Mini Cooper S or Suziki Swift Sport - First Car?

[SuperMini-Me]

Hi Piston Heads.

I recently passed my driving test at 28 years old (first time) a few days ago and am planning to get a car in the next month or two. I am just one man and his dog so don't need something too big. My budget is £2k

After going through the initial "silly phase" of contemplating cars I won't be able to afford the upkeep on like Alpha Romeo's & BMW's I have settled on something a little bit more sensible, but as I'm slightly older than most new drivers and have some "catch-up" to do with my peers in terms of "levels" (one of my friends who passed at 17 now owns a AMG C 63 for example). I have decided to go for a "sport" version of any sensible car I pick.

The type of car I want: It must be a Petrol and in Hatchback form. Must have character and fun to drive. Reliable and easy/cheapish to maintain. Safe.

I have narrowed it down to these:

Mini Cooper S (2000–2006)
Suziki Swift Sport (2007-2010)

They both share the same silhouette, have an almost identical safety rating and appear fun to drive. Obviously the Mini Cooper S has a supercharger and is proportionately quicker off the line than that of the Swift Sport but i'm not yet sure if i'll be able to get insured on one without any NCB. Suziki Swift Sport would be newer (still would have the double exhaust that I like) but wouldn't sound as good.

Thoughts?

[jaydeeuk1]

You tried insurance quotes on them?

[Lukas239]

£500 st box for 1 year and then ask the question. In all seriousness, might be alarmed by insurance.

Of those 2 the swift will arguably be cheaper to run all in, and be more reliable.

[SuperMini-Me]

In the initial quotes i've got the Swift is around £300-600 cheaper to insure annually the Cooper S.

[Court_S]

I imagine that the upkeep will be a lot less on the Swift.

My R53 Cooper S was a great car, but it was far from reliable.

[htid]

Swift sport all day long based on your circumstances and requirements,

[ninjag]

htid said:

Swift sport all day long based on your circumstances and requirements,

Seconded.

[SuperMini-Me]

Here's another option that seems to be in budget:

Volkswagen Polo 1.6 Sport (2006-2009) petrol

Thoughts?

Edited by SuperMini-Me on Friday 19th April 18:26

[jas xjr]

Fiat panda 100 or something

[SuperMini-Me]

jas xjr said:

Fiat panda 100 or something

While the best for insurance I only found 3 of them in my area and they are more expensive than both the Suzuki Sport and Polo Sport.

Edited by SuperMini-Me on Friday 19th April 18:29

[egor110]

How much would a old puma cost you to insure ?

[ZX10R NIN]

Go for the Swift it's a fun car with sensible running costs.

[aka_kerrly]

Try getting some insurance quotes on Cooper S, then consider yourself lucky if you can insure (at a reasonable cost) a basic 1.6 Mini or a Swift 1.2

[ZX10R NIN]

aka_kerrly said:

Try getting some insurance quotes on Cooper S, then consider yourself lucky if you can insure (at a reasonable cost) a basic 1.6 Mini or a Swift 1.2

I suggest you read the thread properly especially the part where the op says:

In the initial quotes i've got the Swift is around £300-600 cheaper to insure annually the Cooper S.

[aka_kerrly]

ZX10R NIN said:

aka_kerrly said:

Try getting some insurance quotes on Cooper S, then consider yourself lucky if you can insure (at a reasonable cost) a basic 1.6 Mini or a Swift 1.2

I suggest you read the thread properly especially the part where the op says:

In the initial quotes i've got the Swift is around £300-600 cheaper to insure annually the Cooper S.

Hence why I said quotes on Non S and non Sport for reference. Clearly for a Swift to be a few hundred pounds cheaper implies that the Cooper S quotes must be in the thousands which to me suggests paying more than the value of the car to insure it.

[rdb85]

I've owned a Cooper and a Cooper S with the Supercharger. They are quite a lot on the insurance and tax, they are also very thirsty on fuel, an absolute fun car to drive. They are not that reliable, and parts being BMW is expensive.

I would get maybe a Swift, Panda 100HP, or a Fiesta Zetec S, Skoda Fabia, Corsa VXR. Swift is a nice car, plenty of good reviews online. If it's £500 - £600 cheaper then I would go with that.

