Tips on buying my first car

[PhillipB]

Hello, new to Pisonheads.com - don't know much at all about motors so I need some advice on buying my first car, I'm looking along the lines of:

Suzuki Swift 1.3
Ford Fiesta 1.6 Zetec
Renault Clio

Can you give me some tips on what I should be looking for in my first car? Miles on the clock, weight, bhp, fuel consumption etc?

Thanks alot!

[southpaw]

Service history and general condition is more important than looking for something with less than X miles. And spend time on insurance comparison sites trying quotes for different cars - what can seem very similar types of car can have vastly different insurance costs when young!

But realistically it doesn't matter what it is, you'll love it and look back fondly on it even if it breaks constantly!

[vrsmxtb]

Don't do it!!

In all seriousness if you're under about 25 and aren't made of money it's basically all down to what you can afford to insure, sad but true.

One piece of advice - search high and low for a knowledgeable family member, friend, helpful local mechanic to view any cars you're serious about wherever possible. Failing that RAC inspections could be worth thinking about, as are HPI checks which check the cars insurance/criminal history.

Edited by vrsmxtb on Monday 17th October 20:17

[vrsmxtb]

Don't do it!!

In all seriousness - knowledgeable family/friends and/or RAC inspection services, HPI checks and some insurance cost research on potential motors are your friend.

Unless you're doing mega-miles fuel consumption on the sorts of car you mention isn't much of an issue, anything with over about 80bhp is fine for most daily driving - try and avoid anything under about 1.3 in a modern hatchback as they'll be underpowered and not very confidence inspiring.

Edited by vrsmxtb on Monday 17th October 20:23

[PhillipB]

Okay thanks alot, sites like Auto Trader and Pistonheads, do they give details on the service history on most cars?

[thinfourth2]

PhillipB said:

Okay thanks alot, sites like Auto Trader and Pistonheads, do they give details on the service history on most cars?

Ignore service history as its easily faked and tells you nothing

Find the car you are interested in and no matter how fresh the MOT take it for an MOT and tell the mechanic doing the MOT you are thinking about buying the car.

An MOT isn't the most through check but its the best one you can get for £50

[PhillipB]

Okay so service history isn't important,

how would I get the car from the owner and take it for an MOT before paying the full amount?

Im currently looking at moneysupermarket.com and going to get a quote shortly in my mail.
Are there any other insurance sites I should be looking at?
My friend owns a ford fiesta 1.3 and he's rather knowlegeable on motors so I usually ask him for advice on cars, engine size , speed, MPG etc...

Thanks alot for all this feedback, its really helping :-)

[vrsmxtb]

Sorry weird doubleposting - thought it didn't post so paraphrased myself.

Classifieds won't have detailed service history info, that'll be when you go see the car - I'd basically want to see at minimum an oil / inspection service every year on an average mileage car with a cambelt change if applicable (usually at about 4-5 years old). Don't sweat about not seeing main dealer stamps in the book.

[PhillipB]

@vrsmxtb

I'm not sure I understand what your telling me there, cambelts? and oil checks for 4-5 years? you might have to explain abit more :-p

I just filled in the information for a quote from moneysupermarket.com and the cheapest insurance quote is Annual: £7,650.97, I chose the Suzuki Swift 1.3 GL as my car to insure to see quotes, and that's £4,800 to start with,

Is that the average price of insurance for a 17 year old on his first car? or am I entering details wrong :P

[vrsmxtb]

thinfourth2 said:

Ignore service history as its easily faked and tells you nothing

Find the car you are interested in and no matter how fresh the MOT take it for an MOT and tell the mechanic doing the MOT you are thinking about buying the car.

An MOT isn't the most through check but its the best one you can get for £50

True to some extent, but good consistent service history when backed with genuine receipts would be very high on my list when viewing a half-decent car.

I agree with the OP - how's he going to get a car to an MOT station on an initial test drive? Odd advice for a first time buyer.

[franko14]

hi

what's the budget?

all three cars on your list would be fine, my personal choice would be the suzuki however, but thats just my tastes.

anyhoo, i take it it'll be a used car? if so find someone who knows their way around a car to go with you to spot any lemons.

on second thought buying a crappy car that breaks down all the time will give you a great opertunity to learn all about fixing cars
i remember cursing my 1st car, an old brown astra that broke down everytime a even thought about driving it, but in hindsight it was a blessing because fixing it turned my in to a car fanatic and taught me loads about the oily bits.

