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Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - AR55
Hello!
I’m new here and I’m looking for some advice on getting my first car. I’m a mechanical engineering student starting my first job in wales.
I’ll be commuting around 20mins a day whilst also doing some longer drives home (3+ hours on the motorway) quite regularly too, about 1-2 times a month.
I’d like some recommendations for cars with a bit of personality!
I have an interest in car maintainence, I don’t have any experience of it yet but I would love to learn and have a first car that has a relatively simple set up which I could tinker with and do simple jobs. I’m hoping to learn more to one day be able to do up classics/project cars.
I have a budget of around max £2,500. I really like the look of Peugeot 106 (but I have read they’re not great for motorway driving) or citoeren Saxo, particularly the 1.5 Diesel. Also had a look at older Micras and Fiestas. I’m thinking perhaps a diesel would suit me better as I’ll need it for some long distance driving, but I also want to be able to visit cities and I know some now have a diesel ban so I’m considering both diesel and petrol, preferably manual.
I know I will not get a car that is perfect, but something that’s got a bit of character, but still roadworthy with MOT and reliable and won’t cost a fortune in repairs, with the possibility of learning a bit more about car repairs/maintenance too. Also needs to be able to withstand motorway driving (personally I am not too concerned with comfort or road noise, doesn’t really bother me, just something that’ll be fun to drive). A future classic perhaps?
If any one had any recommendations of any other makes/models to have a look at or tips for buying I’d be really greatful.
Many many Thanks!
(from a newbie hoping to learn more soon!)
I have posted this in both the main motoring discussion and classics as I didn’t know which was most applicable. Hope that’s ok!
Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - badbusdriver

Diesel wouldn't be a great idea at that price point. It is certainly possible to get something reliable, but your chances of getting a more reliable naturally aspirated (non turbo) petrol is much higher.

Something with a bit of personality?, first thing which springs to mind would be a Suzuki Swift. But, at that budget, you really shouldn't be distracting yourself by stuff like that, save it for when you have a decent budget to work with. You want to be judging each car on condition alone, ideally a local private sale from someone who has owned the car (and looked after it) for a number of years. Use the check-mot-history website which will give an indication of how well a car has been looked after over the years.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - RT

Peugeot 107, or it's siblings Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo - Japan-designed including a Daihatsui engine - they are simple but have good reliability - nice chance to use your skills on practical things like maintenance - insurance is cheap as well.

Edited by RT on 05/12/2020 at 20:58

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - mss1tw

Taking all the above into account and your course, I'm going to go left field and say a decent Peugeot 306

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Big John

As already mentioned I'd avoid diesels at this price point - especially as ones without a DPF are starting to get rather old. Beware cars that have had modifications such as re maps, EGR/DPF deletes etc.

Having helped a son needing a car and finishing Uni and starting work - you'll find insurance costs will be an important/significant factor.

If looking at your own maintenance then keep it simple re design.

If looking at the Fiesta - the 1.25 petrol engine is a good reliable one with reasonable insurance. Avoid the 3 cylinder 1.0 version.

I'd avoid the 106 , Saxo and the Micra.

With this size of car consider the Toyota Yaris as well - good and reliable car.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - edlithgow

I'd avoid the 106 , Saxo and the Micra.

With this size of car consider the Toyota Yaris as well - good and reliable car.

No love for the Micra?

Here in Taiwan (where its the March) that'd be the top pick.

Relatively simple, a rep for reliability (hard-won in Taiwan, where maintenance is an alien concept), made for a long time, so there's some choice, bits are cheap, and black hands know their way around them, which you can'.t always rely on.

Are its Sunderland siblings of less stern stuff?

All unfortunately automatic here though AFAIK, unless there was a manual version early on, as for the Mk1 Festiva, now rather rare.

Edited by edlithgow on 06/12/2020 at 06:14

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - nellyjak

Toyota Yaris every time....just don't think you can go wrong with these.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - badbusdriver

Toyota Yaris every time....just don't think you can go wrong with these.

