First car - Laguna, Golf, or Focus

[CB125T]

So I've been looking for a first car and it appears these three cars the cheapest to insure for me (and buy actually). They will all have the 1.6 engine in. Main things I'm looking for is fuel economy and comfort, speed isn't a problem as due to being 18, I'm going to have to get telematics insurance as it's the cheapest i can find. Will be doing about 500 miles a month driving to college and work and will be running the car on a budget. Mainly dual carriageways/motorways but occasionally the odd A roads to visit friends.

THe cars I've been looking at are these -

Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec, 102k miles, £1293 to insure



Volkswagen Golf 1.6, 99000 miles, £1304 to insure



Renault Laguna 1.6 Expression, 77000 miles, £1359 to insure



At the moment I'm probably considering the Laguna the most however which of these cars would produce the lowest bills for me and which would you recommend?

Thanks

[Codswallop]

Focus is the best.

Likely to be the cheapest to run, not to mention the best to drive.

[GreatGranny]

Codswallop said:

Focus is the best.

Likely to be the cheapest to run, not to mention the best to drive.

I would agree with this.

The Laguna will be more expensive to run as its a size up from the others so a 1.6 engine will have to work harder.
Also at that age electrics on these tend to be a problem.
The Focus is a very good car and handles well.
IMO still looks good for a car designed in the last millenium.

What about going a size down to Fiesta size?

Surely a 1.4 Zetec will be cheaper.

[Krikkit]

Codswallop said:

Focus is the best.

Likely to be the cheapest to run, not to mention the best to drive.

Agreed - the Focus is a very good drive, very reliable and cheap to repair if something goes wrong (either with new or used parts) because there's so many on the road.

[0a]

Avoid the Laguna - I've never seen a car with so many negative experiences posted about it.

[confused_buyer]

Don't buy a 51-plate Laguna. Just don't.

[CB125T]

GreatGranny said:

What about going a size down to Fiesta size?

Surely a 1.4 Zetec will be cheaper.

Just tried and it came back with £1339.

Thanks for the input guys, the Focus seems best. Are there any known problems on these?

[Codswallop]

Rust will be your biggest enemy. Rear arches can go, and if the drain holes on the bottom of the doors get blocked, water will collect inside the door and cause them to rust inside out. Check carefully for bubbling paint, and poke something through the drain holes periodically to keep them clear.

Rust can also occur at the bottom of the v in the tailgate glass. Mechanically, the cars are fairly sturdy iirc.

[mnkiboy]

Check for rust especially on the rear arches and the bottom of the doors. Make sure the speedo works and doesn't keep dropping back to zero, and that the gear lever returns to centre when in neutral.
Neither of the issues are expensive fixes but are known issues on the Focus.

Do the usual checks of making sure that everything electrical works, and check the oil level and under the oil filler cap for any 'mayonaise' looking substance, which may point towards head gasket issues.

Basically, try and find a car with a long MOT and plenty of tread on the tyres.

[Vince70]

Don't go near a Laguna II but you can't go far wrong with a golf or a Focus.

[PaulD86]

Avoid the Laguna at all cost. Focus wins for me - by far the nicest to drive and they are cheap to fix and maintain. They can also do lift-off oversteer. The Golf is a nice enough car but they do seem to suffer electrical woes at that age - brake pad warning lights are a particular favourite.

[pimpchez]

Honestly stay away from renaults of that era , i got burnt once so bought another and that was even worse .

never everrr again

focus all the way

[ModernAndy]

ANYTHING but the Laguna. They're comfortable and spacious with a decent enough engine (reliability wise) but everything else goes wrong. Locks, remote locking, brakes leaking, suspension, exhaust, everything basically...

[Krikkit]

Another issue on the Focus - if the remote central locking doesn't work properly it may need a replacement alarm module. These are a 10 minute job to change, and don't need recoding etc to the car (the security code is in the ECU), so if it's sluggish to unlock or keeps randomly locking/unlocking itself while you're driving, get on eBay with the model number. £20 sorted mine last time.

[93Jay]

Get the focus I had one for a first car, unbreakable fun thing

[Rammy76]

I did 100000 miles between 2 mk1 Focus and they were both extremely reliable cars that never let me down once.

Although getting on a bit they are good to drive, comfortable and cheap to run. Just watch out for rust.

The other 2 cars you are considering don't compare.

[jamesson]

The Laguna is widely recognised as being one of the most unreliable cars ever made. The Focus and Golf are both good cars so buy on condition and you won't go too far wrong. Good luck!

[dave7692]

At your age and in your situation I'd go for the Focus, probably the quickest out of the 3, cheapest to maintain and probably the most efficient.

[DannyScene]

Focus all day, can't really understand why you've included the other 2 in the comparison at all?

[reymatt]

Other half's Dad had a 1.6 Focus that he used for commuting.

Took it from 20k to just under 100k in 2.5 years, gave it abuse (full throttle etc etc) from the moment he turned the key to the moment he turned it off.

Not a single thing went wrong, ever.