45,000 mile, 2002 Focus Silver. 1.6 Zetec (sigma) with a couple of toys that mostly work. Not quick but it'll be quicker than what you've got. Plus it's dirt cheap to repair and dead easy to work on. Mine has cost me £29 in fixes - gearstick return spring and a coilpack. It's still fun to drive despite its age.

They do rot, but no more than others cars of the age. It'll cost you less than your Fiesta, save you a bit of money from your £4,500 budget and help you get a few more years of NCB under your belt.

As others have said, the cars you have highlighted could potentially have issues waiting in the wings at that price point and you will still lose money on them come selling time. A £1,000 Focus will still be worth £1,000 when you sell it in three years.

[Ron99]

Saleen836 said:

.....Even at 19 with 2 years NCB insurance will be fairly high, so you might want to get a shortlist of vehicles then run insurance quotes on them....

I was pleasantly shocked at the low insurance cost for my Swift Sport - about £180/yr for 10k miles.
It's also more likely than most to tick the 'reliable' and 'low maintenance' boxes.

[Armitage.Shanks]

Ron99 said:

I was pleasantly shocked at the low insurance cost for my Swift Sport - about £180/yr for 10k miles.
It's also more likely than most to tick the 'reliable' and 'low maintenance' boxes.

Ah yes but how old are you? I've yetto know of anyone under 21 who gets insurance for less than £500

[justanother5tar]

Ron99 said:

justanother5tar said:

.....We’ve got a DS3 diesel atm. Loads of spec and toys. Very comfortable but a bit soft. Would imagine a 1.6 THP sport would be a great car.....

The PSA 1.6T variants seem especially susceptible to coking of the valves.

Oh, that’s a shame.

Diesel is completely the wrong fuel for our use and we were looking to swap it for a quick petrol DS3.

Guess we’ll have to re think that one!

[Ilovejapcrap]

In your budget I’d say your buying issues with any of them when I say issues I mean they will need odd repairs, a car is a machine and does having moving parts that will at some point need replacing.

I’d be looking at a bog standard petrol, no turbo etc just old school mechanics and reliable at that.

Have you considered a Suzuki swift sport, they are quicker than you’d think. Well screwed together, cheap, look nice and loads of aftermarket parts knocking around.

[Eyersey1234]

As others have said I'd keep the Fiesta, yes it has cost money lately but by baling out now you are giving someone else the benefit of that money and whatever you get may end up costing you in terms of repairs. At least the Fiesta is a known quantity. I've been running a 1.25 Fiesta for the last 11 years, mines now at 162k miles so yours will last a few more years.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Willy Nilly said:

What is actually going wrong with your Fiesta?

I doubt your budget is enough to buy you anything significantly better (more reliable) you could easily be buying someone elses issues at that budget. What ever you buy it will still need servicing, brakes and tyres.

£4500 will buy a lot or repairs.

Pretty much my thinking too. If the work that's been done of the Fiesta is just the replacement of things that have worn out over time then that's not unreliability, it's just the way things are with older cars. Having replaced a lot of bits in the recent past you may as well get your money's worth out of them as they won't have increased the value of the car by any significant amount. With your budget you're still going to have a very much used car so you could well end up having to replace a lot of the same stuff anyway.

On the other hand if the work that's been done on the Fiesta is putting right recurring issues that suggest it's just a bit of a dud, or it's got to the point where it needs lots of welding work doing, then chopping it in may make sense. This seems unlikely as they're not known for being shoddily built. If the real reason is that you just fancy a change then that's fine too, but don't think that you'll be buying guaranteed reliability with your new car.

A few years ago I had to spend £800 on our runabout 58-plate Yaris. Nothing had gone wrong; it was just that having done over 100k miles a lot of things came up to be replaced at the same time. A lot of people may have thought at that stage that 'this car is starting to cost me too much, best get rid', but since then it's done another 2 years/25k miles with nothing more than an oil and filter change, and has just sailed through another MOT.