Need advice on buying my first ever car.
Discussion
I currently bought provisional license and I expect around July or August (depending on availability of instructors and examinators) to own my driving license, now for my first car I was looking at an old Lexus IS200 years 98-05 on used car websites such as autotrader or gumtree. I did find plenty of used IS200's on gumtree which average around £1000 on price, some are lower some are higher and when I quote them the cheapest insurance I can get is £1000 from "colingwood" without a blackbox fitted, the next cheapest would be £1200 with a telematics box and theft tracker fitted. I am currently 20 years old and I am not sure if this insurance price is a bargain or not, also I barely know anything about cars so it's hard for me to chose which used car to buy, as an example I will paste in specs of an IS200 from gumtree and the persons description (I'm pretty sure sending links in here would be advertisement and thats probably against the rules)
This is one of plenty cars on sale for dirt cheap on gumtree and I am not sure if the is200 is just that cheap or if people are just selling their cars that are barely working and rather not point that out to the buyer, some of them also come with service history. This particular car I used as an example costs £900. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help me out and advice me on this decision and what would you guys do before making a purchase on a used car or whether there is a better option for a first car. What I am aiming for is a nice looking car does not have to be fast at all and I am looking for cars between 90-05 years since I personally believe cars from those years are the best looking and I am willing to pay a little extra insurance to drive something that is a sight for sore eyes instead of forcing myself driving something like a nissan micra.
Specs:
Year 2003
Body Type Saloon
Mileage 149 miles
Transmission Manual
Brochure Engine Size 2.0 L
Fuel Type Petrol
Engine Power 152.9 bhp
Engine Size 1988 cc
Acceleration (0-62mph) 9.5 seconds
Top Speed 134 mph
Urban Mpg 21.4 mpg
Extra Urban Mpg 36.2 mpg
Average Mpg 29.1 mpg
Insurance Group 25E
CO2 Emissions 231 g/km
Euro Emissions Euro 3
Seats 5
Fuel Capacity 70 litres
Previous Keepers 3
Owners description:
with lsd fitted your normal heated seats air con ext new tyres all round and brakes needs new front drivers caliper or just the pons renewing one slide faster than the other small amounts of rust on sills small hole on drivers side sill.
11 month mot.
149k will go up used daily.
Everything else works.
2 spare alloys without tyres.
Alloys powder coated last year in American candy apple red has nice shine in the sun when cleaned up.
Lowered 40mm on springs.
Will also come with standard springs and shocks.
This is one of plenty cars on sale for dirt cheap on gumtree and I am not sure if the is200 is just that cheap or if people are just selling their cars that are barely working and rather not point that out to the buyer, some of them also come with service history. This particular car I used as an example costs £900. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could help me out and advice me on this decision and what would you guys do before making a purchase on a used car or whether there is a better option for a first car. What I am aiming for is a nice looking car does not have to be fast at all and I am looking for cars between 90-05 years since I personally believe cars from those years are the best looking and I am willing to pay a little extra insurance to drive something that is a sight for sore eyes instead of forcing myself driving something like a nissan micra.
Specs:
Year 2003
Body Type Saloon
Mileage 149 miles
Transmission Manual
Brochure Engine Size 2.0 L
Fuel Type Petrol
Engine Power 152.9 bhp
Engine Size 1988 cc
Acceleration (0-62mph) 9.5 seconds
Top Speed 134 mph
Urban Mpg 21.4 mpg
Extra Urban Mpg 36.2 mpg
Average Mpg 29.1 mpg
Insurance Group 25E
CO2 Emissions 231 g/km
Euro Emissions Euro 3
Seats 5
Fuel Capacity 70 litres
Previous Keepers 3
Owners description:
with lsd fitted your normal heated seats air con ext new tyres all round and brakes needs new front drivers caliper or just the pons renewing one slide faster than the other small amounts of rust on sills small hole on drivers side sill.
11 month mot.
149k will go up used daily.
Everything else works.
2 spare alloys without tyres.
Alloys powder coated last year in American candy apple red has nice shine in the sun when cleaned up.
Lowered 40mm on springs.
Will also come with standard springs and shocks.
Edited by Pattrone on Saturday 5th May 16:25
Edited by Pattrone on Saturday 5th May 17:39
After reading the useful comments I might as well go down a cheap car route until I get some discounts on insurance, also I never realised that changing the paint of any part in the car is classed as "modded" which is a total shame since I wanted to make the car I get look "unique" by for example painting the calipers and wheels also creating my own paintjob for the car. Are you saying that a simple spray paint on a wheel or a caliper could raise the insurance drastically if I report it to them?
Gassing Station | Japanese Chat | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff