First Time Buyer Help

[NottsMag]

Hello,

I appreciate you've probably had this question a million times - but I didn't want to pollute other people's threads in case anything specific does come up.

Basically I'm looking for a smallish hatchback for my first car, below £1000. I've found a really nice little 1.3 Fiesta for just under 500 quid (W plate) - but it has 120,000 miles on it, I've been told conflicting things about how reliable this car can be, some telling me this mileage should not be an issue as it is a reliable car, some telling that sort of mileage means it's probably going to cost me a lot of money during the time I own it - I'm hoping for about 2-3 years.

The Fiesta is my first choice but I'm open to other options (I've already lowered my aspirations from a Mini or a VW Golf GTI, insurance put me off the Golf, and I would be absolutely devastated if I wrote a MIni off, a friend also has had two, one got nicked and the other always seems to be broken). Other cars that have been recommended include the Honda Civic and Peugeot 206, although I don't really like either of them, the Renault Megane is a car I really, really like - but the last one a member of my family bought wasn't exactly reliable, and has been scrapped.

Any advice (particularly on the cars mentioned, I'm not particularly comfortable with the out of date and vague reviews I've read assuring me the Fiesta is reliable - I want to be sure before I take the plunge) would be massively appreciated.

Thanks

[reedy147]

try a 1.0 polo, i had an x reg one for my first car, cost me 800 quid and it never gave me any trouble for the 2 years i had it

[NottsMag]

I've found one of them that I quite like also, low mileage - but it's a little more than I would like to pay.

It is something I hadn't considered though, so I will add it to my slowly growing list of things to keep an eye out for.

Thanks

[Codswallop]

The 1.3 Kent engine is as old as the universe, and pretty reliable generally with easily accesible spares. Mileage isn't that important, condition is. A car of that age will probably require some replacement of age related wear, but costs should be minimal.

Also consider a k11 Nissan Micra 1.0. Very reliable cars, but probably a bit more expensive to buy and maintain than a Fiesta.

[NottsMag]

It's nice to hear that the engine is reliable in the Fiesta, as it is my first choice.

My mum had a Micra as her first car about 10 ish years ago (G reg I think, I remember it well as I absolutely hated it - sitting in the back of that in the middle of June on the 7 hour trip to Dover was not a nice experience, especially as it was a three door), and I remember it being an incredibly reliable car, don't think it ever really broke, again not a car I've considered. It's not something I'd be jumping up and down over, but a car's a car, and reliability and insurance are two very big factors for me, again will add it to my list, cheers once again.