[Bunnybopper]

PhillipB said:

@vrsmxtb

I'm not sure I understand what your telling me there, cambelts? and oil checks for 4-5 years? you might have to explain abit more :-p

I just filled in the information for a quote from moneysupermarket.com and the cheapest insurance quote is Annual: £7,650.97, I chose the Suzuki Swift 1.3 GL as my car to insure to see quotes, and that's £4,800 to start with,

Is that the average price of insurance for a 17 year old on his first car? or am I entering details wrong :P

Play around with it a little bit, don't forget to use comparison sites as a guide only - when you find a cheap quote go to the broker's site and enter your details again, it may work out cheaper.

You can add your parents (experienced drivers) to your policy as named drivers (make sure you're the MAIN driver though) which should bring the premium down a little bit.

Also, DO NOT buy the first car you go and see because it's a car and it's really really cool, and it's green, and it's awesome and it's just what I wanted... oh st it's just gone bang on the way home.

[vrsmxtb]

PhillipB said:

@vrsmxtb

I'm not sure I understand what your telling me there, cambelts? and oil checks for 4-5 years? you might have to explain abit more :-p

I just filled in the information for a quote from moneysupermarket.com and the cheapest insurance quote is Annual: £7,650.97, I chose the Suzuki Swift 1.3 GL as my car to insure to see quotes, and that's £4,800 to start with,

Is that the average price of insurance for a 17 year old on his first car? or am I entering details wrong :P

Hmmm, it seems to me your best advice is:

a) keep playing with the insurance comparison sites until you hit on a car you can afford to insure.

b) take knowledgeable, trust-worthy person (perhaps not a fellow teenager?) to go with you to see potential cars if you can afford to insure one!

[thinfourth2]

PhillipB said:

how would I get the car from the owner and take it for an MOT before paying the full amount?

You ask them nicely

if they say yes it tells you a lot about the owner

if they say no it tells you a lot about the car and the owner

[PhillipB]

I'm not sure the buget, I don't want to sound big headed or like I have everything for me, but I won't be paying for the car myself, or the insurance -
Basically I would like a sensible car that wont be pulled over by the fuzz every time I get seen driving in it.

I agree, the suzuki is my favourite out of the three, just tried the zetec s 1.6 and thats £2g's higher on insurance than the suzuki :P

It will be a used car, hopefully second hand no more; I'll probably go with my dad and me brother, because they are experienced in motors of all kinds.

To be fair, I only know of Moneysupermarket.com because of the overloading of advertisements on T.V, how do I include my parents and brother as experienced drivers, I chose the option to say how many cars are used in my household including the one that I would have, that's 4 in total.

[eldar]

You clearly don't know a lot about cars, which isn't a problem.

First, insurance. Get a proper, real quote for a couple of contenders, and make sure you can afford the premium. Depending on your age, gender and postcode, you may (or may not) receive a surprise. Do not be dishonest or vague, even if it appears to increase the premium.

Subtract the insurance from your budget, get oh the PH classifieds, AT and ebay and look at prices for the cars you can afford.

Then come pack here and post a couple of links to the cars you think suitable.

You will bee told a TVR, Corvette of 1992 landrover are better choices. Then you'll get some proper advice.

[PhillipB]

Okay thanks eldar, I appriciate not being abused for my lack of knowledge on cars :P alot of people would critisize :-(

Okay so should I keep trying Moneysupermarket.com with a few different cars?
and post a few results here in this post of the car page link, and the premium quote amount?

[trashbat]

If you can be more specific about what car you will be going for, then it makes your life easier in some regards as you're comparing apples with apples. Read reviews and consult owners forums about common weaknesses with that model & engine (e.g. my car = absolutely must get cambelt done on time, absolutely must not run low on oil). Armed with the information, you don't need to be a mechanic yourself to ask the seller about this sort of thing and see if they are savvy enough about the car they've owned for however long.

Be straightforward but cautious in all of your dealings.

[eldar]

PhillipB said:

Okay thanks eldar, I appriciate not being abused for my lack of knowledge on cars :P alot of people would critisize :-(

Okay so should I keep trying Moneysupermarket.com with a few different cars?
and post a few results here in this post of the car page link, and the premium quote amount?

Not a problem, how old are you, male, female(ignore requests for pics), you will get a good idea of what is sensible and value for money. Avoid textspk, spelling mistakes and misplaced apostrophes, you'll have no problems from the hit squad.

[walt762]

You can also try Confused.com which is easy to use & gives you a guide to the prices.
It might be helpful if you can tell them you do not have access to any other cars.