Buying first car. Need suggestions
Discussion
Morning!
I passed my driving test last week, and need to think about some sensible cars within a budget of £4,000. As you know, insurance is eye-watering for first-time drivers, so I doubt I'll be driving around in something swanky just yet!
I've shortlisted a few Suzuki Swifts to go look at locally, does anyone have any experience with these? I've always liked them and I've heard they're reliable too.
A VW Polo or one of those baby Alfas are also on my short list.
So, any tips/ideas/pointers would be grateful! I'm not used to doing grown up driving stuff!
I passed my driving test last week, and need to think about some sensible cars within a budget of £4,000. As you know, insurance is eye-watering for first-time drivers, so I doubt I'll be driving around in something swanky just yet!
I've shortlisted a few Suzuki Swifts to go look at locally, does anyone have any experience with these? I've always liked them and I've heard they're reliable too.
A VW Polo or one of those baby Alfas are also on my short list.
So, any tips/ideas/pointers would be grateful! I'm not used to doing grown up driving stuff!
Run quotes on a load of cars. You'll have to stick to the usual suspects - fiesta, swift, polo etc. The fiesta + swift will be the most fun to drive
You may have the suggestions of getting something "different" because "no young drivers drive them" etc and the insurance will be cheap. This isn't true TBH, with very very rare exceptions they are always more expensive
But the best way is to get on auto trader, find number plates and just run craploads of quotes on confused.com/moneysupermarket
You may have the suggestions of getting something "different" because "no young drivers drive them" etc and the insurance will be cheap. This isn't true TBH, with very very rare exceptions they are always more expensive
But the best way is to get on auto trader, find number plates and just run craploads of quotes on confused.com/moneysupermarket
Shiv_P said:
Run quotes on a load of cars. You'll have to stick to the usual suspects - fiesta, swift, polo etc. The fiesta + swift will be the most fun to drive
You may have the suggestions of getting something "different" because "no young drivers drive them" etc and the insurance will be cheap. This isn't true TBH, with very very rare exceptions they are always more expensive
But the best way is to get on auto trader, find number plates and just run craploads of quotes on confused.com/moneysupermarket
Sage advice, I'll get on that today. I'm slowly getting my head around that I won't have the 1 series straight away. I think it was a blessing & a curse that I learned in that car (pleasant to drive whilst learning, but all the driving assists and 'luxuries' I won't have).You may have the suggestions of getting something "different" because "no young drivers drive them" etc and the insurance will be cheap. This isn't true TBH, with very very rare exceptions they are always more expensive
But the best way is to get on auto trader, find number plates and just run craploads of quotes on confused.com/moneysupermarket
Have a read of this thread: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
But yeah, you're stuck with small engine boxes. Keep playing with comparison sites but also go direct. It will take some work if you really want to tease out the best price.
As far as cars go, I always found the advantage to VW group cars is that they have a huge following online and there are loads of forums where you can find everything that has ever gone wrong with a VAG car.
Swifts do drive nicely.
But yeah, you're stuck with small engine boxes. Keep playing with comparison sites but also go direct. It will take some work if you really want to tease out the best price.
As far as cars go, I always found the advantage to VW group cars is that they have a huge following online and there are loads of forums where you can find everything that has ever gone wrong with a VAG car.
Swifts do drive nicely.
I can vouch for the Swift, we have one, known as "Suzy". It's a 1.5 petrol automatic on an 11 plate (one of the last pre facelifts) and it's been with us for over 4 years now. In our ownership it's done nearly 70,000 miles (it's on 91k) and apart from consumables it has never put a foot wrong *touchwood* and still provides sterling service. It's reliable, fairly cheap to run, great to drive despite the slightly slow auto box and insanely practical for such a little car. Our other car is a Skoda Fabia and that would also make a great first car.
kieranblenk said:
I can vouch for the Swift, we have one, known as "Suzy". It's a 1.5 petrol automatic on an 11 plate (one of the last pre facelifts) and it's been with us for over 4 years now. In our ownership it's done nearly 70,000 miles (it's on 91k) and apart from consumables it has never put a foot wrong *touchwood* and still provides sterling service. It's reliable, fairly cheap to run, great to drive despite the slightly slow auto box and insanely practical for such a little car. Our other car is a Skoda Fabia and that would also make a great first car.
That makes my mind easier for the Swift! 
Lee540 said:
£4k is a lot for a first car..
Possibly, but I've heard stories of people buying cheaper cars that won't last just because they're cheap to start with. Something goes wrong, then they're either in a money pit or they just get a new car. With this one, I'll have it for quite a while.I like to spend extra money to make sure things work properly or to have things done right the first time.