With a £2.5k budget you can go wrong with any car!. Really depends on how it has been looked after and driven.

Because of this, rather than focusing on a specific car, much better to just be looking for a simple car (n/a petrol, manual gearbox), in decent condition, and with evidence of having been looked after reasonably well.

Looking on Autotrader, the youngest two cars available (up to 100k miles, no insurance write offs) for £2.5k are both 2015 Ford Ka's (75 and 79k miles). Not a brilliant car by any stretch of the imagination, but with that 1.25 Yamaha designed engine, reliable and perfectly adequate first car material.

Cheapest Yaris would be 5 years older.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Big John

Looking on Autotrader, the youngest two cars available (up to 100k miles, no insurance write offs) for £2.5k are both 2015 Ford Ka's (75 and 79k miles). Not a brilliant car by any stretch of the imagination, but with that 1.25 Yamaha designed engine, reliable and perfectly adequate first car material.

I thought the Ford Ka at this age is fitted with Fiat oily bits not the 1.25 Yamaha designed engine. It's basically a Fiat Panda in a Ford body shell,

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - nellyjak

Toyota Yaris every time....just don't think you can go wrong with these.

With a £2.5k budget you can go wrong with any car!. Really depends on how it has been looked after and driven.

Because of this, rather than focusing on a specific car, much better to just be looking for a simple car (n/a petrol, manual gearbox), in decent condition, and with evidence of having been looked after reasonably well.

Yes, of course...and true no matter what the budget...it's a given (for me) that you would assess condition/history etc of ANY car..but I still maintain that the Yaris is one of the better choices with a better chance of reliability and reasonable running costs than many.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Alby Back
For what it's worth, my son is now a third year student at uni and still has his 2010 5 door Aygo we bought for him to learn on when he was 17. Coming up for 4 years ago now. It was an ideal learner car, and has proven to be perfect for his needs since. He runs about with mountain bikes on top of it at weekends, and while it looks a bit top heavy with them on, it copes just fine with motorway journeys, and steep mountain roads, even with those on the roof.

In truth, it has been utterly trouble free, despite the best attempts of a young driver to push it to its engineering tolerances !

My wife and I love driving it too, when we get the chance, it's such a fun wee car, and reminds us both of our early motoring years.

Costs £20, or something like that to tax, gets great fuel economy, and with three years NCB even at the age of 20 going on 21, his fully comp insurance is now less than £500 a year. Tyres are cheap too, want to say they were less than £50 each, even for ones with a name you can pronounce and recognise.

Highly recommended. Never even been in a Yaris, so can't comment, but if they are in effect, bigger Aygos, then I think they'd be good too as has been recommended above.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Big John

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/nissan/micra-k12-200.../

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - edlithgow

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/nissan/micra-k12-200.../

Not sure if we got that one here. My comments above, come to think on't, relate to the earlier K11 "jelly mould" March, which I think stayed in Taiwan production after it was discontinued in Europe.

Older design (therefore?) better. Not always the case, of course, but seems to be the way to bet.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Ethan Edwards

The OP mentioned motorway use. I cannot recommend the 106/C1/Aygo unless the driver is already hard of hearing, noisy and for me uncomfortable. . Agreed the Yaris, good choice but not the 1litre. 1.33 or a Fiesta 1.25 , Suzuki Swift.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - joegrundy

I spotted this for sale local to me. If I was in the market to buy I'd certainly be interested. www.gumtree.com/p/hyundai/hyundai-i10-hatchback-20...6

The MOT history is very good (don't know about service history or whether price is right). There's an HJ long-term review which reads well, though that was a 1.0 and this is a 1.2.

As for fun, i've had more fun driving low-powered cars which you can push to maintain good progress than higher-powered cars which take less effort and have to be reined in.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - madf

I drive an Austin A30 as a student.

Lots of personality.

Went through 1 meter deep snowdrift (with winter tyres of rear)

Not recommended for any beginner.

A Ford Fiesta handles well and a good one has personality.., easy to drive and maintain.

As above - do not buy a diesel .Old ones = deep holes into which money flows.

You want simple mechanics and good electronics...No French of German cars - too much hassle.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - badbusdriver

I thought the Ford Ka at this age is fitted with Fiat oily bits not the 1.25 Yamaha designed engine. It's basically a Fiat Panda in a Ford body shell,

It was co-developed with the Panda and 500, but yes, I see it is actually a Fiat engine in it rather than the Ford/Yamaha unit I thought. Needn't put you off though, unlike some Fiat engines, that little 1.2 is rugged, reliable and long lived. Not overburdened with power, but enough to maintain 70mph. And as this is to be a first car, the cheap insurance is an added bonus.

Edited by badbusdriver on 06/12/2020 at 15:53

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Big John

It was co-developed with the Panda and 500, but yes, I see it is actually a Fiat engine in it rather than the Ford/Yamaha unit I thought. Needn't put you off though, unlike some Fiat engines, that little 1.2 is rugged, reliable and long lived. Not overburdened with power, but enough to maintain 70mph. And as this is to be a first car, the cheap insurance is an added bonus.

I agree the 1.2 Fiat Fire engine is a great little unit (We have a 2006 1.2 Panda) but it's the other Fiat things around it that could let it down - eg gearbox, Power steering motor etc. Saying that all easy to get at and work on and usually fairly cheap to sort. Our gearbox needed rebuilding at about 36k miles and our local garage pointed to two Ford Ka's lined up outside also awaiting gearbox work - both not long out of warranty.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - sammy1

How about a MINI. The newer larger generation has been around for some 20years now and stand the test of time. Plenty to chose from entertaining to drive and they will do high mileage

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - edlithgow

How about a MINI. The newer larger generation has been around for some 20years now and stand the test of time. Plenty to chose from entertaining to drive and they will do high mileage

I thought The Word On The Street was that these did NOT stand the test of time and were very expensive to fix when the high mileage that they WON'T do caught up with them.

Certainly that is the story here, where they are ludicrously expensive and you have to get many parts flown in by taking-the-p***-BMW-dealers.

German cars in general don't stand up to Taiwan conditions but are bought for pose-appeal when new.

Used they die young after hideously expensive palliative care.

In the milder UK climate there are probably more exceptions, but we are inevitably talking generalisations here.

Insurance isn't such a factor in Taiwan, but I'd think it could be for one of these in the UK.

Edited by edlithgow on 07/12/2020 at 03:55

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Steveieb
Look no further than a Yaris 1999 to 2002 IMHO.
These cars were so well made and bulletproof even the autos . And the bodywork was really well rustproofed . No cam belt and as long as they get an annual service they go on and on.
This is the car that Honest John himself bought for his mother even though he is a big Jazz fan !
Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Sprice

2010-ish 1.8 Civic. End thread.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Ethan Edwards

1.8 civic is that suitable for a brand new driver? Surely Insurance even if possible would be prohibitively expensive.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - SLO76

Much depends on what’s available locally at the time and as much as I get the desire for something a bit retro like a 106 there’s few good examples about these days and even a good one would be an ongoing project to maintain as even the last of them are the guts of twenty years old and many parts are becoming difficult to get, particularly body panels. A good low mileage car that’s been lightly used by some elderly driver would be tempting though as they were fun to drive and They were ok on motorways as long as it wasn’t an early 4 speed 1.0.

Here’s a wee list of worthy retro options but again few remain in good usable condition.

Nissan Micra K11 - Looks like Noddies car but great fun to drive

Peugeot 106 - Simple and fun

peugeot 205 - First truly great supermini

Peugeot 306 - Great to drive

Citroen AX - Basic but comfy and fun

Citroen Saxo - simple and fun especially VTR/VTS

Ford Fiesta Mk IV - fun

Ford Puma - 1.4 is cheap enough to insure and a joy to look at and drive

Rover Metro/ 100 K series - yes really, these were good to drive.

