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Alternative first car!
Am I mad? I am considering buying a BMW Compact for my son as a first car.
We have explored all the normal ones, Fiesta, Ka, etc. and the insurance is not much more (£40-£150) as he has 2 years driving experience under parent policies and 2 years of no claim bonus through this.
The trouble is for value for money the BMW is only £1,300 for a 90,000 miles, in excellent condition, fully serviced etc, can't find a fault with the car.
Against a beaten up Ka and Fiesta that costs far more and has far less to offer it makes sense.
Car tax will be higher and I guess maintenance will be too, but will it be prohibitively so if we get it serviced by a BMW independent? He is a sensible lad, but at least a BMW is a bit safer in an accident than a smaller car.
I just want a sanity check really before I go ahead please?
We have explored all the normal ones, Fiesta, Ka, etc. and the insurance is not much more (£40-£150) as he has 2 years driving experience under parent policies and 2 years of no claim bonus through this.
The trouble is for value for money the BMW is only £1,300 for a 90,000 miles, in excellent condition, fully serviced etc, can't find a fault with the car.
Against a beaten up Ka and Fiesta that costs far more and has far less to offer it makes sense.
Car tax will be higher and I guess maintenance will be too, but will it be prohibitively so if we get it serviced by a BMW independent? He is a sensible lad, but at least a BMW is a bit safer in an accident than a smaller car.
I just want a sanity check really before I go ahead please?
Asked on 24 June 2011 by Rogdrive
Answered by
Honest John
You are actually talking sense. The values of a lot of small cars are inflated by their insurance friendliness. But if your sums are correct, you'll be better off with the BMW. The best of these is the 2.0 diesel. Check the problem areas here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/bmw/3-series-compact.../
Our honest used car pricing is a little bit different to all the others. You can get to our values through make or model - you don’t have to follow a prescribed route. Plus, it’s live, which means we can react to changes in the market quicker than any printed price guide.
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