(As a suggestion) - Use the following filters on Autotrader
Insurance group - Up to 10
Exclude Cat S/C/D/N
As well as Age upto 10 year / Mileage upto 90,000 / Price upto £4500
Sort by Newest First.
Then as said before run price comparisons for insurance on actual cars.
Also go back to Autotrader have a look how much the equivalent car is but 2 years older with an additional 20,000 miles is selling for. Subtract this from the previous selling price and halve it. This will be the yearly depreciation.
Then use this to calculate fuel cost per year
http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.html
e.g 10,000 miles @ 40mpg @ 120p = £1363.83
You can now work out the (almost) total cost of ownership by adding the annual insurance cost + the depreciation cost + fuel cost.
Now compare one car against the other. You might find a £4500 car has a total cost less than a £3500 car.
When you've found a car you are interested in enter the reg here:-
https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/
Check the mileage on each of the MOTs sometimes the mileage is zeroed because the instrument cluster has been replaced.
The advisories are subjective. If they say tyres and brake pads, it was probably tested at a national fast fit tyre chain.
Find a good reliable garage that knows how to repair cars. Main dealers are not necessarily best. Ask on here for a good independent for the marque.
Try to ignore elders out of date prejudice regarding certain manufacturers / countries. Go and look at cars for yourself.
German / Japanese cars may once have been built to last, but now these companies are run by 'bean counters' with their spreadsheets trying to reduce costs at every opportunity, rather than engineers trying to produce the best they can.
Some manufactures offer longer than 3 years warranty, e.g. if you bought a 5 year old Kia it would still be in warranty 2 years later.
According to Carwow these are the cars with the best warranties:-
Kia, SsangYong, Hyundai, Toyota, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Renault
Now ignore all this advice and buy a red car that makes smile when you look at it and makes your heart beat faster when you start the engine.
Like this https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201... But not like this because the discs need replacing.
Always have good tyres and brakes.
Insurance group - Up to 10
Exclude Cat S/C/D/N
As well as Age upto 10 year / Mileage upto 90,000 / Price upto £4500
Sort by Newest First.
Then as said before run price comparisons for insurance on actual cars.
Also go back to Autotrader have a look how much the equivalent car is but 2 years older with an additional 20,000 miles is selling for. Subtract this from the previous selling price and halve it. This will be the yearly depreciation.
Then use this to calculate fuel cost per year
http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.html
e.g 10,000 miles @ 40mpg @ 120p = £1363.83
You can now work out the (almost) total cost of ownership by adding the annual insurance cost + the depreciation cost + fuel cost.
Now compare one car against the other. You might find a £4500 car has a total cost less than a £3500 car.
When you've found a car you are interested in enter the reg here:-
https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/
Check the mileage on each of the MOTs sometimes the mileage is zeroed because the instrument cluster has been replaced.
The advisories are subjective. If they say tyres and brake pads, it was probably tested at a national fast fit tyre chain.
Find a good reliable garage that knows how to repair cars. Main dealers are not necessarily best. Ask on here for a good independent for the marque.
Try to ignore elders out of date prejudice regarding certain manufacturers / countries. Go and look at cars for yourself.
German / Japanese cars may once have been built to last, but now these companies are run by 'bean counters' with their spreadsheets trying to reduce costs at every opportunity, rather than engineers trying to produce the best they can.
Some manufactures offer longer than 3 years warranty, e.g. if you bought a 5 year old Kia it would still be in warranty 2 years later.
According to Carwow these are the cars with the best warranties:-
Kia, SsangYong, Hyundai, Toyota, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Renault
Now ignore all this advice and buy a red car that makes smile when you look at it and makes your heart beat faster when you start the engine.
Like this https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201... But not like this because the discs need replacing.
Always have good tyres and brakes.
As a suggestion, if it doesn't affect the insurance, a set of second hand alloys could make that Swift look a bit sportier. If that's your sort of thing....
EG - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-Swift-Sport-Allo...
Just don't stick a fake Sport badge on it, or you'll end up on the missbadging cars thread
EG - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-Swift-Sport-Allo...
Just don't stick a fake Sport badge on it, or you'll end up on the missbadging cars thread
brimson said:
Lee540 said:
£4k is a lot for a first car..
Possibly, but I've heard stories of people buying cheaper cars that won't last just because they're cheap to start with. Something goes wrong, then they're either in a money pit or they just get a new car. With this one, I'll have it for quite a while.I like to spend extra money to make sure things work properly or to have things done right the first time.
