Need advice on buying my first ever car.
Discussion
I currently bought provisional license and I expect around July or August (depending on availability of instructors and examinators) to own my driving license, now for my first car I was looking at an old Lexus IS200 years 98-05 on used car websites such as autotrader or gumtree. I did find plenty of used IS200's on gumtree which average around £1000 on price, some are lower some are higher and when I quote them the cheapest insurance I can get is £1000 from "colingwood" without a blackbox fitted, the next cheapest would be £1200 with a telematics box and theft tracker fitted. I am currently 20 years old and I am not sure if this insurance price is a bargain or not, also I barely know anything about cars so it's hard for me to chose which used car to buy, as an example I will paste in specs of an IS200 from gumtree and the persons description (I'm pretty sure sending links in here would be advertisement and thats probably against the rules)
This is one of plenty cars on sale for dirt cheap on gumtree and I am not sure if the is200 is just that cheap or if people are just selling their cars that are barely working and rather not point that out to the buyer, some of them also come with service history. This particular car I used as an example costs £900. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help me out and advice me on this decision and what would you guys do before making a purchase on a used car or whether there is a better option for a first car. What I am aiming for is a nice looking car does not have to be fast at all and I am looking for cars between 90-05 years since I personally believe cars from those years are the best looking and I am willing to pay a little extra insurance to drive something that is a sight for sore eyes instead of forcing myself driving something like a nissan micra.
Specs:
Year 2003
Body Type Saloon
Mileage 149 miles
Transmission Manual
Brochure Engine Size 2.0 L
Fuel Type Petrol
Engine Power 152.9 bhp
Engine Size 1988 cc
Acceleration (0-62mph) 9.5 seconds
Top Speed 134 mph
Urban Mpg 21.4 mpg
Extra Urban Mpg 36.2 mpg
Average Mpg 29.1 mpg
Insurance Group 25E
CO2 Emissions 231 g/km
Euro Emissions Euro 3
Seats 5
Fuel Capacity 70 litres
Previous Keepers 3
Owners description:
with lsd fitted your normal heated seats air con ext new tyres all round and brakes needs new front drivers caliper or just the pons renewing one slide faster than the other small amounts of rust on sills small hole on drivers side sill.
11 month mot.
149k will go up used daily.
Everything else works.
2 spare alloys without tyres.
Alloys powder coated last year in American candy apple red has nice shine in the sun when cleaned up.
Lowered 40mm on springs.
Will also come with standard springs and shocks.
This is one of plenty cars on sale for dirt cheap on gumtree and I am not sure if the is200 is just that cheap or if people are just selling their cars that are barely working and rather not point that out to the buyer, some of them also come with service history. This particular car I used as an example costs £900. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help me out and advice me on this decision and what would you guys do before making a purchase on a used car or whether there is a better option for a first car. What I am aiming for is a nice looking car does not have to be fast at all and I am looking for cars between 90-05 years since I personally believe cars from those years are the best looking and I am willing to pay a little extra insurance to drive something that is a sight for sore eyes instead of forcing myself driving something like a nissan micra.
Specs:
Year 2003
Body Type Saloon
Mileage 149 miles
Transmission Manual
Brochure Engine Size 2.0 L
Fuel Type Petrol
Engine Power 152.9 bhp
Engine Size 1988 cc
Acceleration (0-62mph) 9.5 seconds
Top Speed 134 mph
Urban Mpg 21.4 mpg
Extra Urban Mpg 36.2 mpg
Average Mpg 29.1 mpg
Insurance Group 25E
CO2 Emissions 231 g/km
Euro Emissions Euro 3
Seats 5
Fuel Capacity 70 litres
Previous Keepers 3
Owners description:
with lsd fitted your normal heated seats air con ext new tyres all round and brakes needs new front drivers caliper or just the pons renewing one slide faster than the other small amounts of rust on sills small hole on drivers side sill.
11 month mot.
149k will go up used daily.
Everything else works.
2 spare alloys without tyres.
Alloys powder coated last year in American candy apple red has nice shine in the sun when cleaned up.
Lowered 40mm on springs.
Will also come with standard springs and shocks.
Edited by Pattrone on Saturday 5th May 16:25
Edited by Pattrone on Saturday 5th May 17:39
Honestly you would be better off going the Micra route for a year or two and build up some no claims while gaining more driving experience.
The IS200 is a nice car but not cheap to insure, especially for someone who has just passed their test and even more so for one that has been modified.
The IS200 is a nice car but not cheap to insure, especially for someone who has just passed their test and even more so for one that has been modified.
Well, the general observation is that older cars break more often, fail MOT's more often, and use more fuel. For a first car, an IS200 is going to be thirsty to run, and expensive to insure. If you've got the funds to cover that, then fine.
It's also a Euro 3 car so might hit emissions penalties/bans/inflated parking charges in some cities both here and abroad sooner than you'd want.
Older cars often hit emissions failures at MOT time, with dead exhaust cat-convertors, injector leaks etc etc. It's not unknown for them to be sold with dodgy MOT's to first time buyers. Anything you buy should have a recent MOT to get you through the first year. (See below)
Main dealer service history is considered more authentic than a book full of Joe's Garage rubber stamps. It gets harder to find as cars age, and owners either service the cars themselves, or just don't bother. While IS engines can go on for ever, other stuff eventually breaks or wears, like suspension dampers, transmission, electrical systems, brakes and clutches.
VED (road tax) was £315 for the IS200 2 litre, last time I checked.
