What car shall I get?
Discussion
First post on these forums, so hello everybody 
I'm 17, and have had my car (mk5 astra 1.4) since last august. It's been a decent car so far, but utterly dull to drive, and as you can imagine, very very slow and extremely noisy at high speeds. This isn't a major problem right now though - I run a kind of small business buying and selling phones, laptops etc, which involves a lot of city driving, so for the kind of driving I usually do, it's pretty good.
However, in september, I'm going up to university (nottingham), and as I intend to continue my job alongside my studies, I'm going to be doing more motorway/a road driving which my current car is comically bad at. Therefore, I'm looking at a replacement. My insurance runs out in october, so that's when I intend to change. A family friend has offered me good money for the astra, so selling it should be nice and hassle-free
Insurance is obviously an issue, but surprisingly the quotes I get for toyota celicas, bmw 318s etc aren't a lot more than the renewal on my astra. As is the way with insurance companies though, some cars are extremely expensive to insure for no apparent reason (a quote on a Peugeot 407 for example came out as £3800), so I've had to discount a lot of cars for that reason.
I'll probably end up doing 5000 miles per year, possibly less, so MPG isn't a massive concern. I've also managed to build up a decent pot of cash for any potential repairs, so running costs aren't too much of a problem, although obviously I don't want something like a VW phaeton or BMW 750!
I've spent quite a while looking on parkers, autotrader, and of course PH, and now have a few cars in mind. I'd appreciate it if you guys could give me your thoughts on what one you'd go for.
1) facelift Toyota Celica 140 - Seems the most fun to drive, and fairly cheap to run. Insurance isn't that expensive, but dash is ugly and I don't think the car in general is particularly good looking.
2) BMW 318CI E46 convertible (also like the standard coupe) - I think it's the best looking, and I really like the interior. It's the most expensive to insure and run, and apparently not particularly quick or fun to drive. For some reason this is my current favorite....
3) Volvo 850 T5 Saloon - bit of a wildcard this one, but I do like them. The fastest in the straight line, cheap to insure, and by far the cheapest to buy. Looks extremely dated though, and I'm afraid of millions of things going wrong on a car of that age.
4) Mazda 3 2.0 Sport - 147bhp in a fairly small car sounds like fun, I quite like the exterior, but the interior doesn't look any better than my astra. The cheapest to insure (actually cheaper to insure than my astra), but I'm concerned it will just feel like a quicker astra, which isn't what I want.
5) BMW 520i (e39 pre facelift) - Don't think I'll end up going for one of these, but thought it was worth a mention. Should be really nice on the motorway, although not particularly quick. Cheap to buy, but I guess very expensive to run, and insurance isn't that cheap either.
So what would you go for if you were in my position?
thanks,
matt
I'm 17, and have had my car (mk5 astra 1.4) since last august. It's been a decent car so far, but utterly dull to drive, and as you can imagine, very very slow and extremely noisy at high speeds. This isn't a major problem right now though - I run a kind of small business buying and selling phones, laptops etc, which involves a lot of city driving, so for the kind of driving I usually do, it's pretty good.
However, in september, I'm going up to university (nottingham), and as I intend to continue my job alongside my studies, I'm going to be doing more motorway/a road driving which my current car is comically bad at. Therefore, I'm looking at a replacement. My insurance runs out in october, so that's when I intend to change. A family friend has offered me good money for the astra, so selling it should be nice and hassle-free
Insurance is obviously an issue, but surprisingly the quotes I get for toyota celicas, bmw 318s etc aren't a lot more than the renewal on my astra. As is the way with insurance companies though, some cars are extremely expensive to insure for no apparent reason (a quote on a Peugeot 407 for example came out as £3800), so I've had to discount a lot of cars for that reason.
I'll probably end up doing 5000 miles per year, possibly less, so MPG isn't a massive concern. I've also managed to build up a decent pot of cash for any potential repairs, so running costs aren't too much of a problem, although obviously I don't want something like a VW phaeton or BMW 750!
I've spent quite a while looking on parkers, autotrader, and of course PH, and now have a few cars in mind. I'd appreciate it if you guys could give me your thoughts on what one you'd go for.
1) facelift Toyota Celica 140 - Seems the most fun to drive, and fairly cheap to run. Insurance isn't that expensive, but dash is ugly and I don't think the car in general is particularly good looking.
2) BMW 318CI E46 convertible (also like the standard coupe) - I think it's the best looking, and I really like the interior. It's the most expensive to insure and run, and apparently not particularly quick or fun to drive. For some reason this is my current favorite....
3) Volvo 850 T5 Saloon - bit of a wildcard this one, but I do like them. The fastest in the straight line, cheap to insure, and by far the cheapest to buy. Looks extremely dated though, and I'm afraid of millions of things going wrong on a car of that age.
4) Mazda 3 2.0 Sport - 147bhp in a fairly small car sounds like fun, I quite like the exterior, but the interior doesn't look any better than my astra. The cheapest to insure (actually cheaper to insure than my astra), but I'm concerned it will just feel like a quicker astra, which isn't what I want.
5) BMW 520i (e39 pre facelift) - Don't think I'll end up going for one of these, but thought it was worth a mention. Should be really nice on the motorway, although not particularly quick. Cheap to buy, but I guess very expensive to run, and insurance isn't that cheap either.
So what would you go for if you were in my position?
thanks,
matt
Keep your current steed: better the devil you know, and all that. 5000 miles a year isn't a lot, so it's not as if you'd be enduring anything. BUT, best of all, you'd be saving money (not spending it on a car), which means you can spend it on beer, and other uni stuff.
Forget cars for now. They'll still be around come graduation. Go to uni, drink a lot and have as much sex as you can
Forget cars for now. They'll still be around come graduation. Go to uni, drink a lot and have as much sex as you can
Jimbo. said:
Keep your current steed: better the devil you know, and all that. 5000 miles a year isn't a lot, so it's not as if you'd be enduring anything. BUT, best of all, you'd be saving money (not spending it on a car), which means you can spend it on beer, and other uni stuff.
Forget cars for now. They'll still be around come graduation. Go to uni, drink a lot and have as much sex as you can
Sensible advice and I 100% agree.Forget cars for now. They'll still be around come graduation. Go to uni, drink a lot and have as much sex as you can
Don't know how to multi-quote so will have to reply like this
@samw1se here's a quote I just ran to prove it. http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9227/insurance.... With my mum and aunt as named drivers, and if I use the postcode where the car will be kept rather than my home address, it drops to £1400, which is only £150 more than my astra.
@Raize was kind of expecting this reply tbh. Don't really know what to say other than I'm telling the truth - if you drop me a message I can explain in detail exactly what it is that I do. Don't want anyone thinking I'm a liar.
@jimbo thanks for the reply, I accept that's definitely a option worth considering. Having worked it out, I should have more than enough for lots of beer and sex, but I agree that spending several thousand on something that's a complete luxury is potentially not the best idea at my age. That said, I'm not taking out any student loans, as my parents are paying for my accommodation and tuition, so I won't have the problem of post-uni debt, and having looked in detail at the cost of living at university (my college seems to spend most of their time giving us talks about it) I should have more than enough, even if I'm hit by unexpected bills/fees. I don't want to come across as one of those arrogant, rich students everybody moans about (although I fear many of you may think that already) and I don't want to sound like I'm bragging about it, but I can afford to do this quite easily. If however you all agree that I'm ****ing money down the drain then that's different: no sense in wasting money.
@samw1se here's a quote I just ran to prove it. http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9227/insurance.... With my mum and aunt as named drivers, and if I use the postcode where the car will be kept rather than my home address, it drops to £1400, which is only £150 more than my astra.
@Raize was kind of expecting this reply tbh. Don't really know what to say other than I'm telling the truth - if you drop me a message I can explain in detail exactly what it is that I do. Don't want anyone thinking I'm a liar.