Thanks for all the replies, fellas. I really appreciate it!
The swift above is still a runner but literally down the road there’s a 2010 Alfa Romeo Mito which I can get for £500 more, but the insurance is also £509 cheaper per year so it levels itself out.
I’ll be seeing it this Saturday, so you never know.
The swift above is still a runner but literally down the road there’s a 2010 Alfa Romeo Mito which I can get for £500 more, but the insurance is also £509 cheaper per year so it levels itself out.
I’ll be seeing it this Saturday, so you never know.
brimson said:
Thanks for all the replies, fellas. I really appreciate it!
The swift above is still a runner but literally down the road there’s a 2010 Alfa Romeo Mito which I can get for £500 more, but the insurance is also £509 cheaper per year so it levels itself out.
I’ll be seeing it this Saturday, so you never know.
That Swift for £4K.... trade it's worth £2,250 so I'd say £3,000/£3,250 is a fair price retail.The swift above is still a runner but literally down the road there’s a 2010 Alfa Romeo Mito which I can get for £500 more, but the insurance is also £509 cheaper per year so it levels itself out.
I’ll be seeing it this Saturday, so you never know.
When buying retail always know what the car is actually worth. Bear in mind they might have to service it, stick a warranty on it and make profit
You'd get a very good Aygo for £2,500 and in the highly event of it going wrong the repair bills will be very low.
We've had ours for almost 10 years now, never missed a beat, passed every MOT with ease, 55MPG all day long and a hoot to chuck around. Insurance very low, £20 tax.
The additional costs other than tyres and brakes have been a couple of exhaust back boxes (cheap as chips) and I had the clutch replaced for under £300 (which also included an MOT) because it was a bit juddery.
Weal points? They can let in water so check for wet carpets, and the clutch as mentioned above. (Fit the upgraded one and you're good to go forever).
We've had ours for almost 10 years now, never missed a beat, passed every MOT with ease, 55MPG all day long and a hoot to chuck around. Insurance very low, £20 tax.
The additional costs other than tyres and brakes have been a couple of exhaust back boxes (cheap as chips) and I had the clutch replaced for under £300 (which also included an MOT) because it was a bit juddery.
Weal points? They can let in water so check for wet carpets, and the clutch as mentioned above. (Fit the upgraded one and you're good to go forever).
SCEtoAUX said:
You'd get a very good Aygo for £2,500 and in the highly event of it going wrong the repair bills will be very low.
We've had ours for almost 10 years now, never missed a beat, passed every MOT with ease, 55MPG all day long and a hoot to chuck around. Insurance very low, £20 tax.
The additional costs other than tyres and brakes have been a couple of exhaust back boxes (cheap as chips) and I had the clutch replaced for under £300 (which also included an MOT) because it was a bit juddery.
Weal points? They can let in water so check for wet carpets, and the clutch as mentioned above. (Fit the upgraded one and you're good to go forever).
When I was younger, I was ignorant and naïve. I thought those cars (aygo, c1 etc) were just ugly cars for older folk or first time drivers but now I’m older I can safely say that they’re great pieces of kit! Literally nothing wrong with them.We've had ours for almost 10 years now, never missed a beat, passed every MOT with ease, 55MPG all day long and a hoot to chuck around. Insurance very low, £20 tax.
The additional costs other than tyres and brakes have been a couple of exhaust back boxes (cheap as chips) and I had the clutch replaced for under £300 (which also included an MOT) because it was a bit juddery.
Weal points? They can let in water so check for wet carpets, and the clutch as mentioned above. (Fit the upgraded one and you're good to go forever).
brimson said:
When I was younger, I was ignorant and naïve. I thought those cars (aygo, c1 etc) were just ugly cars for older folk or first time drivers but now I’m older I can safely say that they’re great pieces of kit! Literally nothing wrong with them.
I was very surprised with the C1 to be honest. I had it for almost a week while mine (C-Crosser) was in having a load of work done. It was the most basic one they do, but still had aircon, electric windows, touchscreen DAB, Bluetooth phone etc. It was nippy enough on the motorway to keep up - only thing it didn't like was coming up the lane I live on - it's quite steep in places!Shiv_P said:
You may have the suggestions of getting something "different" because "no young drivers drive them" etc and the insurance will be cheap. This isn't true TBH, with very very rare exceptions they are always more expensive
Then explain to me how a 1.6 turbo corsa sri, a 1.6 twingo renaultsport and a 2.0 turbo megane gt were all cheaper to insure for me than a 1.2 corsa for a first car at 17?Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff