Hi, and help please!
Just a short 23 years after my first lesson, I passed my driving test last week :-)
And now I'm completely overwhelmed at choosing a car to suit me and my family, with me and my husband knowing next to nothing about cars. Main points I think are:
Automatic
Will mainly be used local, but for longer distances/motorways possibly every few weeks for leisure trips.
We have a 3 year old, hoping to have another baby within the next year (but obviously no guarantees on that one!). So need a reasonable size.
I've been recommended compact SUV's and larger cars but a bit nervous about going straight from driving the Yaris I learnt in, to this.
I liked the idea of a hybrid (not plug-in), but accept this may be out of budget.
Engine size-wise, I've been advised anything above 1.2 should be ok, and that 1.8 may be too large for what I need, that mileage should aim for below 60k as low as possible. Any advice on these?
I've been looking at the Toyota Auris (the smaller version), some around 2015/2016 £9kish for 60/70k miles (also looked at the Honda Jazz coming in slightly lower).
We were originally hoping for £10k all-in including insurance, although we can go a little higher if necessary. We're about to buy a house within the next year (big year!), so I'm also wondering if we're best getting an even older and cheaper one for now and seeing how our savings are in 18/24 months to potentially buy something then that will last us, but I don't know how old is ok to go whilst being reliable, or if we're ok to buy something mid-priced as above because if we switch up it would still have a bit of value.
Thanks so much if you read this far!
(p.s. I had a few stints of lessons for various life reasons over the decades and never took my test, I'm not just a really shocking driver..!)
Don't worry too much about engine 'size' - its the performance, mpg and reliability you need to be considering.
Some cars will be 'naturally aspirated', which is car speak for 'not having a turbocharger or supercharger' (i.e. devises that use either the exhaust gases or the engine itself to boost power by forcing more air into the combustion chamber).
As such, these cars will need a larger engine to produce about the same power / give roughly the same performance as a car with a turbo or supercharger.
Example being the 3rd generation Mazda 3 (2014-19) 2 litre petrol, roughly 120bhp in power vs the similarly performing Seat Leon (2013-20) 1.4 litre turbo petrol with about 123bhp.
Some even newer turbocharged petrol engines can be as 'small' as 1 litre and still give the same performance in a car as that 2L 'naturally aspirated' unit. There are various ups and downsides of both types, with the 'naturally aspirated' ones being les complex / simpler to maintain and likely more reliable / longer lasting, whereas the equivalent power turbo ones mostly are about 5-10% better on fuel efficiency.
What you may want to consider as a new (inexperienced) driver is to either buy a car that you feel comfortable driving - not just the seat/driving position, but in terms of size, visibility, etc, i.e. something like the Yaris you learned in.
Unfortunately, a lot of modern cars come with much smaller windows and more / larger blind spots (necessitating all other extra [expensive] gadgets to aid you - parking sensors, wing mirror blind spot monitoring, etc).
Driving a much bigger car may have longer term economic benefits, because you don't have to change up (depreciation of the first car when selling it) when baby '2 comes along, but you might find it difficult as someone who came to driving later in life to easily adapt to a larger vehicle.
The downside is that you'll spend more (probably between 10-20%) on fuel, it'll be more expensive (not a great deal if the performance and trim level is roughly the same) to insure and maintain.
I'd advise a thorough test drive (on a variety of different road types / surfaces representative of all your likely journeys) of any cars you initially pick for your 'possibles' list.
I would also buy the absolute lowest trim level / car performance you find acceptable, because that means saving money on the purchase price, insurance and maintenance (less bits to replace if broken/damaged), plus you mostly get reasonable (read smaller) wheels and skinnier, higher sidewall tyres, which last longer, give a better ride (which also gives more protection to the suspension) and are cheaper to replace (more choice), if they are a common, 'standard' size.
Be wary when buying older cars if they are shod of cheapo 'Chinese ditchfinder' brands of tyre - whilst they are 'road legal', they are cheap because they either compromise lifespan to make them grippy and quiet (i.e. they are soft), or the opposite (hard tyres).
Whilst the 'premium' tyre brands are quite expensive, many of them own 'second tier' tyre brands / companies and others of a similar nature give good value products, the vast majority of which are fine for most ordinary cars.
Websites like Tyre Reviews give more information, including lists of what makes and models of tyre are 'premium', 'mid-level' and 'budget' and/or are suitable for particular types of car or weather conditions.
www.tyrereviews.co.uk/
If you live in an area that regularly gets a reasonable amount of snowy / icy weather in winter, I'd recommend getting 'all season' tyres fitted (see Tyre Reviews for more info) next time your new car's need changing. Some are suited more to the warmer conditions found in the South of the UK, others more towards the North, some in-between.
If you rarely get snow and don't live/drive in a rural area, then normal 'summer' tyres will probably be fine, though if you occasionally do get snow, just take it very easy, especially as a new driver. Having skinnier tyres ironically helps in such conditions.
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