22 year old first car

[Josh93]

Basically I've got the 'choosing a car' dilemma and when you're as obsessive as me with these things it can become very difficult!

Men love bullet points so here's a few that seem relevant:

- Budget can stretch to 3k at a push but more looking in the range of 1.5-2.5k on the price of the car

- it is my first car so insurance won't be cheap but I'm 22 not 17 so it's not extortionate.

- Milage will be low so 4-6k will be my absolute max in a year but will include some motorway driving.

- I'm generally a sensible person so ideally it will be something that's a good all rounder preferably.

The cars that are floating around on my list are as follows however I won't add engine sizes as that is a whole new complication:

- Grande Punto
- Polo
- Golf
- C'eed
- mk6 Fiesta
- ZR
- Swift
- Corsa

All the usual suspects mostly but I'm not completely binded by these front runners and I'm open to suggestions for cars I may have overlooked.

I don't want a sluggish car or one that's going to struggle up hills if it's got a couple of people in for example.

Any help and time is appreciated I'm just looking for opinions and direction and maybe a bit of patience

Thanks!

Edited by Josh93 on Monday 19th January 17:45

[alecescolme]

Don't forget large engined cars such as V6 and V8s.
E39 BMWs, Jag X308s, Lexus, etc.

The insurance is quite reasonable for usual choices.

[sw67]

My son was looking at cars in that price range and a honda civic type s was the best choice. Insurance was £700 for 19 y old.

In the end he purchased a new skoda citgo montecarlo - insurance is £500

[Josh93]

But the problem with all those kind of cars is going to be mostly fuel consumption I can't afford a car that isn't going to be any good with fuel. Same with the civic as they seem to be mostly 2 litre engines. I'm mainly looking at 1.4-16 engines. But a smaller engines civic is definitely one I overlooked in my list.

[lost_boy]

Corsa D with a small engine would be a bad choice, they're heavy and slow. The Punto and Corsa is the same car basically, I'd eliminate both of them although the only one I have driven out of the two is the corsa so I can say it is terrible.

Learned in a diesel Suzuki Swift which was ok.

[alecescolme]

Josh93 said:

But the problem with all those kind of cars is going to be mostly fuel consumption I can't afford a car that isn't going to be any good with fuel. Same with the civic as they seem to be mostly 2 litre engines. I'm mainly looking at 1.4-16 engines. But a smaller engines civic is definitely one I overlooked in my list.

Not necessarily...
My 3.0 is doing 1,900rpm @ 70mph, my old Polo 1.2 did 3.5k at the same speed and tortured ears.

You are better of with the bigger engines, otherwise you will not save money and will regret not having the power.

P.S The Polo I had (my first car) was a 2003 9n. Generally a great, solid car with a upmarket interior (superior to Corsa and Fiesta imho). Gutless, slow, noisy engine though and the handling was not the best.

Edited by alecescolme on Monday 19th January 18:22

[MrHorsepower]

Lots of 22-year-old cars here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Cars-/9801/i.html?_from=...

Hope that helps.

[Al U]

I'm not sure how important image is to you, these have the slightest whiff of boy racer about them but only very slight -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-Swift-1-6-16V-SPO...

Or a year newer with 20,000 less miles for £500 more -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-Swift-1-6-VVT-Spo...

Good cars IMO. Running costs will be cheap for the mileage you are doing.

[jhonn]

My son had a Yaris as his first car; not much 'street-cred' if that's important to you - however it was nippy, frugal and reliable - great to drive too!

Worth considering.

[aka_kerrly]

MrHorsepower said:

Lots of 22-year-old cars here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Cars-/9801/i.html?_from=...

Hope that helps.

Well played.

Some brilliant cars available for <£3k on that list, OP get a insurance quote on that 1 owner Merc 300SE

[Rickyy]

You'd get a good Mk1 Focus for that budget. I insured a 1.8 petrol at 19 (albeit with 2 yrs NCB) at a reasonable price. Just avoid the 1.4!