Run of the mill cars modified in any way tend to have less value at resale time, unless it's a specialist track job, or has recognised peformance mods like a Porsche. 'Mods' also tend to upset some insurance companies, who, at best, jack their prices up, or just refuse to insure modded cars, full stop. 'Mods' include extra paint, stickers, altered suspension, fuel re-maps and non-factory audio and wheels.
The 'Black Box' insurers are often very hot on any kind of mods at all, including painted wheels. They usually refuse to insure 'modded' cars for reasons which seem trivial.
Generally, it's considered wise to run a recent, affordable cheap-to-insure and fix car for the first year. Prangs occur, it takes a long time to build up driving skills, and any money saved can be put towards something a bit more exciting for the next car. So most new drivers get around in smaller hatchbacks.
Recent Fords, Astras, VW's, Renaults and Fiats are all fun to drive, where small low-spec Toyotas/Nissans/Hyundais tend not to be. Suzuki Swifts are fun, as are older Mini One series.
If you want more prestige, older Merc C class 1.8s and excellent Volvo C30s are around, though main dealer service costs are expensive.
If you buy a car and need to commute anywhere five days a week, reliability is more important than looks.
---
Before you go to see a car:
You can and should check a car's MOT History online here: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
You should also check that the car has no outstanding finance here: https://hpicheck.com/
Make sure the V5 matches the car, and the car has both factory keys. (Insurers can refuse to pay out if it's stolen and you don't have both keys, and car may be harder to re-sell.)
---
If money is no object, just buy what you want. :-)
It's also a Euro 3 car so might hit emissions penalties/bans/inflated parking charges in some cities both here and abroad sooner than you'd want.
Older cars often hit emissions failures at MOT time, with dead exhaust cat-convertors, injector leaks etc etc. It's not unknown for them to be sold with dodgy MOT's to first time buyers. Anything you buy should have a recent MOT to get you through the first year. (See below)
Main dealer service history is considered more authentic than a book full of Joe's Garage rubber stamps. It gets harder to find as cars age, and owners either service the cars themselves, or just don't bother. While IS engines can go on for ever, other stuff eventually breaks or wears, like suspension dampers, transmission, electrical systems, brakes and clutches.
VED (road tax) was £315 for the IS200 2 litre, last time I checked.
Run of the mill cars modified in any way tend to have less value at resale time, unless it's a specialist track job, or has recognised peformance mods like a Porsche. 'Mods' also tend to upset some insurance companies, who, at best, jack their prices up, or just refuse to insure modded cars, full stop. 'Mods' include extra paint, stickers, altered suspension, fuel re-maps and non-factory audio and wheels.
The 'Black Box' insurers are often very hot on any kind of mods at all, including painted wheels. They usually refuse to insure 'modded' cars for reasons which seem trivial.
Generally, it's considered wise to run a recent, affordable cheap-to-insure and fix car for the first year. Prangs occur, it takes a long time to build up driving skills, and any money saved can be put towards something a bit more exciting for the next car. So most new drivers get around in smaller hatchbacks.
Recent Fords, Astras, VW's, Renaults and Fiats are all fun to drive, where small low-spec Toyotas/Nissans/Hyundais tend not to be. Suzuki Swifts are fun, as are older Mini One series.
If you want more prestige, older Merc C class 1.8s and excellent Volvo C30s are around, though main dealer service costs are expensive.
If you buy a car and need to commute anywhere five days a week, reliability is more important than looks.
---
Before you go to see a car:
You can and should check a car's MOT History online here: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
You should also check that the car has no outstanding finance here: https://hpicheck.com/
Make sure the V5 matches the car, and the car has both factory keys. (Insurers can refuse to pay out if it's stolen and you don't have both keys, and car may be harder to re-sell.)
---
If money is no object, just buy what you want. :-)
Edited by Slushbox on Sunday 6th May 08:06
After reading the useful comments I might as well go down a cheap car route until I get some discounts on insurance, also I never realised that changing the paint of any part in the car is classed as "modded" which is a total shame since I wanted to make the car I get look "unique" by for example painting the calipers and wheels also creating my own paintjob for the car. Are you saying that a simple spray paint on a wheel or a caliper could raise the insurance drastically if I report it to them?
Pattrone said:
After reading the useful comments I might as well go down a cheap car route until I get some discounts on insurance, also I never realised that changing the paint of any part in the car is classed as "modded" which is a total shame since I wanted to make the car I get look "unique" by for example painting the calipers and wheels also creating my own paintjob for the car. Are you saying that a simple spray paint on a wheel or a caliper could raise the insurance drastically if I report it to them?
A cheap first car is a good idea as still appreciate having your own wheels and it's much better to learn how to get the most from an underpowered car before jumping into something with a bit more poke. Not to mention having a little knock in a cheap car is less devastating that crashing something you've put all your hard earned into!!!!That said, i regularly drive an IS200 as there are two in my family fleet and they 0-60 time is deceptively slow due to the gearing and if you keep them wound up in 3rd/4th they shift along an handle really well.
As for modifications, there was ONE topic on here with someone claiming they couldn't get insured because the colour of the wheels is different but generally speaking insurance companies don't have fixed charges like £50 for painted wheels, £50 for calipers and so on. Instead of relying on the internet for answers car insurance is much easier to discuss with a human!!!!!
Do some research and narrow down your choices to get a few example cars an make some calls get quotes on standard then ask which modifications would lead to premium rises.
I've had my share of extensively modified cars and found that brokers Adrian Flux, Brentacre, Sky are often the way to go rather than for example comparing Meerkats or going to the Sea Captain.
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