Rover 200 - 96 onwards model was smaller, closer to Fiesta in size and good to drive if you can find a good one they can be made reliable.

Mitsubishi Colt - Tough as old boots but hard to find and hard to get parts for. A solid one will be reliable and different.

Honda Civic - tough and earlier pre 2001 cars are rare now especially 3dr and coupe models

Toyota Corolla - All versions are tough and long lived. A 3dr pensioners shopping trolley with low miles would be a great slightly retro runner.

But for safety and reliability I’d probably just stick with more modern cars like these...

Mazda 2 petrol

Ford Fiesta 1.25 petrol

Suzuki Swift petrol

Toyota Yaris petrol

Edited by SLO76 on 06/12/2020 at 22:56

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - bluetrain

My son (studying same as the OP coincidentally) bought his first car last year. At the time I suggested he looked towards a shortlist that was basically the last 4 mentioned by SLO and in the end he bought a now 7 year old Mazda 2 1.3 petrol. The insurance was cheaper than some superminis and it’s been totally reliable so far. I’m not sure it has the personality the OP mentioned and is obviously more modern than a 106/Saxo, but I think it’s a great first car and would hopefully give you reliable transport both for your commute and your longer drives each month.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Steveieb

Clarkson nailed this subject a few years ago. Would you let any newly qualified son or daughter out on our roads in the kind of flimsy cars mentioned here, especially the Saxo and Peugeot 106, just when they are most vulnerable to an accident is madness.

Newly qualified drivers ideally should be driving a Mercedes or BMW rear wheel drive car which are in my mind the safest cars in an accident ! But insurance costs prevent this !

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - edlithgow

Clarkson nailed this subject a few years ago...

Newly qualified drivers ideally should be driving a Mercedes or BMW rear wheel drive car which are in my mind the safest cars in an accident !

IIRC Clarkson picked a Volvo estate, the mums motor.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Pezzer

This........my Uni going son also has a Mazda 2 1.3 petrol. Cracking little car that has taken everything he has thrown at it, mechanically sympathy is not a phrase that could used to describe his usage. Also pretty good to tinker around with for basic maintenance etc.

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - S40 Man

I wouldn't suggest a 106/Saxo they aren't very crash worthy.

A mk 1 Focus would be my choice. They are fine handling and might be easier to work on. The 1.6 petrol might be a good choice.

www.euroncap.com/en/results/citro%C3%ABn/saxo/15511

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - badbusdriver

Newly qualified drivers ideally should be driving a Mercedes or BMW rear wheel drive car which are in my mind the safest cars in an accident ! But insurance costs prevent this !

So for a first car, ideally a rwd Merc or BMW, traction control disabled naturally, all the better for a testosterone fuelled 17 year old to have an enormous accident trying to emulate Ken Block (but failing that, a 1st gen Toyota Yaris).

Err, OK

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Steveieb

Sure Badbus

Thats what a bought for my newly qualified daughter in law.

Y reg so over 20 years old . Auto and built in Japan.

The car has been faultless. Even the air con works.

amazing in fact because there was no record of any servicing for at least three years before she bought it.

No rust either.

And she would see very little depreciation over the time she has owned it !

A very accomplished car which her mother tried to emulate and bought a newer auto which immediately suffered trouble with the gearbox, fixed under warranty !o

Help me decide! - Advice for a first car?? - Avant

I should think that as a newcomer AR55 may be quite confused by all the above.

The consensus looks like:

- Something a bit more substantial than a city car but not too big

- Something not too complex that can be tinkered with but be as reliable as possible

- Something costing no more than £2,500.

So in that position I'd go for either a Ford (Fiesta 1.25 or Focus) as there are lots around to choose from, or a Japanese or Korean car - Toyota Yaris or Corolla/Auris, Mazda 2, Honda Jazz, Suzuki Swift, Kia Picanto or Hyundai i10. Petrol, not diesel.

For a car with a bit of character and fun to drive, maybe try the Suzuki Swift first.

Edited by Avant on 15/12/2020 at 23:18