@jimbo thanks for the reply, I accept that's definitely a option worth considering. Having worked it out, I should have more than enough for lots of beer and sex, but I agree that spending several thousand on something that's a complete luxury is potentially not the best idea at my age. That said, I'm not taking out any student loans, as my parents are paying for my accommodation and tuition, so I won't have the problem of post-uni debt, and having looked in detail at the cost of living at university (my college seems to spend most of their time giving us talks about it) I should have more than enough, even if I'm hit by unexpected bills/fees. I don't want to come across as one of those arrogant, rich students everybody moans about (although I fear many of you may think that already) and I don't want to sound like I'm bragging about it, but I can afford to do this quite easily. If however you all agree that I'm ****ing money down the drain then that's different: no sense in wasting money.
Geekman said:
1) facelift Toyota Celica 140 - Seems the most fun to drive, and fairly cheap to run. Insurance isn't that expensive, but dash is ugly and I don't think the car in general is particularly good looking.
2) BMW 318CI E46 convertible (also like the standard coupe) - I think it's the best looking, and I really like the interior. It's the most expensive to insure and run, and apparently not particularly quick or fun to drive. For some reason this is my current favorite....
3) Volvo 850 T5 Saloon - bit of a wildcard this one, but I do like them. The fastest in the straight line, cheap to insure, and by far the cheapest to buy. Looks extremely dated though, and I'm afraid of millions of things going wrong on a car of that age.
4) Mazda 3 2.0 Sport - 147bhp in a fairly small car sounds like fun, I quite like the exterior, but the interior doesn't look any better than my astra. The cheapest to insure (actually cheaper to insure than my astra), but I'm concerned it will just feel like a quicker astra, which isn't what I want.
5) BMW 520i (e39 pre facelift) - Don't think I'll end up going for one of these, but thought it was worth a mention. Should be really nice on the motorway, although not particularly quick. Cheap to buy, but I guess very expensive to run, and insurance isn't that cheap either.
Most of these you'll struggle to even get a quote of your own of any kind at 17, let alone an affordable one.2) BMW 318CI E46 convertible (also like the standard coupe) - I think it's the best looking, and I really like the interior. It's the most expensive to insure and run, and apparently not particularly quick or fun to drive. For some reason this is my current favorite....
3) Volvo 850 T5 Saloon - bit of a wildcard this one, but I do like them. The fastest in the straight line, cheap to insure, and by far the cheapest to buy. Looks extremely dated though, and I'm afraid of millions of things going wrong on a car of that age.
4) Mazda 3 2.0 Sport - 147bhp in a fairly small car sounds like fun, I quite like the exterior, but the interior doesn't look any better than my astra. The cheapest to insure (actually cheaper to insure than my astra), but I'm concerned it will just feel like a quicker astra, which isn't what I want.
5) BMW 520i (e39 pre facelift) - Don't think I'll end up going for one of these, but thought it was worth a mention. Should be really nice on the motorway, although not particularly quick. Cheap to buy, but I guess very expensive to run, and insurance isn't that cheap either.
Try:
Mk1 Focus (1.8)
Classic Mini
106 GTi/Rallye
205 XS
306 1.8
Ford Puma
Citroen AX (GT?)
veevee said:
Most of these you'll struggle to even get a quote of your own of any kind at 17, let alone an affordable one.
Try:
Mk1 Focus (1.8)
Classic Mini
106 GTi/Rallye
205 XS
306 1.8
Ford Puma
Citroen AX (GT?)
Thanks for the recommendations, but I think you may have misread the OP. Firstly, I will be insuring the car when I am 18, not 17, and more importantly I have already run quotes on all the cars and they are all affordable for me to insure. Thanks for the input though, I've always wanted a 106 GTi, but it would be totally impractical.Try:
Mk1 Focus (1.8)
Classic Mini
106 GTi/Rallye
205 XS
306 1.8
Ford Puma
Citroen AX (GT?)