[PapaJohns]

Citroen C2 VTS- 1.6l 126bhp

[Josh93]

Thanks for all the replies, a lot of very helpful posts already! Firstly with regards to the corsa and punto, I have heard so many negative things about both but particularly the corsa so that's pretty much ruled out, on the other hand the punto is just extremely good looking so it's hard to not still keep it in contention despite the negative feedback!

The swift is one of my favourites just because I think in terms of driving fun/economy i imagine it will strike the best balance, would have to get the standard 1.5 though the sport is out of my budget!

im not sure I'm very keen on the idea of a car as old as me haha.

Edited by Josh93 on Monday 19th January 21:28

[Josh93]

In regards to the big v small engine i get that a bigger engine will be lower rpm and therefore better mpg for motorway driving but for the occasions I do motorway driving it wouldn't be worth choosing a car specifically for that. 90% of my driving is going to be urban from cold.

I couldn't see myself in the Yaris at all really not a fan but appreciate the idea.

The mk1 focus is another one that I forgot, very decent contender - what would the mpg etc be like on that though, not great I imagine?

The Citroen isn't bad actually, never looked into that as its not a car I had noticed at all in the past!

[TheFinners]

MK6 Fiesta is a good all round choice, although it is not the quietest at motorway speeds (but then no superminis at that sort of age are) it doesn't cruise too badly. The 1.4 is adequate for the size/weight of the car although I expect the 1.6 wouldn't be too bad on insurance if you are 22, and the livelier performance would compliment the rather fun handling nicely! It is also worth noting the face lifted cars have a nicer interior.

Nice pre facelift Zetec S here: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Not as exciting but this face lifted 1.4 looks very tidy: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Edited by TheFinners on Monday 19th January 22:32

[Rickyy]

I had a 2.0 and a 1.8. The 2.0 was getting around 31 MPG.

As I said, I was 19 when I had the 1.8, so I could never afford a full tank to calculate MPG! But at a guess I'd say 35-36MPG.

Ford Puma is worth a look, if you can find one without rusty arches. 1.7 has 123bhp, is huge fun and could nurse 37MPG from it.

[willmagrath]

Fabia vrs? Insurance isn't tooooooo bad, but the fuel economy and power is great! 130hp standard (most produced between 140-150) and around 240 ibft of torque. A decent one can be had for 3k-5k and they don't depreciate that much compared to similar cars

[MGJohn]

When my son was twenty with three years NCB, he bought a comfortable 140mph car with a close to 7 secs 0-60. That was ten years ago and he still has that car as well as several others.

That car he chose to replace his Rover Metro as his daily driver was a Rover 620ti. I expected him to pay a fortune for Motor Insurance but, I was wrong as he had shopped around and got good quotes for the 620ti. Apparently Insurance Accident and Claims stats show drivers of these cars are a good risk and so premiums are reasonable, even for youngsters. His 620ti is still in daily use ten years later and showing 214,000 miles. His Lotus Elise is tucked up in his garage for the winter. It is not suitable for his business travel although he does use it for that occasionally.

So, at twenty two chose from a range of cars that may not have wide appeal with most younger drivers ( which do not attract poor Insurance stats ) and you maybe pleasantly surprised as both my son and I was.

[zed4]

My girlfriend ran a 2003 1.6 Honda Civic for a couple of years. It wanted for nothing at all. It really was a perfect little car. It was black and had the sport kit and I think it looked great. It went well and was very economical, seemed to always do 40 mpg. It always went to Honda for a service, and it only ever needed routine service bits, and never had an MOT advisory! I would highly recommend one

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/h...

They're really spacious inside too. Go and drive one, you'll be impressed and it will cost you next to nothing to run.

Edited by zed4 on Monday 19th January 23:01

[Torquey]

I was about to suggest exactly what zed4 said before reading the post.

I had 1 for a year or 2 and had to be IMO one of the best cars in that bracket (warm hatch).

Civic 1.6 sport 2004-2006.

They also did them <2004 but not quite so nice.

Edited by Torquey on Monday 19th January 23:21