[SuperMini-Me]

rdb85 said:

I've owned a Cooper and a Cooper S with the Supercharger. They are quite a lot on the insurance and tax, they are also very thirsty on fuel, an absolute fun car to drive. They are not that reliable, and parts being BMW is expensive.

I would get maybe a Swift, Panda 100HP, or a Fiesta Zetec S, Skoda Fabia, Corsa VXR. Swift is a nice car, plenty of good reviews online. If it's £500 - £600 cheaper then I would go with that.

I have ruled the Mini out now so it's down to these as not interested in the others you've mentioned. Insurance is about the same on both of them. I'd imagine the Swift is slightly faster while the Polo slightly more solid.

Volkswagen Polo 1.6 Sport 09 reg (third fastest MK4 Polo)

Engine power 104 bhp
Engine torque 112.85 lbs/ft
0 - 60 mph 10.4 seconds
Top speed 119 mph

vs

Suzuki Swift Sport 09 reg

Engine power 123 bhp
Engine torque 109.16 lbs/ft
0 - 60 mph 8.9 seconds
Top speed 124 mph

Edited by SuperMini-Me on Friday 19th April 21:12

Edited by SuperMini-Me on Friday 19th April 21:12

Edited by SuperMini-Me on Friday 19th April 21:14

Edited by SuperMini-Me on Friday 19th April 21:16

[egor110]

SuperMini-Me said:

rdb85 said:

I've owned a Cooper and a Cooper S with the Supercharger. They are quite a lot on the insurance and tax, they are also very thirsty on fuel, an absolute fun car to drive. They are not that reliable, and parts being BMW is expensive.

I would get maybe a Swift, Panda 100HP, or a Fiesta Zetec S, Skoda Fabia, Corsa VXR. Swift is a nice car, plenty of good reviews online. If it's £500 - £600 cheaper then I would go with that.

It's down to these:

MK4 Volkswagen Polo 1.6 Sport 09 reg

Engine power 104 bhp
Engine torque 112.85 lbs/ft
0 - 60 mph 10.4 seconds
Top speed 119 mph

vs


Suzuki Swift Sport 09 reg

Engine power 123 bhp
Engine torque 109.16 lbs/ft
0 - 60 mph 8.9 seconds
Top speed 124 mph

Save your money .

A £500 puma will match both of those , drive it until it won't pass a mot then upgrade to something better.

Just have a search of the forums for the £50 puma and £100 puma .

I've had clio 1*2 and my mrs has a cooper s and over the b roads of exmoor i think the puma is better than the mini cooper , nice to have the super charger to drag it out of corners but i'd enter the corner quicker in the puma so swings and roundabouts.

[SuperMini-Me]

egor110 said:

Save your money .

A £500 puma will match both of those , drive it until it won't pass a mot then upgrade to something better.

Just have a search of the forums for the £50 puma and £100 puma .

I've had clio 1*2 and my mrs has a cooper s and over the b roads of exmoor i think the puma is better than the mini cooper , nice to have the super charger to drag it out of corners but i'd enter the corner quicker in the puma so swings and roundabouts.

Not sure I feel safe driving a car that's never been crash-tested by Euro NCAP on public roads. Besides a £500 car is likely to break down within 50-100 miles and I'm not a mechanic...

Edited by SuperMini-Me on Friday 19th April 21:22

[egor110]

SuperMini-Me said:

egor110 said:

Save your money .

A £500 puma will match both of those , drive it until it won't pass a mot then upgrade to something better.

Just have a search of the forums for the £50 puma and £100 puma .

I've had clio 1*2 and my mrs has a cooper s and over the b roads of exmoor i think the puma is better than the mini cooper , nice to have the super charger to drag it out of corners but i'd enter the corner quicker in the puma so swings and roundabouts.

Not sure I feel safe driving a car that's never been crash-tested by Euro NCAP on public roads. Besides a £500 car is likely to break down within 50-100 miles and I'm not a mechanic...

Edited by SuperMini-Me on Friday 19th April 21:22

when your taking the other 2 out for a test drive just give a puma a go .

re reliability there have been loads of people on here who've bought cheap ones with no problems , there such basic cars the only problem area is rust and when that become a issue just get rid of it .