A Volvo 850 T5 is a really good shout: they go like stink, sound great, are comfortable and are reliable. My dad ran one over 10 years from 100k to 200k and, with the exception of turbo-related parts, it never went wrong. If you do go for one then makes sure it has had a turbo replacement within the last 50k as they tend to only last about 80k and it is an expensive job replacing it. The clutch release bearing will often wear out past 100k, but it isn't too expensive to do and the chances are is the CRB is borked then the clutch needs replacing as well. They also chew through front tyres; realistically you would be doing well to see a set past 10k, 8k is a reasonable life expectancy for a decent set on the front.
That being said they tend to end up in the right hands as they don't appeal to boy racers, so they tend to be well maintained and finding a genuinely doggy one is fairly rare.
ETA.
Look at the estates, they seem to be cheaper to insure for me. May knock a little bit off your premium.
That being said they tend to end up in the right hands as they don't appeal to boy racers, so they tend to be well maintained and finding a genuinely doggy one is fairly rare.
ETA.
Look at the estates, they seem to be cheaper to insure for me. May knock a little bit off your premium.
Edited by chrisispringles on Sunday 15th April 15:42
Panda76 said:
Sensible advice and I 100% agree.
As a current student I can vouch for this is sound advice. Owning a car in uni is a pain for many reasons, such as finding somewhere to park the thing, and becoming the taxi for your friends.Sell the car, fund a massive house party, and also purchase a classy 'little black book'.
Catagorise this appropriately, i.e 'Good cook', 'Owns private transport', 'Nympho' etc such that you have all the bases covered and you shouldn't run into any problems.
Oh, and rubber up.
@chris thanks, that's the kind of advice I'm looking for The estates are indeed cheaper to insure, but I'm concerned they're maybe just that bit too big
@taras The accomodation (which has already been arranged) includes a parking space, so I may as well make use of it. I've had the "taxi" issue already with my mates, but if I fancy a drink I just tell them politely to **** off so I don't see that being an issue either. The little black book and sex education is sound advice though, I'll be sure to remember it. Massive house parties will definitely be happening as well, I've been to a few uni ones with some of my older friends and they were definitely "experiences"!
The estates are indeed cheaper to insure, but I'm concerned they're maybe just that bit too big@taras The accomodation (which has already been arranged) includes a parking space, so I may as well make use of it. I've had the "taxi" issue already with my mates, but if I fancy a drink I just tell them politely to **** off so I don't see that being an issue either. The little black book and sex education is sound advice though, I'll be sure to remember it. Massive house parties will definitely be happening as well, I've been to a few uni ones with some of my older friends and they were definitely "experiences"!
Geekman said:
veevee said:
Most of these you'll struggle to even get a quote of your own of any kind at 17, let alone an affordable one.
Try:
Mk1 Focus (1.8)
Classic Mini
106 GTi/Rallye
205 XS
306 1.8
Ford Puma
Citroen AX (GT?)
Thanks for the recommendations, but I think you may have misread the OP. Firstly, I will be insuring the car when I am 18, not 17, and more importantly I have already run quotes on all the cars and they are all affordable for me to insure. Thanks for the input though, I've always wanted a 106 GTi, but it would be totally impractical.Try:
Mk1 Focus (1.8)
Classic Mini
106 GTi/Rallye
205 XS
306 1.8
Ford Puma
Citroen AX (GT?)
(I'd still say any of the above would be more fun to drive than the ones you've listed though, possibly with the exception of the 3 series!)
veevee said:
I didn't think this made a huge amount of difference TBH. But you seem to have found some pretty competetive quotes, I'm guessing down to postcode, but still not bad!
(I'd still say any of the above would be more fun to drive than the ones you've listed though, possibly with the exception of the 3 series!)
With 1 year NCB it does make a pretty decent difference. You're definitely right about those cars being fun to drive, but I think they would feel like too much of a downgrade from the astra - I've become used to AC, electric windows, decent stereo etc etc, and also I don't think those cars would be much good on the motorway, which will make up most of my driving. If I could justify it I'd get something like a mondeo for normal driving and a 106 GTi for fun, but that would be extremely expensive, and I would have to park one of them on the street.(I'd still say any of the above would be more fun to drive than the ones you've listed though, possibly with the exception of the 3 series!)
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